==============
I saw shadows.
Shadows of long-dead creatures who tried to pass this cursed place.
Among them were magicians, archers, crusaders. The saints and the plague, the noble and the vile, the skilled and the wretched.
There is no one left alive.
The gray veil was ready to sting the eyes.
I knew this from the previous times when I passed through it in robes out of fear and confidence that this would not be the last time.
To get through this foggy veil, you had to completely relax. Allow yourself to be carried towards danger. Possibly death.
Very ironic. Relax and die in fleeting tension, when in a second a huge wolf can attack you, and without waiting, you won’t even have time to think about what kind of life you’ve lived.
What kind of life have I lived??
And in how many seconds will the steel sword of the next abomination pierce my heart??
==============
Unlike previous fights, I was prepared for this in terms of knowledge.
Strangely, near my fire, near which I, in a semi-conscious oblivion, was gathering strength for the upcoming unknown, I found the diary of one of those brave warriors who died at the hands of this creature. This good man has been collecting information for many days about who is waiting for him behind the next gray veil, and it seems that he has collected enough to be sure that after this wall of fog he will have another. And one more. And one more thing.
I felt sorry for him.
I also kept a diary.
I used his diary. Sometimes the information was really surprising.
"With great pleasure, my dear E., I inform you that my trip will soon end and I will return home. You’re waiting for me? You receive my letters? And I will tear out this piece of paper for you, and I will send this letter to our beautiful home, so that you can quickly find out everything about my life in another country that is foreign to me. We’ll be fine, I’ve reached my goal. I still have a little time left. My next obstacle is a strange creature waiting behind another veil of death. Voices around me say that this creature is a mixture of my own main desire, the most unwanted fear and a very real danger that I will never see until the steel thorn of betrayal pierces my yearning for you, beloved E., heart. But that won’t happen. I’m ready. I am glad that your love warms me much better than the fires where I spend sleepless nights, and soon I will bring from my journey the greatest reward that I can get. But the main thing: I will bring new meanings to our lives. I will become famous not only for what I did, but also for what I invented! Invented in terms of ideas. I already have enough unknown knowledge about our empty but so confusing world to become great even today, but I will finish my campaign and become truly legendary. Perhaps there is one last fight left. And it, like the previous hundreds, will end extremely quickly for those creatures that dare to stand in my holy path. I promise you. With love, yours E.R. Everything will be fine.»
It was not clear to me why this last entry was preceded by dozens of other sheets of.
Why didn’t he send a single letter to his beloved, this fallen spirit?
And who is he?
There were a lot of questions, but it was time for me to get ready. I felt how the fire of aggression was gradually arising inside.
Aggression towards everything.
I knew this feeling.
It defeated my enemies, leaving them no chance.
It was time to get dressed.
It was time for all the freaks that existed in this world to die.
Having made sure that my ammunition was not damaged, I secured my shoulder pads better, checked the sharpness of both swords on the nearest branch, which in its post-mortem crunch told the whole area that I had a very large weight on this earth, and went to the insensitive gray haze, which was ready to push the next victim into the clutches of a mad hunter.
But this wall could not know that all this time the hunter was not inside the room, the passage to which it blocked, but outside.
Time to learn new things, honey.
To my surprise, there was no one on the way who could offer resistance. Last time, when I was exploring the area and came across this gray wall, I was very inhospitably greeted by a dozen skeletons, who, however, did not provide me with any arguments in their favor, and therefore I decided not to delay their repeated death.
Usually, even on the tenth exploration of the area, at least someone met me.
There is silence here.
Emptiness.
Like this whole world.
Like all of me?
Standing before the darkness, I once again remembered the letter from respected E.R. his beloved, where he talked about what awaited me ahead was a mixture of my main desire, the most unwanted fear and, perhaps, a very real danger that I would never see until the steel thorn of betrayal (I wonder what he meant?) will not pierce the heart.
That is, I will see… what I want? What am I afraid of?? And the thorn of betrayal – was it in my life??
After standing for about ten minutes, https://stakezone-top.co.uk/mobile-app/ I smiled lightly and, stepping forward, completely left my body to the gentle hands of the icy wall of gray mist, closing my eyes that were beginning to water.
==============
As soon as my feet were on solid ground, I sharply opened my eyes, threw off my small traveling bag with a lightning-quick shoulder movement and quickly grabbed my swords from behind my back, ready to repel any blow from anyone who dared to attack me.
It turned out that for the next few seconds I could relax.
This was the room.
My room.
The one where my wife and I lived in recent years, until I went on an endless search for who knows what. Here, to the world of gray walls and never-dying skeletons.
This is the same bed. Table. This is the window that gave me light. Everything is exactly the same as it was then, many years ago.
And she stands at the window located on the left hand of me today. In the same position, covering your teary eyes with one hand.
My last memory of her, looking into her eyes on the other side of the window, was seeing someone nudge her slightly. She swayed, but stood, without changing the position of her hands or state of mind. Nothing scared her – she was just burned by the fact that I was leaving.
She wanted to be happy.
I wanted more.
“You’re back,” she turned around.
But it wasn’t my room.
There was no light.
The corners seemed to exude darkness outwards.
And her image… her image..
– I’m sorry. I failed you.
It was as if all my strength suddenly left my body. All the aggression I had been building up all the way here had evaporated.
I’m down.
The noisy ringing of swords falling from the hands seemed to sum up this phrase.
– You promised to write. You promised not to disappear. You promised not to get lost. Where do you think you returned if you didn’t keep a single promise??
Intonationally, her voice either rapidly fell down or rose up. It felt like a drunken violinist wanted to perform his best melody, but his hands treacherously did not obey him, doing something different from what his head wanted.
It sounded unnatural.
Unpleasant.
I suddenly felt cold.
– I… I… I wrote to you. I wrote to you. I tore out the sheets from my diary, I folded them… I folded them into three parts… I sent them to hell… hell… address… You didn’t receive it once.
The space around me is spinning. It came closer and further away. Pulsated. Lost its shape.
Where did I return if I didn’t keep a single promise??
– My diary… my diary… I’ll show you the draft of the last letter… I wanted to write like a mod… as best as possible… wrote-l, sent… fork… it’s the only one left, draft… this… now..
Leaning against the wall, I lifted my travel bag and took out my small diary.
– Here, here… s-s-look.
Broken voice.
Already on my knees, I began to read:
"With great pleasure, my dear E., I inform you that my trip will soon end and I will return home. You’re waiting for me? You receive my letters? And I will tear out this piece of paper for you, and I will send this letter to our beautiful home, so that you can quickly find out everything about my life in another country that is foreign to me. We’ll be fine, I’ve reached my goal. I still have a little time left. »
My eyes started to water again.
I couldn’t read further.
Someone has a tight grip on my throat.
==============
— Irosaro.
– W-w-what?
— Repeat our name: Irozaro.
– A-and… Irozaro.
The iron grip has loosened.
Breathing has become easier.
-Have you seen the shadows?. There were a lot of them. Why did you come to disturb us??
It was a voice of steel. Sneaky. Solid. A little intoxicating.
I was silent.
– Why did you come here again??
– Once was not enough?
– We can kill you again.
– And we will kill.
– There are many of us.
– And you – not a single one.
There have already been many votes.
Voices of Steel.
sounded.
From all sides.
In my head.
echoed.
Vibrated.
They rang.
My nerves were on edge.
The excess of oxygen allowed to reach me clouded my consciousness.
==============
-You wanted to kill us.
-You wanted to kill us.
– For what?
– Your goal?
– Your promises?
— Your ambitions as a warrior?
— Researcher?
— We are Dark Souls.
– And you are not a soul at all.
– You are soulless.
– For a long time.
– You shouldn’t have come here.
– You shouldn’t have come here.
– There was no need to try.
– Come here.
– Again.
– Goodbye.
— Weak-willed chick.
– We beat you again.
– In your own monastery.
– In your own monastery.
– And you will come again.
– Again.
– To the monastery.
– To the monastery.
– And we will repeat.
– Let’s repeat!
– Goodbye.
— Hehe.
==============
I quickly opened my eyes.
My wife is standing by the window. Looks at the street. One hand near her face tries to cover the dripping tears of her Bright Soul.
I stand behind her, practically not remembering this meeting with… with… with?
A dagger sparkled in his right hand.
I could hear her breathing.
I heard him.
I’m looking where she is.
It was me on the other side of the window.
I looked at my wife. A look before leaving for many years to come. For something.
Last look?
I, standing on the street, smiled, then lowered my gaze slightly and, sharply raising my head, ran two fingers across my throat with a sharp, characteristic movement.
— Irosaro.
In a moment, the steel dagger cooled the hot heart of my beloved.
==============
In the center of the room I was sitting at the table at which we usually had a meal with the chosen one of fate.
Dark corners conveyed their condition to the entire environment.
There was practically nothing visible around.
My dark soul was pure and calm.
Someone left a lit candle and ink and pen on the table.
I saw my small travel bag on the table.
I took out my diary.
Opened the last entry.
And finished what was unfinished.
"…Perhaps there is one last battle left. And it, like the previous hundreds, will end extremely quickly for those creatures that dare to stand in my holy path. I promise you. With love, yours E.R. Everything will be fine. Nothing changes."