The light of the new moon barely lit the forest clearing. The Cursed found himself in its center. Behind the trees, strange tall shadows were moving. Or were they figures threatening his life?
About a dozen strangers stepped onto the clearing and blocked his way forward.
Tall gray figures. Gray skin. Long gray hair and gray tight-fitting clothes. Men and girls, judging by their figures. In their hands they held bows with arrows nocked. Each was ready to shoot instantly. Like unstoppable vengeful ghosts ready to tear and destroy. They resembled the horrific creature he had wounded and pursued.
"You have gone too far, outsider," one said.
"You have stepped onto foreign territory," added another. "Do you not know this is the land of the Night Hunters?"
"You will not leave here alive," one girl bared her sharp teeth.
They raised their drawn bows at the same time, ready to shoot the hero on the spot.
At that moment, a new terrible force appeared in the clearing.
"He is my prey," a female voice rang out in the air. It carried across the entire clearing, echoing off the outermost trees of the forest.
A tall female figure appeared in an expensive gothic dress. Black hair styled into a high coiffure. The cold gaze of violet eyes. An unsmiling, grim face. A proud posture.
The gray ones instantly turned their loaded weapons toward her.
She waved her hand dismissively.
"Lady of the Castle, you shouldn't have come here," one gray archer said. "We will kill you."
"Soon this ancient forest will be mine," the woman in the gothic dress replied. "But for now, I'm taking him."
Then she turned her head to the hero:
"Let's go."
She began moving toward the edge of the forest. The gray creatures watched them with frozen stares of black eyes, lowering their weapons.
Suddenly, one of the gray huntresses appeared next to the Cursed.
"When you are in dire straits and feel you cannot resist the enemy's magic, call for me, the Night Huntress," she whispered into his ear.
"Let's go," the Lady of the Castle shouted angrily.
Together, they emerged from the ancient night forest. A dark carriage, drawn by a team of four black horses, waited on the road. In the distance lay the village, and above it, on a high hill, loomed a gloomy castle.
The Lady of the Castle and the Cursed climbed into the carriage. It set off along the road toward the castle.
Inside the carriage, the Lady of the Castle asked no unnecessary questions. She fixed him with her piercing violet eyes. It seemed to him as if a magical fire burned within them. Unknown darkness swirled around him. Thoughts came to him that attacking her would be pointless. Running was even more useless. He was sinking into a new world where nothing needed to be done. No thinking, no decisions, no responsibility for one's actions. Everything would be done for you.