The balverines filled the room and surrounded the pirates, blocking the only exit door.
- Open the door, Balker! - said Captain André pointing at the mysterious door they had just discovered.
Balker was pushing with all his strength but the door wouldn't budge.
- I'm trying, Captain! - he said.
Lucious and Morgan unsheathed their swords and remained en garde while the balverines approached them slowly.
- Attack! - shouted Captain André drawing his pistol.
The three pirates started fighting the balverines, who attacked back fiercely.
Even though he didn't have a lot of fighting experience, Lucious' swordfighting was incredibly good.
Soon, most of the balverines were defeated and the rest just ran away in fear.
- Where did all these balverines come from?- asked Morgan- I know that there are balverines in Witchwood Island, but generally they don't approach villages so much.
- I don't know, lad- replied the Captain- Maybe balverines here are more aggressive.
- There's something wrong here- said Lucious- I have had a bad feeling about this place since we arrived.
The Captain nodded.
- Yeah, I know what ye mean. Something stinks.
- Let's go to the village. We must warn the villagers about the balverines- said Morgan- Who knows? Maybe we can help them fight the beasts and they reward us.
- Yeah, let's go- the Captain suddenly stopped walking- Wait a minute…where is Balker?
They looked around the library but there was no trace of him.
- Maybe he followed the balverines- said Morgan- You know how stubborn he is.
When they arrived to the village, everything was quiet. In fact, way too quiet…
- Where is everyone? - said Lucious.
- Maybe the balverines came and they all hid. They probably have hideouts for such cases, this must happen quite often- replied Morgan.
For some reason, Lucious felt even more uneasy than before.
They walked around the village's streets for a while but they were deserted.
- We must find Balker- finally said Captain André- We must search the village thoroughly and one of us must return to the library just in case he went back there.
- I'll go- said Lucious firmly.
The Captain looked at him severely.
- It could be dangerous. We killed most of the balverines, but some ran away. They could come back…and ye would be alone.
- I can do it, Captain.
Captain André smiled.
- I saw how ye fought them back in the library. Ye're a fine pirate, Lucious- he approached him with a fatherly look- Sometimes I forget that ye are not a kid anymore, that ye've grown into a brave man.
Lucious smiled.
- I won't let you down, Captain.
- I know you won't, Lucious.
Lucious followed the path to the library while the Captain and Morgan searched the village's streets.
When the young pirate arrived to the library, everything was quiet. He walked slowly among the bookshelves but there was no trace of Balker.
Suddenly, he noticed something: the mysterious door that they had been unable to unlock earlier now was wide open.
He approached it cautiously.
- Balker? Are you here?
No answer.
He looked inside the contiguous room. Everything was so dark but it seemed to be another library, this one even older and dustier than the previous one.
Lucious lit his torch and entered the room. The books in this library looked very ancient, their pages were torn and they seemed as if they were going to turn into dust if someone touched them.
There was a book lying on the floor. Lucious kneeled before it and removed the dust from the cover.
- "The ways of the balverine"- he read.
He approached the torch to the spines of the books that lied on the shelf next to him.
- "The balverine curse", "Becoming the beast", "Balverines and werewolves"…This library is dedicated to balverines…
He stood up and looked around him: the room was decorated with gruesome statues of balverines.
Suddenly, he noticed a lectern in the center of the room. An open book lied on top of it. He approached quickly. The book seemed to be some kind of diary dating from 200 years ago.
Lucious started reading some of the entries.
- "We are not the same, we can't be the same. This curse runs through our veins like poison and there's nothing we can do about it. The beast didn't show any mercy, not even on women and children…Every day is more unbearable to see how my son suffers while the curse consumes him. Avo have mercy on us."
- "The curse is getting more difficult to control and we have been forced to kill some of our own…friends, brothers, sisters, husbands, mothers, sons…I wish the beast had just killed us all instead of leaving us alive in this living hell."
- "My son grows more and more aggressive every day. We have gathered all the knowledge we could about the curse, but no remedy seems to work for him. Last time he turned into a beast, he almost killed four villagers. I know they all want to kill him…but I can't, I just can't kill my son."
Lucious skipped some pages and read the last entries.
- "There's no use feeling sorry for ourselves…We are what we are and we must take advantage of it. Now we are faster, stronger…we are free. No one can pillage us, no one can destroy our village. If only we could increase our numbers…we would be unstoppable. I have sent my son outside of the village to find new victims, stronger than the lost merchants who come to Moon Creek. I'm sure Balker will succeed."
Lucious couldn't believe what he had just read…Balker was a balverine!
He closed the diary and read the cover.
- Moon Creek's Chronicles by Frederick Glower…the mayor…they are all balverines! I must warn the Captain!
He was taking the diary from the lectern when a spine-chilling growl stopped him.
He turned around slowly and saw a terrifying beast standing in front of him.
This balverine was the biggest and strongest Lucious had ever seen.
The young pirate remained still for a few seconds and then he unsheathed his sword carefully and pointed it at the beast.
- I know who you are- he said defiantly.
The beast growled loudly and attacked him.
Lucious avoided the hit swiftly and jumped over the lectern.
- You have betrayed us, you have betrayed Captain André! You want to turn us all into balverines!
The beast's claw tore his shirt up. Lucious jumped over the balverine and attacked it with his sword, injuring it.
The creature attacked Lucious fiercely but the young pirate avoided every hit nimbly.
Lucious was furious. He admired Captain André deeply and he couldn't forgive Balker for betraying his trust.
The beast was huge but he was not afraid: all he could think about was the betrayal.
Suddenly, the door of the library opened and a group of balverines joined the fight.
The young pirate fought as well as he could but he knew that he wouldn't be able to kill them all. The only option he had was to escape from this room and lock them all inside, but he had to be fast. He wondered where Captain André and Morgan were and if they were fine…
He started fighting his way towards the door with his sword, but suddenly one of the balverines hit his sword and it fell to the floor.
The young pirate ran towards the lectern and jumped over it. He looked at the bookshelves: he had to jump over them and reach the exit, that was his only way out.
The balverines were approaching the lectern so he jumped over the closest bookshelf nimbly. He ran fast on top of them but when he was about to reach the exit, the balverines hit it violently, causing him to lose balance and fall on the floor.
The hit left him unable to move and the balverines approached him dangerously.
He looked around searching for something that could be used as a weapon, but he found only dusty books.
The beasts were so close that he could even feel their foul breaths on him.
He thought he was going to die there…he would never see the world again, he would never see his friends…he would never see Dainara.
Suddenly, he heard shots and the balverines started falling lifeless around him.
Captain André and Morgan had just arrived and were fighting the balverines fiercely.
Lucious knew that he should get up, find his sword and help his friends, but for some reason he couldn't move.
After a while, only the biggest balverine remained.
- Ye're going to die foul beast- shouted Captain André.
- He's Balker- said Lucious almost unable to speak- He took us here to turn us all into balverines.
The Captain and Morgan looked at Lucious with surprise.
- What are ye talking about, lad?
Lucious pointed at the diary which lied below the lectern.
- It's all there. He's the mayor's son. They were all cursed.
Morgan took the book from the floor but the beast tried to attack him immediately, so Captain André shot it quickly.
Captain André approached Lucious and helped him up.
- Are ye alright, lad?
- Yes, Captain.
- By Avo! - Morgan shouted from across the room.
They all approached him and realized why he was so shocked. Balker had turned back to his human form and lied lifeless in front of them.
- Let's go back to the ship- said the Captain- There's nothing to do here.
On the way to the ship, Lucious was more serious than usual. He couldn't stop thinking about the balverines around him, how close he had been to death, how easy it was to lose everything you have, just like he lost his parents…
Morgan approached him.
- Hey, are you ok?
Lucious faked a smile.
- I'm fine. Just tired.
- You must have had a hard time fighting all these balverines by yourself.
- Yes, for a moment there I thought I was going to die…
- But you didn't. You are a great pirate, Lucious. Not everyone would have survived such attack.
- Even with my skills I was about to die…
Morgan stopped walking and looked at him.
- It's over. We're alive and it would take more than a few balverines to kill us.
The pirates arrived to their ship and told the rest of the crew about their adventure.
Lucious was happy to be alive, but somehow he still felt bad.
- We had a rough time in the island, so we'll go to Bloodstone for a few days to rest.
Everyone cheered.
Lucious then knew what would make him feel better. He approached the Captain.
- Captain, I hope you don't mind, but I can't join you in Bloodstone…I must go somewhere else.