Unfortunately, no matter how careful I was, I only became aware of the approaching problem when it was already hovering over our heads. In all my time in this world, I have not seen a single living being, except for two retired people in the village. So, I didn't notice the birds circling above us until they were low enough that they were clearly going to grab us. These birds were covered with gray feathers, and their unkempt appearance gave the impression that a flock of zombies hovered over us. However, judging by the smell, it was so, because together with the birds we were surrounded by a cadaverous stench.
The streams of fire did not help to shoo the annoying pursuers, because the 'birds' themselves were fire-breathing. I had only one effective weapon left, so I stopped and prepared to fight back. Immediately, the most impatient of the birds came down on me, its claws raking at my back. But I corrected the trajectory of its flight with telekinesis, and then pierced the vile creature with my 'claws'. The magic artifact did not fail, and the bird immediately died, at the same time turning into flakes of gray ash, which scattered in different directions.
The remaining birds immediately soared up and raised a real ruckus, clearly scolding me in all sorts of ways for daring to resist. Ten minutes later, I treated with iron next daredevil, without even stopping walking, after which no one was in a hurry to attack me.
Keldrun didn't have such a great weapon, so he had to walk close to me, literally breathing in the back of his head. The birds accompanied us for about half an hour, after which they rose to a height of a hundred meters and lazily hovered there, occasionally checking how we are doing.
In the meantime, we had reached the point where the bridge circling the cliff. As I went forward, I saw another rock. And then another one. And finally, when the bridge made another loop, we had a view of a tall, beautiful castle rising among the rocks ahead.
When Keldrun to see this building, he stopped and whispered in astonishment.
“No. Not this! I'm not going back there!”
"What?" - I asked, turning back.
"It's a Ghost Castle.” - He said, looking at me with wild eyes. – “You! You brought me here! You're with them. You can't fool me!”
"If you don't want to fall down, you need to go all path to the end." - I warned him.
“No! No way!!!”
With these words, the stupid hunter took a step back, and then the bridge under his feet literally crumbled into separate blocks of stone, and he fell with a wild squeal straight down into the inky darkness. I watched as a pair of birds dived after him, clearly intending to intercept their prey before it disappeared into the sea of darkness, so I continued moving. As I took each step, I concentrated on the feeling of following the Path, and each time I felt under my feet the concrete calm of the bridge, guaranteeing my movement.
The fate of Keldrun did not bother me at all. In my entire lifetime, I followed the rule that fools should never be saved. And the fact that I managed to survive up to this time, perfectly proved the rightness of this principle. If a person is not able to make the correct decisions, and instead commits stupidity, then it is better to let him die himself, instead of dragging such idiots on my hump.
When I reached the reliable rocks, I breathed a sigh of relief, and then began to study my way. Here was something to see. There was no path, but a road that curved up the side of the mountain. And literally on every meter of this road there were all sorts of obstacles, traps and deceptions. Whoever did this whole attraction, he clearly did not want any of the travelers to survive. So, I didn't fight another fool, but just flew up into the air and went straight to the gate which eventually led the road.
When I got to the next 'checkpoint', I found that a strange man was guarding the gate. He might have been called a Ghost, but he looked more like a man made of blue glass. Only the absence of the characteristic shiny surface suggested that it was not a piece of glass, but something else. What is most interesting shade of blue one in one coincide with the color of the eyes Keldrun.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"What? How did you get here?” - Ghost asked, surprising at my appearance. - "Who are you?" What is your name?”
"My name is Freddy Krueger.” - I said. At the moment, this name had almost no connection with me, but I didn't see any sense in coming up with a new one.
The Ghost muttered something under his nose, and I felt a wave of magic. The gatekeeper looked at me for a few seconds, then frowned and shouted in a nasty voice.
"That's not your name! Tell me your true name, or I won't let you through.”
Hearing the expression 'true name', I did not hesitate, and stepped forward and impaled the impudent man with my blades, sacrificing him to the demons. He didn't even have time to croak as he crumbled into dust, turning into nothing. I won’t let know my true name to some freaks. He was clearly trying to curse me, so I didn't see the point of continuing to communicate with him. Let him communicate with the creatures of Chaos.
Approaching the gate, I found that it was slightly ajar, but it would be difficult to get through the gap. I tried to open doors but they were stuck and didn’t move. However, this did not stop me for more than a couple of seconds. Using my power of Order, I pressed the gate, opening it with a loud crack. After examining the gate, I became convinced that such function at these gates was absent from the moment of creation. It looked like another trap, but I was too lazy to investigate how it worked, so I simply went ahead, leaving the stone gate in its new position.
Ahead was a straight path paved with flagstones. The forbidden Castle was very close now, so I quickened my pace. High walls, decorated with ornaments, rose into the sky. Colorful stained-glass windows glittered in the sun, and low fruit trees grew on either side of the road, forming a small garden. I noted that these were the first plants I had seen in this world, but I didn't bother to look away, because the tall gate leading to the castle began to open right in front of me.
With a soft rumble, the gates opened, and a dozen ghost soldiers with armor and swords came out, escorting an equally ghostly man in full dress.
“I greet you, stranger, in the Ghost Castle. What brings you here?” - The head of the meeting committee asked me.
"The Path brought me here.” - I said obvious thing. However, the word ‘path’ could mean not only the ‘road’, but also the ‘fate’ that governs those who follow this road.
"It's been a long time since people have visited our castle along the Path.” - The last word clearly sounded like it should have been capitalized. - "But we still honor the Agreement. Before you continue your journey, wanderer, I would like to ask you a question.”
“You may ask.” - I agreed after a pause.
"Did our exiled kinsman, who lives not far from here, give you any trouble?"
Is he meaning the same guy I killed before gate?
"No, he didn't" - I said. "Absolutely no problem.”
“Well.” - The Ghost nodded with satisfaction. - "Sometimes he can be really obnoxious. But he's still one of us.”
Yeah, he was one of you. But now he's one of victims of the demons, who are probably hiccupping from the flood of victims I provide them with. I did not focus on the fate of their kin, but went to the castle. The doors slammed shut behind me, and I could only go forward, choosing my Path, guided by the internal compass.
"I hope you don't mind if I accompany you inside the castle?" - The head of the escort convoy has asked me now.
"No, of course not. If I have any questions, it would be better to have someone around to ask them.”
“Wonderful.” - Ghost nodded.
Meanwhile, we passed through a long corridor and came out into a large hall where any normal person should feel like an ant. It seems that the builders of this castle suffered from giant-mania. Or maybe they were fifty times taller than a normal person?
"Can you tell me a little bit about this place?" - I decided to break the silence.
“With pleasure.” - My companion was delighted. – “There have been no new faces here for a long time, who should tell something. So, our castle...”
If we squeeze all water and praise out of the subsequent speech, it turned out that this castle was a 'transport hub' of the world of dreams, created in immemorial time ago. Previously, all sorts of travelers and even caravans scurried here, 'cutting' the way through the Ghost Castle. It was a special structure that existed simultaneously in many places in the dream world. So, if you entered through one entrance in the desert, it was possible in ten minutes to go out in the middle of the swampy jungle, in the far north, and even in what hell.
But since that happy time, the eons of ages had passed, and the world of dreams had changed, and with it the trade routes had changed, so that now the Ghost Castle was a universe’s dead end, accessible from only a few places.
As I listened to this interesting lecture, my feet carried me through halls, passages, galleries, and staircases. Finally, I went into another hall, turned to the wall, made my way through an invisible passage behind one of the columns, and found myself in a long, narrow hall, where the typical blue patterns of this place were intertwined with silver plant ornaments.