chapter 40

   Daemonica's story was one that should be told whenever you crave great stories that can please or sadden you. The wonderful stories we all think about, before we breathe in to try to be brave and strong, whenever life forces us to make difficult decisions, that we know in advance will have far-reaching consequences. But as we all know, life still goes its own way and our struggles can end in many ways… Daemonica followed the path life offered her. She went to fight, or at least tried to, knowing it was the only way not to fall asleep in the dark rooms of her mind forever. She didn't want to spend her life in the kitchen, with quiet resistance and no chance of change, as some might wished her to. Imagine her as a girl who, even as a child, played with boys and successfully fought them off. Imagine how she fought the boss of the other party knowing she was going to lose, yet she never gave up... Then you may understand why she appeared in such a situation, quite surprising for a woman even in the kind of times we live in. But... we are already part of the story that should be told. So let's see what was in the beginning...    She was finally part of the unit. Finally, she could stand upright among the men to prove her abilities, which she had barely learned, no longer afraid, well almost. They were on an important mission from the king himself. None of them knew much more than they were hunting an animal that had killed someone significant of significance... That was all an ordinary soldier needed to know and much more for a soldier newly recruited. They were heading for the border and the next stop was to be in Berim. Berim was a fortified watch at the southeastern border of the kingdom. The road to it was well maintained and lined with both military and civilian estates that his Majesty's soldiers could use and often used during their missions. That's why it wasn't too difficult to get to the small fort from the capital, even on foot. In Berim, they settled for the night as planned. But Daemonica was tired while the other men drank and had fun. She was all busted up from those few days of horseback riding. Disappointed by her lack of stamina, she decided to go to bed early. She looked expectantly at her sword and then just waited for sleep to come, which was greatly complicated by the noise of the men from the main hall, where everyone else was having a jolly good time. She suspected that the main character in many of the jokes was herself. Fortunately, she was exhausted enough that sleep was not long in coming.  Thirst woke her from her sleep. However, when she reached next to the bed where she had brought a jug of water in the evening, she found it empty. She glared at her neighbor, snoring peacefully on the bunk next to her, and resignedly headed down to the kitchen. Her whole body ached, and for the umpteenth time her thoughts went back to the question of why she was there again. Despite the burning questions that raced through her mind, she was sure she was as quiet as she could be. She didn't want to listen to more gleeful remarks, that she couldn't get used to. She didn't have to bother to be silent too much, though, because the other men were drunk and deep asleep without having to worry about patrols. These were taken care of by the permanent garrison of the fort (however, most of the men joined in the revelry of that night out of the joy of being able to hear the news from home). As she crept closer to the room where food and drink were usually served, she heard voices almost whispering.'That can't be true...’ She knew the voice. That would be Quiretus, the captain of her unit. The other voice responded with a low, ominous laugh.  'How can we even fight this?’ Quiretus exclaimed again, but now only silence was the answer. Daemonica gripped the jug tightly, curiosity preventing her from moving forward. But suddenly she felt a whiff of cold that permeated her to the core. By the next second Quiretus was holding her by the throat, or probably it was him, she thought. The possibility of defense was quite negligible given that she was betrayed by her body on her first attempt. She was completely helpless. Quiretus propelled her into the dim light of the only lantern in the room, then threw her to the ground laughing. She was still aware that there was at least one other man in the room with them. But he still remained, now silently, hidden in the shadows. When the captain calmed down, he continued seriously. There was open contempt in his voice. 'Do you know the punishment for spying, soldier?’ The dark gaze of the unknown man, was fixed on her. She could feel its touches as if they were real. Despite trying to ignore him, she suddenly found her gaze turning into the shadows where she suspected he was standing. 'I asked you a question!’ Quiretus shouted, clearly losing patience. His breath smelled, among other things, of alcohol. 'Yes, sir, but...' Daemonica tried hard to keep her eyes back on the captain.  'Get up!’ Quiretus ordered. Desperately trying to get back to her feet, her head suddenly swirled and she felt sick to her stomach. Then, in a futile attempt to get up, she fell to her knees without the strength to get up again. Despite the unspeakable horror and panic that gripped her, she took one last look into the dark corner where the stranger was still standing. For a moment, the stranger's eyes seemed to widen in surprise. But that was the last thing she registered before she appeared in the middle of a nightmare. She really wanted it to be a mere dream...    She was in a kind of forest, massive centuries-old trees casting dark shadows on the damp ground in silver moonlight, its sporadic rays penetrating through clumps of mist hovering near the ground. The eloquent silence seemed almost real. It was like groping her body with its wet fingers in an attempt to find her neck and choke, choke her to death… But there was something else... It was creeping in the shadows, looking for something. She sensed its rage because it couldn't find what it was looking for. She also felt it getting closer and closer. And she still couldn't move. All she could do was watch the whole scene with growing horror, the madness sweeping through her in waves as the unknown evil approached. The moment she thought she couldn't take it anymore, she finally saw movement behind one of the trees in front of her. Suddenly, the shadows surrounding her were larger and darker. She felt she could not stand the horror much longer. The unknown monster paused for a moment, and even in the gloom Daemonica could see it slowly turning toward her. Now she knew who it was looking for. At the same moment, it roared horribly and began to approach her at unexpected speed. Daemonica started screaming almost mad with fear. By the time it was almost within her reach and she thought it was the end of her, she woke up screaming. 
   She found herself back in the room, the captain holding her tousled hair and shouting something she couldn't understand. It was only after a good while that Quiretus let her hair go and she finally stopped screaming. In the ensuing silence, the men could be heard rising from their beds, awakened by the noise, searching for what had happened. The captain heard it, too, and turned back to where the stranger stood seemingly calm with a question in his eyes. The man nodded in agreement, and Quiretus quickly left the room to calm his men.

As soon as she settled down with the uncomfortable feeling that she was still in the middle of a bad dream, he spoke. His voice was melodic, with a slight foreign accent but oddly pleasant to listen to.

‘I know what you saw...’ He said, then fell silent again for a moment. Not because he was waiting for her reaction, rather because he was surprisingly searching for appropriate words. After a while (and who would count how long the moment was in such a situation), he continued: 'Well.... In fact, I don't know exactly what you saw, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with our task.’ He tried to pierce her with the gaze of his black eyes, but Daemonica just clutched the cup (she couldn't remember how it happened that she got another one) and kept silent, unable to answer or even think again about the things that were painfully torturing her mind.

After another moment without a reaction, the Sorcerer just nodded to himself and continued.

‘That what we hunt is not just a common enemy, or even a human being, you must have already understood that...’ The answer, however, was still a silence that deepened with each passing moment. Daemonica found herself squeezing the cup with increasing force, and it felt like she had stopped just as she was threatening to crush it in her hands. But she remained silent. At the same time, it seemed to her that under the Sorcerer's unwavering gaze (and now she understood he indeed was a Sorcerer) the shadows were lengthening and the light was disappearing or better turning into more shadows. Still, she didn't speak.

The mage sighed. He took the glass again and filled his cup and hers with wine.

'I'm not saying I know what you've been through. Maybe I could compare it to my own experience, but that would be foolish, because I can't say I know why it happened now and why it happened to you. All I know is that you and the beast are bound together and you both know it, if you didn't know it a long time ago...’ His words just flashed through her mind, she didn’t want them to touch her in the lengthening shadows that threatened to drag her with them into the darkness. She only wished to sleep or wake up if it was all just a bad dream. Oh how she wished it was just a bad dream.

The magician suddenly winced, his gaze turning to the door for a brief moment. He then proceeded much faster, his eyes fixed back on Daemonica, who plunged ever deeper into the shadows with countless images of herself sleeping peacefully in bed. 'I've got to go.’ He didn't wait for an answer and was already at the door when he continued: 'Don't forget one thing. In the end you'll have to fight, no matter which end it will be or what price we all will have to pay, from now to the end it's your fight.’ With that, he turned and hurriedly left the room. Daemonica finally succumbed to the attraction of shadows and fell asleep. The first ray of the morning sun pierced the darkest shadow right where the Sorcerer stood when Daemonica first saw him.