With my head resting on my hands, I sat for a while in silence.
“Darkness will soon cover all of Elysium,” said the man, turning his head to the side.
“Do you have a name?” I asked, crossing my hands.
With an empty stare, he gazed at the door. His chest arose with difficulty as he tried to breathe.
“Why does it matter?” he groaned. “I will probably be dead in a couple of hours.”
“Even those that have died have names.” My hand strolled across my hair. “My name is Devin.”
With great struggle, the man turned his head to me; his moss green eye looked into mine.
“You are not ordinary,” he remarked as he analyzed my face. “I have never seen eyes as blue as yours.” I felt his right hand tightening around my own. “Thank you for helping me.”
“You are welcome.” The sight of his wound caused my stomach to churn. “What happened to you?” I asked, trying to keep my eyes on his face.
For a while, he looked at the ceiling; his throat let out low grunts and moans.
“A man with wings like a dragon and eyes like blood walked inside my home. He claimed that King Demyon had gone insane and stolen a book that could destroy the entire world.” Anxiety crawled inside of me. I knew who he spoke about. “He clasped my wife’s head with his hand and broke her neck, sinking his teeth into her wrists.” His voice started breaking. “Afterward, he told me that we had to find a way to enter the castle and retrieve the book or all the people of Bellator would be killed.”
I tried to keep a straight face as I listened to him. Of course I knew who the man with dragon-like wings was, but I assumed he was not aware that we were the ones the blood-drinkers were after.
“What happened after?” I asked.
He gazed at me in silence.
“The citizens went mad,” he started. “With torches and spears in hand, some men flocked to the castle while others searched Bellator.” He gave a grimace of pain as he arched his back, trying to find a comfortable position on the bed. “I mounted my horse and fled. Whatever damage this book could do, I wanted no part in it.”
There were footsteps coming from the stairs. Seconds later, I saw Petra, Demetre, and Isaac approaching the room.
“The horses are agitated, Devin.” Isaac looked at the man and cringed at the sight of his wound. Demetre gnawed on the side of his upper lip. “They do not want to stay inside the stall. We searched the woods for any signs of an enemy and did not see anything.”
“I will tend to the horses soon,” I said, turning my eyes back to the man. “How did you lose your eye?”
The man made an inarticulate sound as he lifted his left arm, trying to touch his wounded face.
“I saw a boy in the woods. He stood alone in the middle of the road…”
“How old was this boy?” My eyebrows furrowed as I recoiled my head.
“He was young.” His eyes became thin lines on his face. “He seemed to be around six years of age. I tried to help him. When I approached the boy, his body changed in seconds. His head stood far from the ground, towering above my own. He grew thick and muscular; horns appeared out of his skull, and his eyes were as black as coal. Instead of a nose, there were two small cavities on his face. His mouth was long and thin, his teeth sharp and short.”
My heart hammered under my chest. I darted an alarming stare at my companions. Though I did not have the ability to read minds, I could see in their faces that we all shared the same thought.
“The creature attacked me, holding my head against the snow.” The man shuddered as he spoke. “It reached for my right eye with one of its fingers…”
Tears rolled down his eyes and onto the sheets of the bed. With his fingertips, he touched the gash on his face.
“I will let you be.” I arose to my feet. “Let us know if you need anything else.”
“Right now, solitude would be the best thing I could have,” he said, laying his hands beside his body.
I made my way out of the room. Isaac, Demetre, and Petra followed. Could it be that Adara and Xylia were caring for the beast that had attacked this man?
“Where is the boy?” Demetre asked the moment I closed the door behind me.
“In the room with the girls.” I set my gaze on the room they had chosen to sleep in. My hands tightened around the handle of my sword.
“Girls,” I said, knocking on the door.
There was no response.
“Are you there?” asked Petra in a louder voice, unsheathing his sword. Seconds felt like minutes as we waited for them to respond.
“They have to be inside,” Isaac muttered, furrowing his brow.
I twisted the knob, pushing the door with my shoulder, but found that it was locked.
“Girls!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. Alarmed, I drew my sword.
“That’s it.” Isaac landed a kick on the door, smashing it in half.
“Xylia!” Isaac screamed, rushing his way inside.
The room was empty. We looked at each other, confused at the sight.
“Where are they?” Petra’s eyes surveyed the room. “Where did they go?”
There were creases on the sheets of the bed. I marched toward the window, looking out at the dark landscape, trying to spot them.
“They have to be in this room,” Demetre said, searching under the bed.
Footsteps creaked on the wooden floor of the room. My lips tightened as I turned my face in the direction of the unexpected sounds.
“Do you hear it?” Isaac asked with eyes wide open. The sudden noise ceased. Our breathing was the only audible sound in the room.
“Where is it?” I feared an attack from whatever lurked around us.
Deafening screams came from the other room.
“It’s in here!” the wounded man roared. “Help me!”
“Is everything alright?” Ballard shouted from the living room. I heard the sound of his footsteps as he ran up the stairs. We hastened our way to the other room.
My wings moved beneath my skin when I laid eyes on the man.
“He is in here.” His entire body trembled. “Listen.”
An unseen creature strutted around the room. The continuous creaking noise of the wooden floor raised the hairs on my neck.
The man lifted his body with great difficulty, struggling to stand on his feet. His chest heaved with desperate breaths. While reclining his back on the bedpost, bite marks appeared on his face. His neck was ripped open before he could scream. Parts of his nose and lips were torn away from him. A puddle of blood formed on the white sheets of the bed.
“Show yourself, coward!” Demetre raised up his sword.
Petra turned his head, searching for the unseen being that walked around the room.
The man’s body twitched as life poured out of him.
A hovering cloud of smoke appeared in front of me. It assumed the shape of a grotesque monster. The creature was tall; its two horns were only inches away from touching the ceiling. It hissed as its dark eyes darted in our direction.
With a strong grasp, the beast held Adara and Xylia under its arms. This was indeed the creature the man had so fearfully described.
With great strength, it slammed its horns against the wall, creating a gap. Cold air flooded the room as the beast jumped its way out.
We were all at its heels.
“Do not let it escape,” said Ballard, running as fast as his human legs allowed him. The beast roared as it clumped its way through the soft snow.
Petra, Ballard, and Demetre stayed behind while Isaac and I chased the monster at full speed.
Isaac’s feet abandoned the ground as he soared into the air; his white wings spreading wide. I bent my knees, propelling my body toward the beast. As I approached its massive body, I grabbed one of its horns, my feet landing on its back.
With loud screeches, the creature released the girls, tossing them onto the snow. Isaac plunged down from the sky, his hand tight around his sword. At that moment, his gaze alone would have caused the fiercest of men to tremble in fear.
Before he could strike the creature with his sword, it clasped his left wrist, hurtling his body against one of the pine trees. Seconds later, the creature’s strong hands gripped my wounded ankle. I gritted my teeth, feeling a sharp pain shoot up my leg.
As my feet rose away from its body, I attempted to wound it with my blade. I pierced its shoulder as I was catapulted into the woods. The creature shrieked. My back collided with the bark of a bay willow tree.
My sword slipped from my hand the moment my body thudded on the ground. Disoriented, I looked up and realized that we were near the dead bodies that hung from a neighboring tree. Isaac lay on the ground, unconscious.
From behind the beast, I saw Ballard, Petra, and Demetre running in our direction. With a loud bellow, the creature stalked toward them.
“Watch out!” I shook my head from one side to the other, trying to remain focused.
The beast attempted to lash at them with its massive hands, but they dodged its every move at a surprising speed. With a determined expression, Petra swung his sword against the creature, which dodged his blade by lowering its head. Demetre rushed his way to Isaac’s unconscious body.
The monster tried to sink its teeth into Ballard’s arm. He swung his sword at the creature while dodging its swift attack. The beast shrieked as the blade entered its side. Once again, Petra raised his sword, and this time struck the creature on its right shoulder, driving his weapon deep within its body. It fell on its side, writhing in agony.
This lingering pain was something unfamiliar to me. I managed to stand, reclining my trembling body against the tree’s bark. I watched all of them. Demetre stood in front of his friend’s body. Judging by his stare, he was prepared to die in order to protect Isaac.
For a few moments, Ballard and Petra had vacant expressions in their eyes. In a trance-like state, they stood immobile. The creature continued to thrash its wounded body against the snow. I was confused when I saw Ballard lowering his arms. He bowed his head, dropping his sword to the ground, standing only inches away from the beast. What was he doing? Was it his plan to die again?
Desperate, the beast tried to crawl in the direction of the trees. Ballard’s left arm trembled as he clenched his fists. Petra drew closer to the creature. Fear and confusion filled me when I saw Petra laying his right hand on the creature’s skull. As fast as a breath, it ceased its movements. Its breathing grew shallow as its growls transformed into murmurs. The powerful monster appeared to be paralyzed. Ballard opened his eyes, raised his left fist, and struck the ground, causing the earth to shake beneath us. Cracks appeared on the ground, creating uneven patterns that extended all the way to the trees. I watched with a fervent gaze as the ground that the monster stood on caved in, swallowing its grotesque body. Like new skin that covers a wound, cracks in the earth quickly closed.
Silence lingered as I stared at Ballard and Petra. Where had such abilities come from?
Ballard pressed his brows together, looking at his left hand in amazement. With a gaping jaw, Petra trailed his fingertips across the palm of his hand. My attention was turned away from them as I limped my way to Isaac. Ballard rushed his way to the girls while Petra marched toward me.
“Are you alright?” asked Demetre, helping me kneel next to Isaac. From the corner of my eye, I saw Petra approaching me.
“Isaac,” I said, shaking his left shoulder. “Can you hear me?”
He opened his eyes wide, leaping to his feet.
“Where is the creature?” he asked.
“The creature is gone,” Petra said with a confused expression.
“Gone?” Isaac reached down for his sword, which had its blade buried beneath the snow.
“Ballard and me—”
“The girls!” Isaac screamed before Petra could finish his sentence.
Was there honesty amongst us?
I thought while watching Isaac rush his way to Ballard and the girls. Demetre and Petra followed him.
How could these abilities have sprung out of nowhere? In my heart, I hoped that they were not keeping secrets from me. Having to fight against the evil within me was already a battle in itself, but to have to fight against their lack of trust would be something unacceptable to me.
“How are you feeling?” asked Isaac, kneeling beside Xylia and Adara.
Adara cleared her throat. “What…happened?” she asked, pressing the edge of her hand against her forehead. “My head hurts.”
Petra lurched his way closer to Ballard.
“I would also like to know what happened,” I declared, looking at each one of them.
Petra and Ballard exchanged a confused expression. Xylia rubbed her face as she lifted her back from the snow. She squinted her eyes, wagging her head from side to side.
“Where is the boy?” she asked.
Isaac scowled at her, extending his hand.
“The boy was a creature from the Abyss,” he said while helping her stand to her feet. “It turned into a beast and attacked all of us. Do you not remember?”
“What do you mean?” Adara’s eyebrows knitted together. “The boy wasn’t real?”
Xylia’s nose scrunched up in disbelief as she set her eyes on Adara.