As the man's corpse continued to bleed to death in the snow. A little further on, Lieutenant-Colonel Wooden stood guard.
"I don't know what you think, sir. But I have a bad feeling about this." Said one of the soldiers who accompanied him as he helped himself to a cup of hot coffee that he had made sure to take with him in a thermos before leaving for Windward Peakt.
"This whole job is a matter of bad feeling." He replied.
At the other end of the fir forest in the
Jacob and the staff of the Happy Hotel continued to follow the strange old man who still carried the box in which Eric was. They had just arrived in a small clearing in the center of which was a wooden hut.
The small house seemed to be the old man's, the latter opened the door.
He seemed to invite in an imprecise gesture the persons who accompanied him to enter the premises. It was a small house for hunters, a very classical one at that, except that the walls were lined with bookcases, which attracted Jacob's attention.
"Where did you get all these books, old man?" Asked Jacob.
The curious character was content to point the finger at Jacob, which added to the mystery.
"Have you ever seen this man before, Jacob?" Alastor asked.
"Not that I know of." Replied Jacob.
With these words the old man began to rummage through his libraries, throwing books all over the place.
"Magic, magic, magic!" He repeated tirelessly.
After a while he stopped at a book with a green cover.
Jacob instantly recognized the work.
"A Aesculapius' Pharmacobook." He says.
The old man opened the book, performed a digital sequence with one hand, while the other was over the bird.
A green light this myth emanated from Eric's body which began to convulse while his wound was slowly closing. Suddenly he opened the eyes of the crow.
"The door! Open the door, quickly!" Says the bird with urgency.
Alastor who was closest to the door opened it and Eric ran outside to empty himself, he was taken by a violent diarrhea.
"What's wrong with him?" Asked Angel Dust.
"When you use Aesculapius' Pharmacobook on someone, it heals the wounds, but on the other hand, it makes the person being treated sick." Jacob replied, making Angel Dust and Husk laugh.
When he was relieved, the animal returned to the little house and against all odds recognized the man who had saved him.
"Ah well, that for example. Oswald! You're not dead!" Said Eric.
"Nothing and no one should leave Windward Peak." Said Oswald.
"What are you jabbering about?" Asked Eric.
"Wait, do you know this man?" Asked Jacob to his friend.
"Of course I know him." Eric replied with a clever gleam in his eyes.
"Well, say it, damn it. We're not going to spend the night." Said Angel Dust.
"Let's just say dear Oswald has a lot in common with you, Jacob." Said the bird as the old man smiled and pointed at Jacob.
"Is it his brother?" Nifty asked, unconvinced by his own theory.
"No, but they have a friend in common?" Replied Eric.
"A friend?" Asked Charlie.
"And can we find out what this person's name is?" Asked Jacob, looking at the old man.
"Nothing and no one should leave Windward Peakt." Oswald repeated.
"His friend, is called the door." Eric replied.
"The door!" Jacob exclaimed, surprised.
"Yeah the door, Oswald and one of his former owners. I think it was just before your predecessor, if I remember correctly." Says Eric.
"Magic, magic, magic!" Exclaimed the old man laughing.
"So if I understand correctly. Oswald was a door owner in the past?" Said Charlie.
"Exactly." Eric replied.
"That explains the library and the magic books, but not why he would have kept them, which is contrary to the mission of the owner of the door." Says Jacob.
With these words began the recitation of the text that a fellow owner kept repeating over and over to explain to people their mission.
"There are books in our world that should not be read. Books that contain powerful knowledge and power and which, if they fall into the wrong hands, can wipe out many lives - even life itself. The mission of the owner of the Gate is to retrieve and put out of reach as many of these books as possible. With the help of his strange Gate, he travels the world in search of these cursed books." He says.
Hearing these words Oswald from this mit applauded.
"Oh, bravo. Bravo!" He said, applauding like a child.
"Well, it sounds like it's having an effect on him." Husk exclaimed before Jacob took a serious tone.
"But why on earth does this man have magic books if his contract with the door is no longer valid? And above all, why isn't he dead? If he was there before my predecessor, he must be over 150 years old!" He says.
"Magic!" Oswald exclaimed.
"Two possibilities: either he's gone out of his way to take a dip in the fountain of youth, or he's gone out of his way to take a dip in the fountain of youth. Either he used some kind of spell from a magic book." Says Eric.
"Wait, the fountain of youth exists!" Asked Angel Dust.
"Obviously." Answered Jacob. "But a door owner is not supposed to continue his mission once he has entrusted it to a successor." He said.
"Jacob, you know if you find it, Oswald has been doing all these little hide-and-seek things since he no longer owns the door. And having known him pretty well, if he did that he must have had a reason, he was a smart guy." Says Eric.
"And he was already single when you met him?" Asked Alastor.
"No, that's a new one." Said the raven standing in the old man's direction. "What happened, old man?" He asked.
"Maybe he just went he's over 150 years old, there's a point where it gets worse." Suggested Husk.
"Hey, I'm over 100 years old and I'm fine in there." Said Jacob, pointing his finger at his skull.
"Magic, magic!" Oswald replied, staring Eric in the eyes and saying something, that even though he was on a loop, those words still made sense.
"I think he became a zinzin because of a spell. It remains to be seen which one."Explained Eric
"Nothing and no one is to leave Windward Peakt." Says the old man again and again, staring at Eric suddenly Jacob in a kind of enlightenment.
"I think I know what Oswald means. You used a spell to lock up Windward Peakt, but a spell made you lose your mind, didn't it?" Jacob asked.
The old man semi applauded.
"Magic, magic! Nothing and no one is to leave Windward Peakt." Said Oswald.
"We know the how, we just have to find out why he cast the spell." Alastor said with a curious look.
« Attends t'es en train de dire que c'est à cause de lui que notre journée dans le monde des humains s'est transformé en emprisonnement d'un village on se gèle le fion. » Déclara Angel Dust commençant à s'énervé.
"Nothing and no one should leave Windward Peak." Said Oswald.
"Oh to the farm, you. You're the reason we're stuck here. If you hadn't used your stupid spell, we could have left long ago." Retorted Angel Dust winning a nod from Husk.
The old man nodded his head once again, releasing a little squeak of sadness.
"I understand your anger, guys, but I think if Oswald hadn't sealed off this village, the reason for this could have happened elsewhere." Says Jacob trying to calm Angel Dust.
"Oh shut up Jacob, I'm not in the mood to listen to your sanctimonious bullshit." Says Angel Dust dryly.
The group joined by Oswald eventually returned to the gate, where they saw footprints in addition to their own, as well as a dead body with its throat cut surrounded by footprints that seemed to belong to an animal, but in their form, an undiscovered animal, or a magical creature.
"Oh shit." Says Angel Dust when he sees this.
"If we'd been there, whatever did this could have attacked us." Says Husk.
"Not really, apparently only the spells that allow us to travel are blocked by the barrier. Otherwise Aesculapius' Pharmacobook wouldn't have worked." Says Jacob.
Husk stood next to Alastor and began to speak to him in a low voice.
"Do you think Jacob is hiding something from us?" He asked.
"Yes, but he kept it to himself so as not to frighten others." Alastor answered.
The group decided to visit Oswald's house later to understand the ins and outs of the spell he had cast on Windward Peakt. But before they did, they needed to rest, the walk was long and Jacob needed it badly. It looked like the most complicated case he had ever been involved in.
And Charlie and Alastor knew it meant a lot, having witnessed some of his missions.
On the 6 o'clock bang everyone was sleeping in the valve and Oswald started shouting which woke up the occupants of the vehicle.
"Nothing and no one should leave Windward Peakt!" He shouted.
"What the hell's the matter with him." Asked Jacob as he woke up and left the blanket that he and Charlie were wrapped in as everyone woke up, alerted by Oswald.
"Light! Light! Light!" Oswald shouts as he points to the front of the vehicle.
Jacob turned on the vehicle's headlights, the beam of light shining through the fog and snow falling in large flakes, revealing a strange silhouette. It was very difficult to make out the strange creature that must have been two meters high. It had a long slender body with very long arms and white fur.
"She's a mother reaper." Says Jacob, recognizing the creature.
"Oh no." Says Eric.
Suddenly, the creature turned around, alerted by the glow of the valve's headlights, and Jacob immediately turned off the lights.
"Mother reaper..." Whispered Oswald.
"That's what Oswald's for, isn't it? That's why you locked this town down." Charlie asked, winning a nod from the old man.
"What are we gonna do about it?"Asked Charlie.
" Alastor, can you make a lot of noise? As much as several police sirens." Asked Jacob.
"Yes, why?" Asked The Radio Demon.
"She hates noise. "replied Jacob.
Alastor nodded his head and executed, using the valve's radio to make a shrill noise. The shrill noise greatly disturbed the mother mower, who fled.
"What the hell was that thing?!" Husk asked as she saw the creature running away.
"A mother reaper." Jacob replied.
"And when you say mother, you say child." Said Eric.
"This crap is probably the reason why Oswald locked Windward Peakt. Reaper mothers are creatures that feed on human blood. Drop one in the middle of an urban area and you can be sure she's making a killing and to add to the delirium this kind of creature reproduces by parthenogenesis." Explained Jacob.
"Partheno-what?" Asked Angel Dust.
"Parthenogenesis means that it doesn't need a partner to give birth to a child in the short term. This bug reproduces itself, it lays an egg every morning. " Answered Eric, suddenly Charlie had an epiphany.
"Wait, that means..." She said.
"Yes, that means it's probably the little ones of that thing that went after that guy out there." Says Jacob.
"And how did those creatures get in here?" Husk asked.
"Magic, magic!" Oswald cried.
"Yes, that means it's probably the little ones of that thing that went after that guy out there." Says Jacob.
"And how did those creatures get in here?" Husk asked.
"Magic, magic!" Oswald cried.
"And the only person who is likely to be in possession of anything to invoke this is Oswald." Said Alastor as his hand lit up.
"I doubt he's the one to blame." Declared Nifty. "Otherwise why would he bother locking Windward Peakt, he could have made a killing by throwing them out into the wild." She said.
"We can't know, he's crazy." Replied Angel Dust.
"When in doubt, we keep a close eye on him. But we don't kill him so stop what you're doing with your hand Alastor." Ordered Jacob.
The latter obeys. Aware that despite his powers, the door owner is the best person to decide what to do in such a situation.
Suddenly, they saw a human who had not yet been attacked by the mowing mother and her cubs running towards the exit of the city.
He ends up overtaking the vehicle by a good ten meters before feeling bad. At first he was dizzy, then nauseated. He then started to stagger but continued to move slowly at the back of the vehicle Oswalt was screaming, banging against the window.
"Nothing and no one should leave Windward Peak." He said that everyone was looking at the man from the rear window. Noticing Oswald's behavior, Jacob called out his door right in front of the man.
"Why did you do that?" Nifty asked.
"He has to stop, one more step and he's a dead man." Jacob replied.
The man turned around, he was livid, he was crying. Without saying a word, he walked around Jacob's door and took a few more steps. He started vomiting blood and collapsed in the snow - life had just left his body.
Worried, Charlie was about to get out of the vehicle when Jacob grabbed her wrist to hold her down.
"Don't go where you will meet the same fate. The magic lock will kill you slowly." He warns.
"Nothing and no one is to leave Windward Peakt. Nothing and no one is to leave Windward Peakt." Said Oswald with regret as he gazed at the lifeless body of the person who desperately tried to escape the reaper mother.
The group agreed to get some more sleep before leaving for Oswald's house. It was seven o'clock in the morning.