Everyone in the world is crazy, just in a different way.
When the sun goes dark
There was a soft knock on the door of the smokehouse — I didn't get up. Another knock, this time more forceful. I still had no intention of opening the door.
"Shay..." a hoarse voice began, "are you here?"
I did not answer. I knew he knew it already.
He sighed deeply. "You're not going to let me in, are you?"
I looked up, now finally resigned to being unable to continue resting. I threw the door open with such force that I almost hit Alex with it. Unfortunately, only almost.
His hair hung in tangled knots in his eyes, which he could barely keep open. A smeared trail of blood ran from his nose and the corner of his mouth to his chin, his body covered in bloody bruises.
I stood frozen and watched as he stepped closer. Then he took another step - now he was only an arm's length away. The next time he moved, I could feel the warmth of his breath on my neck; his head on my shoulder. He was breathing heavily and reeked of his own blood, mixed with the salty smell of tears.
I sighed deeply and clumsily patted his back, hoping he would stop crying - he was wetting my clothes with tears. This must have emboldened him because the next moment he held me with surprising strength.
My eyes widened, my tolerance stretched to the limit. I was careful of his wounds, but I tried to get the leech off of me, but he kept hanging on. I sighed deeply, fed up with the futile attempts I was making to get rid of the idiot. Finally, I strolled back into the dark cool of the smokehouse—dragging him with me, of course. I slammed the door loudly behind me.
"My whole body aches, my head is pounding," he complained, "Tell me... am I going to die?
He looked up at me in agony.
"Who cares?" At this point, he finally agreed to let go, and I pushed him onto my makeshift bed.
"You stink..." I took out some of my stretched clothes and threw them in front of him, then put the water basin to his use.
Then, half an hour later, he was sitting on my bed with less of a pungent smell and definitely cleaner, bandaged wounds.
"Seriously, you're pathetic," I said, "It's unbelievable that simple humans can beat you to a pulp! You bring shame on monsters."
"But they're three times my size!" he puffed, "And they're scary!"
"If you're afraid, you'll just have to defeat them," I said.
"If... I can't beat them next time..." he began quietly. "Will you come and help me?"
I looked with widened eyes towards the embarrassed boy. I wanted to refuse him but there was something in his eyes that made it impossible.
"Can you cook?", I asked suddenly, to his surprise.
"A little," he answered with a tiny nod.
"Then until you are strong enough, I will protect you — but only if I am satisfied with your cooking."
Alex's face broke into a goofy grin that I found both terribly pathetic and disgusting, yet I liked it.
"It's a promise," he said.
And after that, whoever wanted to mess with the boy, I beat them mercilessly, whether they were humans or monsters.
I raised the spoon to my lips and swallowed its contents.
"How is it?" the wolf asked, grinning.
"Disgusting," I replied, and the grin immediately faded from his face.
Nevertheless, I squeezed every drop of soup into my mouth and handed the bowl to him.
He was relieved and nodded with a soft smile, which only elicited a deep, resigned sigh from my lips. Idiot.
I will protect you.
I looked up, the words ringing in my ears.
Until you are strong enough, I will protect you.
I pursed my lips. Why do I recall this now?
It's a promise.
I took a hearty bite of my fried egg while he placed a mug of cocoa in front of me. The other was for Rolo — I shot him a piercing glance, and he looked up from his crosswords with a questioning sneer.
"Hmph," I turned away, and he sipped contentedly at the steaming cocoa.
After breakfast, we headed to school. Of course, the bloody demon cat nearly had a heart attack at the prospect of us leaving without preparing at least three portions of cat food for it. Of course, Alex immediately groaned his apologies for almost forgetting it, gave it some of its favourite tuna delicacy as an apology.
All the way to school, Alex whined about how he couldn't study for the bloody biology test this weekend, and that genetics was a bloody difficult subject, and if he kept this up he'd fail. I reassured him that if it came to that, I would give the teacher one of my best smiles — and he did cheer up a bit.
No sooner had I got to school than Jo jumped on my neck and kissed me as fiercely as if her life depended on it. I slowly pushed her away, not that I didn't like it, in fact I felt like pulling her into one of the empty classrooms and closing the door behind us... But I could feel Coffee's piercing gaze on me, and I was glad that the vampire's ability didn't include killing with the eyes, because then I would have died... For, like, the sixth time in a minute.
Jo must have noticed too because she giggled and intertwined her fingers with mine instead, and we started upstairs.
Coffee, of course, after Jo and I got together, wouldn't speak to me, I suppose she was afraid that if she did open her mouth, something would come out that her friend wouldn't be too happy about.
Alex wasn't bothered, even though Enji still didn't return to him, even though they called each other regularly. I told him that no woman was worth waiting six months for. I didn't like the prospect of the two of them really living their best lives together, but there was very little I could do about it, so I decided it was time to accept it. Of course, I'm trying, but I know it's going to be a very slow process until I get to the point where I can tolerate the presence of the c... girl for more than five minutes without being caught in the urge to snap her neck.
Alex and Alice seemed to be very close lately, perhaps because they both had to spend a lot of time apart from their sweethearts — I appreciated this because at least Alex didn't have to discuss his heartache with me as an absolute and urgent necessity.
Des became the head of the family, so he had a lot of work to do. Although he was finally settled in Pécs, he had to visit the foreign branches of our family and attend the various meetings of the Crosspherat every six months - he was away on one of those trips.
Unfortunate Mose continued to work to change his luck, with varying degrees of success. Of course, after hearing from me that Rolo was getting a bit of a handle on this magic thing, he became a regular guest. Yesterday, too, they had a hushed exchange about some silly amulet that might finally placate Fortuna enough to stop taking out her anger on the boy.
He came up to me and asked if he could come over again this afternoon. I pursed my lips but said nothing — whether I let him or not, he would come.
I slept through most of the class because Hajnal made me work my ass off lately. I only bothered to wake up during my lunch break, when Jo announced that she had made me pancakes. When I was done and sprawled out on the table, she was absentmindedly playing with my hair.
"Do you have any plans for the weekend?" she asked sweetly.
I looked up at her.
"Shall I come over?" she smiled.
A pleasant tingle ran down my spine at the look in her eyes. I don't think I've ever, ever loved anyone as much as I love her.
"I second that idea," I said, as I planted a tiny kiss on the tip of her nose.
"Really?" her eyes lit up.
"Definitely," I grinned, and then I brushed my lips over her, just tasting her.
Coffee placed her thermos on the table with such force that it could be heard by the students two floors up. She was a little embarrassed but said nothing. Jo giggled knowingly, she loved her friend terribly, and although at first she was embarrassed by her jealousy, she got used to it. We even had fun sometimes teasing Coffee.
I have never been so content, almost happy, in my life. Yet, something was bothering me. I couldn't put my finger on it, but every time I tried to smile from the bottom of my heart, I couldn't.
Every time I felt Jo's amazingly delicate lips on mine, I could detect something bitter in our kiss. Every time I touched her, I felt a barely perceptible ache in my chest. I tried not to notice it, as for the first time in my life I felt really satisfied. For the first time, I felt like I had the normal life I had always wanted. Because Jo was there for me, even though she has found out about the dark side of the world.
I told her that's why she shouldn't stay with me. That she would be in danger for the rest of her life — and I made up my mind to erase all her memories of me with the help of the first mage I could find. I remember exactly the slap that tore me from these thoughts — as if Jo could have guessed what I was up to from a single glance. She just sobbed as she hugged me, begging me not to take away from her what had given her the greatest joy in her life. And then she told me she loved me and kissed me — and when I kissed her back, we both knew it was a wordless vow.
I had what I had always wanted — so why did I feel like something was missing? Was it the approaching full moon?
After school, Jo and I walked around the city. It was unusual to walk the streets as a simple loving couple, yet I wouldn't say it didn't fill me with peace and calm. We sat in a café and just talked. At first, about small trivialities, and later she asked me a few questions about my world, saying that it was time she got to know me. The real me.
I slowly fed her the information, answering only three or four questions at a time. She didn't mind, didn't ask more, and would savour and digest my answers for days. I always answered her honestly, even when I knew I might scare her.
As I told her stories of my life, she asked for a slice of fruitcake and eat it sweetly, her big green eyes attentive. I leaned back in my chair and enjoyed the last, weary sighs of summer in the air. The pleasant breeze ran playfully along the streets, lifting the leaves and brushing into my hair.
The street was bustling with activity, even though the sun was just at the edge of the sky - yet somehow it didn't bother me, and even made the tables outside the little café feel cosy. I took a deep breath of the pleasant air. I glanced up at the sky, where the black disk of the sun was slowly approaching the horizon.
When I got home, Alex was waiting with lasagne. I can't tell you how happy I was - after a perfect date, my favourite meal. It couldn't have been better!
"What's wrong?" said Alex with a confused grin, "Did I put too much salt in it?
"No, not at all," I said quickly.
"Then what's wrong?" he asked as I put my fork down.
"I'm a bit tired," I replied, "I'm going to bed early today."
"Okay," he shrugged and took the bowl.
As I turned away, a wave of unease washed over me, a shadow creeping into the corners of my mind. I headed into the bathroom, trying to shake off the feeling.
I filled the bath with cold water — for some reason I always preferred it to lukewarm or hot. It was able to calm me down and clear my mind every time. I sank into the fragrant foam and sighed deeply. My muscles relaxed, my senses were pleasantly dulled by the bath — I was drowsy.
Blinking flatly, I noticed that the tub somehow seemed to be getting bigger. The thought crossed my mind that perhaps it was time to get out before I fell asleep, but for some reason I felt no strength to do so. Maybe it would be okay if I took a nap. Just a tiny bit.
I closed my eyes, feeling the water caressing me. At first, it was just my chest, then my neck, and finally it reached my lips. Had I forgotten to turn off the tap? No, I definitely remember turning it off.
The water was all around me now, and yet I felt no lack of air, even though I was sure my lungs should be stinging. I couldn't move, as if I was no longer in control of my body — the water was sucking every last drop of strength out of me. I couldn't even open my eyes, but that bothered me less and less as the moments passed.
My consciousness was fading and I was no longer struggling to stay conscious. All thoughts disappeared from my mind, I just floated in the peaceful nothingness.
I had forgotten something — so I concentrated my last efforts on finding out what it was. Where am I? How did I get here?
I will protect you.
The words were ringing in my ears. Was this... my voice?
Until you are strong enough, I will protect you.
It's a promise.
This voice seemed to be so familiar. Like I was used to it but I couldn't recall who it belonged to. This somehow made me sad for a second, but the uneasy feeling vanished soon.
Life sucks - whose voice is that?
Remember, Shaytan, there is one thing you always choose - who is speaking?
You can choose to stand up, fight, or run away, the mysterious voice continued, Everyone hits obstacles in life. When Fate puts a wall in front of you, what do you do?
What do I do? I wondered. What do I do? - Destroy it?
It doesn't matter whether you knock it down, go around it or climb over it, the important thing is to get over the obstacle placed in front of you, the voice continued to explain, People usually collapse when a wall is placed in front of them that is too high. For now, you stand in front of it, wondering how to get over it. It's up to you whether you break or keep going.
Who are you... and why are you telling me this? I don't understand...
My consciousness had finally given up... I couldn't even think anymore - it was as if the darkness wanted to suck me in at all costs. A dreamless, everlasting dream.
From the edge of my consciousness, I could hear words even softer than a whisper - This time, the obstacle placed in front of you was your reflection: yourself.
My... self? I was finally swallowed by the darkness.
I pressed my lips together and plunged into the ether-like substance that almost completely enclosed me. I tore, I tore at the walls of my prison of darkness, which seemed to refuse to yield. Then I saw it. It was a tiny spec of light, the size of a pinpoint. I reached out for the only way out, but the darkness kept pulling me back before I could reach it.
I stretched out my hand again and commanded the tiny spark. "Here!"
The tiny pinpoint of light shot into my hand, but at the same time the sliding tentacles of darkness wrapped around my form. I clenched my fist around the tiny point of light.
"Get out of my head!", I screamed.
The necromancer sat on his black throne, his long black hair falling like a mantle over his shoulders. His eyes were like black holes that sucked in all light, lifeless and cruel. The predatory grin on his lips widened as he glanced down at one of the most powerful mages ever, who now collapsed before him, broken.
The necromancer's cruel laughter echoed around the room. In front of him, Livius knelt, leaning on his hands, evident that his strength could fail him at any moment. Water dripped from his clothes and hair in big, fat drops. His body was covered with a multitude of bruises and wounds, yet the pain of them was nothing compared to the mental ordeal he was going through. His eyes were haggard, at any moment his will might break as he resisted the menace that loomed over him. Slowly, his haggard gaze was drawn to the bodies laid on the cold marble slabs.
"They are not dead yet," the necromancer declared readily.
"What have you done to them?" asked the tiny mage hoarsely.
"I'm draining their life force," replied the necromancer as easily as if it were a natural thing to do, "It will be over soon, but don't worry, they won't feel any pain. As my illusion draws to an end, it's as if they're drifting off to sleep."
The tiny magician's breath caught.
"Now," he continued, "If you don't want to go the same way, hand over the regalia, Liv!"
The Sorcerer Lord looked up at the necromancer. From the look in his eyes, the other could tell that he would not give it to him even if he were to die protecting the regalia.
The necromancer must not have liked the silent vow too much, because he jumped up in anger and stuck his shoe into the tiny mage's face. It was all it took for Livius' body to slam loudly against the marble floor. He couldn't hold on any longer, in fact, he couldn't even move.
"Don't be so stubborn," the necromancer snarled, "You know that the right of possession passes to me with your death! I didn't want to resort to this, but I'll have to kill you if you don't hand it over."
The tiny sorcerer looked up defiantly at the necromancer.
I let out the air I was holding in my lungs. My muscles relaxed. I could feel the monster raging inside me, inching its way into my cells, its venom running through my veins instead of my blood. My gums began to itch, I could feel my teeth grow, cutting into my lips. My mouth filled with the taste of my own metallic blood. Long black claws burst from the tips of my fingers, thirsting for the blood of my enemy.
My consciousness began to dull again, this time not because of any magic, but as instinct and the will of the beast tried to overwhelm me — all the while I tried to keep myself awake. This proved harder than I had planned, clinging to my consciousness and my sanity felt like trying to hold water in my grip.
Remember, the only way to defeat the necromancer is to let him win first - rang Aleshio's voice in my head.
Wait for him to start the spell and pour his magic into it. The preparations for opening a portal between dimensions require a lot of magic, that's when you'll have the best chance of defeating him.
Wait a bit more. Just a bit more.
But remember, as you are now, it won't work. Only the beast can defeat him.
Just a bit more. A bit more.
The monster in me fought for dominance. It clawed at my consciousness ferociously like a hungry beast fighting for freedom. At the edge of my consciousness, I could clearly hear Livius' voice, his groans and silent screams. It made the blood of the beast boil but in the most terrible sense — it excited him.
Don't move. Not yet.
The necromancer got the regalia from the little mage. Livius did not have the strength to protect it anymore.
The necromancer's laughter filled the chamber as he held the regalia high, its dark energy swirling around him like a storm. "Finally," he hissed, his eyes gleaming with triumph.
He began to chant in an ancient, forgotten language, the words resonating with dark power. The air crackled with energy, and the ground beneath us trembled. Shadows danced around the necromancer, drawn to his call, and the regalia pulsed with a sinister light.
Wait for it. Just a bit more. My instincts screamed at me to attack, to tear him apart, but I held back. The necromancer's power grew with each word, and I knew Aleshio was right. This was my only chance.
The necromancer's voice rose to a fever pitch, his eyes glowing with malevolent power. The regalia blazed with dark light.
Now! The beast within me roared, sensing the moment of vulnerability. I let go of my tenuous grip on control, allowing the monster to surge forward.
My body felt lighter than ever before. I felt a power inside me like I'd never felt it before. Liv's gaze found me again with almost a snail's pace, as if time had slowed down around me. The necromancer however was too preoccupied with his magic to spot the change.
One moment I was standing there, the next I was behind the necromancer. I had the regalia in my hand. A thin cut appeared on my face. It was then that I realized I was already stuck in the spider's web, but it didn't matter anymore — I just had to tear it apart.
The necromancer's eyes blazed with fury and desperation. "How..."
Suddenly I was in front of the necromancer. I felt my body covered in a series of thin yet deep cuts, yet I ignored them, I merely did what I wanted to do at the time. I squeezed all my strength into that blow and sent the necromancer flying.
I felt the pain that came with the tearing of my muscles. My body was not at all prepared for the force I was exerting with it. Something at the edge of my consciousness was warning me of the downside of overstepping my boundaries, the downside of overstepping your natural limits — yet I didn't feel like I should listen to that annoying voice.
"Livius," I began. "You okay?"
"Don't mind me..." he whimpered as he slowly looked up at me. "Go..."
His voice trailed off, and his eyes narrowed. When the necromancer put the man to sleep, he woke a beast. I couldn't wipe the creepy grin off my face. The beast inside me howled, demanding more. It craved the thrill of the fight, the taste of blood.
I crouched down and put the regalia in his hand.
"Wake the others up," I told him. "I'll hold him off."
The beast inside me could feel Livius pulling out the magic stored in the regalia, growing stronger by the moment. Strong enough to stand at least but not strong enough to truly attract the beast's interest. I think maybe that was his luck. For the beast's eyes only saw strong opponents.
"Are you mad?" he simply asked.
"Yep."
The primal urge to kill him roared within me all of a sudden. The eyes that focused on the necromancer slowly moved to the little mage. I needed a moment to ground myself. My gaze was glued to his chest, where I could feel the pulse of magic and I had a strong urge to claw out his heart full of magic and to try to bite into his neck at the same time.
"That's enough," I told him and stood up. "Or you'll distract me."
My gaze lingered on the tiny mage's face for a long moment. I wanted to taste him, to destroy him. With great effort, I turned my back on him. I took a deep breath. We were close, so the scent of his blood was so sharp it shook my whole being.
I started towards the pile of rubble with slowly tapping footsteps. Suddenly a cut opened on my chest, the only indication that I noticed it was that I faltered for a moment. Although I felt the pain, the wound had already closed. When I reached him, the necromancer was standing upright.
"Shay..." he said, but not in his own voice.
When he looked up at me, Jo was standing in front of me. Her beautiful, tear-stained emeralds gazed up at me pleadingly, her sweet scent nestled in my nostrils. My heart believed it could only be her.
"I beg you to stop..." she began desperately, but her voice soon trailed off and a trail of blood ran from her shapely lips to her chin line.
Slowly, she glanced down at her chest. I put my hand on her shoulder and pulled my hand out of the wound.
"What?" he said, and the illusion faded from him. "But you love her! How could you attack her without a moment's hesitation?!"
The voice of the necromancer was almost accusatory. Precisely because I loved her.
I chuckled like a maniac. I couldn't help it. Although the beast instinctively knew that he was not Jo it was delighted. I chained it down for so long, I desperately tried to protect Jo from it... so the moment when it felt her heart in its hands, the monster felt a deep satisfaction. The beast wanted to break her to pieces more than anything in the world. Tear her body apart, bathe in her blood, devour her whole being.
This time I did not stop the beast when it wanted to sink its teeth into her neck. However, instead of her sweet and fragrant blood, I only tasted something stale and rotten. I spat onto the floor. This illusion was not as powerful as before. It could not control all my senses at the same time and somehow I felt disappointed. The monster was quite disappointed.
In any case, as I expected, the necromancer survived — in fact, he didn't seem to be bothered by my stabbing him through the heart and biting a big chunk out of his skin where his neck and shoulders met. Again, he slit my skin in so many places, but all he got out of me was a low chuckle. My wounds were healing even faster than usual!
I drove my fist into his face, but his body exploded into black smoke. The room, or at least around me, was filled with this smoke that I could not see through. The necromancer's illusions twisted and contorted around me, blurring reality. He attacked me from all directions. Sometimes, however, my claws would get caught in his skin as I tried to cut my way through the darkness to reach him.
He had no scent, no heartbeat, nothing alive inside him, yet I knew where he was — the quiet rustle of his nervous movements betrayed him. I tore at him, bit him, and clawed at him, yet he never let me get close enough to reach the jewel hanging around his neck. It seemed we would tear each other to shreds for all eternity.
The silver hoops stretched soothingly on his fingers as they moved the wires wildly in the air. Yet the necromancer moved more and more nervously. More and more impatiently he waited for the moment of my death. Wires were stretched between his hands, and he was now behind me. He wanted to cut my head off with a single cut. It was only a moment, a single movement.
However, before the wires even touched my skin, I turned to face him with lightning speed, grabbing onto his clothes and knocking him to the ground. My movements were so fast that the necromancer only realized the attack when he was floating with his head inches off the ground.
I knew that after such an attack no one else would move again. That body, however, felt no pain, and the necromancer could use it until it fell to pieces. As long as he has the necklace, his life is safe. That is why, even if the body he was holding was shattered, the necromancer did not hesitate for a moment.
He kicked my chin up and pushed himself into a standing position with his hands. Gravity pulled him inexorably towards the ground, but even then the next moment the necromancer nailed me with his knee to the concrete, drilling it into my stomach. It was such a powerful kick that it crushed my insides and broke my bones.
For a moment I thought that I would die. For a moment I thought that the sustained damage was too much for my healing ability to deal with.
My vision faded and my body was shaking uncontrollably. I couldn't move an inch even if I wanted to. I could only feel my heart. I could only hear the drum of my heart. All I felt was the raw desire of the monster to survive.
I could feel the blood in my mouth, it felt very hard to breathe for a long moment, and even if I sucked in a little bit of oxygen it seemed futile. Then my self-healing ability started to work and it didn't seem so hard to suck air into my lungs anymore. Some of my ribs had popped out, so I couldn't fully recover. I couldn't move yet. But I survived.
He held me by the face, leaving only one eye free, perhaps to see when all light was gone.
"Die already," he said, and I could feel some intangible force gripping me and tearing my life violently away from me.
Could this be my soul?
The monster in me fought vehemently against the necromancer like a wounded animal. It was defiant, almost screaming at me to move, to fight.
Moments passed before I locked my fingers on the necromancer's wrist.
"Gotcha," I said.
At that moment, Livius cut through the darkness and in one swift motion ripped off the necklace of the necromancer.
"No!" the necromancer screamed, "Don't you dare!"
A bitter half-smile came to Livious' lips.
He whispered a magical word and the stone shattered — at that moment the necromancer's body went limp. The illusion faded from him, and I laid him on the ground. For moments I stared at his features and his light brown curly hair. It bothered me.
"Is it over?" I asked.
The tiny mage smiled encouragingly then he noticed my ribs. He went pale.
"Do you...?"
"No," I stood up and with a sudden movement pushed one of the ribs back in place. "Ouch," I hissed but pushed the other two back quickly.
Livius seemed more pale than before but I did not mind it. I turned one way and then the other, checking that everything was in place.
"Tend to the others," I said, 'I'll look for the other regalia."
He merely nodded.