Morning came quickly for Mitch, he woke up feeling the chill of the eternal winter nipping at his nose and digits, the wind had picked up during the night and the window of the room must have lost its insulation as the chill had not let him enjoy his slumber. He had gotten as much sleep as he could but eventually decided that it was not worth trying for more sleep at around 5 am. The sun was not out yet but he quickly got ready, he detached the door reinforcement, warmed up some water on the gas stove which he then poured into a cup along with some instant coffee that he drank quickly before packing his stuff completely and heading out.
The early morning was always beautiful, the soft glow of the first sun rays opening up the dark curtain of the night over the snowy landscape never failed to take his breath away. As he walked towards the town the familiar shrieking of phantoms could be heard as the manta like creatures soared through the morning sky, they were harmless and not very useful, light as a feather they had almost no meat on them and their gems were unbelievably small not larger that a marble. He watched as a group of 5 or 6 shot through the sky above him devouring a poor pigeon that found itself in their way. That was the nature of things now, most animals that remained became prey even the predators, the smart ones survived some even thrived, crows had become populous, feasting on the dead brought by the fracture, the birds had seemed to have gotten even smarter and bigger, sometimes Mitch thought that some of them had become monsters but he never lingered long on that unpleasant thought and its implications.
Mitch continued on his way taking the long road through the industrial area near what was once a cemetery. He was not a great fan of being so close to a place of rest of the past but if he wanted to get into town this road was the fastest, he quickened his step, the dead did not always rest after the fracture and he did not want to find out if the buried of Gorizia had laid in their tombs or not.
He remembered the RediPuglia incident, a massive world war 1 cemetery, once a monument to the lives lost on the conflict now swarming with the undead bodies of the fallen, when he and his comrades got there it had seemed fine until they found the first skeleton, still holding his functioning rifle the one quickly turned into 10 which quickly turned into thousands, not all armed but all bloodthirsty and violent, they had lost 2 squads of 5 awakened each and 2 more on his team, after then he had always walked carefully around the places where the dead rest.
As he entered town it was just past dawn, he looked around, the streets were packed with snow but mostly lifeless, some hares passed the road but quickly blinked away when they noticed him. An old supermarket attracted his attention, he went inside and check the store and the back, most useful stuff was taken but not all, it still had quite the reserve of canned food and frozen goods that in this weather did not spoil even with the electricity gone, most of the water remained as well, the one that had not exploded due to freezing, he made a note to return here with some squads to fully empty the place, he did not care about others that might depend on the supermarket if they wanted the goods they should have taken them, or they could come to Trieste to benefit from them.
King saw the man enter the supermarket, he was about to go there himself to gather some stuff for the family when he heard the man, he had heard him when he was near the cemetery, he had heard his hearth rate quicken and his breaths lower, the man was afraid of the graveyard, rightly so. He hid on one of the roofs a waiting for the man, an arrow knocked and ready in case he deemed him a threat. As the man came into his vision King realized a couple of things, one that man was like him, Queen and Tower, he had powers of some sorts, he could tell, there was like some weird aura around them all it spilled out of their bodies and formed shapes and patters, some had more than others, some tried to hide it, the man was the latter, the patterns where shorts and close to his skin and he could see them retract with every inhale. The man otherwise was normal, he was probably a little shorter than king he wore a large jacket like one that you might wear while skiing, his pants were brown and with loads of pockets most of them looked filled, he had a large backpack and was wearing a thick green scarf, at his side a rifle.
King observed the man for a long time, his presence completely hidden, he watched as he entered the supermarket he heard him rummage around and take some stuff, and then watched him walk up the hill towards the castle. King followed him jumping from roof to roof until he could no more and then followed him by foot . It was not long before the man met the guards, people sent from the Abbot to scavenge and “recruit”.
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Mitch noticed them before they noticed him, two men wearing police uniforms, armed with automatic rifles and what looked to be swords, not a bad choice of weaponry, he tought about hiding but decided against it, he hoped that his hunch about the two being part of the Abbot's flock would be right, they noticed him soon after, one of them quickly raised his rifle towards him while the other one stood still. "Morning" yelled Mitch from about 200 meters away, the men approached him slowly "Morning" said the guard that did not raise his gun "what brings you here stranger ?" Mitch looked at the guards, the one talking was older and larger about 180 cm and big bellied but not fat, the other was younger not older than 20 but with a stark resemblance with the older guard he was even taller surpassing the man by at least 5 centimeters. "I come from Trieste, I want to meet the Abbot" Mitch said calmly making sure not to make any sudden movements towards his gun, the older man pondered for a second looking Mitch up and down before lowering the youngsters gun with on hand. "The Abbot is a busy man, I will lead you to the castle but I cannot guarantee a meeting" the guard said waiting for Mitch to start walking. Mitch did not want to give the men his back but he knew he had no choice if he wanted to contact this Abbot, so he walked between the guards who closed in behind him.
King had heard the conversation from behind a building a safe distance away, his power allowed him to enhance his senses allowing him to eavesdrop from safety, he knew the guards, father and son Giorgio and Piero if he remembered correctly, he watched as they left towards the castle and quickly followed. He walked fast through the city, he knew it like the back of his hand, he felt the snow crunching under his feet as he walked, he felt the power course through his veins like a pleasant warmth, he let it flow through him, he felt his body getting faster, he ran through the city without leaving behind a footprint or making a noise. It took him 10 minutes to get to the eastern gate of the castle. As he got there had did not have to wait long for the large wooden doors to open.
King entered quickly, he gave no weight the the stares of the people around him, he did not look around or pay the people of the castle any mind, he had been here before and knew the way. He entered the main building quickly turning left at the after the entrance and following the corridor, he made his way around the central gardens which had been turned into a greenhouse to grow vegetables, he then hurried up the stairs to get to the meeting room, once there he was stopped by two hooded guards, no matter when they were always with the Abbot, it meant that he was inside "Come in young one" the Abbot's voice echoed through the empty halls of the old castle, the guards gave way and King opened the heavy double door the lead to the meeting room.
Once inside the acrid smell of tobacco invaded his nostrils, the Abbot sat in his large opulent chair opposite of the door, a large revolver decorated with gems and precious metals sat on the table in front of him well within his reach. King looked at the old man who held an ivory pipe probably stolen from what was once a museum inside of the castle. The man was fat, with rolls visible on his neck and through the luxurious silk clothes he wore, on his head a crown made from monster gems and gold hid his balding head, he had a large mustache dirty with bits of food and stained with wine, King felt his beady eyes look all over him, his gaze was as disgusting as his appearance so much so that it made King shiver through his heavy jacket.
"Have you brought the gems? " the Abbot asked impatiently, King nodded and threw a pouch on the table its contents clacking clearly even through the leather, the pouch had barely landed when the grubby hands of the abbot had emptied it and counted the contents, 9 gems 3 large round ones of a deep ruby color, 2 shaped like a rhombus clear as the morning sky and 4 the size of a marble and round like one of a light blue color. "That's it?" The abbot asked disappointed, "My hunting grounds have been disturbed, the Big one has been scaring all the other monsters" "You should have gotten more lizards then! They follow the Big one, this number is pathetic even for a stray like you!" The Abbot interrupted him, slamming his fists on the table, causing the entire room to shake "With this you should consider yourself lucky if I even give you 2 logs" The Abbot had started to scream but King did not react, he had grown accustomed to the old man's ravings, "Fat bastard who never hunted anything in his life telling me what to do as if he knows anything" King thought to himself holding back his anger his power burning through his body ready to esplode at any moment . "Two logs will do" he replied calmly dousing the fire in his veins "I will get more next time" he concluded looking at the Abbot's flushed face, the old man sat back in his chair dropping his weight on it causing a loud creaking noise from it "Leave kid, two logs, do better next time" he shooed King away waving his hand at him like an unwanted dog, King took the hint and left to head to the storage at the back of the castle, "two logs, ridiculous, I kill four wolves and he doesn't even care, fucking pig" King muttered as he walked through the halls of the castle, so immersed in his anger he did not notice the man walking towards him