LITMIR.BIZ

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which means she won't be aggressive."

      "We have a few minutes. After that, the predator will wake up," Borna wanted to rush forward, grabbing his club, but I held his elbow.

      "You can rejoice, you have a family of owl bears here," I shared with him, and a rare slight smile went unnoticed beneath my milchemist mask.

      "What is there to be happy about, Mr. Hunter?" the puzzled guide inquired. He still looked worried.

      "They eat all the small creatures in the area, kill the cold ones, and shun humans. There's a whole nest of them out there, go put up your relic," I explained my joy and let go of his hand.

      "Milsdar, we need the crypt, you know? We can't survive here without it. You know what happens if the bodies of the dead are left in the village," the woodcutter explained his logic to me. I gloomed.

      "If you kill the owl bear and cubs, the other one, the one who is hunting now, will take revenge," I instructed him. He seemed to understand, or pretended to understand.

      "Good, I'll go put the guardian relic back in its place," Borna replied.

      I turned around and walked toward the steps. To the tombstones, blue and pink in the glow of the Titan's extinguishing light. Sitting down beside them, I scrutinized my surroundings. There were two open graves, and I didn't like them very much. I had to think…

      …

      In the sky the firstborn of the Bright Sonm glimmered. Over there, Urnat the Bear flared; to the right, the Trap Net frolicked and the Red Giant shimmered with its light. Borna emerged from the passage with a club in his hands. Behind him were drops of red blood. His boots were smeared with something yellow and draughty. I turned away and looked toward the cemetery. It was almost invisible in the dim light of the thousands of Light Sons that kept appearing in the black depths of the blue vault.

      Crickets chirped. An unknown bird answered them with a whimsical chirp. The fox, glinting his black eyes in the glow of the green lantern, went about his business. You want to know why I didn't go to see the body of the hunter on the chill? It's simple. He was not of the group that came out of the castle with me, but died here ten years ago, as the Elder said.

      Even though the Order has stopped issuing crossbows to hunters, it still assumes that the killer of the frozen ones can use them, and that's why the ancient mount for this weapon was left on his back. True, it is usually now occupied by a spear or dart. It alarmed me that no one had visited this village before me. There didn't seem to be anyone ahead. I hoped that the hunters in my group had simply passed this place by, not even knowing about this, forgotten by all, village in the thicket. It was possible. I wanted to believe it. "The places here are dangerous, so they might not have lingered," I concluded.

      I was brought out of my musings by Borna, addressing me impatiently,"Well, it's done – I've put the relic up." The guide put his hands to his sides. Having poured in front of me about a dozen more black arrows, he pointed towards the forest, "Why are you sitting, let's get out of here!"

      "That's not all. It wasn't an owl bear that killed your villagers," I explained and counted the new black arrows, "twelve more. Fourteen along with the one I already have.

      "What are you talking about?" A grimace of fear crept over the guide's face.

      "Do you see two sarcophagi open here?" I started from afar. "Yes, and someone drank all the blood from those people."

      Bourne had all the blood drained from his face now. I think he was starting to get the point of what I was saying. Now he was really frightened by the juxtaposition of the two facts. I cringed.

      "Wolfhounds! Werewolves!" The redneck blurted out the name of the dangerous undead he knew. I covered my face with my hand and rubbed my eyes. "It's the same thing every time. All the villagers are obsessed with them. I thought I'd get something else in the middle of nowhere."

      "It's definitely not wolfsbane. If it was, there would be numerous bites all over the victim's body, if the body had survived at all. But most likely there would be nothing left of the body," I explained to him.

      "Sir, then who could it have been?" Borna asked. I was about to answer him, but the hair on the back of my neck stirred, and I turned to where my guide was already looking-right behind me. Without looking away, I started to get up. The villager behind my back ran to the crypt with a wild cry. "Right decision," because now it has the relic of the keeper, and she will not let the coolie into the crypt. With a swift movement I snatched the crossbow from my back.

      Two red lights burned between the trees. The beast tilted its head to the side, a red line running down its spine to its razor-sharp claws. Its sternum glowed a bright scarlet light from within, illuminating its ribs and the prey it had devoured not so long ago. Another ghastly creature echoed his call. Flaring with infernal fire, it hung from one of the crypt's columns, under the very parapet of the colonnade.

      I fired my crossbow vertically upward, and the dwarven mechanism clicked demandingly, waiting for another arrow. And it was not long in coming. The beast had already made three big jumps in my direction when another black arrow flew out of the crossbow. Usually I didn't miss, but this time the arrow went sideways, as if deflected by something. The chilled man squealed, and his womb flared brighter.

      I had a strange feeling that these were no ordinary ghouls, but something older, something to do with this crypt. I hesitated and rolled to the side, because the monster covered the distance in a few sharp jumps, and only then its carcass swept past me. The floorboards of my cloak rang out, reflecting the impact of its claws. "Ugly bloodsucker of the underworld – he reached me after all!" I was angry. The enchanted cloak held the blow from the back.

      I put a third arrow into my crossbow, and out of the corner of my eye I noticed that the second enemy was already on the ground and blocking Bourne's path, blocking my guide's passage into the crypt. In a flash, the creature began sucking the woodcutter's life energy out of him like a huge red funnel. Borna collapsed, and his legs gave out. "Looks like he passed out from fright. Found the time," my head rushed through my mind.

      Turning around, the huge infernal bloodsucker came nose to nose with my crossbow. "Now pure casino, right or left?" I fired the arrow forward. The ghoul jumped to the right, much to my delight. Something fell from the sky, pinning the monster to the ground and piercing through his torso. The bloodsucker screamed and exploded. My first arrow found its target. "Fool, you're dead!" This time I covered my face with my free hand for some reason, despite all my training. Thinking back on that moment after the battle, I decided that I must have realized then that without my eyes scorched by the explosion, I would definitely not be able to continue fighting.

      The cloak withstood another blow, and the crystals inside it went out. The second creature roared pitifully, before it could harm my guide. The monster jumped over him and came at me.

      The crossbow jammed, and I tossed the useless mechanism aside. I reached for my belt pouch and realized I'd made another mistake-my bag was still where I'd been sitting! I had taken it off to put new arrows in my quiver!

      I gripped the crystal cage tighter, and it glowed brighter with its cold green light. The howls and whispering voices intensified. A small dirk appeared in my other hand.

      The beast was running at me, and I made a swift dash at it. The moment was seized by a roll, and I ducked under a leaping foe. This bloodsucker was less nimble than its counterpart, or I was able to successfully weaken and blind it with the crystal. My pointy hat was removed by the belly of the behemoth, and then the knife sliced along its entire length. Its hind paws slammed into my back and pushed me and my bag forward, sprawling me on the ground. The crystal cage was knocked out of my hands.

      The bloodsucker of the underworld laughed. The flames in his chest went out, and the monster disappeared from sight. All I had to do was stand up and orient myself by hearing. My eyes couldn't get used to the darkness around me. "I can't imagine how ancient passersby fought them in the past," I stood up as the shadow seemed to surge toward me, then again, and again. "Yes, where is it? I see nothing!"

      And the ancient ghoul showed himself. Its sternum glowed, and it pulled on its power. I lunged sharply; you have to be quick here to

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