Marcos had seen all that he wanted. If the information Travis had given him was correct, this woman was the kind of client he had been looking for all this time. All he had to do now was wait for the older woman to finish her dinner and lead the young escort to one of the rooms in the floors below, where her true feeding could begin. Satisfied, he gestured at the waiter that he was ready for his dessert.
They had been walking for some time now and were nearing their destination: the largest of the houses built on the inside of the mountain, which was the only one standing out compared to the other, plain structures. Erica tried as best as she could to notice some of the details from afar. Architecturally, the building reminded her of the first small palaces built by her ancestors, in their earlier form and at a much smaller size. The building melded with the mountain, so much so that it appeared to be a natural extension of the bedrock. It comprised three levels; the first, which was the largest, was the one protruding the most from the mountainside, while the second and third were smaller, to such an extent that the last one appeared to be no larger than a couple of rooms. Straight, wide steps, on the outer side, created a pathway which led to the top of the building, where two large black obelisks stood and behind them something resembling an arch.
Next to her the other leaders walked around Archytas, whom previously they had bombarded with questions regarding his sword and the magic he had employed. Following the battle he had healed them all, casting spells and applying some herbs he had been carrying with him in a small pouch. He gave no answers whatsoever, despite the persistent questioning. The only thing he did was to take at some point the sack, which they had been carrying with them from the surface above the lake, to help them out. The creatures that had attacked them now followed them from a safe distance. They were carefully tracking their moves, step by step. Erica noticed that as they were leaving behind them the portal at the center of the lake, the creatures were converging there, as if they were looking to block their escape route from the mountain. The serpent of doubt returned, its bite venomous. She trusted Archytas more than any other leader in their army, but he refused to talk to them, even to Erica, who had always been the one closest to him and in this place the doubts were so intense as to shake even the truest of hearts. She wondered what she could say, since she was the only one who hadn’t spoken this far, what sort of question she might ask to help disperse the doubts in everyone’s mind, but in the end she decided that any intervention would do more harm than good. She could not be certain what her deformed friend’s reply might be and, in any case, they had now arrived at their destination.
They climbed the stairs, with Archytas leading the way. Upon reaching the top, Erica noticed that the obelisks were engraved with runes and the structure she had mistaken for an arch was in fact a gate leading into the mountain, a passage wide enough to accommodate five men walking abreast. Inspecting more closely that place and with her curiosity peaking by the second, she noticed that all the runes had been destroyed. Some had been affected by the natural erosion of the stone over the passage of time, while others bore scratches on them, as if clawed at by animals. Archytas approached and touched one of the runes with his palm, almost caressing it. Under his touch, the rune glowed in a pale blue light for a few moments and then it completely disappeared, as if it had never existed on the surface of the obelisk. The man, clearly saddened and disappointed, turned his attention to the gate, which stood wide open. Scattered stones on the ground, resembling broken bricks, and a few remaining around the archway of the gate revealed that this had once been walled in, hermetically closed. Judging by the scattered pieces on the ground Erica concluded that someone or something had demolished it from within.
Inside the gate everything was engulfed by complete and utter darkness. Erica walked in first; she did not possess Archytas’ magic, but in this she could prove useful. Placing her palms together, she closed her eyes and tried to quiet her mind. Silently, she pried to her god, Mardocheus, calling upon him to grant her some of his powers. The Babylonian god was receptive of her prayer and Erica felt her body imbued with holy power. She opened her eyes and extended her arms towards the darkness ahead of her. Orbs of pure energy were cast from her open palms, rushing to eradicate the darkness, lighting the place like the stars of night. A path was revealed before their eyes, so long that they were unable to see the end of it. Wasting no time, with the orbs lighting their way, they pressed ahead.
He pressed his ear on the closed door of the room. He could not hear a thing; this hotel was far too good not to offer soundproofing. Not that Marcos would have been able to hear anything other than his heart thumping like crazy inside his chest. He considered for a few seconds the possibility he was mistaken but he quickly cast those thoughts aside. Deep inside he felt like he could face anything, he was experiencing an unprecedented sense of determination. He kicked open the door, which turned out to be unlocked and rushed in the room, holding his gun.
The young woman he had seen leaving with the middle-aged client was lying naked and dead on the bed. Her throat had been slashed end to end and everything around the corpse had been soaked in blood. Right next to the bed, on a chair, sat the older woman in the elegant suit. She too was covered in blood, but remained fully dressed. She was smiling wickedly and the moment she saw Marcos charge in her room, she told him, revealing her elongated canines:
“I was beginning to wonder when you’d show up! You had been staring at me the entire evening!”
Marcos wasted no time and shot the vampire. The bullets missed their target; the fiendish woman was also prepared for this and managed to evade them with ease. She attacked. She grabbed him by the hands, making him drop his gun and Marcos instinctively head-butted her; it proved more painful to him than to her. She lifted him off the floor and launched him against the other end of the room. The middle-aged woman in the expensive suit closed the door, without actually locking it, since Marcos had broken the lock when he charged in. She turned to him and a devilish smile flashed on her face.
They looked at each other, just for a moment. Within fractions of a second they were again facing off, trading blows. Marcos was losing the contest. The vampire jumped on him, tightening her legs around his waist and bit him on the neck. The young policeman screamed in pain and fell down, dragging her along with him, unable to get her off him. He began pounding at her with his right arm, but she grabbed his wrist and broke it as if it were a twig. The pain was excruciating. Moments later the woman got up and kicked him, landing her foot between his lungs and stomach. Marcos stopped screaming, as he was now struggling to draw breath. With gleeful sadism and laughing like a little girl, the woman gestured him to stay quiet, placing her index on her lips. The very next moment she fell on him furiously and again bit him on the neck, pinning him on the floor with her arms. Marcos tried with his left hand to draw from his belt the silver dagger he had acquired, but the vampire sensed the movement. She stopped drinking his blood and grabbed this hand, too, breaking it with a twist of her arm with the same ease she had done with the other one. Marcos almost fainted. The woman told him something, but he didn’t hear it; his ears were ringing. Vaguely, he realized her teeth had returned to his neck and sensed his life quickly slipping away.
All of a sudden, he felt as if liquid fire was flowing in his veins. The vampire twitched, her instinct warning her of an unseen danger, but it was far too late. Marcos got hold of the dagger and in a flash plunged it in her ribcage. Without even allowing her the chance to scream, in a rush of adrenaline, he pulled out the blade, pushed her off him and stabbed her right on the heart. The vampire turned into a pile of ashes and dust. Stunned, he looked at his hands; there wasn’t the slightest scratch on them. He could not fathom what had just happened. And yet, the wound on his neck was still bleeding, he wasn’t feeling well. Crawling at first and then stumbling, he got out of the room. Almost tittering, he managed to get to the elevator which, luckily, arrived soon enough. He got in and pressed the button
to take him to the reception. The doors slid closed and he collapsed. The last thing he heard before fainting was the sound of the elevator announcing it had arrived at the designated floor. The screams of a young woman who had been waiting to get in and saw him crumbled on the floor of the elevator only registered in his subconscious.
The path inside the mountain led Erica and the other leaders to a cavern, the likes of which they had never seen before. Its natural ceiling was entirely smooth and resembled a dome, as if someone had cut and chiseled away at the stone using power tools. Like the obelisks they had encountered earlier, it was entirely covered in runes. Unlike those runes, however, which were half-erased and defiled, these still shone in a bright blue light. The ground resembled the sand found on a beach, since at its perimeter the cavern comprised a mix of stones and gravel, while gradually towards its center it turned into a fine, powdery black sand. Right at its center, which was like pool, there was molten metal, as silvery as the waters of the lake above them, and around it stood four massive stalactites, the only ones in the entire cavern. Each stalactite had on it a diamond, which was magically shining bright, casting a beam of light on the molten metal.
The oddest thing of them all, however, was the man who was floating over the pool, chained, bound in heave stone shackles, made of the same black material as the obelisks. Erica looked at him, stunned. His limbs were skeletal, his bones charred, blackened. Higher up, on his arms, where there was still flesh, the skin was entirely cracked; it resembled white, frayed porcelain, while the black veins extending around the limb, like branches of a tree, made it look like it had been painted. The man’s chest was in similar condition; the bones in his ribs extruded from the sickly flesh contained within that otherworldly skin. Only his head looked normal, though pale and entirely devoid of any hair. The man, while Erica was studying him, slowly floated downwards towards the molten metal beneath him; inches before touching it, his body jerked and returned to its initial position; only to start again the descent, again and again. With their hearts beating like war drums and their minds flooded by questions, they approached the man, who suddenly began screaming.
From within his mouth a small hand appeared, dark as a shadow, and then a second one. They both grabbed hold of his cheeks, as if trying to climb out of him, while the man was howling in pain, almost falling in the pool below. With a sudden leap, one of those shadowy creatures emerged from the man’s mouth and landed in front of the molten metal, avoiding any contact with it. It approached them, while growing in size, until it reached that of an average person. Its eyes were ruby red, like those of the creatures they had fought off earlier, upon entering the Shadow Kingdom. The Creature smiled at Archytas, revealing a full set of teeth, long and sharp like blades.
“Ah, I was wondering when you would return to visit! So many, many centuries have passed since I last saw you”, said a voice colder than the bitterest wintry wind.
Archytas ignored the Creature and turned to the others:
“Follow the plan exactly as I instructed. The chains are for the body. Leave its spirit to me”.
The two men carrying the sack let it drop and from within they drew a large, golden net. Archytas drew his sword from its scabbard and attacked the shadowy creature, which managed to hover over him, out of reach, using its unholy magic to levitate.
“I was right in guessing you would bring company this time”, said the Creature, mockingly.
It extended its dark arms towards the path and the very next moment the men heard the shadows they had clashed with earlier charging towards them. The Creature lowered its arms and immediately lunged at Archytas, while dozens of the shadowy creatures flooded the cavern.
Erica drew her sword, determined not to let the shadows best her this time round. She scythed the first one that approached her, dodged the second and beheaded the third, instantly destroying it. With an acrobatic leap, she evaded her enemies and killed yet another creature that was about to grab one of her companions. As if warned by a sixth sense, she struck with her sword behind her, without turning around and heard the dying screeches of another shadow.
“Don’t stand still!” she shouted at her companions.
This brief pause cost her, as a creature managed to land a blow on her face. She felt as if she had been struck by a cold stone, even though the shadow appeared to be immaterial. She beheaded her attacker with a slash of her sword and continued moving as if performing an invisible choreography, dodging the attacks of the creatures almost magically.
The rest of the leaders followed her example. Either solo or in pairs, they let loose in the cavern, butchering shadows indiscriminately. The two men in charge of the golden net held it tight, each grabbing an end, and used this as their weapon, leaving aside their swords. Any shadow touching that magical net disappeared in a blast of energy.
As if they are alone in the cavern, Archytas and the Creature are locked in duel, ignoring all the others. Archytas brings down his sword at the Shadow, but it manages to avoid the blow with ease. The enchanted blade slices the air and its yielder immediately changes direction, but once again he connects with empty space. The Creature leaps in the air and lands behind him. It slashes at Archytas with its sharp claws, plunging them in his shoulder. It attempts to lift him off the ground with its otherworldly power, but Archytas proves stronger still. He stays on the ground; steady as a rock and slashing down with his sword severs the hand of his shadowy opponent. The Creature screams and the lesser ones join its howling. Archytas presses the advantage. He furiously strikes at the Creature, chopping off parts of its body, which disappear as they fall. Each blow lands on the Shadow like a bolt of lightning and for a fleeting moment the man tastes victory. But he allows himself to get carried away and pays no attention to two lesser shadows, which grab him by the arms, preventing him from landing the killing blow to their master. The Creature counterattacks. Using unholy magic it heals its wounds, regenerates its arms and strikes powerfully at the chest of the man, sending him flying backwards. It begins an incantation, in some incomprehensible language, summoning more shadows around it. These emerge from within the walls of the cavern, from the pathway and any part that isn’t entirely lit, quickly surrounding the humans. Archytas gets up, but he has lost his sword. With his bare hands he grabs a shadow and using his magic banishes it. He attempts to do the same with a second one, but runs out of time. Countless shadows fall on him, grabbing hold of him, while the Creature cackles eerily, as it approaches to finish him off.
Erica jumps and falls on the chained man floating over the molten metal. Together they fall in the liquid and immediately the cavern is rocked by a cacophony of screams. The chained man is screaming in pain and the Shadow that had emerged from within him screeches and returns once more to the body of the man. Molten metal drenches Erica, burning her skin like acid. The pain is so extreme, that she is unable to even scream. The lesser shadows that had flooded the cavern howl like wounded animals, unable to keep up the fight and Archytas manages to break free. Weakened, he picks up his sword and with the last reserves of his powers invokes his magic to banish as many shadows as possible. Cheops runs towards the center of the cave and, almost diving in the molten metal himself, grabs hold of Erica’s arm, pulling her out. Two of the other leaders snatch the golden net and trap in it the chained man, while the Creature is already beginning to reemerge from within him and the shadows gradually recover. The net flies through the air and catches on the ground around the molten metal, preventing the man from floating up. The shadows around them hastily retreat and the battle ends.
They all gathered around Erica. Droplets of molten metal were still on her, eating away at her skin. Only Archytas could help her. Passing the sword over her, he made the droplets come off, float and return to the pool to rejoin the rest of the molten metal.
“I am sorry, but I’ve no strength left to fully heal you”, he told her, clearly exhausted.
They all carried wounds, but Erica was in the poorest condi
tion of them all. Archytas, turning towards the Creature, which now was trapped under the golden net, added:
“At least, we emerged victorious. Now that we have trapped it, it is time to kill it and banish it forever”.
Marcos regained consciousness in a dimly lit room. His head felt like it was about to split from the pain and the second he opened his eyes he realized that, on top of everything else, he was feeling dizzy. He closed his eyes again and tried to recover. He could hear water dripping and the room where he was smelled, stale and moldy. He wasn’t tied down, but he could feel his ribs were bandaged. Also, he could feel a needle in his arms and, judging from the times he had ended up in hospitals during his career, assumed it was some drip.
He opened his eyes again after a while and managed to sit up. The room around him truly looked like a dump and was far too small. The walls were covered in moisture and mold; the paint appeared to have peeled off years ago. A small bulb was shedding some light and he managed to see that he was still wearing his clothes, although he was missing his jacket, along with the items he had been carrying. The iron bed, on which he had just regained consciousness, was rusted, as was the closed iron door. Only two things looked like new in that place, from what he could see: the mattress on the bed and the lock on the door. He tried opening the door, in vain. It was locked. However, he did hear a man, outside the room, calling to someone that the patient was awake. He wondered whether he should try talking to the guard, but quickly decided it would be pointless. He returned to his bed, which squeaked under his weight, to lie down and wait.