I held my breath. Another scream gave me goosebumps. I've never heard anything like that in my entire life and weird wasn't even close to describe it. It was as if a fiddle and a hyena were trying to make word-like sounds, and the effect was a very pitiful cry. I looked around desperate. My only way out was through the window.
"Heeeeelp!"
The cry for help made my heart skip a beat, just when I was about to jump out the window in the backyard, where the stables were. My first instinct was to go help that unfortunate being, ignoring the danger, but I felt that something wasn't right at all.
"Heeeeeeeeelp!"
"What the heck is that? That scream sounded so creepy. And much closer! Is it try it to lure me there? No chance in hell. Not my problem. I'm done with the heroism."
I unfolded the curtains, then went out the window, closing it back, careful not to catch the curtains in the sill. Luckily, it was just one floor to the ground, and the snow made my fall easier.
I looked for a way to go to the backyard gate that the innkeeper's note mentioned, but the only way there seemed to be thought the stables, so I ran towards the stables, entering cautiously inside.
A flickering light was still burning in a corner. It was empty, except that on the ground, moaning in pain, was a lump of bleeding meat. It took me a few seconds to figure out what I was looking at: a skinned human being... still alive. It didn't have eyes, nor tongue. The sight made my knees weak and my stomach revolted. The unfortunate soul was still breathing.
Don't save me! Don't save them! Run! The innkeeper's words crept to my mind, freezing my reactions. It was as if it wasn't real. My ears blocked all sounds, except a constant, annoying beep that became louder and louder, until it stopped just as suddenly as it began.
"This is bad. If I allow myself to waste energy with fear and hesitation, my instincts will be duller in times of need, not to mention how tired I am already just from running less than seven meters. I must conserve my energy for when it's truly needed. Yeah, right! Easier said than done. I should walk away..."
Before I could stop myself, I was already on my knees, next to the bleeding lump of meat, touching the healing pearl to its forehead. It was the first time I was seeing the effects of this amazing pearl and it was beyond belief how fast it worked its magic. No wonder it saved my life in a matter of seconds! But growing new skin and organs was quite slow. The body was starting to cover with a very smooth pinkish red layer of transparent skin that was thickening by minute, but the screams inside the inn were becoming more and more furious, losing any trace of humanity, reminding me that it wasn't wise to stay there any longer.
I took a robe from my pouch and turned it into a sack where I've put the body, while holding its hand with the pearl in my palm so the healing wouldn't cease. I saw the back door of the stable and quickly checked it. The handle was rusty, but I managed to budge it. On the other side there was a pool of pristine snow and sculpted in the stone walls that surrounded the courtyard was a door of massive wood, reinforced with iron, slightly opened.
"The innkeeper opened it for me?"
I threw the muc of candle in a pile of hay, setting it ablaze. Soon, the whole stable would crumble in flames.
I ran towards that iron gate, carrying the wounded body. It was heavy and the angry snowflakes were blocking my view, but the adrenaline made me continue.
Step after step, I kept going, with the innkeeper's instructions in my head.
"The left path leads to a mine... Did I even take the right left? I can't see anything..."
At that moment, the snowfall slowed down, and I fell to my knees. My lungs felt on fire with each struggling breath, after all that effort, and my legs were shaking. I couldn't move anymore, so I just waited, enjoying the coldness of snow that was kissing my fiery cheeks. I just wanted to rest.
I didn't care about anything anymore. The sound of falling snow was so soothing.
On each side of the narrow path were very tall, dense trees, sheltering us from the blizzard. I looked behind. I couldn't see the inn anymore, but a black smoke was mingling with the whiteness of snow in the distance.
I sat there a while, listening to the howling wind among the trees and watching how the snow covered our tracks in mere seconds.
"Whatever it was at the inn... I lost it? That thing didn't sound like anything human at all." I looked at the improvised sack in which the poor human was tossed inside. It moved slowly. "This person was skinned alive... Why the skin, eyes, and tongue?" I gulped, my mind conjuring the scene from Hannibal, where the killer took the face of his guard and managed to escape by pretending to be him. "Was it some kind of ritual or... it wanted to impersonate someone that I knew and literally jumped into the skin of..."
"Landlady?!" I whispered and a weak wailing answered me.
"It's alright. I will take you to that mine and soon we can get away from here."
I looked around again. Beneath the canopy of trees the snow didn't have the chance to pile up, but on an open field it was impossible to travel too much. Now that the adrenaline in my veins tempered I could see that a shelter was necessary, and fast. With that blizzard, there were high chances to be buried in snow or freeze to death. I rose on my shaky feet.
"Go straight ahead, the mine entrance is near," said the innkeeper with a voice so low that I almost thought for a second that I was imagining it.
"So you can see now?" I asked, taking the sack and going towards the indicated place. It was much heavier than before.
"Still hazy, but getting better and better by the minute. Hurry!"
"I'm trying my best, but..."
I kept silent, realising that I was about to say something stupid about how I carried another corpse.
"Damn it, Miha! You already are in deep shit, stop creating more troubles than you can handle! On second thought, you become better and better at carrying bodies... and getting into shit. What the heck is wrong with me? Do I suffer from a hero complex or something that I didn't know about? Why can't I simply run away?! I have the maps, surely I can figure something out to save my skin. Why do I complicate my already complicated life? And for what? Whatever the reason, it's not worth it!"
My thoughts were chaotic. I couldn't decide what to do, but mostly, I had to distract my attention from the weariness of my body. Each step was more tiresome than the other, and the fact that after such a long distance I still couldn't see the mine entrance was discouraging, plus, it made me really angry. By the time I wanted to drop the innkeeper and give up on everything, I saw a blackened wooden piece near a stone wall that resembled a sign of some sort, but the writing on it faded away a long time ago, if the strange marks were really letters. The more I looked at it, the more doubtful I became.
"This is it," said the innkeeper suddenly, startling me. "It's right ahead, but the entrance is covered in snow completely."
I sighted and started to dig the snow with my bare hands, digging just enough to let us through. Then I let down the sack and sat there, trying to warm my hands that were burning from the cold, and looking outside, almost mesmerized by the falling snow that was covering my steps and the mine's entrance again, until I was in complete darkness, having to take out the bright crystal from my pouch.
"We must keep moving. I think I can walk on my own now, but I need some clothes."
I searched for some clothes in my pouch and handed them to her, with a pair of boots too. Her skin was all a very redish pink and her limbs were trembling, but otherwise, she looked fine. I didn't make any gesture to help her dress up. I was too tired, besides I was considering taking back the healing pearl, but I wanted to be sure she was alright. Surprisingly, after she put on the clothes, she opened her palm and revealed the pearl.
"Thank you for saving me. But we must hurry!"
I snatched the pearl and put it in my pocket, but when she looked away I placed it under my cap, before I started to follow her.
"Why such a hurry? I need to catch my breath!"
"There's no time to waste. That creature always finds its prey, once it has something that belongs to you..."
"What creature is that? And how can it find you?"
"Did you see it? Did you leave something behind? Something like blood or hair?"
"No. Maybe. I'm not sure. Why? I didn't see what it was, but I know there was something... inhuman about it. It almost lured me out of my room to help it."
"It's a good thing you resisted the urge to go help that... thing. If it doesn't have something that belongs to you, then it can't find you. Those creatures... appeared in cemeteries, right after that priestess came to our kingdom ten years ago." The innkeeper shook her head, as if wanting to clear it from a bad memory, walking faster and making turns through the large corridors. "That's why I warned you to run away, but you didn't listen!"
"Sounds like you aren't happy that I saved you."
"No, I'm not. Why didn't you just let me die?"
Her voice sounded broken and on the verge of tears. That made me feel as if I'd done something bad.
"I just felt that it was better to save you than let you die, besides, you had plenty of chances to stop me while I was carrying you through the snow. Why didn't you?"
"I knew you wouldn't listen. I truly want to save you, since you saved my family too."
"Your family? I think you're mistaken. I didn't save anyone, except you."
The innkeeper kept silent. Suddenly, I felt a cold nestling in my stomach. It was such an uncomfortable feeling.
"What do you mean?" I asked, when I couldn't bear the silence anymore, but then I heard the sound of water and looked at the ceiling, that simply left me speechless.
The ceiling was very tall, like it was carved by giants, in the shape of a dome, in beautiful hues of royal purple, delicate lavender, and even milky pale rose, but it seemed like it was pulsating, because from beneath that amethyste layers was flowing a river of liquid stars. It was a breathtaking ethereal view.
"This looks like a heart and that liquid is its blood. What is this place?"
"This is The Amethyste Mountain and The Fountain of Stars," said the innkeeper, answering to my thoughts, without even looking at that amazing place, and I had to run to keep up with her. "This mine goes deep into the mountain, a mountain that is mostly made of all sorts of quartzes, and this is the place where the river above is the deepest. The glowy things you see beneath are the jellyfish, and the algae that cover the bottom of the river. From this mine they sought the iron, then it was found the most beautiful amethyste, but they forged too deep and the walls started to collapse, making new ways for the river to create subterranean passages. It's full of treasures now, but not even the monsters dare make their lairs here, because it's too dangerous."
"And... what if..." I couldn't finish my sentence. "Oh! But that means… you've been here enough times to get familiar with all these tunnels! Aren't you afraid they might collapse? Did you find a way to travel safely? "
Her silence was so annoying. She didn't even look back to make sure I was following her.
"I made a mistake! Instead of being mesmerized by the views I should've paid attention to all the turns she picked."
I started to keep track of all the rights and the lefts, but soon I lost count. It definitely wasn't as simple as it was written in that note. Soon, the sound of the river became louder.
"We are close," announced the innkeeper.
In the distance there was the dark shape of a ship. A purple aura fell like twilight over the masts and white sails, while it floated on the luminescent waters. Instead of relief, I felt something more closer to sadness and unease, but I kept going… until the moment I saw my killers.