Cursed

Chapter 26: Tech Duinn

Five men, two women and a young teenage boy stood around us in a circle. All of them wore gray clothes meshed with white. Their hair was short or as long as their backs reached, nothing in between. Even though all of that was strange and unsettling, it was their eyes that made me stare at them. They were a silver gray, so washed out that they almost looked transparent. I wondered if they were blind, and if that was the reason why they seemed to have such strange irises.

Kate nudged my arm when she stepped forward. Her eyes seemed even more colorful now that I had looked into the death speaker's eyes. Her full attention was on the man in front of her - the one that had accused her of a still unknown crime. His face was so emaciated, making him almost look like a skeleton. Did they ever eat?

"I was polite before, then you threw me into a dungeon. Luckily for you, I'm not the person you think I am. Not anymore." The last two words got stuck between her lips, but I heard them. Yet, I wasn't sure if I understood them completely. "Your knowledge precedes you, this town. That is why I came here, to find answers to questions that are only building up. You might've noticed changes too, here so close to the Claw Mountains. I constantly keep asking myself if these changes have anything to do with the mysterious creatures that have been plaguing the Green Lands. That is why I'm here. Because I am stuck with this riddle and I need help, help that only you can offer me."

Kate bowed.

It took me so much by surprise that I stared at her back before looking at the man in front of her. He remained still, his face a mask that revealed very little. He only spoke after his eyes had shifted from person to person.

"You are brave to try and plead your case, again. Why do you think this time will be any different?" His voice was quiet, yet it had a roughness to it that reminded me of spliced wood.

Kate took a step closer to him, her hand reached inside her coat and appeared again with a little bottle filled with ash.

"These are the remains of one of those creatures. My instinct tells me they are dangerous, more dangerous than any animal living in the Forest. Even the snow lions in the north have never given me nerves like this. The only problem is that I have no proof for it. If I am right, this problem will not only be kept to the Forest, but will soon enter the wastelands and meadows that lay before Tech Duinn. It is in your best interest to help me figure out what is going on, before the danger stands in front of your own door. A door you are not equipped to protect on your own."

A low grunt left the teenagers lips. Everyone else only reacted with a tilted chin or raised eyebrows.

"What makes you say we are not able to protect ourselves, Vampire Princess? We easily took you two down, and if I'm not mistaken, you both have quite the reputation."

"You were lucky, and I am nothing compared to this monster." She held up the bottle, and tapped her finger against the glass.

A shadow moved in the corner of the room, where the entrance met the closets against the wall. I stepped towards it, but was halted by one of the women. Her head was shaved and scar lines in the form of runes covering her bare skull. She too wore loose rugs held together by bones. My eyes flicked past her, where I saw yet again movement.

"Why is there someone spying from the dark?" I asked no one in particular.

The council of Tech Duinn, or at least I assumed they were the council, turned around to see a woman stick her head out into the light. She couldn't be much older than myself. Her eyes were just as light as the others, but her platinum hair was held together by a little cord, a mouse's skull braided into it.

"Brianna," the only middle-aged man present sighed. "You should be on the field."

She didn't seem to care about the words spoken, instead she looked at Kate with an intense gaze. Kate shifted in her place.