The legacy of the dark blood

Chapter 16

The bloody cult

Liz could not help but recoil; seeing how the other creatures removed their masks after the order of their leader seemed terrifying to her; she could see how the skin that remained on their faces showed a fading tendency due to putrefaction. She knew that something important was about to happen.

The monsters took out the corpse lying in the wooden coffin and with a rope they hung it from the branch of one of the trees; with a dagger that he took out of his robe, the leader of the group made an incision in the jugular vein; the dark blood dripped like tar and was taken in a wooden bucket by other monks.

The sight was gruesome, but in an attempt to find out more exactly what they planned to do with the blood, she preferred to stay on the sidelines and watch as one of them cut the rope the corpse was hanging from to place it back in its coffin. The rest of the group trailed the leader who was carrying the bucket of blood. After letting out a shuddering shriek, he addressed his group as the others prepared for a possible burial.

"Es ist fast sechs uhr, wir müssen uns beeilen. Das Ritual beginnt in Kürze und Herr Holzmann wartet auf uns (It is almost six o'clock, we must hurry. The ritual will begin shortly and Mr. Holzmann is waiting for us.)"

The creature spoke with the utmost difficulty, however, since she could not understand its message, Liz knew that what her mission was preparing for her would not be a pleasant discovery at all. She followed them still hiding in the bushes and trees and praying that the monks would not become aware of her presence.

The monks carrying the bleeding body of the villager had gone another way, while Liz pursued the others closely until they came across a path also built of marble that led down a slope, which ended with another of those gothic style churches where she had on previous occasions witnessed the evil and unsanity that reigned over those who inhabited the area. The sight of the small group of four monks carrying the man's blood to the entrance of the chapel where they met with some of the fearsome hunters of Holzmann's executioner, made Liz suppose that this time the experience would not be more pleasant than the previous ones.

She observed a horrifying procession of afterlife beings that looked like corpses in a high decomposed state, but in contrast to the idea of a zombie, in that case it was not about slow and dumb creatures. The hunters joined the monks making a short announcement, two of them carrying a bloody sack with what they believed to be a corpse, which they threw against the ground so that the other creatures could approach to inspect it.

„Es was viel schwieriger als erwartet, doch wir haben es mitgebracht, wonacht ihr gefragt habt. (It was more difficult than expected, but we have brought you what you asked for)" mentioned one of the hunters with an aggressive voice while he wielded his hunting musket.

„Sehr gut, ihr dürft jetzt gehen. Möge unsere Königing euch ihre Kraft vergeben (Very well, you may leave now, may our queen endow you with all her strength)" - replied the leader of the monks. While the tone of voice of the hunters seemed to be more violent and aggressive, the fanatics kept a lighter and more disturbing tone.

After that short verbal exchange, the hunters retreated in a different direction not far from Liz, forcing her to cloak herself even more, knowing that she could hardly fight off several of them. The monks removed the bloody sheets covering the body that had been handed to them, thus revealing the hideous figure of a new being also with human features but covered with a black fur cloak and something protruding from its back in the shape of wings, which resembled a bit more of an extension of its ribs. It sported a huge jaw with a pair of terribly sharp fangs that held a yellowish hue, its mouth covered most of what she assumed to be its face.