Chapter 4

The sky was almost black when Rayman and D finally saw lights from a village up ahead. The wind had gotten stronger and thunder could be heard in the distance. A storm was coming.

D was excited by everything about the storm. The electricity in the air seemed to zap her veins and give her more energy than she could remember having all day. The wind blowing at her made her feel like she was flying. The lightning and thunder seemed to represent some greater force that she could not remember, but had loved.

The village was made of a cluster of small, one story buildings, some bigger than others. They were all made of white stones and looked generally the same. The roofs all had brown shingles. It made D sick as it looked all too familiar. She wished she could remember what it was that she didn't like about this place.

"When they said humans liked to imitate each other, I didn't think they were this serious." Rayman said.

A house different from the others came like a breath of fresh air for D. It was larger than the others, made of black stones, and was built to look like a miniature castle. Finally, the oddball that showed his individuality.

Not one human was on the street. They were all inside the buildings. D could see them through windows every now and then, reading a book, watching a box with glowing, moving pictures. What was it called?

D's thoughts were interrupted, however, when Rayman suddenly stopped. "This place looks open." He said and walked to a larger building with an open door. Humans could be seen inside sitting at tables and talking. Some sat at a long bar at the back. One man stood behind it and filled glasses with different kinds of liquids.

D followed Rayman into the building. A few humans stared as they walked by, but most didn't even pay attention. Rayman led her straight to the bar and sat on one of the stools. D took a seat next to him.

"What will you have?" the man standing behind the bar asked. Unlike Rayman and D, he had arms and legs. His hair was one of those colors where it seemed dark in the shadows and light when a light shined on it. In the fire light in a fire place to the left, his hair looked red. It was tied back with a rubber band. D wondered if this was the kind of creature she used to be.

"I need a guide." Rayman answered. "We're trying to find Helm Mountain."

"Good luck." the human laughed. "No one goes there anymore. Everyone who goes there comes back babbling on about a witch."

"Why are they frightened of the witch?" D asked.

The human looked at her. "Have you ever met a witch that wasn't an old hag?" Before she could answer, the human turned back to Rayman. "They say she's the wife of Kweniah. He was killed in a fight. With what? No one knows. They just found his body beaten by that rock almost beyond recognition. It was the ring on his finger that helped us identify him. Now the witch lives there. They say she puts weird curses on anyone who goes near the place."

"Is there anyone that can take us there?" Rayman asked.

"Ask around. I'll let you rent a room for the night for twenty silver. I don't think you'll have luck getting there tonight even if you do find someone willing to take you."

"Don't have twenty silver. Thanks anyway." Rayman said.

The man eyed D's necklace. "I'll be willing to take that necklace instead. That oughtta be worth something."

D glared at him. Catching her expression, Rayman said "I don't think we can do that."

The man shrugged. "Too bad. Let me know if you change your minds." And he went back to his work.

"What now?" D asked Rayman.

"Now we try to get someone to take us to Helm." Rayman told her. He pointed to the left half of the building. "You go that way, I'll go this way. We have to find someone eventually." He then took off to the right.

D got off her stool and set off to the left. She walked up to a random table where two men were arm wrestling. The first had almost pinned the second. The second man's arm was trembling slightly and his face was red and sweating.

"Give up yet?" the first man asked, not breaking a sweat.

"Yeah." the second said and relaxed his arm, letting it get pinned to the table by the stronger man.

"Hi." D said, not getting the attention of either man. She tried again, louder this time. "Hello."

The first man looked at her. "Finally. Go get me a beer. My friend will have one too."

"If I do that will you take me to Helm?" D asked.

The men looked at her like she was crazy. "Get outta here." the first one said and turned back to the second. "Another round?"

This wasn't getting anywhere. D was going to have to get the attention of the humans another way. She looked around and saw the bar. Then she had an idea.

D climbed up onto the bar. The man behind it began to protest, but she ignored him.

"Can I have everyone's attention please?" she shouted as loudly as she could.

A couple of humans looked at her and went back to what they were doing. None of the others even indicated that they'd heard her. That was when D became frustrated. She did the one thing she knew for sure would get the attention of every person in the room. She let the frustration grow like it had when she and Rayman had gotten attacked by Dark Rayman.

It grew and grew until it became anger. She didn't hold up the barrier she usually did when she got angry and the fire was allowed to come out. It covered her entire being, dancing across her skin, yet not burning. It was like merely having the sun shine on her. The fire grew until it was three times her size. She could no longer even be seen through it.

Then her rage was exhausted. The fire died down until it was gone. D could see every person in the room looking at her in horror. Even Rayman was surprised by her action. Satisfied, D began to speak loudly to the crowd.

"My friend and I need a guide. We have to get to Helm Mountain. Is there anyone in this room who can help us? And if not, do you know anyone who can?"

No one answered. D became frustrated again. This time, she held up the barrier that held back her fire and jumped from the bar. But before she was done she decided to take it a little farther.

She turned to the man behind the bar. "I won't do that again if you give us a room for the night." She wouldn't do it again anyway, but he didn't need to know that.

"Yes, ma'am." The man said, still looking terrified. He pointed to a hallway to the right. "Down the hall, third door on the left."

"Thank you." D said and looked around for Rayman.

It was Rayman that found her, though. "What was that?" He asked.

"I was having trouble getting attention." D said.

"Well you certainly got their attention. But we still don't have a guide."

"We do have a room, though." D said and led Rayman down the hall. She counted the doors on the left until she reached the third and then opened it.

The room was half the size of the room they had just been in. Two beds were lined up against each the left and right walls. A table was placed beside each one. An open window was on the far wall. A lit candle that was almost out burned on one of the tables.

"I wonder if you would have gotten a better room if you had actually burned something." Rayman joked and sat on one of the beds.

"At least we won't get rained on tonight." D said and sat on the one across from his. She glanced at the open window. "So what do we do if Dark Rayman comes in?"

Rayman was silent for a moment. "Haven't thought about that. I guess we sleep in shifts and keep watch. That bar keeper might decide he wants your necklace anyway."

"Yeah. Good idea." D said. "Who takes the first watch?"

"I can if you're tired." Rayman said.

Thunder crashed right above their room, making the tables vibrate. Rain began to fall from the sky and the wind blew it into their room.

"I'll take the first watch." D said. "Want me to close the window?"

"If you want to." Rayman said. "I'd rather you didn't. If we stay over here the rain won't reach us. It'll get hot if we close it."

D nodded. "Okay. Get some sleep."

Rayman pulled back the covers and got into the bed. He blew out the candle, sending the room into darkness. In moments, he was asleep.

D got off her bed and went to the window. Rain sprayed on her face, but it felt good. She could see out the window into the night, even though it was dark. The streets were deserted. letting the rain hit the pavement and create puddles that shimmered as the rain added to them. The sound of the rain hitting the ground was soothing to D. It calmed every nerve, relaxed every muscle. Almost made her sleepy.

But she had to stay awake and keep watch. A flash of lightning illuminated the village, snapping D out of her trance. For that instant, she thought she saw a dark figure in the street walking towards the window.

The first thing that came to her mind was Dark Rayman. Had the coward come here to finish Rayman off in his sleep? Or was it someone else, like that evil the teensies had told her about? Had it come to stop her from beating it to the magic thing she was supposed to find?

When the lightning had stopped, D could not see the dark figure. Maybe it had just been her imagination. But she still felt uneasy. She moved away from the window and back to the bed.

She leaned up against the wall and stared at the ceiling. She was getting bored now.

Lightning sent its white light through the window, creating a white square of light on the wall. It flashed twice, showing the white square, then a third time, when a shadow was in the middle of the square.

D's heart leapt and she turned her head to the window. Lightning flashed again and nothing was there. She knew it wasn't her imagination this time. She had seen that shadow.

She got out of the bed and looked around. No one was in the room besides Rayman. And he still slept in his bed. Maybe the person was outside.

Her heart pounding, D slowly walked closer to the window. When she was a few feet away from it, she moved to the left, looking out the window to the right. Nothing was there. She moved to the right to see out the left. Nothing there either. She wasn't going to stick her head out the window to look. That was begging for trouble.

She decided to go back to the bed. She turned around and to her surprise, someone was right behind her. Her heart skipped a beat and then raced three times as fast as it was before.

The man was limbless, like D and Rayman. He looked very much like Rayman, but there were differences. His hair was dark and hung wild, and yet neat at the same time, like he had styled it that way. It made him look very attractive. His eyes were green like the leaves on the trees outside. Instead of a purple shirt with a white ring in the middle, he had a black one with a red ring and a red dot in the middle, like a bull's eye. His shoes were bigger and green with splotches of gray. Instead of white gloves on his hands like Rayman had, he had black biking gloves. Two, large, bat-like wings folded over him and came together above his bull's eye, looking similar to a cape.

"What do you want?" D tried to ask, but something about his eyes held her hypnotized. She wanted to break free from the spell, and part of her just wanted to give in to his power. Either way, she could not move.

Don't be afraid. A voice came into her head, coming from the man. I won't drain you.

He moved closer with amazing speed. His mouth opened, revealing two fangs in his top row of teeth. This snapped D out of her trance and she was able to at least call for help.

"Rayman!" she shouted.

The man stopped. "What?" he asked.

Rayman opened his eyes. He became completely awake when he saw the other limbless man in the room. "A vampire!" he exclaimed when he saw the fangs.

"Rayman...is that you?" the vampire asked.

Ignoring the question, Rayman got out of the bed. "Get away from her!" He wound up his fist, preparing to punch him.

"Rayman, it's me, Neshae." the vampire said.

Rayman stopped the punch. "Who are you?"

"I'm your brother. Don't you remember?"

It was hard to see Rayman's expression in the darkness, but D could tell he was shocked. She was shocked and she was in a whole different position. Rayman had told her on the way here about how his memories had been erased.

"You're my brother?" Rayman asked.

"Yeah. We're twins." Neshae said. "Not identical twins, but still twins."

They were up most of the night and D fell asleep. But before she did the twins told each other their stories. Rayman had woken up on a beach after a rainy night without any memory other than his name. Since then he had saved the world three times. D managed to hear that Neshae had been bitten by a vampire years ago and the vampire turned him into one, but she fell asleep before she could hear anything else.