22 Ancient Ring (II)

After what felt like an eternity, the carriage came to a halt. It was already evening, and it began showering. Droplets of rain which landed on the carriage sang a sorrowful melody, only Anna could understand.

"Call him." They had been contracted by a man to carry out this task. Anna heard heavy footsteps and a shadow appeared outside the carriage.

"Inside." Said another voice. A finger lifted the curtain slightly and an old man peeked thought the gap. He was of noble statues by the number of rings that adorned his fingers and the cold expression that glazed his eyes. The man had a long white beard and similarity coloured hair that was loosely tight in a ponytail.

His golden eyes observed Anna from head to toe for a couple of seconds. Anna shifted, uncomfortable by the gaze which bore on her. The man nodded his head and retracted his finger, letting the cover fall back down.

"kukk!" a man screamed in terror as he saw his comrade being killed in front of his eyes. A sabre soon slashed his neck as well, blood gushing out like rivers. He touched his throat in an attempt to stop the flow but it was useless.

Seconds later he dropped on the floor, in a puddle, where the dirty water mixed with his blood.

Anna jerked at the commotion outside and began struggling to free herself. It was now or never. The rough rope peeled her skin off, but Anna did not have time to cry. She kept struggling, ignoring the chaos that took place outside.

Soon the woman who earlier tied her up lifted the cover and grabbed hold of Anna. Anna ceased all struggling as a cold blade neared her neck. The woman dragged Anna outside the carriage and positioned herself between the attacker and her remaining comrade.

The other two were already dead, each facing down in their own pools of blood.

"Don't you dare. Move and she dies." Threatened the woman stuck the knife on her skin. Anna was afraid to even breathe just in case she will scape her neck and slice her throat. The man smirked, his eyes ridiculed her, which in turn made the woman pierce Anna's skin. A trail of blood flowed, deep red blood on her light olive skin. Anna's face grew pale, blood draining from her lips. The rain was constantly showering them, Anna's clothes soon became drenched and the chilly breeze made her shiver.

"Alight." Said the old man raiding his hands in defence. The man who sat behind Anna dashed, leaving the woman alone with the man.

"Roy. Come back." Yelled the woman. She turned her head for a moment but that was a grave mistake. The old man darted towards Anna, but not running. He was using his powers; he was floating above the soil. Not a spec of dirt was toughing his refined robe.

The man instantly appeared in front of Anna, with an evil grin making Anna almost faint form dread. His menacing aura, his deep eyes and his expression were right in front of Anna's eyes.

"Come out!" commanded the old man, and a green fog surrounded the woman. It entered thought her nostrils and seconds later the woman dropped the knife as she herself rolled her eyes over and died.

"Mhm…" Anna who was freed from the woman's strong grasp kneeled in front of the man.

Looking up, he seemed more imposing. Her little frame compared to his tall straight posture, made Anna crawl in fear.

A big fat rat came out of the green mist and sat on the man's shoulder. His eyes, full of insanity stared at Anna as if she were looking at a meal.

"Catch the last one." Said the old man. The man who managed to run only a couple hundred meters turned his head to look behind himself. He felt relieved and reassured himself that running away was the best decision he had ever done.

His boss, the woman who held Anna hostage was now dead, and if he remained here, he would end in the same way. Smiling the man rushed even faster trough the muddy soil, splashing water left and right with every heavy step he took.

Suddenly in front of him, formed from a green murky mist, a rat with a similar complexion appeared. The man straightened his legs to avoid walking into the creature. He lost balance and landed on his left knee in front of the rat.

He himself did not have any powers but his boss had- Poison. Although her abilities were not the best, it did help them in cases of emergencies, especially when they were running away or when caught.

He knew that people could use their powers to manifest things like a sword or like his boss a mist, but he never heard of a creature coming out of a mist. It seemed almost mystical, intelligent creatures have long disappeared, there was no way this was real. That is what he thought.

"He-he. What a disgusting worm. You deserve to crawl in the mud." The rat talked in a cynical voice.

"W-what?" the man moved his legs through the mud trying to back away. The slippery mud did not allow him to make much of a progress.

"Oh, what a shame you are. Look behind you. Your friends are dead, all because of you." Said the rat approaching the man, an insane laughed soon followed.

The man wet himself, seeing that the creature was coming closer to him. He was shaking his head briskly, denying the rats statement.

"No-no that's not true." Said the man crying for help. He struggled to free himself from the mud he was slowly sinking in.

"Oh yes…look! Hear them screaming for your help." The rat emitted a green mist that surrounded the man.

He saw his friends before his eyes, one stretching his arms to grab hold of his feet the other sat on his left crying for help. Blood gushed out of his neck, pouring over him. His boss glared at him with a killing gaze, telling him to always remember the day he betrayed her.

"No! Boss, please! You know I had to." Said the man in his defence. Tears fell out of his desperate eyes. A hand suddenly grabbed his left foot. His comrade cried out his name while his hand dirtied his trousers with blood.

"No! Get away!" yelled the man stomping his feet agitatedly. While struggling to free himself, his hand landed in a puddle. It was sticky, thick, and so the man turned his attention to his hand. His other comrade who was still dripping blood from his neck formed a pool of blood in front of him. This is where his hand has landed in and was now stuck in this liquid which turned viscous.

"Oh Lord!" screamed the man. He looked up to his boss again and with pleading eyes, he cried out for help.

"Please help me! Boss…please." Said the man, his eyes turned to waterfalls. The rain continued to pour, rapidly expanding the puddle he was sat in. His clothes were wet, he felt cold but could not find any comfort no matter where he looked.

"Do you hear them scream?" a rat sat on the man shoulder snickering.

"Ahhh!" the man shrieked, terrorised by all that was happening. They did not stop however, they continued playing in his mind, they were either yelling at him or quietly watching him, as he slowly sank into the mud further and further.

Left, right, behind and in front. Cries for help, screams and voices of people engulfed him. As a last resort, the man yelled out for help one last time before being silenced by the mud. He struggled to breathe, felt as dirty water entered every pore until it blinded him.

Before long the mist disappeared, and the man was left alone in a small little pool of dirt he formed earlier.

Anna who witnessed it all watched terrified from start till end. No longer could she see the people, no longer could she hear the screeching voices, they were all gone. It returned to normal, the vision was gone. Anna sighed relieved.

This, however, did not mean that the man stopped seeing them as well. Madness overcame him, as any trace of normality left the man's eyes. He smiled sanely, looking around himself muttering something inaudible form this distance.

Anna was sure of one thing. He was no longer sane and the words he kept muttering were nonsensical sentences. Occasionally the man would stop, stretch his arm only to cry in despair moments later. He would laugh, like a small kid and the next he would punch the air.

"Gulp." Anna inhaled sharply, as she witnessed the destruction of a man.

"My my…what a show" laughed the old man. Anna was not sure if he was sane either. To watch all this and find it funny, required a dosage of madness.

Anna turned her eyes and stared at her own tied arms. She would rather look somewhere else that at that man.

"Now, shall we go my dear Princess?" asked the old man. Anna's eyes flashed open.

"Y-you!" he knows her. He wanted her, that is why he ordered her kidnap. Now that all the witnesses were dead, he could do whatever he wanted with her and there would be no one to help her.

"Don't be scared, my Princess. I will not hurt you. In fact, you will be of great use." Grinned the man malefically. His eyes fixated on her face while the rat covered the carriage and the dead bodies with his green mist.

They burned in flames, gradually decomposing into nothingness. Not even ashes remained.

The green ring covered the man and Anna, shining brighter than the sun. They left the forest, as the scenery before them changed to white. Anna was still crouched on the floor, shocked by what happened in the past hour.

Before long they landed in a room. Anna was pushed by the man aside as he made his way around the room.

It was dark barely visible. They were in an underground hall with no windows, with a wall made of splotched stones. There was barely anything inside the room, a torture table next to which a small counter stood full of different devices. Anna could only imagine what they were used for.

The room was enormous for its purpose and was most likely situated underground. No chance of escaping that easy…

"Well well, princess let's get you all readied up." Sid the old man approaching Anna. She flinched and backed away only to be caught seconds later by the man.

"Ahh! Let me go! What do you want? Money? Whatever you want my parents can give you." Anna screamed on top of her lungs trying to reason with him.

"Riches? I have no use of them!" laughed the old geezer. "I have everything I need right before me."

"No…no! What do you want?" Anna started to panic seeing that the man did not care for what she had.

"You!" said the man tossing her frail body onto the table. Anna curled in a ball and tried to kick him using her feet. She was moving frantically, kicking the air or his hands, anything to avoid being tied up to the table.

"You little wrench!" the man tried to grab her feet, only to be left feeling useless as Anna was not sitting still. Seeing that he was not touching her, she opened her eyes to take a better look at the man.

He was red, fuming with anger. His chin was shaking and along with it his long white beard. The man was overcome by the situation, distracted he looked around and Anna knew she was not getting a second chance.

She jumped off the table and ran towards the door. She was exhausted from all the effort of kicking the man aggressively and considering she had not had a proper sleep in days, Anna felt faint.

She could not hear the man coming after her, so she glanced quickly over her shoulder.

The man seemed no to care and only watched her as if she were a source of entertainment as if he knew her struggles were in vain.

Fearing the worst Anna thought that the door is locked and almost cried when the door did not budge. Thankfully, it moved, although slowly at first it gave Anna a small gap to exit. Looking one again at the old man, Anna realised that the man had been playing with a ring all this time.

Her happiness washed over her face and soon dread overcome her when from the ring a green mist came straight for her.

'The rat!' Anna screamed internally; she knew what awaited her if she stayed here any longer.

Anna rushed up the narrow stone stairs, tripping a couple of times on her way.

"Ouch!" Anna landed on the stone-cold floor with her knees a fourth time. Her knees were bruised and were slightly bleeding but she had no time to tend them; she had to escape first.

When she raised her gaze, she found herself in a hallway, one that she recognised instantly. It was a church. She should have realised it was a man from the church the moment they met. Mages, especially ones that belong to the church had to have a long beard, a sing of reverence to the God that saved them. It also served as a sign for people to avoid them, not to seek trouble with them or run away from them.

'Clemente Family? Do they have something to do with this? Or is it just this man?'

Anna's head was overflowing with questions, so she was not paying attention in the direction in which she was going. She was just running as far away as possible, away from here.

"Where do you think you are running little Princess?" said a ghastly voice form behind. She did not need to look to know who it was. It was the same creature that terrorised the thug hours before and now it was coming for her.