The Black Book

Chapter 3

As I followed the footsteps of the troops, I had an internal dilemma. I did not know to what extent I should have reported what happened in this cursed village. I Knew that this was an impious and dark place, one capable of driving any mind untrained in the esoteric to madness, even provoking acts of terrible sacrifices in the name of a forgotten god... But the value of the scholarship that could entail the careful study of that relief and its implications... It could reveal great secrets of the cosmos for humanity, and at the same time, terrible consequences. But if I revealed what happened, the empire would order the place to be destroyed and purified, or they would simply ignore it as it is such an isolated area. But what about the possibility of creating more heretical cults? That was something they surely feared even more, for they knew of the power and influence such organizations could amass and use against the empire. But I understood, that some matters are out of my power. The future will tell how this dilemma will be resolved, because, even if I decided to keep quiet, sooner or later someone would discover what happened here and the word would spread, making a dent in some, while sounding like idiocies for others.

Wandering in my own mind, I did not notice a very significant and extremely curious detail. The footprints had disappeared from the path, but not as if they had gradually disappeared over time. I turned around and saw it clearly, there was an exact point, where there were no tracks on the road, nor any trace of an army. A military force of such size leaves a trace in one way or another, and this new event completely baffled me and at the same time produced an indescribable intrigue. I thought of the two possible theories within basic logic, they veered off one way or the other. The problem was that one side faced a completely deserted hill that descended to a river in the distance, but there was no indication that any army had moved there, the grass, the flowers, and the landscape itself was intact. The only possible option was for them to stray into the forest, but why? Why so suddenly? I still had quite a few hours of sunlight left, so I started walking towards the heart of the forest right from where the tracks stopped.

Despite being an entire battalion, following the trail turned out to be a surprisingly arduous task. The forest floor was littered with dry leaves and twigs, making it difficult for footprints to appear, however, I could discern the odd footprint in the gaps where there was only wet earth. This relieved me in a way, as it took away a great mystery from the disappearance of the army, and meant that I could find a more "normal" reason for this whole thing. How wrong was I...

Something that began to intensify in the forest was the overwhelming incessant sound of the small animals that inhabited it. It was almost impossible for me to reason or think. The forest was in a state of hyper alert, as if something was causing the animals to go into hysterics. Upon advancing a certain distance into the forest, animal activity ceased almost abruptly, and silence accompanied by leaves moved by the wind reigned in this area. It was strange, as if the animals were still vigilant about something that had happened in the depths of the forest and refused to return. Although the silence that now suddenly reigned made me uneasy, it calmed my mind at the same time. This tranquillity was short-lived, for the sounds of tinkling metals among the trees began to reach my ears from further on.

There I could see them, scattered soldiers, doing all sorts of strange, erratic, and disturbing acts. Some wandered aimlessly and got lost among the trees, others walked in circles without ceasing, others just sat looking up at the sky without moving, and others banged their heads against the trees until they collapsed unconscious or dead. Among all of them, there was one very distinctive one, a knight of terrible stature and even more terrible armour. A black plate armour with the clearly engraved inscription that read "Memento Mori". Dressed in a helmet with the individual shape of a human skull and a large feather adorning it. He did nothing, he looked like an imposing statue armed with his big Zweihander, on guard, without moving a muscle. I had no intention of finding out if this soldier was still sane, for if he turned hostile, I saw no way I could defeat such an armoured killing machine.