The Lunar Witch

Chapter 4: Vortigern, The Sea Gate Fortress

The rest of the journey was a quiet one. They had their few encounters with the same type of monsters. Eizen was getting a little worried over Diana now that she knew how it was to see a malak without free will, she must have a lot to think about now.

"Diana." Eizen said to get her attention. "I know you have a lot to think about now that you've seen what the exorcists have done to our kind."

"Yes, it's a lot to take in but I'm worried about the boy and on something else." Diana answered honestly.

"And that is?" Eizen asked confused.

"My memories before my master sealed my free will." Diana replied, surprising the earth malak and somehow caught Velvet's attention a bit. "Ever since what happened a while ago, I've been starting to regain my old memories and bit by bit I've been starting to remember my life before the Abbey. Right now, I haven't much to go on." Eizen grinned a bit and patted her on the head slightly.

"There's no need to be worried about that. Just tell me if those memories start to bother you and let's talk about it, alright?" Eizen suggested and Diana smiled.

"Thank you, Eizen." Diana thanked him. Velvet eyed them suspiciously before focusing on the road ahead.

As they resumed forward they saw a door that will lead them to the gate fortress. But something was wrong. There was no one guarding the entrance. That definitely wasn't a good sign as Eizen kept his eyes on the area around the gate. Something was off. For a well secured place like Vortigern. There was no way they will leave an entrance unguarded. It was ridiculous when you considered how tight the security is.

"There's no guard. Do we just go in?" Rokurou asked.

"Wait. This isn't what I expected." The pirate malak said and Diana gasped.

The wind blew as a lonely leaf flew towards the sealed gate. It was turned to dust as it was struck by a small spark of lightning. Velvet eyed Diana because of her reaction to the barrier.

"There's a barrier over it?" Rokurou asked a little shocked.

"They must have changed the security." Eizen pointed out. "Diana, can you dispel it with your powers?"

"I'm afraid that isn't possible." Diana answered. "That exorcist barrier can only be dispelled by the one that made it. I'm sorry I couldn't be of help."

"You weren't kidding, were you?" Velvet asked as she glared at the two malakhim pirates. "That scorpion and this barrier, all part of your curse."

"You'll be lucky if that's the worse of it." Eizen said as he turned his back to them while grinning forwards Diana by his side.

"Then, why are you here, Diana?" Rokurou asked the female malak. "Knowing about Eizen's curse and all?"

"That is because I've gotten used to it under the short amount of time with them, so the curse haven't really bothered me." Diana answered with a small smile. "Eizen has always been kind to me, so I know he tries his best to protect me from the curse. I know he think through much, so I try to help by my knowledge that come from the Abbey which can be useful."

"I get it. A direct assault would be a bad idea. What's the plan?" said Rokurou.

"Down the cliff there should be an entrance used during the fortress's construction. We'll check that." Eizen explained to the group.

"You did your research." The daemon woman said.

"I had to, didn't I?" Eizen pointed out with a grin.

The group went down the cliff, heading forwards the other entrance. As the group was climbing down the cliff, they climbed down more vines acting as a ladder. When they reached the bottom they saw the other entrance that will lead the sea fortress. Unlike the other one it had two guards guarding it. Looks like they were in the right place. However, Diana was eyeing the two guards at the gate like something were to happen.