Inscription on the new page:
"A castle and a village in the middle of a dense forest. Isolated from the outside world. Civilization never reached that place. The Lady of the Castle ruled these lands with a cruel hand."
The quill and new words:
"The Cursed came there."
Another twilight room. Outside the window – night. He still sat at the table. But it was a different table. On the left – a bed, on the right – a nightstand. On the floor many small sheets of paper. On each of them, various phrases were written:
"If you are reading this, run."
"There is no salvation — we are all cursed."
"She is coming for me."
"They will come at night."
"We are already all dead."
"What could be worse than death? Only her and her mad eyes!"
The Cursed slightly opened the door and peered into the corridor. Twilight and uncertainty. Somewhere below, a muffled murmur of people. Rows of side doors on the left and right.
As he walked down the corridor, one of the side doors opened, and a cone of light fell on him. Inside, a man sat at a table.
"I've been expecting you. Come in," said the stranger.
The Cursed sat across from him. Dark, short hair. A gloomy, tired gaze.
"We knew you would come. We knew that someone would come who would hold the Book of Reality and Curses, the one who would want to free himself from its power, otherwise he is forever doomed to be its prisoner. My name does not matter. I am one of the resistance against the tyranny of the Lady of the Castle. We are focused on preventing the rapid decline of the population that happens after each night when she visits the village and drains the villagers' blood to their death. Many times she has been attempted to be killed in various ways, but all executors of the sentence lost their heads. If you want to get rid of the curse, you must go to the castle and destroy the Lady at any cost. If you doubt my words, spend here at least one night, and you will see for yourself. Also, for the sake of your life, I strongly advise against going into the forest at night. Because there, as the locals say, you may meet someone worse than the Lady."
The man got up and left the room.
The Cursed opened his eyes. He was in the dark room. He lay on the bed. Above him loomed a horrific gray-skinned creature with black eyes and large teeth. Its mouth was wide open. He grabbed it by the throat. The creature, in response, seized him with its long, knotted fingers. It was incredibly strong. In the struggle, they fell off the bed and tumbled across the floor, right over the numerous notes with alarming writings scattered everywhere.
The long dagger appeared in the Cursed's hand. A powerful strike to the creature's side. It shrieked and released him. It hurled herself through the open window. The Cursed pursued closely. He jumped out of the second-floor window of the inn.
They were at the edge of the village. Ragged breathing and the whistle of the wind. The fleeing creature expelled streams of gray blood behind it. Despite the severe injury, it continued moving swiftly.
Now they were past the outermost houses of the settlement. Human sounds faded. The space collapsed, enclosing everything in the magic of the ancient night forest.
The monster disappeared behind the trees. The Cursed ran after it for a while, then followed the sound of its movement, and finally stopped completely. You can't run through an unfamiliar forest at night. Not knowing the way, you might fall into a pit and break a leg. Besides, the horrific creature could no longer be heard. Clearly, it had returned to its familiar environment and was lying in wait, licking its wounds.
The Cursed remembered the warning from the dream. When the stranger had told him:
"Also, for the sake of your life, I strongly advise against going into the forest at night."
Or was it not a dream?
He decided to head back.