22. White Chrysanthemums

*Why did you come back?*

Joseph raised an eyebrow. The doctor couldn't understand that question. "Why did you change your mind?' or "Why are you here?" would've made a lot more sense.

*For God's sake, you simpleton, he's taken several blows to the head. He must be quite numb by now...*

He helped the prince to stand, offering his arm as support, and promptly started to back away from where the monster was. Tariq staggered a little, finally resting his arm around Joseph's shoulders.

SCROOOAAAAAAAAMMMMMM!

The demon kept bellowing, contorting its body and throwing its back against the wall to extinguish the flames. Every time it did, the walls, which were over 500 years old, would shake, shedding dust and sand from the bricks above. Doctor Selden shuddered along with the walls.

Mabel seemed somewhat...cute, compared to this abomination. Its claws were half Joseph’s size, and he was sure they could slice him up as fast as he could peel an apple.

*Thank God Rainier crossed my path...*

BOOOOOOONNG! BOOOOOONG! BOOOOOONG!

From afar, the library bell rang again. The sound was softer, given they were now over 2 kilometres away from the university quarters. Still, it was quite an unexpected ruckus in the middle of the night.

“It must be 3AM...” the prince said.

“Excuse me?”

SCRIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEECHH!!

The creature looked up, beating in its chest like a primate, and henceforth proceeding to hit the walls.

SCRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEECH!

Its voice was like a chorus of a dozen mental patients yelling all at the same time, in a crisis of collective stupor. It pierced through the doctor's chest, and his legs became heavy. A hand took his branch-cane, shaking it and putting out the fire.

“Come on!”

Prince Tariq grabbed Joseph, raising a finger in front of his lips, asking for silence. He pulled the doctor to a dark corner behind a half-collapsed column, near the entrance of the left nave. There was a niche in the wall large enough to accommodate both boys. Tariq encouraged the doctor to enter first, staying in front of him.

The doctor swallowed hard with every blow to the wall. One, two, three times...

*It will...collapse the church...*

Prince Tariq stared at him. His forehead was wrinkled in worry, his amber eyes wide in the moonlight. He still held Joseph's makeshift cane.

He silently offered his free hand to Joseph.

After the sixth blow, the doctor took it reflexively. He was trembling from head to toe.

*My God...don't let us die, buried alive here...*

“I ap... I apologise.”

“Silence,” Tariq said as he tightened his grip on Dr. Selden's hand. “Just breathe.”

Joseph nodded, doing as he said...

Until the blows stopped. Instead, the ruins were filled with the rattling sounds of steps. Huge, quick, abyssal steps, making the ground tremble underneath them.

The demon was running. Running towards them.

*Shit! It will-*

Tariq covered Joseph’s mouth, holding the doctor's arms and forcing him to stay still.

Joseph felt his stomach drop when the 4-metre-tall figure passed by them like a shadowy bolt. He saw the creature cross the nave, then go out the entrance. It ran a few steps through the cemetery, westward, until it disappeared behind an arc made of two old, gnarled oak tree branches.

The prince released Joseph gently. He leaned on the column for a moment, closing his eyes and sucking in a deep, solid breath. Then, he used Doctor Selden's cane to right himself.

“It's gone. For tonight, at least.” He took the doctor's arm, pulling him up as well. “Let's go.”

*Jesus Christ, I...almost shit my pants... Literally.*

The prince raised the oak branch, his arm stretched out in front him.

“Libera te.” As soon as he finished his sentence, bold flames erupted, licking up the cane again.

Joseph wrapped his arms around himself tightly, still shaking a bit.

“Let’s see if Svoboda is still here. Stay close.” The prince took the lead, the fire light revealing the threads of blood running from his head.

“Oh... Right.”

Despite his condition, Prince Tariq moved quickly, his falcon eyes travelling over each wall, column, and crater in the ground.

“Svoboda! Svoboda!” he yelled when they entered the northern central nave, after navigating through a maze of piled up rocks and broken glass. “Are you there? We're leaving!”

Joseph was reminded of the piles of bones and corpses he had passed by when he went to rescue the prince, and shivered.

“Are you sure...he’s alive?”

“He was, before that Egum attacked me...”

“That Eg- That what?”

Something flew through the air, hitting the doctor in the chin.

“OOOUUCH!”

It happened again. And again. Joseph covered his face, looking down at the ground. They were small rocks.

“STOP!” he shouted, but the rocks kept flying at him.

Prince Tariq ran quickly towards a dark nook where there was the ghost of a small stall that probably served as the confessional. The stones stopped, and after a few moments, the prince came back holding a black bundle the size of Joseph over his shoulder.

When he got closer, the doctor saw Filip's face pop up. He was pale, staring fixedly at Joseph as if he was on the verge of tears.

Tariq took Filip off of his shoulder and nearly threw the boy at Joseph.

“Ehh...”

"Take care of him."

The doctor held Filip, helping him to sit. The boy was very weak and looked emaciated, his dark circles almost engulfing his eyes. He kept staring at Dr. Selden, his hair loose and falling in front of his face.

"I'll just check your vitals, alright?"

Filip nodded almost imperceptibly, turning his face away.

*He has low blood pressure. It seems as if he lost too much blood all at once, or maybe it’s due to hypothermia... But otherwise, there’s nothing to worry about.*

However, something gave Joseph a bad feeling. When he removed the cape from the other boy's shoulders, he saw he was practically naked, save for the torn shirt. He also noticed several teeth marks on his neck and chest.

He remembered the three bodies were in a similar state.

*Thank God the prince found him...*

"Everything is fine. With proper rest and food, you'll be as good as new in a few days!"

He held Filip's arm, supporting him as he helped him to stand. Svoboda's legs faltered and he grasped Joseph's shoulders. The doctor offered his good arm, helping the boy to walk, slowly, over to where Tariq was. Filip nodded in silent thanks.

He tensed up, trembling pitifully when he noticed they were approaching the area where the bodies were. Joseph stopped, retreating.

"Ah! Ah!" The boy grabbed Joseph's coat, staring at him with tears in his eyes. The doctor saw he was trying to speak, but no words came out.

*Had he lost his voice?*

"It's okay. It's okay. We're not going over there." The doctor took Filip and made him turn around.

Suddenly, he heard the familiar sound of crackling wood in a fireplace, and an orange glare engulfed the room. The odour of burnt rotten meat assaulted his nostrils. He supported Svoboda when the boy lost his balance and vomited.

When Joseph looked back, he saw Tariq setting fire to the sepulchres, where those three bodies were. His eyes were yellow, as bright as the fire. He murmured some words in a language Joseph didn't understand.

*Oh my God! Profanation is going too far!*

"What are you doing? We should report this, so their famil-"

"If they're here, it means their families didn't give a shit about them to begin with." The prince wiped his forehead on his sleeve, not even bothering to look at the doctor. "Their souls will be released now..."

Joseph bit his lip. It didn’t make any sense, but...what *did* make sense about this whole night anyway?

*His father is the ruler of this land, after all, so...maybe this is how they deal with this sort of situation.*

Dr. Selden turned his back to the prince, focussing on comforting Svoboda as he helped the boy away from the haphazard funeral pyres. He wondered why he had the sensation that he was hauling the fabric of a colossal, timeless tapestry that should remain hidden from his eyes.

***

Joseph found the prince wouldn't look him in the eyes, even once they had left the church; instead, he was always walking ahead with the lit cane, leaving Joseph to talk to himself.

Soon the doctor gave up and just helped Filip, who had been "gifted" a pair of boots that prince Tariq had found in the pile of bones. The boy was still dazed from this, but it was better to use a corpse's boots rather than get frostbite and lose his foot. So he acquiesced, lowering his head and moving forward at the pace of a ninety-year-old elder.

*The prince must still be angry, and I can't blame him... Well, no matter. I just want to get back already*.

In the end, they had saved Filip. Although he was an asshole, he didn't deserve to end up abandoned and rotting inside one of those violated graves...

*Like the boys...the prince burnt...*

The young doctor's eyes filled with tears when he thought about the little child… Certainly the monster Rainier mentioned, the one who had killed that toddler, was indeed a demon. But was it alone? The prince had summoned Mabel...so most likely, another person had called that aberration as well.

*Whoever did this… They were the real monsters in the end...*

Furthermore, why did the demon run away when it heard the bell? Was it scared of the sacred land?

An idea came to Joseph's mind.

*The bell rang at midnight, and... then maybe at around 3AM, as the prince said... Then we found the gates destroyed...*

*Perhaps...it was the one who abducted Svoboda, while he was roaming around the canteen square?*

"We need to go faster. Another creature like that might appear before morning. We won't be completely safe until we enter the college vicinities."

“Ugh... m- feet...” Svoboda whimpered when the prince grabbed his arm, forcing him to up the ante.

"Wait, he's still too weak!"

“There is no time to be weak now, Doctor.”

"Says who? The fellow who was trapped by some debris?"

Prince Tariq's eyes widened, his mouth twisting and a blush spreading across his face. He frowned, shaking his head and turning away.

"Sometimes you're too cheeky for your own good, Doctor."

Joseph came upon that huge, ancient yew above the grave with the large, square base.

"Rainier!" He ran over to the tree, circling around it to where he had left the child waiting. His lamp was still there in the same place, but now the fire was out.

There was no sign of the toddler.

"Rainier! Uncle is here! My God, where is he?"

"Come here, Doctor."

He went over to the prince, who was crouched near one of the yew's huge roots. Illuminated by the firelight on the cane, Joseph noticed the cape he had covered the child with, neatly folded. On top of it, there was a small bouquet of 3 white chrysanthemums. One was very long, another a bit smaller, and the last around three times shorter than the smaller one. They were wrapped with a red string.

The prince stared past him, his face pale as he took the flowers.

"He's gone, Doctor. And he is grateful. Let's go."

"He's a three year old toddler! He can't be far from here!"

"How was he dressed?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Please, just tell me."

"He was...wearing a shirt..."

Joseph's mouth went dry and his legs started to shake violently.

"... r-ripped...b-below t-the n-navel..."

Bothersome tears clouded his sight. The prince stood up, approaching him.

"It's fine. He's safe now."

*********

Follow my IG (@zugai_kotsu) and Twitter (@zugai_kotsuu) for character/story illustrations and news!

Subscribe to my P*treon for chapters, more sfw/nsfw illustrations and more extra content!

*** https://www.p*treon.com/zugaikotsu ***

Thank you so much for reading Lavender Lullaby!