The legacy of the dark blood

Chapter 29

The queen's crown

Bernard and Chris watched Liz closely. It seemed that Steffi had already filled them in on the situation, even though she had not revealed the scar on her waistband to either of them. Her decision not to tell Florian about it remained firm, but even in the terrible anguish of uncertainty, she knew she had to gather more information about the transfer ritual, in the hope that something might rescue her wretched soul.

"And once you are part of the ritual, is there any hope for those who are tainted," she asked, hiding her interest in receiving a positive answer, even though Florian's look was not entirely encouraging.

"According to what my mom and my grandma said, there is a way," he answered, "I don't know about it. You know, the transfer ritual is not very common in the central areas of Reich der Finsternis; no one has been known to escape since the insane Holzmann began to wreak havoc here. But according to legend, there are purging processes. If there is information, it is certainly in the library. But you know, no one steps into the library without the company of the duchess. Doing it on one's own means mortal danger."

"Like everything around here," Bernard replied wryly, although Florian gave her a mock laugh.

Liz had some hope after hearing what Florian had to say, but she did not understand for what purpose Mr. Holzmann could keep texts with such information.

The custody of the library was undoubtedly the most worrying point. Not to mention the remote possibility of finding a text with the requested information, although her visit to the library, also mentioned by Nick, was mandatory.

"So, do you know which road we should take to get there," asked Chris, who had not taken part in the conversation since the fall of the skeleton hunters. Evidently, he had forgotten the purpose of the cavern where one of the precious relics apparently lay. Before Florian could reply with an affirmative nod, Liz interrupted him.

"We were looking for a crown, in a cavern that is supposedly located near this place."

Hearing this statement from Liz, made the man back up with a frown. He expected a negative answer or, failing that, that the man would succumb to the fear that he was afraid of going after such an object. Contrary to this, he folded his hands and looked at the agents, showing that he did not like the situation at all.

"You told me you didn't come to loot!" Florian said angrily -Because of the loss of the statue and other Holzmann objects, that madman is subduing us with terror! Didn't you have enough?

"Hey, calm down," Liz indignantly argued, "Yes, we are looking for it, but not with the intention of stealing it, but to get it away from these lunatics, or better yet, to destroy it".

"It's all the same," Florian replied.

If the Duchess finds out that we stole it, she will have us skinned in the courthouse and will exhibit our skins in the Holzmann castle, after doing it in the main square, of course" The man was starting to get upset, apparently he was not aware of the situation.

"Don't you understand?" Chris intervened once again in his attempt to support Liz. "We believe that something terrible will happen if Herr Holzmann collects all the relics from the statue that the Warrens stole. By taking it, we want to stop whatever is at hand, I give you my word we don't want to steal it, or sell it".

"I don't give a shit what you do with the damn crown," he replied, "we think it might be in the queen's cave, not too far from here, to tell you the truth. But you know we can't just walk into a cave and take it, just like that. Having to go through whatever is alive there, through some deadly traps prepared for thieves, but, most importantly, the duchess won't take long to find out about its disappearance. If you really have a plan to end the Holzmanns' rule of terror, it had better be something that really works".

For several minutes, Chris tried to reason with Florian comfortably in his native language in order to update him on the results of their investigation and persuade him to collaborate with them in any way possible. Liz and Bernard, on the other hand, meditatively observed the lake where this unknown presence had emerged. The mere thought of touching those waters generated an indescribable terror; it was clear that whoever dared to do so would be plunged into a pit of sinister darkness where he would meet his cruel death. In spite of this, some fish splashed about, although it was easy to deduce that these animals would not serve as food for something of such magnitudes.

"Calm down, the Hausmännin eater will not harm anyone out of the river- Florian mentioned after seeing the astonished looks of the American agents".

"The what eater?" Bernard asked, feeling unable to pronounce the name.

"Hausmännin," he replied, "That is part of the legend. The river was named in honor of the woman who, it is believed, was one of Anneliese Holzmann's mentors and best friends. We are talking about the great witch, Walpurga Hausmännin, who was also born in Bavaria during Holzmann's time. It is believed that she was one of the most terrifying and bloodthirsty of the time, although she did not survive the Dillingen witch trials, years after the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. Although we all know that Anneliese managed to keep a more discreet profile during the time, until she reached a power that no mere mortal dared to face. Of course, I am talking about what the legends say, because thanks to the duchess, no one ever goes near the library; we know that the restricted sections are heavily guarded by loathsome beasts".

With all that had been discussed so far, the Angents understood that the only way to gather the necessary information to put an end to Friedrich Holzmann's reign was in the library. Still, it was not entirely clear to them exactly which reasons these people might have for keeping such compromising information. There were more and more tasks to be completed, so much so that they had already forgotten that their main reason for fleeing the camp had been finding Max.

The assault team traveling with Liz and Bernard was miles away awaiting instructions that only Max, their leader, could give. They knew, therefore, that finding him was not a mission they could put on the back burner.

The destiny that the mission had set for them now consisted in the search for the crown. Even knowing that many things pointed to a trap, the agents were willing to take the risk so that the Holzmanns would not gather the relics.

"That's very interesting information," said Liz in a sarcastic tone, "But how the hell are we going to get out of the forest, we have no way to get around".

Without uttering a single word, Florian turned his gaze towards the horses that the hunters of the Holzmann's executioner had abandoned after trying to subject the villager to the transfer ritual.