“…ALL right.” Knight slowly rises beside the open-air fire.
Witch calls out to him indolently from her perch on a tree limb, “Wouldn’t it be better to rest up a little more?” She’s already reverted back to her child form.
“Nah, I’ve had enough.”
He drinks deeply from his waterskin and plops the blackberries he harvested from the forest into his mouth, which helps clear the drowsiness a bit. Though he isn’t aware of it, it’s a curious coincidence that Princess woke up at the exact same time from her slumber in the castle. Habits from living together die hard.
“Saaay, old man, sorry to toss cold water on your burning hot enthusiasm, but didn’t you say you were going to enter the castle by way of a secret passage?”
“Yeah.”
“Isn’t that the same passage you took when you escaped with Princess last year? Won’t they be lying in wait for you to stroll in there off guard?”
Knight quietly listens to her while he cuts the hem off the cloak he set to dry before bed. He wraps the strips around a thick branch rubbed in resin. Witch shrugs, raises the palm of her hand, turns her wrist, and blows on it. Threads shoot from her fingertips and mend his torn cloak.
“I’ve got everything under control,” he replies, “There’s more than one secret passage… Oh?” Faint, silvery-thread embroidery now decorates the hem of Knight’s all-black cloak. “Thanks.”
“It was so tattered and ugly I couldn’t stand looking at it. You should pay a little more attention to your appearance, old man.”
“…Thanks for the warning, young lady.” He douses the wrapped cloth in oil, completing his improvised torch. Then he fastens the torch to Buttercup’s back and mounts him, skillfully keeping his balance without a saddle by squeezing his knees against the horse’s muscular flank.
“Heh. Looks like all your boasting wasn’t just tall tales after all.”
Knight shrugs before informally dropping into a bow by removing his hat and bringing it to his chest. Then he turns to Dragon and says, “Just you wait, partner. I’ll bring down that pesky barrier in no time!”
“I pray for your success, friend.”
Knight waves and spurs Buttercup into a gallop. Mighty hooves shake the ground. With each kick, the moving shadow of the horse and its rider melt into the dead of night.
“He really is someone who’s easy to understand,” Witch loudly sighs, rolling her shoulders to work out the stiffness. “The way you thank someone earnestly and out of courtesy are supposed to be totally different…”
✦ ✦ ✦
SUSPENDED in the indigo night sky is the nearly full moon. It’s as white as top-rate cheese, appearin’ just slightly larger than the size of a half-moon. With each hoof’s kick off the ground, with each of Buttercup’s gallops forward, the brightness increases and illuminates our way. But we’re headed for darkness ungraced by the moon’s light.
Grass rustles in the wind. Water babbles from a nearby creek. Chirping insects and crows noisily make their presence known. Shrieking unhappily, the crows take flight in a flurry of wings to perch on nearby branches, watching my passage through their territory.
“Sorry for the intrusion. I’ll be done soon.”
Here lies a neglected monastery that’s been left to decay. Not a trace of its former glory can be found now. The roof’s caved in, the windows are smashed, and its crumbled stone walls stand forlornly like old tombstones. In fact, graves are here too. The names engraved in the stones have long since worn off and are thickly covered in moss now. There’s no way to tell who they belong to once they’re in this state.
Who’s buried here? When it really comes down to it, is there really that much of a difference between having or not having a gravesite once enough time passes?
“I’m here, Dragon.” I slowly look around…to show him the area. “You can open the entrance from here.”
“Understood. I must say, this was not what I expected, the area is considerably, um…”
“Creepy?”
“Aye. Not a very pleasant place—Oh? Are you perhaps laughing at me?”
He can tell that much now? Honestly, I can’t suppress the laughter risin’ inside me.
“Nah. Was just thinking ‘what’s scary’s still scary,’ even when you’ve lived for over a hundred years.”
“I’m sensitive. Unlike you. In my travels I have come across sights and mysteries you would not believe. Some were dangerous and others quite bedazzling. One should always respect the resting place of the dead.”
“Sure, sure.”
Broken pillars. Numerous stone statues remain hidden in the cover of the collapsed wall. If you stretch the imagination, you can kinda see them as the past saints they were modeled after. Penance is unavoidable for a saint, but the guy carved into this one statue looks more like he takes after the deceased suffering in hell. Agony twists his face, his hands grasp nothingness. Feels like I should be hearin’ anguished screams coming from his gaping mouth anytime now.
“Ah, I see now.”
“What’s up?”
“I finally understand the source of uneasiness radiating from this place.”
“Yeah?”
“The stone statues here have all been curiously sculpted off-balance. As a result, they arouse uneasiness when gazing upon them—without the viewer realizing it.”
“Bingo.” I grin, flashing my teeth. He can’t see, but the effect should come across. “This place was made to be like that.” I hit my fist against a stone gargoyle’s snout. “The old ones are a pretense. All the uncanny stone statues were added later.”
“Why do such a thing?”
“To scare people, Dragon. Humans are cowards. Since long ago—well, not that long since it’s only about fifty years—there’ve been rumors that ghosts haunt this monastery.”
“Those were added later on as well, yes?”
“You bet.”
“I am beginning to comprehend the actions of humans even less now.”
“They were installed to make people forget what this place was originally built for… Scary stories double as a form of entertainment. Even if somebody ignores the complicated history, they’ll jump on an interesting ghost story.”
“I see. You make a valid point.”
“Plus, night is dark…far too dark for humans.”
Bluish-green lights fly around the gravestones, over the grass. Fireflies. Being close to the river with few people around makes this the perfect nesting ground for them.
“Fireflies look like will-o’-wisps to frightened people. The loud caw of a crow sounds like the dead’s screams. Before long, your mind starts seein’ the statues walking ‘round… And that’s why the townspeople rarely set foot here to this day. Travelers also avoid this land.”
“…I see. So they look like fireflies to you, eh?”
“…Hello? What did you just say?”
Bluish-green lights hover by my face. They seem a lot bigger and brighter than the ones I’ve seen before. Chills crawl up my spine.
Are these actually fireflies?
“Pft.” I can sense his faint laughter.
“Dang it… You’d better be prepared for payback later!”
Irritated, I pop my shoulders. I retract the lower lip that stuck out unconsciously and gnaw at it.