When Nahad Hari left five soldiers to guard their small supplies and the prisoners, that seemed to be more than enough. However, even five men were helpless against brother Petto when he awakened his energy.
“Here, I found it!” Gerome’s voice came out from the darkness of the cave, and he appeared holding the bag the soldiers stole from them earlier. After searching inside, Gerome took out a small, tightly closed flask.
The light from an oil lamp was barely enough to illuminate the cave and the trio of black brothers sitting next to the entrance. Two old villagers hid behind the shadows at the very edge of the light. The soldiers were nowhere to see, yet the Belrigan could sense precisely where each of their dead bodies lay. In the darkness, they could be easily mistaken for rocks on the cave floor, but their distinctive scent was manifesting the hard truth: this cave just saw fighting with five people being killed. The fight was short and brutal. Brothers got lucky as the guards did not expect Belrigan and Petto to free themself from the bounds; three of the soldiers were even resting at that moment. It did not take long for Petto to kill them one by one, while Belrigan was helping to distract enemies and then freed Gerome.
“That feels bad, brothers,” Petto coughed.
His pale face looked too whitish even for a dying person. It was almost of the color of marble, and his skin was also cold like a stone. From his breath, cold small icy clouds were forming in the air. His forearms (always hairy) now turned into bestial paws, covered with fur and with menacing claws equipping the fingers. Petto’s clothes and the fur on his hands were stained with blood. Not all of it belonged to his unfortunate foes: he got stubbed in the side and was bleeding badly.
“Stop talking,” interrupted Gerome.” after short struggling with a tight plug, he gave the open flask to Petto, who drank it at once, and only then asked:
”What was that?”
“The miraculous. It will stop the bleeding. Keep your energy, brother, and you will be alright soon.”
”Doesn’t feel so…”
”Just rest, stop talking.”
That was not the first time Belrigan saw a real fight. Second to be precise. The blood was spilled, and life was taken, but that was not the most frightening fact. More terrifying was the effect it had on Belrigan. A strange mix of fear and excitement was not unusual, but there was something else. Something wild and hungry awakened deep beneath his skin and was hungry for more action; it was thirsty for more blood. It was as strong as the scent of blood spilled in the air. Belrigan’s eyes worked perfectly in the dim light, and he could see the dead bodies of the soldiers and two older villagers trembling at the cave’s far end. Old men were asleep when everything started but should have witnessed the fight at least partially. They were still bound, and their fear was so tasty. It called for a hunt while the scent of the dead bodies invited Belrigan to feast with the fresh and delicious flesh. There was no way to control this inner beast, but was there a way to tame it? Belrigan did not know.
“The villagers… they saw everything,” growled Petto when he noticed where Belrigan was looking.
“Yes…” uttered Gerome distantly.
“I can take care of them,” suggested Petto.
The darkness vibrated inside Belrigan, anticipating the pleasure of the killing and the feast of the predators.
“Please, brothers, don’t… they are just old people…” Belrigan hastened to intervene.
Gerome looked at him and then at the villagers before deciding.
“Belrigan is right; it is too dark here. No one believes them even if they tell a strange story.”
”Not sure, brother.”
”Maybe it’s enough deaths for tonight, Petto?”
Petto swore.
”You say it as if I was pleased with this happening. But we didn’t have another choice!”
”Yes…”
Gerome took a knife from one of the dead soldiers and set the villagers free. They fled at once. A beast inside Belrigan tried to urge him to pursue and kill, but Belrigan managed to resist its yearning.
”Brother Viraz would disapprove of such weakness.” Petto coughed.
“He is not here and does not need to know,” shrugged Gerome. ”It’s indeed only two scared old men.”
“Now everyone will know that we killed tsar’s soldiers. You both must flee too”.
“Idiot! As if we are going to leave you here in such a condition! And brother Viraz wouldn’t approve that for sure! We can wait a minute; I could bet it will take time for Nahad Hari to get to the phoenix and back.”
“Then find me some wine!”
”Come on, Belrigan, let’s search for what they have here…”
Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!
Soldiers set their camp up in the dry part of the cave. Gerome took the lamp, and they began searching. It helped Belrigan take his mind from the bestial thoughts. They returned with the rest of their stolen belongings, some food, water, and wine.
It was a very late dinner in the company of the dead, and Belrigan seemed to be the only one who enjoyed it. He eagerly chewed dried meat while Gerome was nibbling some dry crackers, and Petto only drank wine, roaring like a wounded beast. The miraculous did help, though, and soon his bleeding stopped. His look was also returning to normal: the fur on his hands started to fall off, and his thingers were restoring their human appearance.
The oil in the lamp ran out, but only Gerome needed the light to see in the dark, and he seemed not to mind this.
”If the tsar of Azaraan is after the phoenix, then he must be serious about magical creatures. And the rumors about his bestiary could be true too,” said Petto after finishing the second bottle of wine.
”I believe you are right, brother.”
”Ha!” Petto laughed. ”Even if they don’t catch it tonight, Teheni will help him, and they will get it eventually.”
”Exactly,” agreed Gerome. ”You made a good point, brother: if the tsar is after the magical creatures, there must be someone helping him who knows the old ways.”
”What do you want to say, brother?”
”That teheni behind the mask—he must be one of the Libra.”
Belrigan had heard this word several times before, although no one ever explained its meaning to him. That happened from time to time: elder brothers discussed things that the younger members of the order were not privy to.
”Let the seven devils take you,” Petto swore severely. ”Don’t bring this up now, brother!”
”Why not? Haven’t you noticed? The ugly dwarf, who calls himself a Ray of Light, heeded his advice. That means his position is high. He is one of the Libra and must have also heard of the Black Brotherhood.”
”Ha! He did not hear it all, I bet. Otherwise, he would not leave us here alone,” Petto laughed hoarsely.
”Obviously! But Libra is all about secrecy, so that’s expected. Yet he must know something and planned to interrogate us for the rest—have no doubts.”
”Maybe… and he still has a chance to do it. For killing the tsar’s men, they could quarter us or something worse. Let’s get out of here!” Petto tried to stand up, but his legs could barely hold him.
”No more wine for you, old idiot,” Gerome mumbled. ”I don’t want to carry you out of this cave!”
”Then just cut my throat and begone!”
”Shut up!”
”Brothers, what is Libra?”
In a different situation, Belrigan would not dare to ask directly, but this was not the time for hesitation.
Petto and Gerome exchanged their looks.
”That’s a long story,” Petto coughed, ”maybe another time, Belrigan.”
”Oh, maybe now,” muttered Gerome. ”Sit, Peto; you do need a little more time for miraculous to heal your up. Belrigan and I… we search the cave.”
”Again?”
”Yes. I just thought that if that masked teheni is Libra, we can find something interesting among his things.”
”If I were Libra, I would keep all the interesting things close.”
”Let’s see. Belrigan, would you help me?”
”Yes, brother.”
Belrigan helped Gerome not to stumble in the darkness.
”What are we looking for?”
”Something that is not a usual soldier’s thing. Maybe some books or artifacts, or even potions.”
It was easy. Aside from the cloaks and bags that belonged to Nahad Hari and his men, Belrigan found a sleeping bag and a backpack that looked and smelled quite differently.
”It’s here!”
”Great, let’s see what he has.”
Nothing special was inside except three small flasks like Gerome used for his potions. These flasks had some metal wrapping around and examining them made Gerome exclaim:
”It’s even better than I thought! it’s a pyre.”
”Pyre?” Belrigan was surprised at another new word.
”Yes… but first things first, I need to tell you what Libra is. You have to know. Oh, my Lords, brother Viraz won’t approve this too; let’s sit down over here.” Gerome paused before continuing: ”It all began when the magical creatures appeared. Sort of. The Libra must have existed long ago, but Black Brotherhood did not know about it until recently. When the magical creatures appeared, I was a little boy, probably just born. Then I studied science far from the Zidron mountains and only later joined the Brotherhood. I learned most of what I’m going to tell you from other brothers, but you should trust me, Belrigan, as it is the truth.”
”Secrets, brothers? Why not let me also know the truth?” Petto slowly approached them from the darkness. He could stand better when holding onto a rock.
”Then don’t interrupt me please!” angered Gerome. ”All we know that the Black Brotherhood is famous for is its exclusive collection of ancient manuscripts. Some date thousands and thousands of years ago, back to the time of Blue Ice. And some, as it is believed, originate from even earlier eras. Among these books, there are texts concerning magic, these are the core books of the Faith of the Five, but things described in them never worked out in reality. Never. Until the magical creatures appeared. It was the first years of chaos when some elder brothers searched through manuscripts and found depictions of similar animals. Not only the illustrations but also recipes describing how one can take the magical energy of the beast and use it to enhance his body with new abilities. What was written long ago proved to work. That was when the elder brothers, like Viraz, got their unique energy. Could you imagine the euphoria the enthusiasm that caught them? All the ages that Brotherhood kept the ancient knowledge were not in vain. They were finally rewarded for preserving the Five’s Faith. That was a chance… that was a power they needed to show the truth to all the world. With the new power in their hands, they deemed themselves able to spread the faith and restore the true glory of the Five throughout the world. Of course, it would be too arrogant and blunt for them to start acting immediately, especially considering what time it was. However, the brothers were not hiding much about their discoveries initially. They were helping both ordinary people caught amid the disaster and the lord of Zidron. Apart from the magical creatures, many other strange things were happening then. For instance, we know that some villagers demonstrated magical abilities. There was a man near Campou di Zidron who could ignite things with a touch of his thingers. Another one could glance into the future like brother Viraz. Poor folks—both of them got killed by their neighbors. People were terrified of anything related to magic.”
Gerome stopped for a second to catch his breath. Petto used this opportunity to intervene:
“You are speaking too much, brother. Have you found what you need?”
”Yes, I did. Look, it’s payr!”
”Great. Let’s get out of here then. Your miraculous worked on me.”
“Give me a moment, please. I started, and now I have to tell Belrigan everything. So, back to the Libra… More than a decade passed since the first years of chaos, many magical creatures were killed, and things were slowly getting to the same as before, except that Black Brotherhood now possessed new powers. More useful manuscripts were discovered, and more experiments were done until one day, a group of people appeared at the doors of the Taus Monastery in Campou di Zidron. All five wore weird masks, the same as you saw on that teheni. And here we came to the point why I started telling this. Your parents, Belrigan, were among these people.”