*Note: Much of this chapter will be in italics.* *Warning: There will be depictions of torture throughout.*
Chapter 22
Meinrad knew his was dreaming, as his surroundings were dark as night, but he heard chattering. He takes a step forward and then another. Then, the scene changes to that of the snow-covered forest. Meinrad sniffs the air, but there was no scent in the air. He listens carefully and the chattering gets closer.
Suddenly, something grabs Meinrad and pulls him under the snow. Meinrad, however, grabs a root of a tree and pulls himself out of the ground. Just as he was climbing out, his claw touches something, a boot. Meinrad looks up to see Chief Randulf and he also notices the villagers, they surrounded him.
"Monster!" some of them shout and someone rattles chains. The villagers shout and scream at Meinrad. He felt a tinge of hatred towards them, they would never accept him as he was hideous. Even if his parents were part of the Baemi tribe, not one of the villagers would see him as one of their own.
He looks at each of them, the villagers had no mercy in their eyes, and then, they became dark like shadows. The shadows continue to shout at Meinrad and suddenly, the shadows jump on him, consuming him in total blackness.
Meinrad was surrounded by darkness and his night vision did not help. Suddenly, he felt a chain whip him across his chest. More chains whip him across his body, including his face. Blood flowed from a cut on his cheek and he heard laughter.
"Freak!" he heard Helmold shout and the dwarfs appear. They rattle the chains for dramatic effect and some of them whip the chains at Meinrad.
"Ugly!" "Pathetic!" "Beast!" some of them shout ridicules at Meinrad. He didn't understand; the dwarfs had accepted him when he was an infant as he was like them. Why were they hurting him? That was when he realized that this was part of Lucifer's test.
"None of you would hurt me," he said and that's when the dwarfs stop hitting him. Meinrad then charges at them, clawing at their faces. One by one, the dwarfs became shadows, and they scurry into the darkness.
However, the shadows return, but they form into a dark snake, and it coils around Meinrad. He struggles to catch his breath as it squeezes him, but he was able to stomp on its tail.
The snake releases a cry and it releases him. The snake scurries away from him, but it stares at Meinrad with blood-red eyes. He recognizes them as Lucifer's eyes and he shouts, "You are a coward, Lucifer!"
That was when the snake became Lucifer and he stares at Meinrad. "A coward? I gave you immortality! How is that in any way cowardly?" the Devil asks.
"You stole my life!" Meinrad shouts back, but Lucifer just chuckles.
"May I remind you that Gerlach killed the love of your life and you wanted revenge. Now, I believe that Gerlach claimed that it wasn't his fault that he killed his sister. And let's not forget their father, he just watched his son kill Ishild. Now who is the coward?" Lucifer asks him and Meinrad felt confused.
He presses his palms to his ears, "Stop it!" he shouts at Lucifer. However, the Devil continues to laugh, mostly at Meinrad. Lucifer then disappears and his laughter stops.
When it was calm, Meinrad looks around. He was back in the forest, but he kept his eyes and ears open. The next thing he knew, a freak snowstorm arrived and the wind and snow were powerful.
Meinrad did not mind as he was used to such conditions. "What is this? Is that all you got?" Meinrad asks Lucifer, who was not there, but he knew he was watching.
Suddenly, a powerful wind gust hit Meinrad, sending him backward and he landed on his back. The snow came down in big chunks and Meinrad could not see as it was blinding.
It was then that Meinrad felt a stinging sensation all over his body and he realizes that the snow was eating his coat away! The snow was like acid and Meinrad hurries to find shelter, but the acid snow blinded him.
He shuts his eyes and runs aimlessly through the woods. He kept hitting or running into trees and the acid snow was agonizing as it ate away at Meinrad's exposed skin.
"Meinrad!" he heard his name being called. It was Ishild's voice and he follows it. Ishild had been watching Meinrad and she wanted to help, but Saint Nicholas silences her.
"This is Lucifer's test, you must not help Meinrad in any way," he reminds her.
"Meinrad can't find his way, I need to help!" Ishild replies, but the saint silences her and she had no voice. She began to cry and watches helplessly.
Meinrad didn't hear Ishild anymore and he knew that she was forced to remain silent. However, he did hear Lucifer, "If you can't take this, I say give up."
"No," Meinrad simply replies and that was when the snow stops falling. Meinrad opens his eyes to see his clawed hands covered in sores and he touches his face, it was also covered in sores.
He was in pain, but he refuses to give in to Lucifer's torment. He then hears rushing water and he crawls toward the river as he had no strength in his legs.
Finally, he came upon the river and he merges in. The sores began to heal and Meinrad drenches himself with the cold water. "HELP!" he heard Ishild's voice, again, and she sounded close.
Meinrad raises himself up from the water and looks around, but Ishild was nowhere in sight. However, he notices a bow and a quiver of arrows at the shore. He takes them, touching the arrows, making sure they were real.
"Meinrad!" he heard Ishild, again, and her voice echoes throughout the forest. He notices a shape and he takes an arrow and fires. It was a shadow and it scurries away once it was hit by the arrow.
"AIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!" Meinrad heard screaming from all directions and the shadows return. They surround him and scream at him. Meinrad knew they were trying to break him by taking out his hearing.
He covers his ears, the screaming was horrific and deafening. He then takes aim with an arrow and fires at one shadow, but it screamed even more. Meinrad's eardrums were hurting and he was afraid that they would burst.
He looks at the shadows and sees one shadow that was not screaming. He takes aim and fires at it. The screaming ceased and the shadow falls down and the others scurry away from Meinrad.
Meinrad looks at the shadow and was shocked to see it manifest into Ishild. The memory of her dying floods back to him and he cries out in anguish. "No! Ishild!" he cries out to the sky.
He turns away from the body, trying to contain himself, but then, the body of Ishild transforms into Lucifer. "Have I finally broken you?" he asks Meinrad. He does not answer and instead, he looks up in the sky, as if in defeat.
"Tell me so," Lucifer said, but Meinrad does not answer. He knew that it was Lucifer, but he wanted to finish him, and he had a plan. Lucifer walks slowly toward Meinrad.
"Answer me you ugly cow-" Suddenly, Meinrad turns and fires an arrow at Lucifer's eye. The Devil screeches in pain and his hands flail around, looking around for Meinrad.
"You cheating bastard!" Lucifer shouts and stomps on the ground. That was when the whole world around them shatters like glass and it was dark as night. Lucifer looks at Meinrad with his one eye, but he fires another arrow at it. He missed and Lucifer reaches for him.
Meinrad dodges away from him. "No! Where are you?!" Lucifer shouts and he pulls the arrow out of his eye. "I'll finish you myself!" he angrily yells out, searching for Meinrad.
Suddenly, Meinrad charges at Lucifer, head-butting him and the Devil falls on his back. Saint Nicholas and Ishild watch in astonishment and the saint summons a light for Meinrad.
Meinrad sees the light and runs toward it. Suddenly, he felt something coil around his leg and he looks to see Lucifer's tail. "You dare to run from me?!" he shouts, but Meinrad kicks at his face, leaving a hoof-mark.
He continues to kick at him until Lucifer's tail loosens and Meinrad flees toward the light. Once he got closer, he realized that there was a door, and he shuts it behind him.
"NO!" he heard Lucifer shout and the Devil opens the door. Meinrad kicks at him, again, and deadbolts the door.
"Run Meinrad!" Saint Nicholas shouts, "And don't look back!" Meinrad obeys and runs up a slope, but it was icy and he slips. He regains his footing without looking back and he hurries toward the light.
Suddenly, something catches one of the chains on Meinrad and the force pulls him back toward the door. "NO!" he cries and struggles to break free. Just then, a figure rushes in and stomps on the hand that held onto the chain.
"Get up!" Ishild demands and Meinrad gets to his feet. They rush towards the end of the tunnel and they made it out and they were engulfed by bright light.
Meinrad awoke with a start and pants heavily. He looks to see the dwarfs surrounding him, they looked puzzled and shocked. "Meinrad, what happened?" Runa asks her adopted son.
He looks to see that he was back in his cave and he heard birds chirping outside, spring had arrived. "Just a nightmare," he simply replies. He knew that he passed Lucifer's test, but the Devil must be furious for it.
The dwarfs return to their dozing dreams, but Meinrad listens to the birds outside. Once again, Ishild saved his life and he was forever grateful. He shuts his eyes, again, and wanders off to sleep.
"Meinrad," he heard his name and he sees Ishild and Saint Nicholas. Ishild runs into his embrace and he holds her tight.
"You passed the test, you did not let the hatred consume you," Saint Nicholas said and Meinrad nods. "If you did surrender to Lucifer, you would've been his slave for eternity," the saint adds.
"I remember you saying that my love for Ishild is much stronger than my hate towards man," Meinrad replies and Ishild kisses him.
"True, and the love for your adopted family is also strong," the saint said, "And as a reward, you will spend the rest of your hibernation with Ishild until you awake and begin another year," he adds and then leaves them.
Meinrad holds Ishild tight in his arms. "It's over," she said and gently touches both sides of his face. "Lucifer will no longer taunt you," she adds. Meinrad lets the tears fall from his eyes and breathes in Ishild's scent.
"Ishild, can you show me the birds?" he asks and she smiles at him. He wanted to see the birds of spring as he had never seen any in a very long time. Then, their surroundings turned into the forest, only it was not covered in snow.
Instead, the trees and grass were a bright green and the sky was a bright blue. Meinrad looks to see numerous birds flying around and singing. Ishild takes Meinrad by the hand and she leads him, showing him the forest that was reawakening from its winter slumber.
From the author: Meinrad passed the test! A glorious time for him and Ishild! Lucifer is very cruel, but Meinrad outsmarted him and he refused to surrender. Just to let you know, love always prevails.
I believe I will do just a few more chapters and then it will be complete! See you soon!