The drizzle fell through the broken dome of the cathedral, finding its way between the thick vines of pure blackness that futilely tried to bar their way, and filled the inside of the nave with a veil of pearly mist. The minuscule droplets danced and whirled in the space between the roofbeams and the crushed marble floor, drawing hypnotizing ephemeral forms - creation and destruction in a constant state of frail balance. But even the beauty of nature was helpless to negate the horror of the dark web that reigned over the desolate hall.

As if created by a giant spider, hundreds of thick, pitch-like strands spanned every corner of the hall. They mingled and crisscrossed, merging and branching without logic or pattern, to create an enormous labyrinth-like net. In its very center, two pale figures hung in stark contrast with their surroundings. To Noah’s horror, one of them was the limp body of Bishop Petronius. Black cobwebs tied his wrists and torso, letting his feet dangle helplessly in the air. Blood dripped from his torn habit, its color still a fresh, living red. His limbs twitched from time to time and sharp, labored breaths indicated that he was alive and fighting the curse that tried to penetrate into his body. But it was a fight he would lose, sooner rather than later, for his foe was a creature of nightmares.

Jaw clenched, Noah stared at the second figure that loomed over Bishop Petronius. Its upper body was that of a naked woman with unnaturally white, almost translucent, skin. Purplish-black veins crawled under its surface, constantly wriggling and changing their patterns, as if the flesh were being eaten by an army of worms. A chiseled face with high cheekbones and a sharp chin was rimmed by sticky darkness resembling hair. However, the obsidian strands behaved almost like tentacles made up of bubbling liquid - moving and twisting, sometimes inflating like blood-filled leeches, and dripping blotches of darkness over the creature’s torso and on Bishop Petronius. The lower half of the monster’s body disappeared into the black cobweb enveloping the nave. No, rather… it was the web itself!

Noah swallowed dryly. Yanosh’s voice surfaced from the depths of his memory - calm and quiet, yet still sinister and foreboding - as the Star-gazer explained to the Limerian youth he had just rescued the horrors and evil lurking under the snows of Norden.

'You were lucky to survive, young lord. The things you faced are amongst the most heinous creatures conjured by magic. We call them vapirs - soul feeders, not dead but also no longer among the living. There are three ways for a vapir to come into existence. One can get a curse placed on them, turning them into a merciless fiend with insatiable hunger and desire to destroy. That is what happened to you and your people. On the other hand, if one gets bitten or wounded by a vapir and their soul is not completely consumed, the vapir’s curse spreads to them. This second type of creature we call a kin-vapir. It is a mindless slave to its progenitor, hunting and delivering prey like ants to their queen. But the most dangerous is the third kind of vapir. It is created when a shaman willingly feeds on a human soul to increase their powers. A former shaman turned vapir is highly intelligent and the power of their hexes increases several fold. Even the constraints of their physical shells become undone and they get the ability to shapeshift. If you meet the last type and you don’t have at least five well trained shamans with you, run.'

Drawing a hand through his hair, Noah’s eyes darted around while he tried to organize his thoughts. Without a doubt, the thing before him was a shaman-turned-vapir. Who they were and how had they come here was secondary, although he suspected the Red Hands were involved in this entire mess. The top priority right now was to, in no specific order, rescue Bishop Petronius and get rid of that monster while remaining mostly unscathed, which was easier said than done.

“What now?” mouthed Lucas, his tan face turning ghastly as he ducked behind a pile of debris.

“We wait for the relics and attack,” whispered Duncan under his breath and inched closer to one of the nave’s still-standing columns to better shield himself from view. “And pray that thing doesn’t notice us.”

Noah remained silent, crouched on the ground behind the mutilated body of a marble statue.

Bishop Petronius seemed to still be holding on. His powers as an acolyte of Saint Emina stopped the spreading of the curse. However, this also meant that he retained his senses and experienced his soul slowly being drained out. Even if Noah was a heartless person and decided to ignore the old cleric’s suffering, when the vapir finished consuming the incredible soul force of an acolyte, it was going to become even harder to defeat. Waiting for the relics wasn’t an option!

Looking at the sword in his hand, Noah cursed his ill luck. Despite the blades of the Night Brothers being of high-quality steel and engraved with blessings of protection, they could hardly do much damage to the vapir. Noah really missed the trusted scarlet gleam of Red Dawn. Right now, he’d be glad to even put on Nerodris if it meant defeating that fiend.

A small thought tugged on his mind - yet another memory he had tried to bury for many years.

Nerodris was a holy artifact. His holy artifact. And one with consciousness at that. Ever since Noah had accepted the armor as a gift from his older brother, a sinister bond had been forged between them. Even when apart, Noah could feel a shred of darkness in his heart that marked the presence of Nerodris. Every time he dove into battle, a small, foreign shadow in the depths of his soul rejoiced at the carnage. But there was more to this bond, a secret recorded in the diaries of Saint Arslan and his kin.

Noah hurriedly sat on the floor with his legs crossed and closed his eyes.

“What are you doing?” from the strained note in Duncan’s whisper, it seemed that he felt something was amiss.

“I’m summoning Nerodris’ essence.”

“Holy… No! Damn it, no! Absolutely not!”

“Lower your voice!”

“You ain’t a shaman!” hissed Duncan. “Or an acolyte. Or a saint! And the last time you tried, you almost killed yourself and everyone present!”

Noah pressed his lips together. His friend was right. After receiving Nerodris, his sixteen-year-old self had been eager to try the artifact to its full extent. In the memoirs of Leonitas, Saint Arslan eldest son and the first owner of Nerodris, it was described how one could summon the essence of the armor as a means of protection even without wearing it. He had tried it. And if it hadn’t been for Yanosh and Orhana subduing him, he would have slaughtered half Ildemar in his frenzy. He’d never tried summoning Nerodris’ essence ever since.

“Don’t do it!” pleaded Duncan. “We aren’t so desperate yet. Just wait for Valente to-”

Suddenly, Lucas grabbed the old knight’s belt and pulled him to the side with all his might. At the same moment, a gleaming obsidian blade the size of a grown man cut the marble column Duncan was hiding behind like it was made of butter.

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With a moan akin to an injured animal, the two halves of the column slid against each other, no longer able to support the weight of the decorative frieze. The falling stones thundered into the desolated nave, propelling sharp debris in all directions.

Noah rolled on the ground just in time to evade a large marble chunk landing on the exact spot he had previously occupied.

A joyful voice echoed under the tall ceiling:

“Come out, little mice! Or better don’t. I like playing hide and seek. Your souls are mine anyway.”

Noah’s heart sank as he saw coils of darkness barring the entrance they had come through. Black fluid-like streams ran down the walls of the hall, barricading every hole or exit.

They were trapped!

Crossing eyes with his men, Noah opened his mouth, but Lucas was faster.

“Don’t worry, my lord, we’ll distract that thing until you are ready.”

“If it wants to play cat and mouse,” Duncan grinned menacingly, “we’ll give it what it wants.”

Noah clenched his jaw and nodded sharply.

“Five minutes. Stay together. Watch your backs. Keep your wits. Don’t let it harm you. Gerash will provide support….”

His words trailed off as his mind slowly registered the lapse. His throat clogged and his heart twisted, the pale, motionless figure of his friend flashing before his eyes.

“Gregor will be protecting us”, said Lucas solemnly and pulled on the string of the guardian amulet around his neck. “We will win.”

“Well said!” Duncan slapped the young knight’s back and gave Noah a parting glance. “Don’t lose yourself.”

Noah bit his lips and looked away. His keen ears didn’t miss the deep sigh of the old knight. Debris crunched under his friends’ boots as they walked to an almost certain doom.

“Oi, ugly soul-sucker!” Duncan’s roar thundered under the vaults. “Try catching us!”

A screech shook the air, followed by shouts and the sound of hundreds of slithering snakes over the marble floor. Noah had to fight the urge to jump out and follow them. He had his task and if he failed, the outcome would be worse than death.

Closing his eyes, Noah took a deep breath. He concentrated on the flicker of darkness in the depths of his mind - a pact, marking him as Nerodris’ owner. He pulled on it, let it grow and envelope him until the surrounding world disappeared completely. Red-rimmed storm clouds hung low from the menacing sky as if trying to crush him as punishment for daring to trespass into this domain. A sea of red now surrounded him, stretching endlessly in every direction. Its mirror-like surface, calm and desolate at first, suddenly shook awake. Tiny ripples snaked toward Noah’s legs and soon a churning whirlpool surrounded him. Red-black scales shimmered between the waves’ peaks from time to time as hundreds upon hundreds of serpentine creatures coiled around. Amidst the gurgling of water and scraping of scales, hissing voices rose from the swamp.

“A rare sssight!”

“A guessst mossst unexpected.”

“I sssmell fear.”

“I sssmell guilt.”

“I sssmell dessspair!”

“What warrantsss sssuch visit?”

“I need your power.” Noah’s voice echoed throughout the plane like the hollow toll of a church bell.

“Now you need usss?”

“Not all too long ago, you denied our help.”

“Conniving crittersss you called usss!”

Noah bent down and kneeled in the churning red water.

“I beg you! Please, lend me your power!”

“Look how he grovelsss!”

“The mighty Beassst!”

“Shamlesss biggott!”

“You don’t even have usss on but demand our power?”

“Why should we help you?”

“I can satiate your hunger. The one I’m facing is a being of great magical power.”

“Yesss, I can feel it.”

“Tempting!”

“Ssso much power!”

“I want to eat!”

Cold, scaly shadows shot out of the swamp. Sharp needle-like teeth sank into Noah’s flesh, forcing a scream out of his mouth. The slick bodies of the snakes coiled around his arms and torso, bound his legs, and looped around his neck, chaining him in place. A serpent’s head rose from the churning water and leveled itself with Noah’s face, its cold, yellow eyes staring at him. A purple, forked tongue flicked at his cheek, sending shivers down his spine.

“You are making a tempting offer, hossst.” The snake bared three rows of white, pointed fangs. “But we are not by your ssside. Giving you our esssence isss doable, but it comesss at a price.”

“Name it,” squeezed Noah through his teeth, staring straight at the monster without averting his gaze.

“Give usss sssome of your memoriesss.”

“No!” Noah flinched, but the serpents that bound him didn’t give him much chance to move.

“Why not? Give up the bad onesss.”

“The onesss that make you hurt.”

“A mother dying in childbirth.”

“Friends dying in your handsss.”

“Face disssfigured by magic. The ssscorching pain of fire on your ssskin.”

“No.” Noah closed his eyes and breathed heavily. “You are not getting those.”

“Ssso ssstrange. A human unwilling to forget pain.”

“What about the mossst recent one?”

“What about that girl you took?”

“We know you want to forget her.”

Noah stiffened. Forget about Pricilla? About her condemning words? Forget the scent of their sweat mixing together? The sound of their moans echoing under the chapel vaults? The fire in his body, still burning even after what he did?

The horror and repulsion in Lorelei’s gaze?

“N-no.” He swallowed hard, his face twisting in pain. “Don’t you dare touch this one.”

“Why are you willing to sssuffer?”

“Why walk the hard path?”

“Because it makes me who I am.” Noah opened his eyes and glared at the snake before him. “Because I have a duty to remember. To avenge. To repent. I don’t have the right to forget.”

“Sssuch a delightful fool!”

“Your darknesss will tassste even better when you fully embrace dessspair!”

“Then give usss other memoriesss.”

“Sssome happy onesss.”

“Without paying the price, you can’t wield our power.”

Wetting his lips, Noah hesitated. How much time had he already lost? The time in this inner world flowed differently, but this didn’t mean that it stopped completely. Duncan and Lucas couldn’t keep fighting for much longer.

“Take what you need.”

“Foolish boy.”

“You haven’t changed.”

“Lassst time, it wasss your mother. Thisss time….”

“Will it be your daughter?”

“One of your friends?”

“Or your wife?”

“What!?” Noah’s eyes rounded.

Before he could comprehend the words, the snake before him jumped forth with a hiss and pierced his heart.

A huge pillar of black lightning shot into the stormy red sky. Afterward, darkness exploded into the world.