The house was as run down as it looked from the outside. The room they were in was completely devoid of furniture. The floorboards were bare and bristling with splinters; the walls covered with damp peeling stock.
Erich, regaining some of his earlier bravery, led the way and left the room.
On the other side of the door they found themselves on an equally bare stair landing ... To go up to the upper floor there was a staircase with some steps missing and others half broken.
The air was thick with the smell of mold ... It seemed that no one had inhabited the house in a long time, and yet he had seen some kind of servant open the door to the two body snatchers just a month before.
Erich surveyed the flight of stairs that led up into the darkness of the upper floor. Convinced that there was no danger that could come from there, he cautiously peered over the railing. Viktor followed suit.
The light from the street lamps that entered the building through
The simple black-skinned book was a scholar's chronicle of his search for lost knowledge at the time of the coming of the Dark Gods, and while it was an interesting read, it didn't really teach Viktor anything very useful.The book titled only Anatomy, on the other hand, fascinated him and he had to acknowledge that the concepts and detailed information it contained were easy for him to assimilate and integrate into his own knowledge. In fact, he seemed to have a strange affinity for the ideas presented in the book. He attributed this to the long relationship he had had with death by growing up as the son of a priest of the death god.After a week without any sudden and unexpected visit from the guard or worse, Viktor dared to go out into the street again. He even dared to return to the School to continue his work there. When Professor Ulbert Hinsteil asked him where he had been, Viktor replied that he had suffered a bad summer cold. Lying was another thing he was not
It is a common misconception to believe that necromancers hate life because of their dealings with death. There could be nothing further from the truth!Those who practice the art of necromancy may well spend years looting the graves of the dead, abandoned cemeteries, fetid ossuaries and ancient burial mounds, avoiding the light of day to take advantage of the protective shadow of the night and the relationship with the living in favor. From the company of moldy corpses. But what motivates this behavior is the desire to hang on to life for longer.Some actually reach necromancy by mistake. They want knowledge for its own sake, or they are trying to save their own life or that of a loved one. Perhaps it is also true that many of those who come to practice the dark art are prone to madness and dark desires because what else could lead them to study the lowest and vilest form of the art of magic? Yet there is something in their forbidden quest that inevitably leads them o
Viktor continued to descend, the voices that seemed to be casting a spell clearer with each step. He still didn't understand the words they were singing; they seemed to belong to a language he did not know. But as he listened to them he felt his scalp tighten and his hair stand on end. Sound leaked like icy liquid from every pore.Suddenly Viktor realized his teeth were chattering, so he clenched his jaws. Was it really from the cold under the house, or was it due to something else?The stone steps ended and he began another corridor, this one made of crumbling bricks, glittering with algae and water. The ceiling was covered with cobwebs where the skeletal corpses of their owners could be seen. The light flickered at the other end of the hall. By going down that path, Viktor risked coming face to face with whoever was casting the spell, probably Doctor Tepes, but now he couldn't help himself.Before he knew it, he was peering around the archway at the other end
The doctor had finished sewing the opening of the corpse and was now making strange gestures with his hands on the body; as the spell increased in intensity. This curious procedure made Viktor's stomach turn. Every gesture the doctor made was burned into his memory. The incomprehensible words of the spell reverberated in his mind as if they were familiar.As the mantra continued, the atmosphere in the laboratory cellar changed perceptibly. Viktor felt static electricity build up inside his own body as if he were trapped in the middle of an incipient electrical storm. He felt the shadows thicken around him. The air itself had taken on a suffocating quality. He looked greasy and tainted.Seen out of the corner of his eye, as he watched the doctor and the ritual taking place below, the impenetrable darkness that refused to disappear from the corners of the vault seemed to run like oil across the ceiling and ruined walls and gradually envelop the room, as if the shadows we
Viktor knew that he should have reported what he had seen that night, what he thought he had seen, to the Inquisitors. But now it was too late. In fact, he should have gone to the Inquisition earlier, after the discovery he had made in Dr. Tepes' library or even before that, when he saw the body snatchers. Of course, it was too late. The consequences for him were too dire and final to consider. No, he should just watch and wait alone and unaided for this to be over.On the thirtieth day of the month, Herwin visited him again. The excuse was that Professor Theodria had sent him to find out what had happened to Viktor and find out what was happening. Herwin was treated unceremoniously and Viktor dismissed him without giving any reason for his recent absence from school.Herwin returned four days later and insisted that they let him in and the two apprentices explain what was going on. On that occasion, a delusional Erich expelled him from the apartment. Herwin stormed of
I can still remember the first time I took the life of another man as clearly as it had been yesterday.I have killed many. The bully Inquisitor, the desperate prostitute, the unloyal soldier, the alcoholic priest, the grumbling ferrywoman, the repulsive and manipulative bloodsucker of the Moroi clan, the rude undertaker, the half-deranged militia soldier, the pompous nobleman, the master of the wizard's guild, my own apprentice, the big-whisked rat catcher, the stupid adventurer who fancied himself a hero, the innocent twins, the greedy thief.But I still remember the first. The first is special.I can still see his face as he strangled him. I can see the red and bulging eyes, the swollen tongue sticking out of the mouth, the puffed cheeks turning from pink to purple. I can hear the husky gurgling sputtering of the man choking and trying to inhale air that will never reach his lungs. I feel his desperate hands hitting m
Viktor arrived at the apartment building as the temple bells struck ten o'clock. In the dark, one of his feet brushed against something hairy and wet. Viktor stopped and took a step back.The unearthly luminescence of the moon illuminated even the darkness of the street, where the light devoid of shades stripped the object of all its color, but in spite of that it was unmistakable.Erich's cat lay dead in the street. His skinny body was unnaturally stretched out. Hideously black blood stained his spiky ginger hair where the wagon wheel had passed over him.Seeing such an incongruous image momentarily distracted Viktor from his own worries and anguish. Erich would be greatly affected. For some strange reason, he adored that grungy stray cat.Viktor bent down and scooped up the cat's body in the cape. The pungent acrid smell of the dead animal assaulted his nostrils even more strongly than the smell of
Viktor turned his head slowly and saw that Erich was standing in the doorway, his horrified face turned into conspicuous shock. For a moment, neither of them said anything. Viktor was busy panting, and Erich was simply too scared to say anything.Viktor's roommate had no need to explain what he was doing there. If anyone had to explain something, it was Viktor. And yet it was Erich, still standing in the doorway and not daring to step through, the first to speak.“I… I heard the cat. He was meowing. M… I wondered what had happened to him. "Viktor glanced at the body lying on the workbench. The front of the ginger cat hung from the edge of the table."Well, now you know," Viktor replied.Erich looked from Viktor to the cat and back to Viktor, the same shocked expression of horror painted on his face."H ... how?" was the only thing he coul
The Damenburg castle was a almost impregnable defensive structure. Able to support a siege for years due to the large amount of resources and supplies that were inside.If any intruder was able to infiltrate, it would meet many unpleasant surprises. As the Metroidvania construction of the castle caused its route partially labyrinthic and convoluted.Some areas of the castle were fully blocked and removable if certain items that worked as a key was not possessed.The location of the castle was a total mystery, because it was inside a valley between mountains and in the center of a forest with a deep fog.If the location of the castle was discovered, any unwanted guest would find many dangers designed to eradicate them.The first danger that any invader would face would be a dark forest with a fog so dense and deep that blocked solar light almost in its entirety. Unable to see, the invaders would be lost inside during hours, and even days. Well, the
After nonchalantly walking to the front of the assailant group, Isabell looked around.“Everyone, thank you for gathering in this place for me. Oh yeah, who is your leader? Could we negotiate for a moment? "Seeing that the bandits looked at one of their own, Isabell got the information she wanted. Which meant that with the exception of this man, the others were more than cockroaches. Blood tastes better if it comes from someone strong."What ... what do you want to negotiate?"After seeing the most beautiful young woman he had ever seen, the man who seemed to be her leader finally regained his composure and advanced towards her."Ahh, forgive me. The negotiation was just a joke to get the information she wanted. Forgive me."A few men looked confused, and in search of answers they began to look at each other, but among these men ...
A carriage was speeding away from the walled city.Four strong horses pulled a carriage that was large enough to carry six passengers.The surrounding area was unexpectedly illuminated by a bright moon hanging in the sky… But still, it was foolish to travel in haste on a night like this. Putting up lights, making camp and standing guard would be a wiser decision.To say that the night was a world in which humans were not in control would not be enough. To put it more clearly, the places where the light did not reach did not belong to humans. Countless animals and monsters lurked at night, many of which could see through the darkness and attack humans.On a dangerous night like this, the passengers only felt a slight vibration as the carriage moved down the road.This small vibration was not due to the carriage having excellent suspension, but rather because the carriage wa
Donn started running toward the lower part of town. The city of Riverheim was built at the junction of two rivers, whose flow merged into a new great river which extended from Riverland to the west coast of the Kingdom of Lothal, in Sealand.Due to the conflagration of the Y-shaped river, the city of Riverheim was divided into three main sectors; to the north was the commercial sector, where most of the artisans and middle-class bourgeois population were found; To the south was the Aristocratic Sector, although it had such a pompous name, in reality there were also the headquarters of the guilds, the cathedral of the quartet and the central church in the Duchy of Riverland of the Six Gods, although separated from the public and only available to a few, was the Villa Noble that covered the entire western area of the sector; To the East the popular sector was located, ignoring the beautiful name, that was the place where the poor neighborhoods were, that being t
Azrael looked around the luxurious room. Of course, if one were to compare this room with the rooms in Damenburg Castle, then it could be said that this room did not have any charm.Sure, that wasn't something surprising since he had simply chosen the wrong object to compare. It was like comparing iron to platinum.But even if platinum was higher in price, iron had another kind of utility.Azrael focused his gaze on the corner of the room and found that the luggage was already ready and assembled. They could leave immediately if they wanted to. Since Azrael hadn't prepared it, Isabell must have made it herself when she had left the restaurant."You should have let me pack the luggage."“What are you saying Azrael? Did you want to check my underwear? You are a perverted angel "The young woman straightened her body and shook her head. She was Isabell Dra
The operation was progressing smoothly, although the details of the mission were vague, the objectives were clear; collect information about the human nation called Kingdom of Lothal.As Azrael thought about the direction of the operation, he noticed a man walking towards him."Having to leave at this time must be a difficult decision for you ..."The man who spoke to Azrael was in his forties and fifties, clean-shaven and with black hair streaked with white streaks. Perhaps due to his age and his extravagant eating habits, he had a large belly.He was tastefully dressed, his elegant clothes spoke of a man of a high position."Are you Mr. Bryman?"Azrael nodded slightly as he greeted him, but the man was quick to stop such a gesture."Ah, you don't need to be so polite."His name was Thomas Bryman and he was a fairly
"Is this how your parents met?" asked a handsome man with night-black hair and deep eyes brimming with charisma."Romantic. Don't you think? " were the words of a charming girl whose beauty would amaze anyone who witnessed her, her silver hair was combed in such a way that she had a fringe that covered her left eye; her slim body and abnormally pale skin gave him a fragile appearance."I suppose ... he has the charm of him" said the handsome man, who wore an elegant long-sleeved black raincoat over a black leather jerkin which fitted perfectly to his torso; Gala pants along with refined black shoes finished making up his outfit."Right?" were the words spoken by the charming girl, who was wearing a beautiful black dress with red details; Her dress had a prominent victory style, so on her torso she had a tight corset which highlighted her feminine curves."Moving on to a less ... peculiar topic" began
"I offer you my humble respects, Earl Drake." The man's accent was particularly strong; it was obvious that he was a foreigner. Imperial, perhaps, or farther west, Leom thought, trying to place it. "And you, fair lady," he added as he turned to Shandri, "you are lovely. A beautiful rose between these two withered thorns. "The woman's face lit up at the simple compliment. A lopsided smile crept to her lips and she bowed gracefully without taking her gaze from the man's eyes. And what eyes did she have! They were of animal intensity, loaded with nameless appetites. She was swallowed up by that gaze and willingly surrendered to the sensation.The man had power and was not averse to exploiting it. A slow predatory smile appeared on her face.Shandri felt a force draw her toward the newcomer. It was a subtle but compelling sensation. She took a step toward him."Stop staring at him, woman, he's very unse
Shandri sat on the edge of the old man's bed and wiped the blood-streaked saliva off his chin, then turned her attention to his uncle. He had known him all his life. In other times he had kissed the ground where he walked, but with age he came to understand that man was a worm. "And I suppose I have no say in the matter." Leom studied his niece for an awkward moment as she pushed her long blonde hair away from her face. She was beautiful in her own way, with fair skin and fine bones. The combination of her gave him a charming air of delicacy, although in reality the young woman she possessed the bad temper of the Drake family and she could be as devious as a weasel if she wished. “Not in the least, I'm afraid, my dear. I wish it were otherwise, but I'm not the one who made the law. By accident of birth ... you turned out to be ... female. With no male children, your father's line ends and mine begins as the oldest