Suddenly, Evans woke up. Without knowing why, it turned out that he had fallen asleep. A stabbing pain in his thigh. A shard of mirror was in his flesh. He then realised that he was completely naked, lying in the middle of the remains of one of the bunks. On the other side of the cell, Wendel and Deberry were staring at him, obviously frightened. He wanted to reach his hand towards the shard to remove it, but was interrupted:
"Don't touch it!" exclaimed Deberry.
-What... What happened?" asked the young craftsman, confused.
-I'm losing my mind..." gasped Wendel, dumbfounded.
-It was you all along," Deberry shouted angrily. You killed the innkeeper.
-What are you talking about? Peter gasped.
-You're a lycanthrope! If it wasn't for that silver mirror. You would have done the same to us.
-This is ridiculous! Evans protested, before turning to Wendel. Don't tell me you're buying this?
-I can't explain what just happened," said the German, still in shock.
-I don't understand..." whispered Evans.
-Don't tell me you didn't know about this," Deberry snarled. You must have been bitten by another werewolf, you must remember. I heard you say you were from Sarlat. Weren't there animal attacks last spring in the area?
-Yes, a beast killed about fifteen people, but I have never been bitten, I have never even seen this creature!
-How old are you?" asked Wendel, suddenly seeming to have regained control over himself.
-Seventeen, why?
-Did you know your parents?
-No, my mother died in childbirth, and I never knew who my father was.
-I see... It's only a hypothesis, but if lycanthropy is transmitted by the exchange of bodily fluids, it must be transmitted from mother to child. Your mother was infected, and you carried the disease with you from birth.
-But I would have known before, if I turned into a monster every full moon!
-Some infections lie dormant during childhood, and wake up during puberty. If the disease has recently broken out, then that would explain why you haven't realised what's happening to you yet.
-You mean that... that..." stammered Evans.
-That you're the Beast of Sarlat, and that you killed the innkeeper," Deberry added.
The young man was at a loss for words. Even the pain in his thigh seemed to have disappeared, erased by the sudden revelation of his nature. He felt himself panic, a cold sweat running down his back, losing his breath. Before he could recover, the guards arrived for their rounds.
When they saw Evans naked and wounded, they immediately removed him from the cell, without even attempting to listen to the explanations of the other two. They took him to another room, a very posh one, and when dawn came, they sent for a doctor, who removed the shard of mirror and stitched up the wound. The blood he had lost made his head spin, and he spent the rest of the morning in a state between consciousness and unconsciousness. In the early afternoon he was visited by the judge, who was visibly saddened that he had been injured.
-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have put you back in the cell with those two monsters...
-Monsters...?" said Evans, still half conscious.
-I've reached the conclusion of my investigation. I didn't tell you what Wendel was hiding; his suitcases were filled with macabre jars containing human limbs and organs. A real heresy. It is now clear that he and Deberry were accomplices, and killed the innkeeper in a satanic ritual. The Archbishop of Paris himself has come to exorcise the innkeeper, and tomorrow we will lead these heathens to the stake. You have nothing more to fear.
Evans was no longer able to speak, his head was spinning, and he finally fell into a deep sleep. And as he sank, he heard just the voice of the judge explaining that all would be well, and that evil would soon be vanquished. The fire would cleanse the two sinners.
The faint rays of sunlight crept through the cell's murder hole as a new day began. A last day. Wendel shivered in the cool of the morning, having given his jacket to Deberry so that the guards would not discover his sex. After a long sleepless night, he had resigned himself to his fate: he would be burned alive at dusk. Lying on the uncomfortable bunk that remained, he watched his comrade try in vain to pick the lock.
You're wasting your time," he said without looking at her.
-How can you say that?" she replied angrily. If we don't get out of here, they'll throw us in the fire!
-Even if you manage to open the door, there are dozens of guards between us and the exit. Not to mention all the patrols in town.
-I'm not just going to sit around and wait to die. I refuse to be condemned by a bigot for a crime I didn't commit.
-There's nothing more to be done.
-I don't know how a man with so little will could have lived so long. You didn't even try to defend your innocence. You're a coward.
-What's the point? The truth won't convince anyone.
-If you agree to be burned for heresy and to be remembered as a Satanist murderer, be my guest. But if you don't like it, I have never let men dictate my way of life, it is out of the question that I let them be the masters of my death.
-Yet we are heretics in the eyes of the Church. Evans may have killed the innkeeper, but my anatomical research and my specimens are an affront to God, as is your...
-My what?
-Your perversion. Your filthy lust.
-Keep talking to me like that, and I'll be glad to save you from the stake by strangling you right here.
-We are both sinners, Deberry. I have flouted the natural order of things in my pursuit of knowledge, and you flout it in your pursuit of pleasure. If misfortune has brought us this far, it is because the Lord deems fire to be the punishment we deserve.
-I did not take you for a man of faith. Where does this sudden piety come from?
-If I'm going to die tonight, I at least want to be at peace with my Creator. You should do the same. At least save your soul.
-I've travelled a lot, and I've seen a lot of things you don't believe. The forces of evil are legion in this world, monsters and demons populate every shadowy corner where men dare not look. But if there is a fantastic being of which I have never seen the slightest trace, it is this beneficent god who seems deaf to your complaints and your suffering.
-There are no shadows without light.
-We shall see if you still love light so much when the light of the flames comes to caress your flesh."
Wendel did not answer. He had just become aware of a reality that went far beyond his thoughts and his faith. It was the reality of pain. He was not just going to die, he was going to burn, feel his skin melt and his blood boil in his veins. The scientist had to hold back the urge to vomit, so much so that the thought of that pain knotted his stomach.
Deberry, for her part, continued to struggle with the lock. When the afternoon drew to a close, she had made no progress.
The guards came to take them to their execution. Deberry tried to attack them, but they overpowered her and put her in irons. Wendel did not protest. He was terrified, knowing that his end was near, but had no hope of escape. They were led through the corridors of the fortress to the large door through which they emerged. They were led to the Place des Vosges, where wood had been piled around a large pole. Judge Cardot was waiting for them there, dressed in a black cassock, and the Archbishop of Paris was standing beside him. A crowd of onlookers had gathered around the square to watch the spectacle. The condemned men were made to kneel, and Cardot spoke.
"We are gathered here today to do justice to Our Lord. Before me, Messrs. Deberry and Wendel have been guilty of acts of lust and heresy, and have cowardly murdered Mr. Butar, an innkeeper by profession in the performance of a satanic rite, renouncing the love of Our Savior Jesus Christ. For these heinous crimes, they will be burned alive until they die.
-Death!" several onlookers chanted.
-Before you die," asked the archbishop, approaching the condemned, "do you wish to renounce Satan, and accept the love of the Lord into your hearts in the hope that he will, in his mercy, save your immortal souls?
-I do," replied Wendel, bowing his head. May the Lord forgive me.
-May God eat my ass!"
The crowd held its breath. Deberry had risen to her feet, and had torn off the jacket she wore. The archbishop nearly fell over, and the judge ordered the guards to have her brought to her knees immediately.
As she struggled to her feet, she shouted at the top of her lungs:
"My name is Charlotte Deberry, I am a pirate, and I fornicate with women.
-Witch!" shouted Cardot.
-If that helps you sleep better tonight, so be it! I'll be one more witch you've burned! But I didn't kill any innkeeper. If I am to be burned at the stake, let it be at least for crimes I have committed.
-And so shall I," added Wendel, impressed by the pirate. I did not kill this man. I am a scientist and a physician. I have studied forbidden sciences and desecrated the bodies of the dead for the common good."
Judge Cardot was red with anger. He had Deberry and Wendel tied to the post after having their irons removed, and asked that the oil be brought. As the oil was sprinkled on the two condemned men, the crowd insulted and hissed at them.
"I take back what I said," said Deberry to his fellow prisoner. You are not a coward.
-I'm afraid I am," he replied, beginning to cry. I am terrified. I don't want to die.
-Then we are both cowards.
The pirate also began to cry, as a torch was brought in. The sun was disappearing over the horizon.
-I wish we could have met under different circumstances," Wendel said with a shaky voice.
-So do I."
To the roars of encouragement from the crowd, the guards lit their torches one by one, before plunging them on either side of the woodpile. Thick smoke began to rise, and the oil caught fire. The two condemned men closed their eyes as the flames began to rise to them.
Amidst the crackling of the burning wood, they heard a familiar voice.
"Hold on!"
Here was Evans running, past the guards, and climbing onto the burning pyre. Armed with a knife, he began to cut the rope that held the two condemned men to the stake. Eventually the ropes gave way and the three jumped to the ground, landing right in front of the judge.
What are you doing here, Mr. Duez?" the judge asked angrily.
-What needs to be done," replied the young man, coughing.
-Have you lost your mind?
-I refuse to allow others to be punished for my crime.
The judge remained silent for a moment, while the guards brought them in and seized them. They took Evans' knife and put him and the other two on their knees.
-Are you saying that you killed the innkeeper?
-Yes, I am. I confess, I killed the man. It's my turn to burn.
Deberry and Wendel glanced in the direction of the young craftsman, admiring his courage. He was ready to sacrifice himself for a crime he had committed against his will, to save two people he did not know a few days before.
-Very well," said the judge. Then I sentence you to the stake for the murder of Mr. Butar.
-I sentence you....
- And I condemn Mr. Wendel and Ms. Deberry to the same sentence for heresy and witchcraft.
-What?" exclaimed the young man, as the three condemned men stood up. You have no right!
- You are all guilty of different crimes," replied the judge. You will burn all three. Throw them into the flames!
-Wait!" exclaimed Evans, turning to the archbishop. You have not given me an opportunity to repent!
The archbishop seemed taken by surprise, but ordered the guards to stop. The judge did not dare to challenge.
As the old man approached the craftsman, the latter whispered to his two colleagues.
"The moon was full the day before yesterday, wasn't it?
-Yes, why?
-Then let us pray that it is still bright enough.
-What are you talking about?" asked Deberry.
-As soon as you get a chance, go away, and don't look back."
When the archbishop joined them, Evans rolled up his sleeve, revealing a small sliver of silver mirror stuck in his forearm. He jerked it away and stared at the gibbous moon.
His body spasmed and grew hairy. He transformed into a werewolf who seemed less imposing than the last time.
The archbishop fell backwards for good, while the onlookers ran away screaming. The beast pounced on one of the guards, and began to tear him to pieces effortlessly. Deberry grabbed Wendel by the arm, and they took advantage of the situation to disappear.
The monster was killing guard after guard, but was getting tired anyway. In his mad rage, he could not stop the blades of the swords and spears from sinking into his flesh. Each blow weakened him further. Other guards, armed with rifles, arrived after being called by the judge, and began firing. The heavy bullets tore at the creature, knocking it back with each salvo. Behind it, the pyre burned brightly, like a sun in the middle of the night. Another volley finally drove the beast back. It plunged into the flames, and calm returned to Paris.
The next morning, only the charred body of a young man was found amidst the ashes, and no one believed what the witnesses said about the event. The authorities agree that it was a collective hallucination, caused by the ergot contained in the bread of the capital's bakeries. But far from the city walls, two people really knew what had happened. A mysterious pirate, and a German scientist, on the run, who will always remember this young man cursed by fate. A young craftsman from the Périgord, with no history, who had decided to give his life to redeem the misfortune he had brought with him, and to save two sinners. Deberry and Wendel took one last look at Paris in the distance, and set off again into the unknown.
END