04 - Mr. Kin
John was in the cabin when he heard some screams coming from the stream. They were Sarah's screams. He immediately ran toward the source of the cries. When he arrived, there was no one there, only the basket full of apples. John was shocked to find a small pool of blood a few meters away from the basket. He walked calmly toward the pool and noticed it formed a trail of blood. She couldn’t have been attacked by an animal; after all, there were no animals in that forest. When he reached a large tree with leaves resembling chains, the blood trail disappeared. John was confused and terrified, so he ran back to the cabin, gathered his belongings, and returned to the large tree.
“This can't be happening!” John exclaimed as he ran with his suitcase in hand.
He stood there under the tree. He could hear some murmurs; Sarah was hanging above John’s head, entangled in the chain-like leaves. John didn’t notice this, so, feeling apprehensive, he began to follow a small trail of tree bark behind the tree. Sarah was being squeezed by the tree’s branches. Her eyes screamed for help. John walked several hours into the forest and found a good place to rest. It was getting dark, and he didn’t want to risk wandering around any longer. John had a very strange dream:
Peny was sitting on a golden throne, Linie beside her, while Manahara and Marc stood next to Peny and Linie. Then, a huge door opened, and one of the Miera mansion's servants entered, looking somewhat scared, wrapped in chains and sweating heavily.
“So, dear Mrs. Miera. Come on, don’t be afraid.”
Linie stood up and walked toward the man. He was a cook wearing a hat, a white apron, and green eyes. She touched the man and then, with a furious look, took a dagger from her hair, which had been serving as a hairpin. Linie raised the dagger with both hands and said with anger in her voice:
“I can't wait to try it!”
John woke up startled and saw that it was already morning. No birds were singing; everything was silent, as if life were unwelcome in that forest. John walked calmly to a spring to wash his face. When he looked up, he was shocked by what he saw.
A little girl with blonde hair, wearing a pink frilly dress, holding a headless doll in her left hand, with black eyes and a hellish smile, was on the other side of the spring, looking at John.
“Who are you?!”
The little girl laughed and then spoke.
“You are in my forest and you still want me to explain things? I see you’re very foolish; you traded a life for death. I should take yours right now.”
John looked at the girl with some astonishment and stood up.
“How do you know that? This forest, yours?”
The girl turned into smoke and reappeared behind John, who trembled like jelly.
“Forgive me for not introducing myself; I am Blarest, the Guardian of this beautiful and marvelous forest. I can see the weakest points of a person, allowing me to drive them mad when they enter my lovely and marvelous forest. Don’t worry, I won’t do anything bad to you; after all, I cannot change fate.”
Blarest had been a beautiful princess in ancient times. One day she passed away at just twelve years old. Her father, the king, summoned several sorcerers to try to resurrect her. They succeeded, but it led to the destruction of the entire kingdom. She killed her entire family, and half of the kingdom fled to the nearest hills. For this, she was cursed to live in a forest where life rarely ventured. She learned not to repeat her actions and allowed Sarah to stay.
“What? I’m not guilty of anything.”
Blarest looked at him, hugging the doll, and whispered.
“My dear, you should learn that fate cannot be changed. I pity your life. The fate I see for you is terrifying. Farewell; I have no orders to kill you.”
Blarest vanished in green smoke, leaving John alone in the forest. He pondered her words and tried to find his way back to Sarah’s cabin but was unsuccessful. Perhaps he was lost. John walked for several hours through a seemingly endless and lifeless forest. As another day began, John settled at the base of a tree and began to doze off.
Linie looked more beautiful, her eyes more radiant. Her mouth was smeared with blood, and the body of a man lay at her feet. She walked to Peny, who was standing, and they exited through a door behind them. Peny put on a dark blue cloak, and Linie donned a matching cloak as well. Both put on their hoods and ventured into the darkness of the night.
Manahara was beside her brother, Marc. Both wore satisfied smiles. She looked at Marc and said.
“My dear brother, I think our work here is done. We need to convince the judges that the book doesn’t exist and was destroyed centuries ago.”
Marc looked at her with a serious expression.
“Sis, I understand, but this is not up to us. I love watching conflicts; let’s leave it and see what happens. After all, weren’t you the one hoping to see Peny being expelled?”
Manahara nodded. The two transformed into gray crows and flew out of a window. Linie and Peny were on a cobblestone path with several leafless trees on the sides. They walked calmly with measured and deliberate steps. The path was shrouded in mist, and nothing could be seen in front or behind them, only one of the towers of the castle they had just left.
“Peny? I heard Manahara and Marc talking about a certain book.”
Peny glanced sideways at Linie and continued walking without saying a word. The two did not exchange any words throughout the journey. Peny stopped at a point on the path and whispered to herself.
“The book!”
Linie looked at Peny with confusion.
“What book?”
“The Tartrios book! We need to get it. We were deceived. We need to go back!”
Linie was startled and, as she was turning to head back, they were no longer in the same place; they had teleported to a muddy street.
“Peny! What happened? Where are we?”
“It’s the magic; the castle’s magic confuses our thoughts and actions. It’s likely we’re miles away from it. We’ll never reach it again without Manahara or Marc’s help.”
“And now? How? Why do we need this book?”
Peny snapped her fingers, and two black chairs appeared in a cloud of smoke. She sat down and began to explain some things to Linie. She explained that Linie was part of a destiny plot.
“Linie, this has happened before. A long time ago, a man madly in love with his beloved sacrificed one of his children to resurrect her. She was resurrected, but not as she once was. She killed the entire family, except for the child. I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you more about this. The fate is already sealed, and you cannot change it. If I told you something worse was to come, it would happen. All I can say is that the only way to prevent this from happening is to destroy the book, or...”
“Or what?” Linie asked, amazed.
Peny looked down and said in a sad voice.
“Something terrible will happen.”
Linie looked at Peny and murmured.
“This is all my fault, isn’t it? That idiot of a husband of mine.”
Peny lifted her gaze with a wicked smile and said.
“Of course, it’s your fault. If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t be going through this. The only thing I wish for you is to be destroyed, but as my mission is to protect you, I’ll wait for fate to decide what will happen. We need to destroy the book to restore everything to how it was before.”
The two stood up and continued walking. Peny looked at Linie with suspicion in her eyes.
“Stop! We’re being followed,” she murmured.
Linie looked at Peny in surprise and reached for her dagger. Peny’s umbrella transformed into a spiked scythe. They stood still, waiting for something to happen.
“Well, well, well! Long time no see, Miss Burya!” A male voice emerged from the shadows. It was a boy who appeared to be fifteen years old, dressed formally, with dark skin and curly hair.
Peny tried to hide her fear and spoke pompously.
“What are you doing here? You should be in Brazil! This is not your place.”
The boy looked at her and laughed heartily.
“I came on a mission. And do you know what my mission is? To kill the one who embraces the apocalypse.”
Peny looked at Linie and nodded. Linie disappeared in black smoke, and Peny transformed into a cloud of dust. She reappeared in front of the boy and threw the scythe at him. He dodged and tried to throw knives at Peny. Peny performed a somersault, catching the knives with her right hand, spinning in the air, and throwing the scythe at the boy’s neck. He dodged, tripping Peny, who jumped over him and landed behind the boy. The boy spun three times in the air and hit Peny’s face.
“Hahaha, I see you haven’t trained much over the centuries.”
Peny looked at him with fury, spat on the ground, and spoke with a tone of superiority.
“The last time I saw you, you were better, Mr. Kin.”
She attacked Kin with a circular motion with the scythe, hitting his ear. No blood came out, only a crystallized smoke descending from his ear. The boy ran towards Peny, and before he got close, Linie materialized behind him and struck him in the neck with the dagger.
“You still owe me, Peny.”
The boy said and vanished in white smoke that ascended into the sky and transformed into a pigeon.
“Is he dead?” Linie asked, scared.
“Probably not; he just needed to recover from the fight. He will come after us. We need to leave immediately before other hunters come after us.”
“Who was he?” Linie asked, walking quickly down the street. Peny looked at her and began to speak.
“That was Zurt Kin. One of the Tartrio hunters from Brazil. He’s a kind of soldier; their mission is to kill whoever their country’s kings command. The last time I saw him was a hundred years ago in a battle against the Tartrios of the East. Brazil and Europe were allies. I didn’t believe he would actually try to kill me. I think he’s turned to the dark side.”
“Dark side? I thought everyone was on the same side.”
“No, dear. There is the dark side and the obscured side. We need to find a way to Brazil. I need to find Zurt’s father!”
Linie looked a bit scared at Peny but nodded in agreement. Peny and Linie continued walking for several hours until they reached a small village. They stopped in front of a bar with a large sign that read: “ODEM.”
