The Children of Zegandaria - Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov (world best books to read txt) 📗

you into a eunuch. It's the only way you'll survive, and then you'll learn the rest."

Zorin looked at her. Why on earth would she lie to him? Her smile was super ingratiating.

- Obviously, you don't understand. Somewhere deep here lies the true entrance to the ziggurat, not the false ziggurat erected for fools who are willing to kill even for the sake of a lie.

Zorin decided not to ask further. What more was there to lose? Being stripped of his manhood was hardly something that would EngEnder pride for an elite commando of his caliber. Kibera was thinking the same thing.

He opened his mouth and she slipped a special nano ampoule inside.

- "Chew it quickly," she snapped at him. "There's no time."

Zorin did so instantly and the darkness swallowed him very soon. Kibera waited for the drug to have its proper effect. Then he stepped quietly and went to a special small device.

- We need to hide you well - at least until the full moon, or we're both dead.

Kibera became a concern himself. He tried all sorts of things to keep his charge alive. He had to be careful not to lose his own head. What were her motives? Her face was drunk and completely focused as she tried not to miss even the smallest details. Kazuk Mon was out of the settlement on assignments, but he would be back sooner or later, and there were novices hanging around not too far from here who could become too dangerous and aggressive, especially if they saw what was going on. It is right to admit that the dropouts novices were by no means thrown out of the community, but given a sort of second chance and Entrusted with ceremonial and security functions, but they could never hope for more than that.

Kibera knew she couldn't do it all completely on her own. She needed help. At least a little.

- Hey, Elsamore, the archivist would love to see our captive get a little better service and be cleaned and washed before the ritual.

The novice approached in awe. At first he had intended to look at her haughtily and disobey, but on reflection he realised that this was a great chance for himself to shine. Otherwise, they might not need his services soon to guard the approaches to the true ziggurat.

- "What was to be done?," he asked rather cautiously.

- "Nothing much,"' Kibera replied quite calmly. "Just help me carry him from here to the nearest alcove where we keep the dead first. Then we'll wipe him down just a bit."

Without asking any more questions the novice set about helping her. He tried even a little harder to get her to. She let him know in no uncertain terms that his favor would be remembered.

"Who would have thought such a stiff man would need a nEnny," the novice thought.

Kibera disposed and the two of them locked him in one of the central alcoves near the floor.

Zorin seemed to have outright died. The minion wondered if they should just put him in a bEnzonium sack and give him a quick burial.

- "I'll take care of it from now on," Kibera said to him corruptly.

Her charming smile was unforgettable. Simply an amazing woman. She took off Zorin's clothes. And then he noticed the pendant. He couldn't tear his eyes away from that enchanting piece of metal that was obviously hiding some great secret. A secret that was not to be seen by other eyes.

Then she glimpsed a shadow behind her. Not too big, but still tangible.

Kibera wasn't who she thought she was and she wasn't scared. She knew nothing was happening just like that.

- "Ah, it is you, Marquis Forneus[17]," she pronounced imperturbably, "I thought the job wasn't that serious."

- "In fact, I come to inform you that I can no longer defend you this time," he exclaimed sadly.

- "Why?," she wondered.

- You have incurred the wrath of powers far greater than mine by your action. It is only a matter of time before you are held to account. But, this alien possesses something extremely valuable. Don't let it fall into the wrong hands. Otherwise, you are both lost.

It didn't escape Kibera's gaze that despite his cunning, the infernal Marquis looked worried, something highly unusual for any demon. By the time Kibera turned around, he was gone.

- "What are we going to rely on ourselves for so much," she sighed. "The Legions of Darkness will destroy us or we'll manage to get away somehow!"

The darkness of the crypt seemed to have begun to descend, and the light from the irEnic lamps that were still in use brought a slight melancholy note.

The woman had fallen into a reverie, but she kept moving towards her goal, which was to get rid of the General at any cost.

- It became very quiet, but one could clearly sense that something was wrong.

Elsamore was absolutely nowhere to be seen. But she wasn't that worried about him right now.

Again she noticed the scary shadow following her more insistently. It was obvious that she was concEntrating around it.

Kibera continued her attempts to deal with the situation. But a sudden slight hissing sound distracted her. Was it possible that she was losing her mind?

After looking more closely, she saw that it was Elsamore's corpse only two or three paces away from her. How was it possible? She had not noticed the shifting of the shadow, nor the novice. Was it possible that she had been possessed, even briefly!

Then with quick steps she rushed to the medallion, remembering Forneus' words. And felt palpably that something was preventing her from reaching it. She strained her strength, knowing it was a matter of life and death.

The invisible force was downright implacable, and it did not yield.

- "Ermolao Di Ermelo," she recited boldly.

The invisible force seemed to hesitate and loosened its grip. Elmora had been waiting for this and quickly jumped into the alcove where Zorin was. She emptied the sack with a small laser cutter. She snipped at his clothes. Managed to find the medallion. The beautiful gold inlay was a very intricate tangle of symbols of some god or demon unknown to her. As soon as she touched the locket it suddenly dimmed and the shadow turned white and took on a clearer outline. Then she realized what was actually behind her back. But she didn't lose her composure, and gripped the locket even tighter. Then she clearly heard a voice:

- Your resistance is pointless, woman. Stop and look around!

A brutal whistling reached her ears. It was unbearable. Where the hell had she gotten to. The crypt could become her grave very soon!

THE SHADOW

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: THE SHADOW

 

"Everyone chooses the illusion of his life."

Unknown author

 

The choices we make define us as people, but there also comes a time sooner or later when souls are brought to justice for their transgressions. The shadow that haunted Kibera was that of a poor poet killed by the dreaded demon Azazel, also known as the "hairy demon".

- "When you touched the medallion, I felt my soul would disappear forever," the shadow screeched. "You can only see me thanks to the medallion."

- "But how is it possible that you are haunting me," Kibera roared.

- "I'm not chasing you, I'm trying to get the locket," the shadow apologised.

- "It's all the same," she stammered.

- "Listen to my story!," the shadow began to growl.

Kibera decided she didn't have much to lose, and she could learn a valuable lesson about how to deal with demonic forces.

- "Go ahead, but keep it short," she prompted him.

- It all started quite a while ago. I had decided to see what was behind the cult of Tarash Duk, but I found out a terrible truth - Kazuk Mon wasn't exactly human.

Kibera was going to bite his tongue here. She had expected anything but a beginning like this.

- "If he's not human, then what is he, a demon or Satan?," she hissed.

- "No," was the answer across the room.

- "And then?," Kibera felt she was about to hear something extremely frightening.

Kazuk Mon was just an empty material shell, but he didn't know it. He had tried to steal from Astaroth, who was Hell's treasurer. This he did unknowingly, as too many sins had piled up on his shoulders, so he summoned unknown powers to help him enter Hell itself. And he succeeded.

- "And who helped him?," inquired Kibera.

- "I don't know that anymore," replied the soul sadly. "I can only tell you something else. If you want to see his true face, point the medallion right at him and you will see the torn energy aura around his soul. He's so eaten, they won't even accept him in Hell. His soul will remain wedged between Heaven and earth. And he knows it very well. He's just trying to buy a little more time until he finds salvation."

- "So he's hopelessly doomed?," shook Kibera's head sadly.

- "And who killed you?," she inquired.

- "Well, actually, I was one of the worshippers who started to string this story together," the ghost said quietly.

- "And why did he need Aum's gold?," the woman puzzled. He thought he had to bribe the Archist of Synthros.

- "Ah," she gasped, beginning to understand everything.

- There was a trial for Kazuk Mon, of course, but then they decided to take only half his soul and he would be forced to experience unbearable pain every day and night. That was why he chose his new novice. His goal was simply to redirect the demonic hatred towards him.

- "This is all very sad," Kibera concluded. "And what is this pendant?"

- "I don't know it," said the ghost a little timidly, "but it obviously has great power, because it is only thanks to it that I have told you what I know."

Kibera wondered what to answer. She felt that part of the picture was still slipping away from her.

- "Then why did you attack me?," she turned on him angrily.

- "I felt you wanted to destroy me," the voice replied, seemingly calm.

- "You lie, demon, even when you tell the truth," she roared, clutching the medallion with both hands. "I command you to disappear!"

There was a great rumbling and the ziggurat shook. Kibera stayed by Zorin's side. When everything calmed down, she went to look at him. He was dead.

She felt his pulse-there was no doubt.

"Has the medallion drained his powers?," she wondered, "That would be a pity indeed! There's too much death floating around!," Zorin's stiff corpse was not a particularly pleasant sight.

His pupils were bulging and looked like grey greenish glass, as if reflecting the insidious glare of another universe, of a hellish world - harsh and merciless! His mouth was half open and frozen in a dead sigh. He had glimpsed something before he gasped in hellish agony. The bloody commando!

Kibera didn't waste time thinking very much. He decided to act quickly and with absolute determination. She had already learned some things about the demonic hierarchy. It could be said that she had caught the thread. How little was left for her to feel the whole picture! She was almost at the gates of Hell!

She could feel the hot breeze! How hot it was!

But Kibera realized something terrible - she had