The rock trembled, but didn’t move.
The youngsters couldn’t believe that even the second attempt failed but, a few moments later, lines of light darted from the inscription towards the outside, drawing a five-pointed star.
When the emblem on the rock disappeared, a portion of stone became ethereal like a ghost.
“Come on, go in! Let’s go in!” Vroel urged, crossing the threshold first.
“Isn’t the passage closing?” Viktor asked, holding out his hand to Selene to help her enter that sort of tunnel.
“It closes by itself after a few minutes, from what I know. Follow me along the path and let’s try not to get lost: the Star hasn’t used these paths for a long time,” the guide warned.
The youngsters were silent and followed Vroel.
It was very damp under the mountain and the group proceeded cautiously along the path illuminated by the member of the Star ahead, with a sphere of light floating above him, illuminating a small area around the travellers.
After a short way, the path branched off into two side outlets, drawing a “V” on the path.
“Which way?” asked Viktor.
“There must be something that, just like the entrance, only a member of the Star recognizes to continue …,” said the mentor, his eyes reduced to two slits.
“I’m sorry for the time we’re wasting, but it wasn’t my task to guide you through this tunnel,” he added with a note of regret.
“Everything’s alright. Come on, let’s try to figure out which way…”
Selene’s words died out when an indistinct sound echoed under the mountains.
A moan, almost like an infant wailing, seemed torn by rage.
In the silence the sound of scrap metal and the clatter of clumsy steps echoed.
“They’ve found us … they are in the tunnel,” Vroel said with a lost gaze.
“The Goblins?” Viktor exclaimed.
“The portal must have closed!” Selene pointed out.
“Apparently not yet. We must move on, we don’t have time to discuss now. Quick!” the half vampire urged turning left.
Vroel put a hand to his chest as if pierced by a spear.
“What’s the matter?” Viktor asked running, aware of the pain his mentor was in.
“Keep running!” he urged.
Soon after the sphere of light above them illuminated a high rock wall that blocked the path.
“Damn it! We have to turn around…” the chosen one thought aloud.
“If we go back, we’ll have to face the goblins: we might as well wait here and deal with them. I’ll distract them and you and Selene run to the fork in the road; take the other path, I’ll join you as soon as …” He fell to the ground on his knees, coughing. “Viktor, get the dark vial in my bag,” he ordered immediately, unable to move and in excruciating pain.
“What’s wrong?” Selene asked.
He needs the potion in the vial to control his vampire thirst,” the boy explained.
When he found the vial, he was shocked.
The small glass bottle was broken: only a few drops remained of the alchemical compound.
“The vial …” he murmured. “It’s empty. One side is broken, obviously it must have hit something…”
Vroel slowly slid to the ground. “The sphere of light will follow you, I’m able to see in the darkness. They are coming and as soon as they arrive, you must flee.”
“We will never find the exit alone!”
“Don’t look for it. Run to the entrance and go outside, go back the way we came before the portal closes. When you’re outside, eventually one of us will come looking for you. Have…no fear.”
The half vampire’s last words were uttered with difficulty by the trembling body, soaked in sweat.
The noise of scrap metal had stopped: the goblins were choosing the path to take.
In the silence, only the thumping heartbeat of the two youngsters was heard.
Then, the noise of metal again.
It turned away from them and the escape route to the exit would soon be free.
Selene looked to Vroel who screamed as another pain ripped through him.
The two swallowed as they heard the goblins turn back, this time, getting nearer.
“Get up!” Viktor exclaimed to Selene, who was bent over holding Vroel’s head.
When she walked away, Viktor pulled Siride out and the torchlight turned the walls along a curve in the tunnel in front of the girl red.
Vroel screamed again and the youngsters saw his teeth grow longer, bloodlines along his gums.
The handful of creatures accelerated their pace. When dozens of yellow eyes met those of the chosen one, the goblins attacked.
“Go!” Vroel ordered with the last words he could pronounce.
Without thinking twice, Viktor grabbed Selene’s hand and began running, brandishing Siride in his other hand, approaching the little green monsters. As soon as one was in front of him, he quickly swung his sword to open a gap but just when he thought he had succeeded in crossing the group of enemies unharmed, he felt Selene leaving his grip and he stopped immediately.
Behind him a couple of goblins were trying to immobilize her on the ground while the others threw themselves on Vroel.
“Geera!” the boy shouted, drawing strength from the mana.
Two icy needles darted from his palm towards his enemies’ throats who, with a stifled groan, fell to the ground.
Selene got to her feet and went to Viktor who, grasping her hand again, began running towards the exit.
“Vroel … we can’t leave him there, they’ll kill him!” the girl exclaimed.
“He has lost control, he can no longer reason. Going back would be too risky,” he answered without stopping.
Selene didn’t refute what Viktor had said and remained silent until the exit appeared in front of them. “We’re lucky, it’s still open!”
They aimed at the light outside, and a few steps from the exit, they distinguished the tress against the still starry sky.
As they were about to leave that narrow tunnel, the moonlight outside disappeared and the cold stone inside shut. Selene dropped to the ground while Viktor summoned in vain the runic word of light. “Damn it!” he shouted. “A moment later and we would have been out of here!”
The boy slid down toward Selene and hugged her. “Don’t worry, we’ll get to the Den, we’re going to pull this off,” he reassured her.
“What are you going to do?” she asked, wrapping her arms around the boy.
“We have to understand how to get out of here quickly. Let’s go back to the fork and take the other path. I’ll think of something later.”
“Wait,” she said, her eyes lost watching the sphere of light evoked by Vroel that had followed them there. “Perhaps you could…”
Viktor gave her a look of dismay. “You…you want me to take control of Vroel’s spell to open the portal again? Sorry, but I’m still not so clever.”
“It would have been a good idea, but I was thinking of something else.”
“When we took the path on the left, arriving to the fork, the intensity of the sphere diminished…”
“So that the goblins couldn’t see us.”
“In the darkness, whether the light was strong or not, they would have seen us all the same. I thought it was Vroel too, but he had no reason to.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“That the sphere shines more when you take the right path. Yes, it must be attached to the enigma we resolved to get in her: we must follow the light.”
“You’re a genius!” the boy exclaimed wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her up. “Come on, let’s go,” he said soon after, Selene smiling behind him.
“Near the fork in the road, the youngsters rejoiced when they discovered that Selene’s suppositions about the light were true. The dangers, however, weren’t over.
Three carcasses of goblins lay completely disfigured on the gr
ound.
“It looks like Vroel isn’t so much in pain,” Viktor said, looking at the lifeless bodies.
“But what…”
“He has lost control. We must hurry, if he finds us, he’ll attack us too,” the chosen one warned.
They moved ahead, but they heard the wheezing of someone coming from the dark.
“Hurry, let’s follow the light!” Viktor shouted running with Selene.
The road branched off several times and the two kept running, fearing that Vroel could reach them and attack, until they wondered how far away the exit could be.
When Viktor turned around, he saw him.
Two yellow eyes shot fast towards them: they sensed they were done for.
Vroel snatched Selene from the chosen one’s grip and her screams could be heard straight ahead.
She was on the ground, her arm bleeding and Vroel was approaching slowly.
He was about to bite her neck but Viktor pointed Siride against him with a trembling hand.
“Leave her alone. She’s your friend. Don’t hurt her.”
Vroel hesitated a moment before looking up.
He looked at him for a few seconds, then he quickly dodged Viktor’s blade, coming to his side and hitting him in the chest with all his strength.
Siride flew against the rock wall and the boy found himself on the ground in pain.
As Vroel approached, the boy tried to back away, unable to stand up.
“They’ll help you at the Den! You only have to … wait for dawn…,” he continued.
Every attempt to talk some sense into Vroel seemed useless and, when the vampire set down on him, Viktor gave up.
There was no trace of the mentor in the assailant’s eyes.
He closed his eyes, aware that even if he tried to struggle he wouldn’t get free.
“No…Nocturna!” he said in a faint voice.
Vroel’s irises became pitch black, becoming a homogeneous mixture of darkness with his pupils and the half vampire fell backwards.
Viktor freed himself of the body on him and tried to get up, but the pain in his chest impeded him.
He watched as Vroel got up and lashed out with long fingernails that had grown, unable to see and hear.
The enchantment of darkness was inhibiting his senses.
Selene remained on the ground and watched the scene with astonishment when she heard footsteps in the darkness.
Steel chains emerged from the darkness and tightened around Vroel’s wrists and ankles, firmly wrapping around him while he began to shout.
“Dinego!”
Vroel’s eyes cleared and his expression returned to normal.
Galaeth emerged from the shadows with a purple-haired girl and the features that Viktor immediately distinguished as elven.
“He’s unconscious now, Ania. Untie the chains and take him with you to the Den,” the Master ordered.
Ania didn’t look at either Viktor or Selene, carrying out Galaeth’s orders without asking questions.
“Unless it isn’t an extremely urgent case, don’t use your enemy’s weapon. Only who doesn’t fear darkness in bad times like these can afford to evoke it to make it one of his allies,” the Master warned.
“I … didn’t want to …”
One more moment and the creatures of darkness would have discovered our exact position. The spell could have got the best of your conscience. What I’m saying is that it would be better if you avoided using that rune again.”
Viktor nodded.
“I’m sorry about the way you’ve come this far. The trip should have proceeded without a hitch…anyway I’m glad you’re safe and sound.”
WHAT’S TO COME
a s soon as he came out of the stone tunnel, Viktor took a deep breath of fresh air before dawn.
Galaeth had given Viktor the strength to walk, soothing the pain in his ribs with magic, but both he and Selene wanted a curative treatment by the white sorceress of the Organization of the Star.
Beyond the stone passage, there was a hidden path in the mountains that rose upward to a large door concealed by the rocks.
“Hurry,” Galaeth urged.
Crossing the threshold, Viktor finally found himself in a familiar place.
Corridors adorned with carpets and torches illuminated the tunnels under the mountains of Jerrall making the sight of such a simple and linear structure more pleasant.
Viktor and Selene were left to Jef, the counsellor of the Star. “Welcome, Miss Selene. Welcome back, Viktor,” he greeted them. “I’ll take you to Elaine, she’s a member of the Star specialized in white magic.”
In the room, besides them, there was only Elaine to make sure that everything was all right and, at the end of the room, on another bed, Vroel, still unconscious.
“How long do you think it will take him to recover?” the girl asked.
“I don’t know … but we had a hard time down there. Resisting his true nature for so many years has been too dangerous. When he isn’t under the influence of the potion that he is forced to take, he doesn’t only become a vampire but also a maniac. He is seized by a strong sense of violence … I don’t know how much alchemy can keep him at bay.”
“If he’s been doing it for years, perhaps it’s the only way to do it,” Selene answered.
Viktor tried to change position so he could have a better view of Selene but the pain in his ribs made him stay in that uncomfortable position only looking up at the ceiling.
“Does it hurt a lot?”
“Enough so that I can’t move … Elaine says I have a broken rib and one inclined inward. A bit more and it would have pierced my lung.”
“I’m sorry,” she said sincerely.
“Sorry? They will heal in a short time with the help of magic cures.”
“If only I hadn’t been in danger”
“Don’t blame yourself for what wasn’t your fault. Vroel would have killed you and me indistinctly … I only did what I had too. I would have died too if I had to see you killed by the man who trained us.”
Viktor felt Selene’s hand lean over the bed to grab his. He held hers back, abandoning himself to that sweet, warm contact.
“Fear of losing you was the worst thing I have ever felt.”
******
Ten days went by, Selene was in perfect shape and Viktor’s situation had considerably improved.
Vroel too had recovered, but he was transferred while the boy was sleeping so he had no way of seeing him.
During the stay he had resumed reading the diary, by now almost completed, and he had found many references to the Daedalus of Death, which he didn’t know the origins of. Lenia was often spoken about, the woman Xemnath probably had a relationship with; along with the name of Galaeth, they were the things that struck him the most in the entire writing.
“I’ll ask Galaeth as soon as I have entirely recovered and have a chance to talk to him,” he thought. “As for Xemnath and the girl that appear in my dreams … it’s clear that there was something between them, but why meet in that forest? Were they seeing each other secretly for safety reasons?”
Taking advantage of free time and alone in his room, he picked up the volume again and continued the reading for the umpteenth time.
“The first time I killed, it came to me almost instinctively.
It was the fear of being attacked that moved my hand, not my will.
I still wasn’t able to handle the weight of my sword, so I remember that I sprained my wrist because I made a wrong move.
I used to train with my parents in the clearing where the entrance to the Den is hidden from prying eyes, when I ran into a goblin.
My parents and mentor’s watchful gaze were observing my reaction. It was like a test. The umpteenth. Every occasion, by coincidence or not, had to be a challenge for them. That goblin was the first living creature that I killed.
I remember my hand moving, the sword clenched in my fist with all my strength and a blow to his heart. There was blo
od everywhere. I saw the creature’s eyes slowly go out as life slipped out of his body.
I still think back to that episode and I ask myself if it was really necessary.
Of course, by this time he would have become an enemy like everyone else, but why be so selfish as to snatch the joy of breathing from such a young, unknowing creature. In that circumstance, I felt I was a bad boy. I didn’t think about it right away, but now, after so many years, when I feel that my end is near, I think back to all that has been right and wrong in my life.
Over the years I have been forced to sever other lives. I have killed again and again, going from one battlefield to another waiting to become who the Star required.
After all this time, I still seem to see the disoriented, frightened faces of the deserters just before they were beheaded.
Sometimes life obliges you to make choices that you can only condescend to.
I learned that in this world no powerful man exists that has never bowed his head; you’ll learn to swallow your pride.
Every day I lived, I woke up in the morning hoping that all this would end; that the goodwill that I should have been the bearer of returned, knowing I would never be able to enjoy it.
Every morning I prayed to the gods that no one else would perish and every evening I returned to the Den with the awareness that nothing would ever change. Up to the end.
Therefore, like an incurable disease that forces surrender, I too gave up, forgetting how many times I had been the cause of suffering, fighting against the same evil that I tried to annihilate.
The god of darkness has mocked me for many years observing my soul worn down by the regret of the blood and tears shed.
Now, however, I’m concluding my task by coming to get you.
Now, however things go, I will pay off my debt with humanity.
I only hope that, beyond this life, there will be one that will return to me all that I’ve given in my life”
The last page of Xemnath’s diary.
Viktor was reliving the last moments of his predecessor’s life in the pages of the manuscript and in his dreams.
Viktor Page 29