Chapter II – The Ashes of Kimena
The sky seemed to crush the sun. Clouds of a sickly gray slid above the swampy lands, heavy and threatening. The trees bent, twisted by pain, their branches seemingly weeping over the waterlogged earth. The air was thick, laden with sulfur, rain, and a pungent smell of decay. Each step on the spongy ground caused blackish water bubbles to burst, and every breath seemed poisoned by stagnation.
Seth, Kael, and Suo had been walking for three days in this cursed region. Their clothes were covered in mud and dampness, and the silence of the forest, punctuated by the sinister cracking of branches, weighed on them like a leaden shroud. In the distance, they finally spotted the first houses.
— Kimena… murmured Suo, frowning, his gaze hard. — Charming, replied Kael with a bitter grin. Even the wind refuses to blow here, he added, dodging a branch that almost fell on him.
The village seemed frozen in a forgotten time. The houses, darkened with humidity, were rotting, some on the brink of collapse. Strange marks were engraved on the doors: circles, crosses, spirals. Effigies made of bones hung from the roofs, creaking at the slightest breath of air.
The inhabitants, motionless and silent, watched them pass by. Their ashen, dry skin evoked death, and their vacant eyes seemed to reflect a forgotten world. The ground oozed beneath their feet, breathing desolation and despair.
— Something… stinks here. And it's not just the stagnant water, murmured Kael, wrinkling his nose.
Suddenly, an old woman emerged from a dark alley. A cord served as a belt to her tattered dress. Her eyes were rolled back, and her teeth were worn down. She pointed to the sky with a trembling hand and murmured:
— She has cursed us all… She… the Lady of the Ravens…
Then she disappeared, screaming, her body shaking like a leaf in the wind. Kael exchanged a worried glance with Seth.
— Do you think it's her, the witch? he asked. — No, replied Suo, his face grave. She is just an echo. The evil that gnaws at this village… it comes from elsewhere. This place is possessed, steeped in ancient darkness.
They found refuge in a dilapidated house on the edge of the village. A flickering fire burned in the hearth, casting dancing shadows on the soot-blackened walls. A young girl was there, sitting on an old stool, softly singing while tending to injured ravens. She stood, startled by their intrusion.
With her braided black hair, amber gaze, and slender but fierce silhouette, she observed them with suspicion.
— Who are you? she asked in a voice soft but firm, like a whisper of ether. — Travelers. We seek to understand what is happening here, replied Suo calmly. — And you have the courage to come to Kimena...? You are either mad or desperate. Perhaps both. — And you? asked Kael, unable to take his eyes off her. Why do you stay here?
She fixed him with an intense stare. Her eyes seemed to probe their souls.
— My name is Tara. I was born here. This village is cursed… the inhabitants are afflicted by a curse, but I am the only one spared. Some say it's the witch of the Ravens… but I am not certain. I have spoken with her before; she is strange, but not malevolent.
A heavy silence settled, only broken by the crackling of the fire.
— So… who is behind all this? murmured Suo.
Tara grabbed a lantern and guided them through the dark alleys. The walls of the houses seemed to close in on them. The smell of ash and decay filled the air, and dead ravens littered the ground by the dozens.
— Look… she murmured.
They discovered graves piled up, some fresh, others blackened with time.
— Five have died today again… pleaded Tara, her voice trembling. Help me… save my land.
The next day, Suo undertook investigations. Instinctively, he felt that the village was a knot of dark forces, a place where his mission as a demon hunter made all the sense.
— Suo… these symbols are strange, don't you think? asked Kael. — These are circles of summoning… seals, explained Suo as he crouched to examine them. Black magic, corrupted by evil and vanity. It feeds on human emotions and becomes shadow magic. — Black magic… repeated Seth, incredulous. — Yes… and it transforms those exposed to it into instruments of destruction.
Suo memorized each symbol, engraving their shapes in his mind.
— Seth, Kael… we are not here to play. I sense the presence of a powerful demon in this village. We will stay, come what may. There is no way I will let a demon escape. — I agree, said Seth. And I want to help Tara too.
Three days passed. The inhabitants, hostile, spat at them, whispered behind their doors, and watched them like predators.
— They are far from welcoming… murmured Kael, bitterly. — There is an aura of death here… and I still don't understand why that young girl is spared, added Seth.
Suo took Tara aside:
— Tell me… since when have the inhabitants been like this? — It has been almost a year, she replied. No doctor or knight has responded to my pleas. I asked for help… in vain. — Very well. We must meet the village chief.
Not far away, Kael noticed a frail child, barely five or six years old, struggling to walk on the muddy ground.
— Seth… look at that kid. He looks unwell. — Don't go near him. Remember Tara and Suo's warnings. — Yeah…
But the child murmured, his voice.trembling and hoarse:
— Livers… nails… blood…
— Huh? repeated Kael, horrified.
— Blood… blood… blood…
The child lunged at Kael and bit his arm, tearing a piece of flesh.
— Ouch! That hurts… damn it!
— But… who is this kid?
Stones flew. Seth and Kael took refuge in Tara's house.
Meanwhile, the meeting with the village chief was brief. He ordered them to leave, insisting that what was happening did not concern them. Suo noticed a symbol engraved on the chief's necklace, similar to those he had seen elsewhere in the village.
— You still wear that necklace? Suo asked.
— Pardon? the old man replied defensively. That's none of your business… Go home.
Tara, stunned, remained silent. On the way back, Suo voiced his concerns about the chief.
— He gave off a deathly stench.
— Since the death of his wife and daughter… but he refuses to talk about it, Tara murmured.
Suo proposed to Tara that he accompany her to the witch of the Ravens. She agreed.
The next day, they continued their investigation despite the ban. They questioned the elders, who refused to answer, and studied the symbols carved on the walls. Tara spoke of ancient rituals, of ravens dying en masse each month, and of villagers afflicted by illness or transformed into monstrous creatures, like her friend Melissa, half-human, half-snake, who had been killed by the villagers four months earlier.
They met the witch of the Ravens, reclusive in a tower infested with ravens and strange relics. She emanated a nauseating odor. Pale, rotting from within, her words were nonetheless clear:
— What do you want? I have nothing to say… Aren't you the 157th? No… the 160th travelers to attempt to save Kimena. It's no use… the village is already engulfed by evil.
— I need information, Lady of the Ravens, Tara pleaded. These travelers are our only chance.
— Hmm… The only thing I can say is that it's not me who caused this evil… it's Mani-Wa, for sure…
— The village chief? Suo asked.
— Yes, she replied. Some men possess a cruelty beyond measure. Mani-Wa uses them to feed his demon.
— Feed whom? Seth asked.
— His demon… it feeds on luck, happiness, and the lives of the villagers. But you, Tara, he cannot touch… The previous travelers, he killed them all.
— These signs… it was not a coincidence?
— No. These are marks of his demon. Once placed, they become indelible… all that's left is to wait for death. Mani-Wa loves fresh, strong souls.
— We will wait for him, Suo said, determined. The others nodded.
That night, everything changed.
The bells rang by themselves. The sky turned crimson. Blood-curdling screams echoed through the alleys.
— Seth! Take action! shouted Kael.
— Tara… be ready, murmured Suo.
Shadows crawled in the streets. The villagers walked again… their eyes glowed a supernatural green, and their skin cracked like dry ash.
— Undead… murmured Suo. He uses them as soldiers.
The horde surged toward them. The fight erupted.
Suo plunged his blade into the throat of an old blacksmith, dodging the attacks with fluidity. Kael hurled sharpened stones with surgical precision. Tara, silent as a shadow, struck with deadly speed.
Suo advanced, calm. His shadow twisted, grew, and rose. Arms of shadow sprang from the ground, grabbing the dead to shred them. Black blades shot forth, slicing flesh in silence.
— Kagen no Arashi… he murmured.
A storm of shadows swept away the horde.
But as the mist dissipated, a silhouette descended the stairs from the central square: Mani-Wa.
Dressed in a ceremonial robe made of rotten foliage, his face coated in ash, with bone horns on his head and a maniacal smile dancing on his lips.
— You dare challenge the pact? I, who have become the equal of the ancients!
— You sacrificed your people for your power, growled Seth.
— And you… dare to defend them? Wretches! I will devour you and your shadows!
He summoned a black rain. Skeletal arms erupted from the ground, merging the dead bodies into a titanic abomination.
— Damn! Watch out! shouted Kael.
Seth realized he was alone in a foreign room… Tara, Kael, and Suo had disappeared.
— What the hell is this? damn it… he murmured, terrified.
To be continued....