The Well

ººº

The door opened after Lex's touch, and in the current situation where not entering could mean facing a huge man with a spiked mace, the maiden risked and entered the mansion.

Groping her way along the wall, she found the handle of a broom, which she gripped quickly. That would be helpful. Lex realized she was in a service part of the mansion. If she wasn't mistaken, the front door was on the north side of the house, where she should go if she wanted to help them.

"Help me!"

She heard a low voice, almost near her feet. 

Her vision hadn't yet become adapted to the nearly complete darkness of this part of the house, and she bent cautiously, groping as she could, until she touched something soft and wet, uncomfortably cold. 

The maiden withdrew her hand instantly, sensing a crescendo of malice in the atmosphere. Even without seeing, her other senses were keen and fully alert. 

Lex was once again fast enough to roll aside as the huge wooden cupboard collapsed onto the corpse on the floor. Exactly where she had crouched seconds before.

She stood, gasping for breath, and even with her heart pumping fast as hell, Lex called out, "Reveal yourself!"

Gradually the Shade, a shadow in the shadows, had her dark silhouette revealed to the Light Bearer's eyes. Wickedly, bright-eyed, she, because it was a 'she,' glared in surprise at the maiden. But there was something different about this Shade. A half-moon symbol with a blazing halo over its forehead.

Lex just understood that it was the same symbol, the obolus split in half. 'An allusion to the infernal fee to the Boatman of Souls? Proof that one was really dead?' she conjectured as she raised her hands in spectral flames to exorcise that soul from the realm of the living.

Gasping and aching, after getting rid of the ghost that tried to kill her, Lex used the purifying flames of her hands and lit the tail twigs of the broomstick. It made an excellent makeshift torch. At least that way, she'd see the way ahead and see whatever spirits without disguises. Anyway, the Light Bearer didn't want people to see bluish flames coming out of her hands either.

Advancing down a corridor, she heard moans and screams, heavy thuds, and grieving whispers. But it was hard to identify who was the work of the living or the dead in this cacophony of unsettling sounds.

The smell of fresh blood reached her nostrils before she could see the source of this ferruginous smell. Using the torch, the maiden scanned the path ahead, spotting a bloody trail that ended at the end of the corridor.

ººº

"I found dead people and heard terrifying voices, tortured cries, bullying whispers, and realized that the spirits were restless into the manor. It was as if ... How can I say? The darkness of the hells had descended over that house, torturing innocent souls. What the purpose of it, I could not grasp. Fear drove me on, but I also knew that I couldn't turn my back on people left to fend for themselves in that horror. Even if they were just strangers to me, if I could only help one person out of here ... " she turned her eyes to Father Gianpietro, who touched her shoulder in consolation, "I asked the Heavenly Hosts to protect me in this moment of danger. Meanwhile, or so I expected, my friend outside was trying to intercept a wagon that sneaked from the property!"

"So, that's how you parted ways?" Magnus asked.

"Unfortunately, but we'd meet again, even briefly."

ººº

A loud boom came from the door direction, which left Lex in a frenzy. Panicked screams followed, and it confirmed that she was going straight to where people grouped. Rushing over and ignoring everything else, the maiden came to the door. She immediately realized the work of unnatural forces locked it shut.

"Ah, Guardians ..." the maiden understood the least to know that heretics used Orphic knowledge for evil purposes. Enslaving souls and sealing doors. She couldn't get through that door, not during the dark hours. Lex suspected that dark magic sealed many other entries in that mansion the same way. But she could at least try to make herself heard by people on the other side. So she did it.

But their answers were too chaotic to make any sense.

They had as much trouble understanding her as she did them, in that moment of terror. Finally, she realized that someone, in the midst of the clamor, was trying to say something important:

"Listen, girl! A guard captured a witch, the witch who poisoned our water! The damned bitch revealed before she died, she said something about the well! He said he was going there!"

ººº

"Through the door I had no strength to open, someone told me that the source of the spell was in the well. I had seen a dead guard near a well, so I assumed it could be the same place," the maiden revealed. "Sure the poor man tried to break the infernal spell, but died before that. That's what I thought at the time. I asked them what the loud noise had been like, and this person, who seemed to be one of the few who still could reason, told me that a body had been hurled upstairs to the hall. And that 'Lady Cordelia' was still up there without any help."

Alexa looked at her interlocutors meaningfully,

"I couldn't judge anyone at that time, I didn't know how long or everything they lived through. I just thought if I had to go to the well to get it over with, it was what I should do."

ººº

Turning on her heels, Alexa came across Locke, alive and well, coming her way.

"Thank God! She exclaimed, "Found Iain?"

"No, I put down two of them. They are mad bitches, completely mad! They cursed me before they died. And died happy because they were going to serve 'their goddess' in Hell! Their words!"

"These doors are impossible to be opened until dawn. But someone on the other side of the door told me the spell might be in the well! I believe this well is connected with that pit in the meadow…"

"Don't tell me! I definitely don't want to know. Do we have to undo an evil spell? Just tell me how," the mercenary said, cutting off the mystical part which he never had interest or patience for.

"There's a big man with a mace outside, and I was afraid of meeting him again! Let's go to the well. I need to see what I find there. You give me cover."

"Very well," was Locke's simple answer, and the pair once again went out onto the manor's courtyard, but the maiden was far more relieved to have the virtuoso swordsman at her side to deal with the big guy.

ººº

"You are a fearless Lady. Many women would not have this presence of mind,' said the Captain. The Prince added, though,

"In fact, it's a little hard to believe."

"It may be hard to believe, but that's what happened. I went into the well while my bodyguard held the rope, which he tied me with. It was too dark to try fishing an object with the bucket without knowing what to look for. I had a torch, and descended the well trying to see what the 'spell' could be. Of course I was scared! Then I found it. A little sack that contained weird half-moon 'coins,'" the maiden said, a bit annoyed by the prince's constant taunting and sarcastic tone. Despite feeling Father Gianpietro's heavy gaze upon herself, Alexa knew this information could be known to someone, and she didn't want to be caught hiding more than she should. But definitely, she was exhausted by the report and the ups and downs of the day. Perhaps it would be interesting to show a little tiredness at this point. Besides, Locke's death still stirred her emotions.

"To the Prince, who treats me like a suspect, it may seem that I am creating this grotesque fantasy out of my crazy mind. Unfortunately, everything was real. When I saw him this morning, I was sorry! I was sorry wished that the Prince and his men could have crossed the border earlier to fetch his Bride along the way, instead of waiting by the border. Surely I wouldn't be here reporting on my actions in the middle of the night!"

"…" the Prince just shut up, and Alexa, still frowning, continued her story,

"When I took that purse and opened it, the spirits were even more restless, and I knew I had touched something I shouldn't have! My bodyguard shouted to me that he was pulling me up, and there was a tone of urgency in his voice! And to be honest, all I wanted was to get out of that well as soon as possible. It felt like a mouth from hell was opening under me as he pulled me up! I clung with all my strength and faith to the rope he had bound around me.

"Even before he could get me out of there, spirits plunged into the infernal abyss whose gaping mouth used that regular well as a channel with the world of the living. The spirits dove down to the underworld with terrifying howls, while I was trying to go against the flow! I just asked the Heavens for that hope to hold me tight, so I wasn't dragged into hell…"

She covered her eyes, showing want to forget the incident, and after a few minutes in silence, the Captain asked,

"Unfortunately, we have to continue, Lady Saskia. After that, what happened?"

"When we realized that the spell had been broken, we ran back to the mansion to open the doors. The people, once locked in the house, left in despair without even looking back. They just ran out in disorder, shouting, apparently without proper direction. In the impression that it was all over, Master Locke and I wanted to find our friend, and we started looking for him when I remembered about the woman upstairs. She was left behind!

"So Master Locke said we should get her out of there too."

ºº

After the souls sought their freedom and headed for the well as if it had indeed the power to lure them past Lex with their thirsty frowns, Locke hastily hoisted the maiden. 

As he took it off and began helping her untie, Lex realized that his hands were shaking. 

She looked up and saw the mercenary's dark hair was now streaked with white gray. The abrupt passage of that number of souls by him had left a physical imprint, and probably had touched his unbreakable spirit as well.

They just looked at each other, checking each other up and down, clearly trying to know without asking if they were physically well.

"Let's finish this," said the mercenary. "You go forward with your Holy Torch, and I cover you. Let's get Iain, get the rest of the people out of here, if there is someone left."