The Bridge and the Castle's Shadow
As Rintal made his way toward the bridge, his body slowly regenerated.The wounds he had taken in the fight with the pack drew tight with painful pulls, as if something were stitching them shut from within.By the time he reached the foot of the hill, they had almost completely healed — only the fatigue remained, and that dull, numbing sensation the seal always left behind.
But with every step, one name would not leave him.Zofia.
"My dear fiancée… I failed when I couldn't save you…" Rintal murmured to himself in disappointment.
Every thought wrapped itself around her, as if her name were part of the very air he breathed.Zofia — the girl he had met in the thieves' clan, whose laughter still rang in his head like a vanished melody.She was the reason Rintal and Areday had joined the clan. She was the light in that filthy world full of betrayal.
Zofia was no ordinary thief."You brought light into that family…" he said in a trembling voice, remembering his love.
Her hair was silver-blond, almost white, like the moonlight they often used to illuminate their hideouts.Her eyes were deep blue, like the sky before a storm, and her gaze was gentle and dangerous at once.She was slender, swift, and silent — like the wind you can never catch.Everyone in the clan watched her with envy, because she was not only skillful, she truly believed that stealing was not merely a sin, but a kind of art.Zofia was the one who taught Rintal not just to survive, but to see — the weaknesses in people, the cracks in the world where one could slip through and leave a mark.
But on the day they robbed the vampires… everything changed .An explosion shook the building. After the darkness, only screams and flames remained. Zofia vanished without a trace. They found neither her body nor the ring Rintal had given her.That day, Rintal's heart turned to ash along with the castle.
Now, years later, as the fog slowly returned and he caught sight of the bridge beyond the slope, her name echoed in his mind again."Zofia…"
"Is something playing with my mind? Am I starting to go mad? Am I damned… or perhaps cursed?" he asked himself in a panic.
The bridge was rickety, as if time had long since forgotten that people once crossed it.The planks were rotten, the strap-ropes were taut and fraying, and in places the wood had blackened with damp.A vast chasm yawned below — there was no sound of water, as if nothing lived down there.On the far side, the castle's towers glimmered faintly, like an old memory that refuses to fade.
Rintal drew a deep breath and stepped onto the bridge.With every step the wood creaked beneath him, as if in protest.The chains' squeal mingled with the wind, every sound another heartbeat toward the unknown.
He was halfway across when the structure suddenly cracked — a moment later the central beam snapped.Rintal felt the ground vanish beneath his feet.
As he slipped, the seal flared — and with it came a voice:"You were betrayed."
The world slowed.Rintal's eyes flew wide, and he focused all his will — on the far side, on the light, on the goal.
The air around him shuddered, as if something behind him had given him a shove.A hidden wave, a burst of energy slammed into his body.As if someone — or something — had helped him.
In the next instant, Rintal was in the air.He was flying.The wind shrieked around him; pieces of the bridge plunged into the abyss behind him.His hand shot forward; his nails bit into the edge of the rock face.His weight dragged him down — but the seal's light held him.
Grinding his teeth, he clung on.The stones were sharp; his hand began to bleed, but he didn't let go.With one last effort he hauled himself up and collapsed on his stomach on the far side.
For a few seconds he just lay there in the dust, gasping.The castle's glow pulsed faintly before him.
And then… the wind spoke again.A woman's voice, distant, barely audible, as if the air itself whispered:
— "Rintal…"
And he knew.It was not his imagination.He had heard Zofia's voice.
As he slowly rose, the seal glowed faintly on his hand once more, and something achingly familiar flared in his heart —hope.
Rintal pushed himself up with effort.His chest burned, his arms trembled with pain, but with every movement he felt that he was alive — and that meant more than anything now.The seal still glimmered dimly on his hand, as if the power within it, too, had grown tired from the long journey.
He sighed and turned toward the castle.In the distance, the structure stood dark and motionless, like a dream long forgotten, yet one humanity still feared deep in its subconscious.A faint golden-green light shimmered between its walls — the same he had seen from the top of the hill.A light that suggested not hope, but temptation.Looking up, he saw the phantoms circling the castle.
As he set out along the narrow path, the landscape began to change.The trees around him no longer resembled anything nature had ever made.One trunk seemed to be made of glass, tiny shards glittering where the light filtered through the fog.Other trees' roots spread out like human arms trying to cling to the earth, begging not to be forgotten.
And there were some — the worst of them — that had faces.From their gnarled trunks twisted human features emerged: empty eye sockets, suffering mouths, as if the trees had swallowed souls and now lived on in eternal torment.Some of them gave a faint groan as he passed, and the wind seemed to weep with them.
In the distance, Rintal saw phantoms drawing the last remnants of life from some of those faced trees while they wept, and so he moved on cautiously.
"I can't make a sound here… if these can hear — unlike the Shadows."Saying it aloud, Rintal found himself wondering what the Shadows truly were.
And yet… there was something beautiful in this cursed forest.The ash drifting in the air glittered in the light like falling stars.Silver moss covered the ground, and between the mists pale blue moths fluttered, as if the memories of the dead were guarding the path.
With every step, Rintal felt himself drawing closer to the past — and to something unknown that was watching him.Sometimes the wind whispered; sometimes it fell silent all at once.
The castle seemed to grow taller as he approached.Black statues loomed above the gate — twisted angels with torn-off wings.Cracks ran along the stone walls, and even so the old ornaments still bore the traces of former glory.Time had been cruel, but the place still kept the memory of greatness.
Rintal paused for a moment.He heard it.
From somewhere beyond the gate — voices.At first only dull sounds: blades clashing, chains rattling, then a deep, distorted growl.
"Someone's fighting… I need to get closer to hear more… maybe it's him," Rintal whispered to himself.
He quickened his pace a little, sharpening his hearing as he approached the castle.Then he heard a familiar shout.
Areday.
Rintal's heart skipped a beat.He hadn't thought he would see him again.Not like this.
He hurried to the castle gate as silently as the night itself, gathering all his strength, while shadows stirred behind the trees as if trying to hold him back.The ground was wet, ash drifted around him, and in the distance a flash of steel flared like lightning.
At the gate, Rintal halted.The fog split open before him, and the scene of battle unfolded.
Areday stood there — panting, spattered with blood, fury and despair burning in his eyes.