Somber Face of the North. (1)

"Did you sleep well?"

Dulkha shook his head, existing.

"I don't think what I do can be considered as sleeping."

The innkeeper was washing the dishes. The inn was deserted. There were some glasses or plates still scattered on the various tables, it seemed the end of a troubled day for the owner.

"Do you do everything yourself?"

The innkeeper smiled. She was a plump woman of a certain age, but she maintained an aura of tireless determination.

"Often I'm alone taking care of the place. But sometimes, when he's not too busy fishing or drinking elsewhere, my husband helps me out."

Husband of hers. He must have been that grumpy man who wanted to throw him out.

"I understand."

"The people of this city are less afraid of you now."

The woman said as she handed him a glass of wine. Dulkha shook his head.

"After what you did ... Someone still does not trust, of course. But slowly, they will see you as one of us."

The woman held the glass to the blindfolded boy. He shook his head again.

"Drink."

The woman penetrated him with a sinister look. Dulkha felt threatened and guilty, so he swallowed the wine in one gulp. He coughed immediately after.

"It's good?"

…

"Tas ... ty ... Li ... ke ... De ... ath ..."

The innkeeper handed him a glass of water. He swallowed it, but the coughing didn't stop easily.

"Fejha took you very close to her heart. She It's not everyone's getting her attention."

"I noticed it." Dulkha said carelessly.

"You too are fond of her." "Not exactly..."

The woman burst into a thin laugh.

"What a tough guy! In any case, she sees something in you that we may not see."

Dulkha looked the woman in her eyes, then lowered them, fearing that he was too threatening. Even if that woman had something more menacing than him.

"She is simply attracted to strange things. Like all children ..."

A figure approached from the window of the inn. It was Oskah.

"Then, she should be the last to speak. Since she came out of a fucking egg." Dulkha said, lastly.

The innkeeper dropped one of the glasses on the floor, which shattered and made a deafening din. She didn't say anything.

Oskah entered the room.

"Did I interrupt something?"

A few days later, Dulkha and Oskah were called back.

"I need you to go to Filaspera ..."

The Division Chief said. The two boys were the only ones in the meeting room.

"Just the two of us ... again?" Oskah said puzzled.

The woman stopped, staring at the boy for three endless seconds. She then she composed herself.

"Yes. Most of the team is already committed/invalid/ineligible for a long-range trip."

The boy, who had cocked his breath in his mouth, stopped the rush and decided not to ask any more questions. He just nods.

The woman continued.

"We haven't received any correspondence for some time."

"How long?"

"Two months. I think something serious has happened."

"When do we have to leave?"

"Immediately." She ordered the Division Chief.

Oskah snorted. Dulkha was impassive, and her impassivity silently annoyed the woman.

"It's a long journey, arm yourself with enough supplies.

And be careful. "

Dulkha and Oskah left the meeting room.

The boy snorted again. Dulkha looked at him and asked him:

"Have you ever been to Fila ... something?"

"Yes. And I prayed not to go back."

"Your prayers have come true."

"As usual..."

"Do not die..."

"I don't know."

Fejha and the other inhabitants of the city watched the two scouts ready to leave the sacred and safe walls of that illusion made hope. The city, the cradle of their safety, unthinkable to leave, now disappeared behind their backs. The two disappeared becoming dots behind the already closed walls.

They walked for hours without stopping, until their legs begged for mercy.

"Shall we stop for a moment?"

"As you want."

They found a house dented but still standing, it was immersed in the middle of a clearing, blinded by a ray of light that came out of a pile of trees that covered the sky.

"Is anyone there? ... Damn if it looks ancient."

In recent years the surrounding desolation had increased, but the disappearances, the anxieties continued to manifest themselves in a strange and silent way.

The house seemed empty ... A shell waiting for someone.

The walls had illegible writing, dates, and numbers. Someone must have lived undisturbed for a long time. Until...

"Something must have happened."

"Do you think the owner will come back to kick our ass?"

Oskah shook his head, without much conviction.

One of the most devastated chambers had several worn sheets and the remains of what looked like a cradle. Dulkha picked up one of the papers.

The text was confused, the only things that could be read were the fol...

[It's just me and /// her /...// My wif//.../// I thought I was /// back ///...// I deserve to be // what I will be // / the pain is unbearrrr /...//]

...

Oskah slumped to the ground, stretching out his legs and thinking with difficulty about the road he still missed to reach the city.

"She had to send me ... again"

Dulkha threw the paper to the ground, trampled it, then sat down next to the remains of the slain cradle. He looked in front of him, heard the subtle sounds of nonexistent bells. The rays came in from the window timid. An ancient forgotten summer came down from the glassless window.

The wood in the house was white. Oskah had fallen asleep. The blindfolded boy decided to get up to check the rest of the house. He doubted he would find anything useful, as the house had surely been plundered by other travelers.

Crack!

A sound. A sound? What the f *** was that?

"Oskah?"

Dulkha's voice was calling from downstairs.

Oskah opened his eyes, he had fallen asleep unwittingly, a tiredness of the spirit that for days had been exhausting him without mercy.

Still groggy he stood up, the voice he had heard was vivid, even though he suspected it was the last remnant of a possible dream he was having.

Oskah walked down the stairs and froze. Dulkha was still staring at something. A figure emerged from a secret compartment behind a bookshelf. He was a boy, about Oskah's age, and he had a familiar face.

"But you are..."

"Then you are the assholes who stole my supplies."

Dulkha and Oskah glanced at each other for answers.

The man pulled a bizarre sword from its sheath.

"I knew it. I knew you were coming back. I have just the perfect punishment for shit thieves like you."

Oskah stepped forward.

"Listen ... We don't know what you're talking about, so why don't you put that weapon away and let's talk about it, you might as well-"

"Shut the fuck up!"

The boy, furious, pointed the blade at them, and it stretched out dangerously, almost touching their face. Oskah instinctively recoiled, he had never faced a human being before, for some reason he was less afraid of the shadows he had met so many times.

Dulkha, on the other hand, did not move, remained impassive, did not even blink.

"Jerk, do you think you are so smart?"

Dulkha raised his hand, mocking Oskah.

"Can we go outside? I don't think we need to fight in here."

The boy, with his features full of anger, stared at the boy covered in bandages as if he were going to kill him at any moment.

"I have to piss, also."

Oskah gasped and looked at Dulkha with wide eyes.

"Do you piss?"

"Apparently yes."

Dulkha descended the stairs with the sword of the boy following him. The guy didn't know what to say or do, he just pointed at it.

They remained silent. A piercing silence that was part of that forgotten place full of sleepy stories.

"And what do you piss? Dust?"

Dulkha disappeared behind a tree. Puzzled, the two who had remained inside the house went out.

They waited listening to the sound of the wind, the mysterious boy did not put down his sword in the meantime.

"I've seen you before."

"Do you want a prize?"

"No. You're one of the escaped scouts. Everyone thought you were missing."

"If you're on a fucking humanitarian mission, you've gone wrong."

Oskah shook his head.

"Nothing like that."

The mysterious boy snorted sarcastically.

"I hate that city of shit. Full of self-righteous wimp and crap."

"You'd rather die out here."

"Exactly. Instead of waiting for death by scratching my ass and pretending nothing happened."

The wind picked up for three seconds, moving the huge branches overhead. After that there was silence again.

"How the fuck does it take?"

"I don't know. I didn't even know he had that kind of need ... Ah, there he is."

Dulkha was preparing to return.

"What do you mean? Is it one of those monsters?"

Oskah nodded, but later regretted having done so.

"Not really. He's one of the good ones."

"Sure. And you make him live in there. The citizens of that shitty city get more and more retarded with each passing year."

"Where did we stay? Ah yes, you were threatening me with that thing ... is it a sword?"

The mysterious boy aimed the huge blade at Dulkha's face. He stared at his unblinkingly and then looked at Oskah.

"Better if we go. I wouldn't want them to be angry with me."

"Oy!" Thundered the boy. "Are you kidding me ?!"

"Here we go." Finally said Dulkha, without deigning a glance.

"Piece of ..." The boy flicked the blade hitting Dulkha on the shoulder with the blunt area. Dulkha stopped abruptly, he did not suffer any recoil from the impact with the weapon.

"You want to come with us?" Dulkha asked calmly.

"Turn the fuck around!" He hit him again. No reaction. When the boy was about to perform yet another blow, the sacred bandages came out of the ground, in a dark fog, and immobilized him.

"What the fuck ... What the hell ... Leave me an asshole!"

"I could turn you to ashes, but today I don't feel like it. I want to save my energy for the journey. Do you understand?"

Oskah approached Dulkha. "He is one of ours, let him go!"

"It depends on Mr. I have it long, here. What do you want to do?"

"O-Okay ... I get it! Get these things off me!" "Will you be good?" "I'll suck it off if you want, just fucking leave me on the ground! It starts to hurt!"

The bandages disappeared into the dark mist, which disappeared in turn. The mysterious boy fell to the ground.

"Christ ... I thought I was strong enough." The boy whispered.

"What did you say?" "It's not your business." "Ok."

Oskah and Dulkha set out on their path. Oskah looked back and saw the boy following with his head down, muttering something he couldn't hear.

He later observed the boy covered by the sacred bandages.

"What was that stuff?"

Dulkha, without taking his eyes off the road, clicked his tongue ironically, perhaps for the first time since they had known each other. He couldn't see his mouth covered in the bandages, but he could still see a smile, or something like that.

"I'm a monster, remember?"

"Fuck!" He yelled the mystery guy behind them.

"I think someone is angry."

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuuuuckkkkk!!!!!"

"Do you want to shut up?!" Oskah shouted.

The mystery boy had been complaining for almost an hour.

"I can't! I'm weak! As weak as a fucking armless child!"

"Listen ..." Oskah intoned, exhausted. "You survived out here on your own, for I don't know how many months. Sure, the weapon you're carrying will have helped you a lot, but ..." Oskah was interrupted by a thought, turned and looked the mysterious guy in his eyes.

"But that weapon, I've already seen it somewhere, it's not that ..."

"I stole it from the Division Cunty. Why?"

"No, nothing ... HEY! Be careful how you talk about ... Never mind. I said, you survived alone ... Blah blah blah ... The point is that Dulkha is endowed with a frightening and unknown strength. I would not be able to do anything against him either."

"You would die killed by a fart." The guy said.

"Want to try?!"

"Nah, I don't want to. Even you would be able to disarm me now."

Oskah scratched his forehead. It's not easy to reason with this guy, he thought.

"Anyway, can I at least ask your name?"

"Go ahead, that's a shit name."

"So…?"

It followed a long pause.

"My name is Zen." "Oh ... I am Oskah, and he is Dulkha."

"I don't give a fuck." "Okay Zen. See? Now I can call you by name, that's something. Asshole."

"Did you say something?!"

"Nothing.

I coughed."

The three adventurers had walked for hours, in silence, without saying a word. They had passed the nameless city, the great vault staring at them imposingly from a distance. His gaze was turned off by the screams from the underground.

They crossed a long desert path made of mysterious monoliths and huge debris sunk into the sand. Some old, abandoned houses stood motionless, waiting for the final wear. Dulkha had a strange feeling about one of the houses, which he didn't reveal to anyone but himself.

Then again, they found themselves inside a forest of spiral trees.

"Stay close to me." Oskah whispered.

Zen walked all the way ten paces behind them, armed with an impenetrable long snout.

"This is an infamous area; many have disappeared in here ..."

"They were shrinking violets."

Oskah looked behind him. "Have you ever made it this far?"

Zen shook his head like a spoiled kid. "It doesn't matter. I'd go back and forth down this street even if I were armed only with my dick."

"In that case I'd be sorry for your-" Oskah was interrupted.

A faint rustle, chilling enough to make a hundred men shiver. Then another kind of rustle ... Evanescent, a riot of confused, tangled moans. They approached them.

"Shit." Zen, for the first time in hours, approached the other two scouts, drew his sword extending it up to two meters.

Oskah grabbed the club, activating the electric trigger, which emitted a heavy, continuous sound.

"What's that toy?" Zen asked sarcastically. "Get hit on the head by this, and then you'll tell me."

"That's not the time to play who has it the biggest." Dulkha broke in.

"Indeed. I would win anyway." Zen concluded, symbolically waving his broadsword.

Shhh-hhhh-hhhh-ah-hahhhs-habbb - o-oo ---- bbbb - bbbshhhh .... ,,, - ,,, ...

There he is.

The creature came out into the open, his face was set in a grinning mask, he wore a shirt that covered up to his feet, to illuminate his gloomy way of the floating lamps that emanated a red light. The light was painful just looking at it.

Oskah and Zen instinctively wore their masks, to prevent their souls from being plundered from their faces.

The creature looked at them. The riot of voices stopped. He began to laugh, loud, louder, even louder, the lanterns began to shake, the blood light trembled compulsively.

"Shut ... that fucking ... mouth!" Zen screamed, rushing headlong towards the creature, which however dodged him away before he could sink the first blow.

Zen flew crashing into a tree, a hand coming from the ground, made of shadows, pulled it into the air like a gnat. His sword fell to the ground, away from his position.

The sword, to their horrifying surprise, was grabbed by the shadow's hand.

"I didn't expect this."