Page 29 of The Silent Mountain (Under the Werewolf Crown #2)

twenty-nine

Back to the Roots

*FAVIAN*

F or minutes, none of us is able to say or do anything. Slowly, Theodor’s reaction makes more sense to me. He must have felt completely shocked and full of horror.

Just then, however, Barbara, or whoever it is, starts moving. She is still smiling, but now that I look at her closely, her smile looks creepy and unreal; her eyes are not so full of life like Barbara’s were. She approaches Cassie, and the poor girl is clearly terrified. She flails her arms to get away from her, her elbow hitting against the cup with steaming hot tea. It drops to the ground, breaking into pieces, and the liquid leaks out towards Barbara. A hiss leaves her lips. Without hesitating any further, Erin grabs the pot with the remaining hot beverage and empties it on Barbara.

Barbara hisses and screams, her hands tugging at her face, until she starts to peel off her skin.

“Goddess,” Alana mutters, turning her head away.

It’s a sickening sight. Battling back my queasiness, I feel another emotion coming forward: anger. It’s clearly not a hallucination. Something or someone has pretended to be Barbara, our friend and loyal clan member. I allow my anger to bubble to the surface, feeling how my dragon takes over and lunges forward, punching the person so hard that I knock them unconscious immediately. I don’t care what I break or how much I hurt them, I just want them to shut up.

“Well,” Erin mutters. “I was about to say a spell to knock her out, but that works.”

“Thank Aengus, it’s over,” Stefan mutters, grimacing slightly.

Erin steps forward, her eyes pinned to the person lying on the ground. Slowly, Barbara’s appearance changes, leaving behind a bony creature with long fingers, even longer toes, and greasy long hair. An unsettling and gross sight. Where there should be skin and muscle, there are just bones and rotten flesh.

“I can’t believe it,” Erin gapes, before she pulls out one of her potions and empties it on the creature. “This should bind it for now!”

“What in Aengus’ name is this monstrosity?” Theodor blurts out.

“A nachzehrer,” Erin says.

I pride myself on being well educated. Even in my years of captivity, I never stopped learning with Favia’s help, simply because I was so bored and scared to lose my mind from the loneliness. But I have never heard that name. Judging by the silence around me, no one has.

“And what’s that?” Cassie asks curiously. She seems to have forgotten her shock and steps closer now. In the process, she almost falls over the shards on the ground, but Theodor manages to grab her at the last moment. “Thank you,” she mutters before turning to Erin. “What’s a nachzehrer?”

“It’s a creature from the depths of the underworld,” Erin says. “Worse than the mare. There are many myths about them. Some say that they are living undead, rising from the corpses of the deceased, but in this case, Barbara has passed away, and her body was burned. It might be the lingering death in the air that attracted the creature. What I can say for sure, though, is that they are lesser creatures but very dangerous. They live off the deceased and suck out the life force of those who mourn them, until they die too.”

“It sounds very similar to the mare,” Alana mutters.

“In its core, it might sound similar, but it’s much more dangerous. It’s a revenant. They are said to haunt those in mourning and torture them day and night, through a telepathic connection, pushing them into madness. They make the living prone to diseases and dangerous illnesses. In fact, it’s actually said that they arrive when there have been deaths by unnatural causes.” She pauses. “Another proof that Barbara’s death was not a natural one, and her sickness wasn’t either.”

“Fantastic,” Stefan says. “So, what are we doing with it now? Do we need to keep it like the mare?”

“No, we destroy it,” Erin says shortly. “Nachzehrers are dead already, they are not living creatures anymore, and as long as they are around us, they will haunt and torment us. We need to get rid of it.”

“And how?” Alana asks.

“Do you have a gold coin, Your Highness?” Erin asks me.

“Of course.” I angle for it in my pocket and hand it to her.

“I will place it in its mouth and then behead it. Then, I will burn its remains,” she says. “It will not be a beautiful sight. The smell of its rotting flesh is truly sickening, even more so when we burn it.”

“Do… you… do you need help?” Cassie asks anxiously, clearly afraid of Erin’s answer.

“No, my dear, you go and tell Elio what happened,” she says.

“Thank you for making sure he stays behind,” I tell her, before turning to Alana and Theodor. “How about you both also leave,” I say.

“How about you all leave,” Stefan offers. “I was of no help in this case so far, and I feel like I owe it to Barbara and her legacy. She was my friend too, and I had high respect for her, yet I wasn’t even able to visit her on her sickbed.”

I am not sure if he is saying it to manipulate me into leaving and take this difficult task from me, or if he truly means it, but for once, I decide to let him win. I am too tired to fight him and to let my pride win. Also, I appreciate that he offers to help a witch of his own free will. “Please do so,” I say.

“I appreciate the help, Lord Stefan,” Erin says. “Just don’t touch the creature.”

“I was not about to do that,” Stefan grimaces. “Let’s do it, Erin, and get rid of it.”

“That’s our cue,” I say, putting my hand on Alana’s back and leading her out of the room. Cassie and Theodor follow me, with the first dashing away to meet Elio, while Theodor lingers behind. “I need to apologize once more, Your Highness,” he says sadly. “For my behavior and-“

“Please don’t mention it,” I say. “I was in that creature’s vicinity too, and I have a vague idea how you must have felt. Go home and get some rest or do something to relax your mind.”

He bows. “Thank you, my king,” he says, before turning to Alana. “My queen.”

I wait for him to leave before letting out a sigh.

“He called me his queen,” Alana says suddenly. “Goddess,” she continues, wrapping her arms around me. “What a day, what a mess.”

I pull her into a hug, feeling how much it calms me down to have her close. “First, the sea monster that attacked our warriors and killed one of them, then Barbara passed away, and now this. And we still don’t know what lured you into the ocean,” I say. “When will it ever end?”

“I don’t know,” she says quietly. “But I know that we will get through it. You are mine now, officially, and I am not going to stand by and watch you and the other dragons suffer.”

“You are their queen now,” I agree, despite the grim reality, I can’t help but feel a twinge of joy at calling her that. She truly is my ray of hope.

“Let’s take a rest,” Alana offers. “Stefan and Erin are dealing with the nachzehrer. We should respect them by trying to calm down from the whole ordeal and get some rest.”

“You are right.” Stefan jumped in to do this task to give us a break. The least I can do is respect his sacrifice, because I am certain it won’t be an easy task to do.

Alana and I retire to our chambers and indeed take a couple of hours to rest and regain our strength. On a normal day, I would make love to her, not minding a bit about resting my body, but after everything that happened, neither she nor I really feel like engaging in anything sexual. Instead, she sleeps in my arms and finds solace there, a new kind of intimacy which I enjoy very much.

Later, Alana decides to visit Theodor to see how he is holding up and to check on Elio. Meanwhile, I seek out Stefan and Erin, who, to my surprise, are both sitting together in the private dining and resting area of the castle, reserved for ranked members only.

“I hope you don’t mind that I am here, Your Highness,” Erin says when she spots me. She looks bone tired.

“It’s my fault,” Stefan says. “I told her to rest here.”

“After all you did, Erin, you have certainly earned your place in my ranks,” I say. “Can I do anything for either of you?”

“Can you make the stench go away?” Stefan asks. “It’s still lingering in my nose. Erin wasn’t kidding when she said it would be horrifying.”

“I truly appreciate your help,” Erin says. “I don’t think I could have done it without you.”

“How about something to drink?” I offer. “Something strong. I think there are still some of my father’s old liqueurs around. They are strong enough to burn through anything, maybe even the stench that’s clung to you.”

“I certainly wouldn’t say no to such a drink,” Erin says.

Stefan nods. “Me neither.”

My father’s old liqueurs are still in their usual place, safely in one of the high cupboards. He always had them put there so that none of us kids would reach them. It gives me a twinge of pain to think of my siblings. I try not to do that too much. Each time, I am reminded of what I have lost and of how I will never see my siblings again, and it throws me into a black abyss of pain and depression.

But at the same time, I want to honor the promise I gave to Elio, to remember our siblings and make sure their passing wasn’t in vain.

“I remember,” Stefan says softly. “How you and your sister were always so curious about what was inside these bottles.”

“Yes,” I say quietly. “Actually, we wanted to steal one of the bottles to test it for ourselves.”

“Did you ever do it?” Stefan asks.

“No.” I grab the bottle, looking at it. “The war happened before we could.”

Stefan looks away. “I am sorry. I didn’t mean to remind you of anything bad.”

“I had forgotten about it,” I mutter. “But it’s not a bad memory. Let’s honor my sister in our memories.”

I take three glasses and put them in front of us, filling them with the liquor. We all take a sip at the same time. Erin chuckles while she does so. “You were not joking,” she coughs. “That’s some heavy stuff.”

“By Aengus,” Stefan groans. “It’s even stronger than I remember.”

“I just realized, I didn’t miss out,” I say, slightly amused. “But at least I know now.”

We are all quiet for a while, lingering in our own thoughts, until Stefan breaks the silence. “What’s the meaning of all of this, Erin? You, as a witch with a certain standing in your community, must have an inkling.”

“I think what the queen said is right,” Erin says. “While the cult was destroyed, I think it was just one base of it. Someone else might still be pulling the strings. We don’t know who it is, why, or even what they are doing. If I had to guess, I’d say they let Penelope do what she wanted to. The end justifies the means. I am sure Penelope acted on her own will and from her own motivation, but maybe someone else protected her. Maybe someone else gave her a little bit of power to do as she pleased.” Erin pauses. “But I have no proof for any of what I am saying.”

“If it’s true, it means that someone is still alive and doing Aengus knows what,” Stefan says.

“Alana said the other realms are facing troubles too,” I muse. “It would certainly underline your theory, Erin. One person alone can’t make all that mess.”

“It’s just assumptions though,” Stefan points out.

“Then, let’s look at the proof we have,” Erin suggests.

“The mare that appeared and haunted Alana. The harbinger told us it is from another realm and was brought here,” I say.

“Then, we have the sea monsters attacking,” Stefan adds. “We don’t usually have them in this area. Not that many of them at least, and they are usually so deep in the ocean that they don’t bother us.”

Erin tilts her head, furrowing her brows. “We have the nachzehrer,” she says. “And not to forget that situation with the queen, when she was lured into the ocean.”

“And we still don’t know how that could have happened. Something must have either abducted her or led her there,” I say, a shiver going down my back when I think of how I couldn’t reach Alana through our bond, and how I couldn’t find her anywhere. On an impulse, I reach out to her, trying to feel her through the mate bond, relieved when I can feel her somewhere on the clan grounds.

“Erin’s theory is beginning to sound quite likely,” Stefan mutters. “But how to fight something invisible? We don’t know who or what it is, we don’t even know if it’s truly attacking us or if we just are unlucky for our closeness to the ocean.”

“Both could be a possibility,” Erin agrees.

“The birds were our first lead,” I say. “Maybe we should start focusing on them again.”

“We don’t know how they got cursed,” Stefan says. “Or, as we now know, how they came in touch with dark magic. That’s why I am hesitating to give advice. A rash decision could hurt us all.”

I sigh, well aware that he isn’t wrong. “Talking about birds…“ I pause. “Erin, how is Ludwig doing?”

“Bad,” she mutters sadly. “It progresses faster with him than with Barbara, maybe because he was already weakened and tired, and losing her made him lose all hope. He had nightmares yesterday. That’s how it began with Barbara.”

Stefan sighs tiredly. “Can’t you help him, Erin?”

“The black magic runs deep,” she says. “Whatever it is that infected him is not from this world. I was able to make the protective potions from my knowledge about it, but I can’t beat the darkness itself.”

“How do we beat the curse or dark magic?” I ask. “Theoretically speaking.”

“By erasing its roots,” she says.

“Which brings us back to the problem,” Stefan mutters. “We don’t know the root, and chasing the birds blindly could prove to be a bad decision.”

“We will have to make a decision, eventually,” I point out. “You are my advisor. I need you to analyze which path will cost us the least clan members.”

Stefan sighs once again. “I will,” he finally says.

I lean back, about to take another sip from my drink, when Alana links me. Favian! I just met Elio and Cassie. Cassie is completely distraught. It seems like something is off with Ludwig!”