-"I've never seen this before… The druids of Ardal are not familiar with such magic." Trevor waved his hand a few times and then rolled slowly. “Hmm, I don't feel anything. It looks so bizarre... Irena, what have you done to me? Now I look like a firefly! Don't tell me that my tattoos will always glow like that from now on! "

-"No, this spell lasts only a few hours, then the glow will disappear." “Will my chest hair fall out? I don't want to resemble a womanlike southerner!

-" Stop Trevor, we need to protect ourselves. Give me your sword, I'll try to enchant it as well. "

He gave her the sword, then removed a mess tin from the campfire and sat down on a log. Having chewed a piece of juicy meat, he asked - “Can you finally tell me what the hell is living in that castle? A fat demon with horns? Or maybe an ancient spirit that flies back and forth and squeals like a ripped boar? " “Rotten earth, miasma, and mind poisoning indicate scourge magic. It would be helpful to find out how it got there. To discover the origin of the curse. But no one knows what happened that night when Ozerd died ... "

She sighed heavily and continued to speak - “If scourge magic is wild and unbridled, then it can spawn undead, so we may have to fight them. If this is wild magic, then there is a source of it somewhere in the castle. If we find and destroy it, then the magic will dissipate and the curse will be lifted. But perhaps some kind of evil still lives in the castle and controls the magic. Trevor, actually I have more questions than answers ... " “The undead you say! Ha! It doesn't sound so difficult ... ”. Trevor lit his pipe and watched as Irena cast a spell on the runes of his sword, which, like himself, began to glow with a bright blue flame.

- “You know, draugs live on the ancient burial mounds of Ardal. These are the warriors who could not find peace after death. Huge walking skeletons… You can't imagine how dumb they are! Even dumber than trolls! My friends and I used to come to the mounds to mock them. We threw stones at them and then ran away. If these nasty undead are as stupid and clumsy as draugs, we can assume that we have completed our task! " said Trevor and laughed out loud.

- “Do not rush to draw conclusions, Trevor, we do not know exactly what awaits us inside. Given the scale of the damage and the fact that the filth has been here for several years, it will be difficult for us to deal with it. Besides, I do not understand how the disappearance of two women from the village is connected with all this ”.

- “Damn those rural women! There are a thousand reasons why they could have vanished. Maybe one is already tired of messing with her sick husband, and now she is busy with the package of a young shepherd, somewhere in the hayloft in a neighboring village. And the second one, probably, ran into the forest to finally enjoy the silence, and to take a break from the screams of two starving rug rats! ".

- “Fairly plausible assumption Trevor, but possibly the disappearances and the curse are connected ...

-"Would you like a beer?"

-"Excuse me?"

- “I said, would you like to drink a beer? Just a little bit left. Use a little sense! Maybe this is the last beer in your life. No one has yet returned from the trail of the dead. It’s not a fact that we will return.

- “That’s right. Yes, I think I’ll have a beer "

Trevor smiled and brought her a flask. He stood in front of Irene, and scratched his long beard as if thinking about something. After a moment, he straightened up sharply and squared his shoulders. “You know Irena, a very dangerous mission awaits us. The chances of survival are quite low. Would you like to indulge in passion in your last hours, and experience indescribable pleasure in the arms of a real man? I mean me! "

Irena choked and spat out all the beer. - "What did you just say ?!"

- “You heard everything perfectly! Don't you want to make love for the last time, right before certain death? " Turning her gaze from the smiling Trevor, Irena saw the stone that laid next to her. With one movement of her hand, she used elemental magic and threw a stone right between Trevor's legs. “Aww shit! What the hell are you doing, witch?! "

-“I am a sorceress, not a cheap whore! If I hear this from you again, then instead of a stone, I will launch a fireball between your legs! " Writhing in pain, Trevor slowly stood up. Irena threw a shining blue sword at him and firmly said - "Take your weapon, we’re embarking to the top of the mountain!"

The first rays of sunlight have barely lightened the chilling dead forest. They moved up the cursed path, that took the lives of so many innocents, and doomed the local folk for great torment. The higher they climbed, the more difficult it became to walk. They could barely breathe because of the vile stench from the rotten ground. Irena stopped.

-“Trevor, wait. I think I see someone's remains. Come closer, we need to examine them. " Irena bent down and began digging through the pile of old bones. “Pieces of jaw, arms, pelvis. There is not a single intact bone. What could have crippled these people in such a way? " She carefully examined the ground around the remains. “But there are good news as well. There are no leeches here "

-“You and I are already knee-deep in shit! I’m glad that there are no leeches here! "

-"This means we won't have to deal with blood magic." She stood up and looked again at the bones of the dead. Shaking the dirt off herself, she continued to speak - “The fusion of magic generates overwhelming power. It has different forms and is usually performed by the joint efforts of several sorcerers. I was afraid that the murderers of Ozerd had cursed this land with the fusion of scourge and blood. In that case, our mission would be too dangerous. I could not cope with such a curse ... ". She looked around once more ...

-“But it’s not the worst that could happen. The strongest sorcerers can learn to combine different types of magic themselves. If someday one sorcerer manages to blend such ancient and destructive forces as the magic of darkness, scourge, and blood, then he will be able to put the whole world on its knees ... I hope this never happens ...

-“If some insane mage decides to turn the whole world into a swamp with leeches, I'll rip his head off! Just look at what the curse has done to this trail ... Let's go quickly, otherwise, I’ll vomit right now! ”

He grabbed Irene by the arm and dragged her along. They continued to walk slowly towards the top of the mountain. In the distance, the outlines of an abandoned castle were already visible, when suddenly they heard a heartbreaking cry. It was not a man. Nobody could have screamed like that. That chilling scream echoed along the trail. It was impossible to determine where it came from. "Did you hear that Irena?" "Yes ... I don't know what it is ..." The sound became louder. The smell of decay made it hard to breathe. The ferocious screams plugged their ears. They were petrified and confused. Trevor began to rush and look in different directions.

- "Careful Trevor!"

With peripheral vision, he saw that something was flying at him. He quickly raised his left hand, above which a magical shield appeared, and threw aside the unknown that attacked Trevor. He drew his sword and strained his eyes. It was walking on all fours like a wild animal. Disgusting pale skin with rotten scars, long claws oozing blood, and a human face ... as if ripped open by a butcher. Empty eye sockets and a black cavity instead of a nose, from which rotten meat crawled onto sharp animal fangs sticking out of a dislocated jaw. The monster dug its claws into the ground and let out a frantic scream. "Come on here bitch!" shouted Trevor and charged the creature. He struck the first blow, but the monster quickly bounced to the left. He took a step back and blocked the monster's counterblow. With a quick kick right in the vile face, he threw him back. The monster parried the subsequent series of Trevor's punches with its sharp claws, which seemed harder than steel. There were only sparks of blue flame from Trevor's enchanted sword. Before he could notice, the monster quickly tumbled back and ran to the nearest tree. Pushing off from it, the monster flew at Trevor, but a strong gust of wind threw the monster aside. Irena screamed, “Trevor, come here quickly! Help me!".

He turned around and saw Irena casting flames at another monster that quickly dodged her spells. This creature was even more hideous than the first one. Huge curved tusks protruded from the crooked lower jaw where a long red tongue hung down. Huge sharp bones were sticking out from a deformed spine. The monster knocked down Irene and swung at her with his rotten bony paw, but Trevor managed to repulse the blow with his sword. The creature gripped the blade tightly and began to growl. With his other hand, Trevor grabbed the monster by the throat and tried to lift it to throw it back. He could feel disgusting mucus from the monster's long tongue that wrapped his arm. The next thing he felt was the taste of his own blood ... The monster's rotten claws sliced across his face. He screamed in pain and took a step back, dropping his sword. Lying on the ground, Irena nervously whispered some words and made several quick movements with her hands. After a moment, the creature's front legs were covered with ice. “Hurry! Grab your sword! Finish him off! " Trevor was filled with rage. Irena continued to scream, but he did not hear anything. Exhaling heavily, he walked over to the immobilized monster and grabbed it by the spine. With all his efforts, he snatched it out and threw the bloody bone to the ground. The cry of the dying monster echoed along the trail. "Now I’ll shut you up, scum!". He grabbed a long tongue and wrapped it around the creature's neck. After a sudden movement, the bony neck cracked and the screaming stopped. Trevor stood silently and stared at the corpse of the monster, wiping the blood from his face.

-"Trevor, from behind!" Once again, Irena protected Trevor's back with a magic shield, from which an eyeless creature flew away a moment later. Trevor fell, and the creature pounced on Irene, who, not having time to finish reading the spell, fell to the ground under the weight of the monster. The creature's huge paw dug into her throat. In front of her, she saw the disfigured face of a rotten corpse. The monster screamed right in her face and squeezed its paw with incredible force. Irena could not breathe .. everything around went dark ... With her last breath, she opened her eyes and saw a front of a sword sticking out of the monster's mouth. After a few seconds, Trevor pulled his sword out through the back of the monster's head. He kicked the corpse and gave Irene his hand. "Are you okay, sorceress?"

-"I’m not! This creature almost killed me! " Her hands were shaking, her gaze froze ... "Damn it, I almost died ..." Trevor helped her up and then leaned against a piece of rock. "Phew, tough time! I should have a beer now ... " Irena calmed down. She stood and looked at Trevor silently.

- "You saved me. Thank you"

-“Thank you too, sorceress. Without your shields, these creatures would not only leave a couple of scratches on my face”.

-“Let me look at the wound. I'll try to heal it.” She walked over and examined Trevor's face. Irena raised her hand and began to quietly cast a healing spell. Thin, pale green beams of light wrapped her palm and began to flutter smoothly around Trevor's face. He felt the wound closing. Trevor walked closer to Irene, hugged her tightly around the waist, and looking her straight in the eyes said

- "Maybe you’ll give your savior a kiss?" She punched him on the shoulder.

-"Stop it, Trevor!" The sorceress stepped back and looked at the top of the mountain, shrouded in thick fog.

-"We need to move on ... I hope the worst is over ..."

They stepped onto a crooked stone road that led to an old abandoned castle. It seemed as if this place had been rotting for thousands of years. The sorceress and the warrior continued to climb through the misty haze and bitter cold. Coming closer, they saw a faint purple glow flickering from the cracks in the castle walls.

-“Come on Trevor! We need to hurry! " They ran forward and came to a shabby wooden door. Trevor barely had time to run after Irene, who instantly opened the door and rushed to the central hall of the castle. In the distance, the violet glow grew brighter. When they finally reached the main hall, Trevor stopped and froze. He couldn't speak. His hands trembled ... A lump rolled up to his throat ... The horror of what he saw in the castle hall returned him to his dark past. Into the midst of those terrible events that broke his life. Straight on that fateful night after which he left Ardal, and has not returned since.

Irena was numb with horror, and could not take her eyes off what was happening. She whispered softly - "It can't be ... So it's true ..." They saw two women, whose bodies were mutilated beyond recognition. Their bones were broken, and severe burns were visible on their skin. Their lifeless bodies hung on chains, right in the middle of the hall. Black blood oozed from deep lacerations on the arms and legs, which flowed directly into something that looked like a well that protruded through the broken floor in the center of the hall. In the shade of a violet shimmer, they saw the figure of a man. The magical halo dissipated and they saw the murderer’s face. His vile, mad smile seemed to blend in with his sunken cheeks. Black blood dripped from his bald head and bony nose right onto his thin mustache and beard. He slowly licked his droopy lips and, continuing to smile, rolled his eyes. - “Whoever you are - you are late! The amulet of darkness has been forged ... You cannot stop the forthcoming ... "

-“Quickly Trevor! Attack! " cried Irena, releasing a fury of crimson flames from her hands. Trevor drew his sword and rushed into battle. With a slight movement of his hand, the dark sorcerer turned the fire aside and turned towards the warrior. Something stopped Trevor. He felt short of breath and severe ringing in his ears. Trevor's body slowly began to lift off the ground. He was wrapped in a purple mist, where he saw the silhouettes of the disfigured faces of those two murdered women. An invisible force threw Trevor against the wall. Vile swamp slime, hard as stone, bound his hands. Trevor couldn't break free. Looking up, he saw the fog covering the women. They began to stir. A frantic scream flew through the hall in a wave, knocking out the glass from every window. After recovering from a short stun, Trevor managed to see the mutilated women crawling in his direction. He saw their snapped fingers turning into sharp claws, and black blood flowing from their eyes. They crawled faster. Struggling to pull himself free, Trevor felt the ground shaking.

Having kneeled and touched the floor, Irena directed a stream of flames towards the sorcerer. A devastating fire hit a wall of magical fog, within which the shadows of the tortured dead were visible. The purple haze took the form of a huge hand, which grabbed Irena in a stranglehold, and pulled towards the sorcerer. Instantly casting a spell, the sorceress locked herself in a ball of solid ice. In a moment a powerful explosion occurred. Thousands of frozen needles were scattered all over the hall. The dead were approaching Trevor. Suddenly, the enchanted tattoos on his arms began glowing brighter. The shackles were weakening. With a sharp movement, Trevor freed one hand and immediately ripped off the magic shackles with the other. He grabbed his sword and barely had time to block the powerful blow of the deceased creature. Trevor stepped back, and deftly parried the blows of the dead, which in turn pounced on him. Seizing the right moment, he performed a roundhouse kick and managed to chop off the arm of one of the creatures, and then quickly slit her throat. But the second monster disappeared. He began looking around in all directions, trying to notice the deceased in the magical darkness, when suddenly he felt a piercing pain. The creature jumped on his back and dug into his neck with its sharp fangs. With all efforts, he could not break free from the grip of the creature that was cutting his chest. He stepped back, and with all his weight hit the creature against the wall, then threw it forward. The deceased rose to her feet and bared her fangs, preparing for the next attack. At that moment Irena ran up from behind and grabbed the undead from behind. Holding her hand over the chin of the screaming creature, she burned down her hideous face.

-“Hurry Trevor! Come here!" Seeing the necromancer hovering above the ground, behind whose back the magic haze took the form of a dozen daggers, Trevor ran to Irene. They fell to their knees under the magic shield that protected them from the barrage of the magician’s weapons. “I am losing strength Trevor when the shield runs out, you have to kill him. I'll create an illusion to draw his attention away. "Come on, sorceress, I'm ready!" There was another deafening explosion, which threw the sorcerer back with brute force. With a furious cry, Trevor charged into battle. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that his exact copy was running from another side, which, with the same ferocious cry, rushed to attack the sorcerer. A wave of fog spread across the hall, ripping out huge stabbing spikes right from the ground. One of the thorns pierced the warrior's chest. He tried to move, but couldn’t make it... He tried to say his last words but managed to only spit out a large clot of blood on his beard. His trembling body burst into a bright blue flame. The specter vanished. Meanwhile, Trevor continued to run towards the enemy, dodging the deadly spikes, which were bursting faster and faster from the ground.

Gripping the sword hilt tightly, he quickly jumped onto one of the thorns and leaped into the air. A moment later, Trevor and the sorcerer were on the ground. The blade struck the necromancer’s heart. Trevor laid there trying to gather all of his remaining strength. Silence reigned in the hall. Trevor slowly got up and walked closer to the corpse. He smoothly drew out his sword, from which black blood oozed in a thick stream. I think it's over, he glanced at the necromancer's body, but at the same moment, his eyes opened. Loud laughter burst out. "Fool! Thought you would just kill me, you miserable bastard? " Without wasting a second, Trevor swung his sword, trying to pierce him again, but missed. A mysterious force carried the necromancer straight to the well in the center of the hall. His body smoothly rose to the ceiling, and with lightning speed fell into the desecrated well. Black blood swiftly splashed out of the well. Trevor froze. His heart started beating faster. For the first time in years, what he saw struck fear in him. Something unknown to this world has crept out of the well. A huge carcass, covered with shabby fur and jagged thorns, moved towards the warrior. Disfigured human faces protruded from the belly of the monster. It dragged its thick tentacles and enormous claws with it, and its horns almost scratched the ceiling of the hall. "Watch out for Trevor!" Irena screamed, launching a hail of burning flame into the monster. With a powerful blow, the monster threw the sorceress against the wall and headed towards her. Irena did not move.

- "No! Don’t you dare to touch her! " Trevor ran to the monster and put all his might into a single sword strike. The enchanted runes on the blade gleamed brighter as the sword pierced the demon's rotten flesh. Trevor could barely dodge the crushing blows of the enemy. The monster grabbed Trevor with its huge paw and crushed the warrior with destructive force. Spikes tore Trevor's skin, and the monster's tentacles clawed his face. With his last breath, Trevor pierced one of the dead faces on the belly of the monster. With a heartbreaking cry, it fell to its knees. The bleeding warrior gathered the rest of his strength, and having clenched his teeth, climbed onto the monster's back. Gripping the monster's massive horns, Trevor raised his blade and drove it into the creature's head. It's over. The demon was defeated. For several minutes Trevor laid next to the corpse of the creature, greedily gulping air, trying to ward off the terrible pain of the battle wounds. Suddenly he realized that the castle was crumbling. The stone fell from the ceiling, the columns of the hall began to crack, everything around was shaking. He hardly stood up and grabbed the sorceress, who was lying on the floor unconscious. He carried her through a crumbling corridor that seemed endless. A deafening rumble confused Trevor, the dust of breaking walls did not let him breathe... In an instant, the bright rays of the sun pierced Trevor's eyes. “We managed to get out. We are saved, ”he thought, falling to his knees. Blood from fresh wounds oozed faster and faster. Freezing cold consumed his body... He closed his eyes...