all of the strangers are gone

The House of Midnight feels far larger when LongNight drapes itself across Caido, when the lanterns in the rooms and the fire in the hearth is the only warmth around for what feels like miles. Sure, the Refuge is only a walk away, but with vast stretches of darkness between here and there, it feels much, much farther. Something about it almost reminds Isla of that very first LongNight, when she'd been alone in the infirmary at the Temple. She can spot herds of luxere trotting through the snow in King's End just as she had done in the Grounds, their antlers aglow like a mob armed with torches, and the silence and the stillness is reminiscent of back then, too. Of course, she'd also died during that first descent into darkness, a thought that doesn't particularly fill her with joy. It perhaps explains why she's keeping back from the windows as she heads up towards the loft space, some folded blankets in her arms with a couple of books piled on top as well. "How is it looking?" she calls up to Sunjata. ISLA