The old gate gave up after the third hit from the ram. As the courtyard of the abandoned castle opened before us, the soldiers discarded the piece of freshly cut down wood and reached for their weapons. I stepped inside first.
There were six. Crumpled armours, torn jackets, frayed swords, axes, and a single broken in half spear, shorter than it should haven been. One of them, swarthier than the others, but not me, looked at me angrily. Judging by his stature, he alone was a trained warrior. The same could not be said of the rest - frightened, uncertain, shivering. One could almost feel pity looking at them, yet the person behind them confirmed that they were responsible for the kidnapping.
The massacred body, with chunks of flesh torn apart by claws and teeth, did not resemble a woman at all. Not even her face was spared, looking like it had been torn apart by wolves or wild dogs.
"An adult woman with her daughter disappeared in the White Tree, and others speak of bandits taking up residence in a nearby abandoned fortress. I doubt that a few cut-throats would have the nerve to kidnap two women - they might as well have fallen prey to some wild animals in the woods, plenty in the area, but you insisted on being informed of all scout reports…" - The morning words of Lehon I had listened to before echoed in my mind. - “I was going to simply send a squad of soldiers to take care of it, but since you insist, I'll put you in charge... just remember that everyone needs sleep. Not even you can uninterruptedly be on duty. Remember that you're in for a more important task. A siege."
He was right about one thing. This was not the work of humans, but of wild beasts.
“And for me, sleep was an even harder task to face than reality.”
I gripped the hilt of my one-and-a-half sword tighter as the men under my command lined up on my left and right, with freshly forged weapons and clean, well-groomed armour. The difference in equipment was plain to see, and in the eyes of the bandits I could see their doubt changing into overwhelming fear.
“V-Vein, They said we were in no danger...” I heard one of them, who then focused his attention on me. His two brothers in arms did the same, quickly becoming terrified, as they saw the pure resolve in my eyes.
"Is it resolve? Or just duty?"
"Shut your mouth, Dain." The tall one spoke, meeting my gaze with his own, piercing stare. He was the only one who had protection on both his chest, and his head, although a simple chain mail with rusty, steel helmet couldn't change the outcome of this incoming fight. In his hand he held a short axe, well-sharpened, along with a wooden shield with a worn, red-and-black crest. I was unable to tell who it might have once belonged to, but it must have been many years ago, given the state of the place.
“Forward,” I said, and then took the first step. I swung my sword in a swift motion aimed at this old symbol of the erstwhile lord's past, shattering it into pieces. The rest of my blow landed on my opponent's chain mail, which made him stagger back, surprised by the force of my blow. He must've never fought someone who surpassed him in strength so greatly.
I heard a shout to my left. One of the bandits, the one with the broken spear, fell to his knees as the axe of one of the soldiers chopped off his fingers. He held his bleeding hand in a painful grimace for two heartbeats, before another blow split his head in two.
Soon after him, the others fell. The tall warrior had not fought much longer than his comrades, when my second forceful strike connected with his breast, making him drop his weapon and let out a sigh full of pain.
“M-mercy...” he wailed as I stood over him, ready to deliver the final blow.
“Where are they?” I asked calmly, staring into his brown, common eyes, glassy from tears.
“In the castle... in the bedroom. That's where they took the younger one. They wanted...”
“I realize what they wanted.” How many similar stories have I heard before? It seems as if they have become routine for me. How many people, like him, have already died, because they found themselves in a hopeless situation where they couldn't refuse?
“I beg you... They forced us… mercy… they would kill us if we...”
“You should've refused them. You should've let them kill you, rather than let your soul carry such a heavy sin," I replied. With my empty hand, I pointed to the massacred body of the woman next to me. “If it weren't for you, she would still be alive, together with her daughter, whose you also doomed. Without you, they would never have dared to kidnap her. To risk detection.”
“...” His gaze was blank. He could not disagree with me, but I could hardly blame him. Faced with death or sin, how many men would choose to do the former? Not many. I, too, once acted similarly to him, and like him, I will soon receive the appropriate punishment for my sin.
Possibly, even today.
My third blow was certain. His head rolled swiftly for a few feet, until it came to a stop nearby another corpse.
“Collect what's left of the woman. We will take her back to the White Tree, where she will be given a proper burial. Burn the rest,” I turned to my men. "Search the buildings as well." I doubt there is anything of value in them, or that anyone is still hiding in them, but I cannot leave any loose ends. Not before the siege.
“As you command, sir...” The highest-ranking soldier spoke up. “...and what shall we do with Them? The one you killed said they were inside, and if there is more than one, then...”
“I'll deal with them alone.”
The silence I left behind was only broken by the sound of my hard steps, as I entered the largest building in the square - it must've been the former residence of the lord of this castle.
The door had been broken down years ago, although looking at the decayed wood lying next to it, even if it hadn't been, it wouldn't have been a great obstacle for me. The place was abandoned, old, broken, and very unfriendly looking. "Have I also become like this? Cold. Quiet. No more laughter can leave my stone lips. No conversation can be made with a walking statue, which feeds on given orders and taken oaths."
I reached to my chest, toward the glass medallion hanging from my neck. Unfortunately, my plate armour prevented me from taking hold of this small memento.
“And what would I see in it? Memories once thriving with life have long since turned to dust. Only death remains."
Suddenly, the all-pervading silence was broken by a barely audible raised voice, followed by the sounds of bare feet stepping swiftly on the cold stone ground. I squeezed the hilt of his sword tighter, and I pointed it deep into the dark corridor, from where the sound of footsteps was coming. Calm and ready.
“One. Two. Three. Four,” I began counting down slowly the beats of my heart. My eyes had already become accustomed to the surrounding darkness, and so as quickly as I spotted the silhouette of a running person, I was able to confirm my expectations. “Ghouls.”
The fastest of them made an inhuman sound at the sight of me, thirsting for the human flesh they so coveted. In its bloodlust, it did not notice the trap. As soon as it approached me at the length of my sword, I raised it, and made a thrust. The steel easily passed through its bare chest, covered only by its woollen jacket.
“Brgh...” It noticed the weapon, which pierced him, far too late. A trickle of fresh blood flowed from its mouth, and then it died.
Two more followed right behind it.
Without hesitation, I kicked the corpse weighing my weapon, releasing it, and preparing for another blow, but the monsters proved too fast. With the momentum of both bodies pushing against me with all their strength, I was unable to stay on my feet, so I released my grip from the handle, letting myself be thrown to the ground.
After the loud cooing of the armour against the hard stone, they began to direct their blows and bites into my body, but their still human nails and teeth were unable to threaten me in any way. Instead, I heard the unpleasant sound of scratching and banging against my breastplate. I didn't want to give them the opportunity to find holes into my body, so I quickly reached for the silver dagger clipped to my belt and thrust it into the neck of one of them.
When the creature caught itself at the stabbing point to stop the bleeding, which wasn't there, I seized the opportunity and pushed both of them off me and got up on my feet. Ignoring the languishing ghoul to my right, I focused on the last of them.
Immediately after I got up, it attacked again. It threw itself at me with all its strength, directing its blood-dirty hands toward my head. I almost fell to the ground again, but a single, malnourished and newly transformed ghoul no longer posed as much of a threat to me.
I plunged my dagger blade deep into its abdomen, and it wailed in pain like a rabid dog being put down before taking a few steps away from me.
It looked at me with a hate-filled stare, and then at its fresh wound, smoking and glowing after being in contact with the lethal for it material. Both ghouls fell to their knees in pain and pawed at the radiating wound, wanting to stop their death. To no avail, as silver spells their unavoidable doom. Soon both of their bodies crumbled into dust, as did theirs companion, pierced before with my sword. By now, there was nothing more than dust left of it on the floor.
“I'm sorry,” I spoke up, looking into the ghoul's frightened eyes. He knew he was dying, but he no longer felt hatred for me. The fear of death overcame his thirst for blood.
“In the White Tree, they didn't mention any men. They must have belonged to those bandits and been transformed against their will.” As their limbs disintegrated into nothingness, they gave me one last look of horror before their faces also lost any human features.
“The mercy of death is a better fate than living as a blood slave.” I wondered if my empty words reached them in their final moments, just before they disappeared.
I picked up my sword and reattached the silver dagger to my belt. Onwards, through the dark corridor, I reached a small feasting hall, with an elevated platform.
The long tables stood in unchanged positions, with bowls, spoons and overturned flasks. Most of the chairs had stood squatted close to the tables, but right next to me, I noticed a dozen unevenly standing chairs, with fresh food leftovers and a burned-out candle nearby.
The same could be noticed near the lordly seat. If it weren't for the smell of burnt wax present in the air, one would think it had been standing there unused for centuries.
They stood in the corner of the room, hiding where light barely reached them from the small wall-mounted openings.
Just like with the ghouls, where were three of them. Two silhouettes stood in front of the third, the tallest of them all.
"I see you," I announced loudly, making them emerge from the shadows.
Two of them were dressed like soldiers - leather jackets, chain mails, arm bracers, and light helmets. One of them wielded a long, menacing spear, and the other a huge shield with a heavy mace. After just a glance, it was obvious they were far more dangerous than the bandits or the ghouls.
However, it was the tallest of them, a handsome young man with blond hair, dressed in an elegant, richly decorated tunic, who turned to me first.
“Paladin,” he stated with detectable disdain after looking at me for a brief moment. “Weren't the thousands you slaughtered enough? Are you going to search every ruin you come across until you are sure you have annihilated our race? Did you burn the city to dust, in fear that we would rise from the dead?”
“No.” The armed two began to approach me, as the third continued his talk.
“A thousand-year-old metropolis destroyed in the name of what? Your oath? Did you utter its words to yourself under your breath, deceiving yourself as you murdered innocents? Or was it just an excuse for you to taste your own bloodlust? Is this what it looks like? Is your holy mission a slander, meant to satiate murderers like you? How many of us have you killed, O great paladin, just because we were born different from you? How many innocents have felt the cold silver of your sword as you deprived them of what is most precious?”
“How many innocents lost their lives when you sucked their warm blood to fill your own hunger, bloodsucker?” I replied. “How many of them did you then forced to taste your own blood, to spawn in them a madness towards human flesh?”
“Three.” he admitted, astonishing me for a moment. His voice sounded almost as if filled with regret. “I shouldn't do it, and yet I felt... hopeless hatred. For my body, which is so easily broken with fresh, human blood.”
The one with the shield raised it high, completely shielding not only himself, but also the other bloodsucker, lurking just behind him with a long, sharp spear, preparing for an attack.
“For scum like them, getting to know the taste of my blood was almost a mercy, compared to the life that could await them. A life full of robbery, murder and theft.” His bright, red gaze concentrated on me with a hateful, angry look, yet his words were surprisingly calm, and calculated. “They were the ones who brought me these women from the village, if you care for it. They wanted to gift them to me. So that I could drink the blood flowing in their veins. They wished to feed me with them, as one feeds a dog, so that the dog will not turn from hunger against its owner.” He closed his eyes for a moment, and then sighed deeply. The expression on his face indicated obvious disgust. “I didn't manage to stop myself then. I forced them to drink my blood, and then watched them kill a woman so that they could then feed on her meat. That sight gave me... pleasure,” he admitted in an indifferent-sounding voice.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“And what happened to the girl?”
“...” His expression was devoid of any emotion. He looked down at me, but I was unable to see his earlier contempt. It seemed as if time froze itself, until he spoke, and sealed his fate with it.
“I killed her, too. She was, after all, a weak mortal.”
The bloodsuckers reacted before I could deliver my own blow. The first of them charged with his shield toward my sword hand as the second began his salvo of quick spear thrusts, protected by his comrade-in-arms. Stepping back, I made sure that the sharp spear did not reach the openings of my helmet, but the spearman still followed me, aiming at the gaps in my plate.
His quick movements met my heavy armour again and again, sparking the air between me and him as metal met metal, not giving me a moment's respite as his companion kept blocking my sword with his shield held in his right hand, brandishing his mace lazily every time I tried to make any move with it.
"Well trained..." Seeing their determined, flaming eyes, I thought nostalgically, that maybe once I would've shared their passion. "The rain of sparks in front of my eyes, the drops of sweat running down my face, the dryness in my mouth and the drumming in my ears from the incessant sounds of battle. It all became a monotony for me. All that remained was an eternally unfulfilled duty."
When the bloodsucker once again began his schematic attack, I released my right hand from the weight of my sword. Before it had time to hit the cool, heavy floor, I grabbed the spar of the spear and with one sudden movement pulled with all my might, tearing his only weapon from his hands. Before the mace-wielding shield man had time to react in any way to the disarming of his comrade, my silver dagger went deep into his soft neck.
“Halvin!” I heard the man's panicked voice, as his companion fell to the ground, fuming slightly from where the blade had pierced the flesh.
“Son of a bitch!” The frenzied blow slammed into my shoulder with such force that I had no choice but to let go of the spear I had acquired moments ago, and retreat another few steps. “Let's see how you can handle me without your fucking silver!” His furious blows pounded my armour with deadly ferocity, filled more with madness than any plan.
After dodging one of his heavy assaults, I clenched the fist in my still sore hand, from the earlier blow, and brought it down on his face with such great momentum, that we both fell to the floor, with me on top, overwhelming him with my heavy plate. The paralysing pain in my left shoulder spoke to me that I certainly wouldn't feel relief in it for a long time.
"When was the last time I felt such emotion?" I grabbed the closest object lying next to us with my right hand and hit him with it on the head. And again. And again. Three blows were enough for me to be sure that his crushed face would remain that way, at least until his body was incinerated.
Exhausted, I dropped the bloody remains of what might have been a beer mug and got up from the floor.
“Bravo. You proved what you can do. I almost can't tell which of us is more bloodthirsty, looking at what you did to my friend's face.” The young bloodsucker clapped his hands theatrically, not even for a moment taking his deep gaze off my figure.
“It's not much different from what you did to the woman in the courtyard,” I countered, as I started to walk towards him, after gathering my dropped equipment. My heavy footsteps echoed off the stone floor. Whether he intended to flee or attack me, I was uncertain. He stood there, unfazed, with neither fear nor anger.
"You seem calm, for someone whose end is approaching nearby." I began to walk on the elevated platform, tightening the grip on my sword. "Tell me, where is the girl's body?"
"She lays is the bedroom." He pointed to a room behind his back with his thumb, collected. Then, he looked at me. "I seem calm? I am calm. Why should I dread towards something I cannot avoid? No matter what I do, I will be in death shortly. I cannot pursue you to spare me, no? With how things turned out… I'm not certain if I would even appreciate such an outcome. We differ from each other, not only through the blood that courses through our veins, but also our age, past deeds, personality, regrets…" The last word seemed to spill out of his mouth with much sorrow. "They are all meaningless, aren't they? In the face of death.
"Maybe for your kind," I objected. "But our sins will follow us through the end of our life. And so will our achievements. The lives we saved, the people we helped".
"Is that what you think you were doing?" He snorted, but composed himself swiftly. "While butchering others, who were born in such a way as I? When destroying homes of entire families, who bore you no ill? Killing children, which knew no better?"
The silence that followed made me impatient. I had no time to argue with a bloodsucker, who just confessed to making people his blood servants, to murdering two innocent women.
"I have never hurt a child." That much was true, as all my victims were adults. Maybe I should find a gasp of serenity in that, but the heavy burden on my chest spoke differently. I put my silver sword near his neck, resting its weight on his shoulder.
"Is that so?" He felt genuinely unbothered. "You speak of sins and achievements, bearing on souls… how heavy will be a sin of killing an unarmed… foe, who will ask you for a single, simple request?"
"I won't spare you."
"That much we already agreed on. No, what I ask you for is a simple delivery, of some kind. I can already guess why you are here. You found our hideout, didn't you? The last place of my blood-kin, a mere ruin, very similar to the one we are currently standing in. If, as you say, you never hurt a child, it should be elementary for you."
He reached for something under his belt, and somehow, I was certain he wouldn't take out some hidden weapon to attack me with. No, instead, he handed me over a small pouch, tied closed.
"You are Algon, aren't you?" He stepped forward towards me, letting my silver sword cut him slightly. His burning wound began to smoke. "You are the master paladin of the Silver Order. It was you who defeated Galdear in a single combat, didn't you?" For the first time, I looked into his eyes. Every vampire had that familiar, red hue in their eyes, a sign of their blood's strength. But this was no simple hue. His eyes were deep, crimson red. A sign of royalty. "You killed two of the three, but you may still find the redemption you are seeking for. After you crush the gates and kill everyone standing in your way, look for the blood candles, and make sure not to hurt the wildling."
"Who am I supposed to give it to?" After grabbing the pouch with my left hand, I saw as a simple scratch on his neck began to grow, starting to disintegrate not only neck down, but also both his face and his collarbone, killing him part by part. He never blinked, making sure that his eyes were connected with mine the entire time.
"When you see them, you will know."
With those last words, the vampire crumbled to dust, with no resistance at all.
"Was he foolish, or just very hopeful? Why did he let me kill him so easily, and yet send his henchman to their death? Did he know he had no way out of here, with them killed?" I wondered, as I put down my sword and hid his gift inside my armour. "Blood candles, wildlings, crushing the gates… speaking in riddles like some kind of prophet. What does he know about my redemption? What was his goal?"
I shook my head, feeling sceptical about thinking too much of the dying bloodsucker's last words. I should at least bring the body of the girl for an appropriate burial.
Just as he said, the girl was in the bedroom, lying face up in the bed.
Her chest was moving up and down again, in a slow motion of breathing. Except for a small bruise on her face, she was unharmed.
Alive and well.
. . .
The sun was already setting when we arrived at our camp, set up for the night. Five hundred people in total, with less than hundred of them members of the Silver Order, which suffered great loses during the city annihilation. But those who survived, got an experience they will never forget. And those who died, did not die in vain, as we succeeded. The order's purpose was almost complete.
"Maybe after the next battle, it will be disbanded. With the final blood feeding monster struck to its death." I thought. "But what will be my goal then? Thirty-three years I've been serving the order. Tracking, killing, torturing… and now, my sacred duty will be finally finished. With it, will my sins be forgiven? Will I be able to close my eyes, to a nightmareless sleep?"
"Lord Algon." The camp guards bowed to me, as we dismounted our horses. Some stable boys rushed to take care of them, and I dismissed my slides, before heading in the direction of Lehon's tent, the master scout of the order. He wasn't alone, as just as I entered, I saw the stern look of another master paladin of the order.
"Lord Gerfroy." I bowed down with fist clenched on my chest. Unlike me, he was an actual nobleman, as such, it was expected of me. He was a hard-looking man, who suffered much from the claws of the bloodsuckers. His castle raided and taken, his people feed on, family turned into ghouls… a story like many others. He was a broken man, just like me, but at the same time very different.
"Stand down, Algon. We were just finishing our preparations for tomorrow's march. Lehon' scouts report that we are barely half-a-day walk from our destination."
"And so, we will end them tomorrow. The Grandmaster wants to attack it tomorrow, on the eve of night, if necessary," Lehon added, with confidence. He was as fresh member of the order as you could be, since he took that position just after the previous master of scouts perished during the siege of Haven. He did come recommended by the king's man, so no person dared, or bothered, to object. We were all tired, marching from the hardest battle of our life to another. But this time, it seemed more of a clean-up. Getting rid of those, who survived.
"So will it be," I agreed. "Your scout report spoke truth. We found some bandits camped in an old castle, together with them were some leftover bloodsuckers. They were dealt with."
"Something more special about them?" Lord Gerfroy asked.
"A package, supposedly my redemption. A riddle, of a blood candles and a wildling. A crimson eyes of a royalty, found in a rubble of a ruin," I thought of saying.
"Nothing worth mentioning," I replied instead. "They were running away. Perhaps finding themselves another place to hide, far away from the main group."
"We should expect more of them to follow." Lehon tapped his finger on a map, laying on the table between him and Lord Gerfroy. "This… Haven, built in the shade of a mountain, could've dozens of different escape routes and tunnels. Just because we tracked the main group of runners, it doesn't mean we will wipe them all out. The open fields around it were certainly used by the blood-dogs, escaping our grasps. Surrounding it then was no option, as you barely won the siege… but it for sure made our life now a lot more bothersome. There could be hundreds more of them all around us. One day, they could re-build the Haven you worked so hard to destroy."
"I doubt it," Lord Gerfroy disagreed. "For thousands of years, the blood-feeders only managed to build one, single city, which housed almost all of them in their entirety. There is no way they could ever recreate what they lost. There will be strugglers, of that, I am sure, but we will never face anything like that siege ever again. Some of the survivors could perhaps live until they grow old, hiding in some forests, caves, or even among us, but their time was nigh. The humanity will prevail. Our duty is almost done, and we will be able to rest in peace."
"It's great that you are so confident in your… resolve, but the king thinks otherwise. The Empire of Voh has begun to send some of their soldiers in huge numbers dangerously close to our borders; Duke of Golden Goose began to hire mercenaries, gathering people for a yet unknown reason. It will be quite taxing to have another, even though small by comparison, threat in our kingdom. The king wants them to be dealt with, that's why the Silver Order will have another task… but that's a matter that I will explain only to your grandmaster, for now. My question is, will you still serve the kingdom after tomorrow, or would you rather leave the order, and spend the rest of your lives in peace?"
"There is no rest for those, who swore to protect the innocent." Lord Gerfroy declared. "The Silver Order will have my life, or my death, if that's the will of the king."
Both of them looked at me now, expecting a familiar sounding answer.
"If I live through tomorrow, then I will decide my future. I won't make promises I don't know if I can keep."
"Not any more."
Both of them looked at me, quite unsatisfied, but remained silent. They had no patience to speak with emotionless statue, and I had no desire to listen to their babble about politics and wars to come. I felt the pain in my left shoulder throb, as I took my leave and began to walk towards my tent.
All around, there was a familiar feeling of nostalgia. Soldiers around fires, chatting and laughing, trying to keep their morale high. Sharpening their weapons, cleaning their armours. But for two familiar looking faces, I've seen dozens of new, unknown to me people. Young men, wanting to slay the last of the blood feeding monsters, which terrorized humanity for centuries. They waited for their turn to gain glory in combat, not scared about possibly being injured or maimed. Most don't do that in stories.
All of them looked at me, marching through, whispering among each other.
"That is Algon?"
"Is he the one that defeated the bloodsucker's general?"
"He was the first to breach the walls…"
"Look at him… old…"
"Did… hear…"
Most of them knew the stories about the master paladin, unbeatable, winning every battle he participated in. But they didn't know the man under the armour. Exhausted, gloom, wounded. I was not in the place to correct them. Every man needed a pillar to which they could hold on. If I was that pillar for them, I won't expose my weaknesses to them.
Near my place to sleep, my two squires approached me.
"Master Algon." They both bowed down, and followed me into my tent.
Both Bern and Halon were born to some minor, noble houses. But they had the misfortune of being born fourth or even fifth son, making them quite… unwanted. There was no land to spare for so many children, so they had to look for another way of proving themselves. Squiring for a master of the Silver Order was their choice.
"Help me get rid of this armour, then brink me some wine." The words spoken by me were the same every time. They stepped forward towards me and began to undress me, silently. I existed only to give them simple orders, which they were quick to complete, chatless. Those kind children did not deserve to suffer in a company of someone like me, so I did my best so they wouldn't be attached to me. So they won't grieve after my slowly approaching, certain, death.
I wasn't bad to them, just… indifferent. The smallest act of kindness I was able to present them was to not let them join me in any battle. So that they would remain safe. Did they see it like that, too? Probably not. They also hope of gaining glory and stories to tell in battle. Instead, they get to undress the old man and take care of his tent.
"There is no glory to gain in a fight. If I could reverse the choices I've made many years ago, I would prefer to strike down trees for firewood, than to strike people for their lives." But I was not the correct person to speak to them about it.
My hands are filthied with blood beyond anyone's comprehension. There is no way for me to back out from my current life.
"Wine." With the plate off my shoulders, I felt the pain subside a little. It wasn't broken, at least. I took a deep breath, having no physical burden on my body. After the boys left, I took the small medallion resting on my neck and looked inside it.
The dust of death. Nothingness, which once was my everything, locked inside a glass container.
"I suffered through yet another day." I put the pouch, full of secrets, on the table before me, and sat down on the chair next to it, awaiting my drink. After it came, I quickly dismissed the squire, who left with a blank expression. "Another day, after which the old fool will drink himself to sleep." He probably thought. He wasn't wrong, as I gulped down quickly first sip, straight from the bottle. It tasted sour and made me retch, but I didn't stop. I drank until there was nothing left, on an empty stomach, hoping it will hit me mightily enough to put me to a dreamless sleep.
Then, I waited. Firstly, I couldn't any more feel the pain in my shoulder. Secondly, I wasn't able to keep my balance straight. Thirdly, I couldn't put my thoughts in check.
As I lied down in my bed, I closed my eyes, and awaited even longer.
But the nightmares came anyway.