YES! I FINALLY UPDATED! I promise guys, I really would have updated sooner, but I was at the beach aka I was inernetless. I still don't have very good internet... But good enough to finally give you chapter 10!
The neighs of the horse from the stable kept going on and on, echoing terror and pain. It didn't take Quirin long to realize what was happening to the animal, and that the same would happen to them if they didn't get out of there fast. For obvious reasons, leaving from the front door was out of the question, so there was only one way out.
"Come on." He said as he grabbed Varian's arm, making him stand up too and with fast steps he walked to his room, taking Varian with him.
"Dad, what's going on? Someone's at the stab-" Varian begun.
"I know." His Dad cut him off searching something through some drawers.
Varian opened his mouth to say something but stopped once he heard a quiet chittering. He turned around and saw Rudiger with a sword in his mouth, looking at him with an intense expression. It almost looked like he was trying to warn him about something. Varian turned to look at his Dad, who was still rummaging around in the drawers, and the realization hit him like a million bricks: For some reason, he was looking for the key to his lab. Varian immediately put his hand in a side pocket of his apron, in which he had put the key, but much to his shock, it wasn't there. It must have fallen off when he fell off the bed before.
Varian looked nervously at Rudiger and kneeled next to him. But as soon as he did, the worry on his face gave its place to puzzlement and curiosity and for a moment he found himself staring at (perhaps even marveling) the sword his friend was holding.
No, no, no! Varian, keep it together! Now it's not the time! He thought quickly, bringing himself back to reality. "The key must have fallen somewhere near my bed!" He whispered to his raccoon "Fin-"
"Varian." Quirin's voice startled him.
Varian could feel every hair on his body having stood on end as he heard it, and before he knew it he had stood up, still with his back turned to his Dad. Could he really turn around? Even if he survived everything that happened before (including the incident after his nightmare), now he was really done for. Lying of course wouldn't get him anywhere. It might even have got him into more trouble. Something was telling him that his lab would probably not be the only place that would be locked… In the end, he took a silent deep breath, before he turned around to face his Dad.
"Y-yeah...?" He said trying to sound casual (and failing miserably...).
"Listen. I'm not going to yell, I'm not going to be mad, I just want you to tell me something. Did you take the key to the basement?" He asked.
Varian was surprised, if not shocked, not only by his words, but also by his tone. No, especially by his tone. As he expected, Varian could hear anger in his voice, but he could also hear something else that was stronger than that. He could also hear nervousness. But even that sounded almost... concealed. Varian didn't need anything else to realize that something big was up.
"Yes... I did. But now I don't have it because it probably fell off my pocket after I fell off the bed." Varian said breathlessly, bracing himself. "Why-why do you ask?" He asked with a sheepish and curious expression.
He really would be lying if he said that he wasn't curious about why his Dad would want the key to his lab. And now, after his nightmare and the whole strange incident, not to mention the fact that someone was at the stable as they were speaking.
But before his Dad was able to say anything, another noise was heard from outside. A loud neigh. Louder than any of the ones that were heard before, and exactly after it... a loud thud.
What followed was silence. Cold enough to make anyone freeze and be on guard, prepared for anything that could be strong enough to break it.
In this case, that was a loud 'bang' of a door opening (or probably shattering) from outside.
Quirin felt his blood freezing in his veins. That was it. They had run out of time.
No, he couldn't dwell on it, not now! He had a job to do. He just needed to make it quick. And before that, he needed to make sure that his son would stay out of it.
He walked past Varian and grabbed his sword from Rudiger's mouth, before quickly adjusting it to his belt.
"Uh, Dad-" Varian tried to ask, overcome with uneasiness, but his Dad shushed him and left, closing the door behind him.
Confused and frustrated, Varian was about to open it, when suddenly he heard the sound of... something clicking?! He pushed the handle, but the door wouldn't open. It was locked.
"Dad! Dad, what are you doing?! What-what's going on?! Let me out!" Varian yelled trying in vain to open the locked door, only for his Dad to shush him again.
"I'll explain everything later, I promise. But for now, stay put and don't make a sound! No matter what!" He whispered urgently, making him stop as he got down the stairs.
Suddenly, a cricking noise was heard as the front door opened slowly. Varian kneeled down and peered outside from the keyhole, but the only person he could see was his Dad, standing his ground and holding firmly in his hand the now unsheathed sword from before.
For once again, the boy found himself staring at it. He didn't really know much about swords, but he could recognize the hard work that was put on that one. What he couldn't recognize at all, however, was the material its black blade was made of.
Although, before he could think of it any longer, a laugh suddenly echoed in the house. It sounded like a woman's laugh and even though it sounded joyful, it was sending chills to Varian's spine. It somehow felt scary and twisted and... wrong. And actually… where was it coming from?
Rudiger moved closer to Varian, letting out a soft scared trill and slightly trembling, and the boy ran his fingers through his fur reassuringly, before turning his attention again outside.
Quirin took a few steps forward after he heard the laugh, his eyes carefully scanning around the house for anything... odd. Like a strange shadow moving beside him.
He quickly stabbed the sword to the ground, where the shadow was. And with the sound of the splintering wood came out a hoarse scream. Quirin prepared to move the sword upwards, when all of a sudden, the shadow started taking shape, depth and color, emerging into the third dimension, and in a matter of seconds, in its place was a woman covered with a black cloak.
She quickly stood up, pulling the ends of her long red dress out of the sword, slightly tearing them. That seemed to make her wince a bit, but nonetheless she made a nonchalant noise as she removed the hood from her face with a flourish.
As she did, dark curly tresses fell over her shoulders, like the night falling over the world after the sun is gone. Her cold grey gaze fell directly on Quirin like the winter wind, as it always did whenever he faced her.
Varian was still watching through the keyhole, and the moment he saw her, his stomach twisted in a knot. He had seen, of course, how she went from a shadow to a human being, which of course was impossible and made him want to slam his head against a wall, but that felt only like a part of his reaction. Of this uneasiness, this fear that her presence was causing him. It nearly felt... familiar. But how? Who was that woman to begin with?
"Ugh, did you really have to ruin my dress? If you wanted to see me, you could have just said so. I'm in no mood for violence tonight, after all..." She said simply, her words sprinkled with annoyance and irony.
"If, by some miracle, that's true, then turn around and leave. Now!" Quirin said angrily, pointing her with his sword.
Although, that didn't seem to intimidate her. If anything, she looked amused.
"Leave? Now? But I just came! And trust me when I say that finding you was not easy this time. You really know how to pick a place, I'll give you that." She said as she walked past him with a fast step "Besides... as I said, I'm in no mood for violence tonight. So why don't we just sit and have a civilized conversation, hm? It's been a pretty long time since our last one... Remember?" She asked with a smile, sitting on the table cross-legged (apparently, she was making herself at home... even though she wasn't asked to.).
Quirin clenched his fist hearing her words, the memory of that last conversation a bitter sting in his thoughts.
"You have the audacity to ask for a 'civilized conversation'... after everything you've done?!" He growled and charged at her.
His eyes were clouded with a flare of pure rage, throwing at her daggers, which wouldn't cause more damage than his blade… If she hadn't wore her hood and disappeared a second before. All his hit managed to do was to shatter the chair she was sitting on.
"Oh, listen to him! Speaking like I'm the bad guy in this story!" She huffed a laugh, her tone sarcastic and angry, and materialized herself behind him "Then, what about you?! What about everything you've done?! In case you've forgotten, your hands are no cleaner than mine!"
Varian's jaw dropped when he heard this. He knew what he heard, but he didn't believe it. He couldn't believe it! His Dad was a good and honest man, he would never… It was a lie! She was lying! She was crazy!... Wasn't she? Varian waited for his Dad to say something, anything, to deny all that this woman said. But he didn't say anything.
He couldn't let himself. Lingering to her words and giving them value would do nothing but feed his anger. And after all...
"A warrior who succumbs to his anger is as good as dead."
How could he forget the basics? And more importantly, how could he forget who he was facing? He should remember by now that attacking her first was giving her advantage and that if he wanted to keep the odds in his favor in a battle against her, he should watch her carefully and know when to attack.
She cleared her throat and smiled slyly again before she continued speaking.
"Well, look at that. You haven't forgotten… But in any case, right now neither of us has anything to earn from reminiscing the past. And since you don't seem all that enthused with the idea of a conversation, I'm gonna get straight to the point. Not that you don't know, I suppose…" Her tone was getting more and more deadly with every word. "You've got something that belongs to me. Give it up nice and slowly and I promise I won't hurt you... a lot."
"Have you forgotten?" Quirin said, turning around to face her, the anger in his face more controlled and less intense than his determination. "The day I do that is the day the sun dies. Guess people are right saying that memory fades with age."
Through gritted teeth, the woman's face twisted in anger, and a faint amber glint appeared in her eyes, while at the same time the end of Quirin's blade glowed dimly light blue, and so did Varian's blue steak.
"I'm a patient woman, Quirin. But fourteen years of patience are too much, even for me." She hissed, the glint in her eyes getting more intense, like the blue glows "I won't wait any longer. If you still refuse to do this the nice way… then I'll have no choice, but to use force."
"Go ahead!" He said regaining his battle position.
The woman laughed at his response. Her laughter lacked humor and sounded nearly threatening.
"I'm sorry, I should have explained it better. I won't do this to you... alone." She said as a sadistic smile made its way to her face. "Outside of this house there are ten of my best men. And all around the village one hundred of them. It only takes one call from me, or at least a snap of my fingers and they… well… Let's just say, they'll show no mercy. In conclusion, think of this: Haven't enough innocent souls paid for what you did?"
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