Blood flowed through the gap beneath the door, the stream slowly advancing toward the cell. After the first impact, and the sounds of screams and flesh being torn, everything ceased.
Sunny heard the awakened talking outside. They seemed happy after killing or driving away the enemy… at least that was what he managed to imagine, since his sense of the shadows was weak.
That cage drained his essence regeneration and, ever since he had been imprisoned, he had not managed to feel even a thread of power.
"What is happening out there?" Cassie's voice sounded at his side, irritatingly close.
"Damnation… how would I know?! I'm trapped here too, in case you hadn't noticed" the pale boy shot back.
He opened his mouth to continue complaining, but something suddenly caught his attention.
Outside, he could hear Master Pierce's voice.
"What happened…?"
The sound barely crossed the thick walls, preventing Sunless from hearing clearly.
"One of ours was taken…" some awakened answered, making Sunny focus with doubled attention. He needed information.
The awakened and Master Pierce spoke for a few seconds before muffled footsteps echoed behind the door.
For some reason he could not explain, Sunless felt a cold shiver run down his spine. A bad premonition struck him.
Then came a scream of pain, heavy with despair.
"Why did you do that?!" the lost one shouted, apparently on the brink of death.
Master Pierce remained silent for a moment before replying:
"… Your tricks do not work on me, demon."
A frightening stillness formed. The sound of drops falling from the opening in the awakened's chest echoed like a macabre clock.
And what Sunny heard next caused him to tremble uncontrollably.
"I thought I was acting well…" the cold and indifferent voice of the awakened crossed the temple walls, reaching Sunless's ears.
'It was Mordret this whole time?!'
An irrational fear took hold of him.
Mordret had possessed the body of an awakened right after the fight — and had still managed to disguise himself to the point that only the Master noticed? How was that possible?
And the worst part: Sunless himself had noticed nothing different. On the contrary, he had even found him quite human after his conversation with Pierce.
Perhaps, if he had been face to face with the possessed lost one, he might have perceived something… but he was not so sure. If not even companions of years had noticed the change, much less him, who had known them for only a few days.
If his hypotheses were correct, the prince out of nowhere could be a greater threat than he imagined — something that was already beginning to surpass the limits of comprehension.
The distant voice of the awakened — now truly cold, yet laced with irony — echoed once more:
"Let's keep playing… "
A body fell outside, sealing the end of that cursed battle.
Sunny and Cassie remained silent, waiting for someone to enter.
And their expectations were correct.
The sound of a click came from the door before two people entered.
They were Master Pierce and the handsome sentinel who used to bring them food… if synthetic paste could be called food.
Strangely, Pierce merely stared at them with a somber expression before nodding to the awakened beside him, handing him a key.
"Sir Pierce… may I know what is happening? What were those noises?" Sunny adopted the personality of a fearful researcher, trying to extract any answer from the Master.
Pierce remained silent. And so he continued.
The two left and closed the chamber door without saying a single word.
'Damn!' Sunny wanted to get out of there and give both of them a good beating.
Unfortunately, he was imprisoned. And would remain so for at least a month… or so he thought.
———
Nearly a week passed — slow as eternity and fast as a blink.
The murders continued, spreading terror throughout the temple.
Entire teams were wiped out. Trust, broken little by little.
Many died in agony. Their bodies were found days later in deplorable condition — as if Mordret wanted everyone to see the result.
However, that was not the worst part.
For the lost ones — and even for the Masters — the greatest problem was the fact that the Prince of War could be anywhere, at any moment. Some awakened began to wonder if Mordret was an omnipresent demonic entity.
A creature that sought to make mortals suffer as much as possible before killing them.
There was also the fact that the deaths were becoming increasingly brutal, as if that thing's limits were disappearing.
The most shocking was that of a team sent to explore the surroundings of the gates.
The group made daily rounds in the area and had never been caught. Some colleagues even nicknamed them the "Lucky Rabbit's Foot group."
However, luck one day runs out.
———
The Lucky Rabbit's Foot group headed to the gates once again. This time, their mission was different.
Instead of merely surveying the area, they were to burn any mirror fragment or object that could reflect.
The group was formed mostly by supports, since the task involved investigation and verification.
A twenty-seven-year-old young woman approached a pile of objects. She had fair skin, small freckles on her nose, and wavy black hair that fell to her shoulders.
A scarf slipped from her neck, nearly falling onto the sharp remains of a broken mirror.
When it was about to be torn, a hand caught it.
"Damn, Elisa… you dropped this scarf again…"
The girl, who had only then noticed the absence of the cloth, jumped before grabbing it with concern.
"Oh, my little scarf! How could I be so careless… " she began rubbing it against her face.
"You're welcome, I guess…" the young man said, a bit disappointed.
Elisa stopped and hugged him.
"Thank you, Luka! Really!"
Luka grew embarrassed until she let him go.
"I know how much that scarf means to you. After all, you talk about your father all the time" he scratched the back of his neck, still flushed.
Elisa's expression lit up.
"Yes, of course! My father is a respected member of the House of Night clan!"
Her raised nose made her look like a proud child.
"And yet you came to the Valor clan just to show your 'valor.'" commented the bronze-skinned young man with jet-black hair ironically.
The two talked for a while longer until a voice interrupted them.
"Is the couple done? We need to finish this before Master Welthe punishes us." said another young man with olive skin, his arms occupied with boxes full of mirror fragments.
His brown eyes held a warmth capable of drawing a smile from anyone.
"Leave them, Mateo. We do not know how many of us will still be alive when Saint Cormac returns. It is the human instinct to live a romance amid danger." a blonde woman appeared beside him, also carrying boxes.
"Human instinct, Ingrid? Let me guess… you're talking about those horror movies? The characters insist on falling in love right when the monster is on the loose?" he laughed quietly, looking with amusement at Elisa and Luka.
"Correct. Congratulations." Ingrid moved ahead calmly.
Soon after, the group advanced toward the gates, chatting casually — as if the luck that had followed them until then could never end.
At the bottom of one of the boxes, amid the remains and debris, a set of mirror fragments rested in the darkness.
Even with nothing to reflect, a figure appeared in the broken pieces.
The reflected face was calm. There were no signs of madness or malice.
The eyes were closed — like an ancient relic awaiting the day of its awakening.
The boxes swayed, and the mirrors cracked once more.
The figure slowly opened its eyes.
The sound of conversations arrived muffled, distant.
A smile appeared on the young man's face in the reflection.
His lips curved in an unnatural way — as if straining to seem genuine.
The mirrors fragmented even further, almost incapable of reflecting anything.
A sound of crack echoed.
But no one heard it.