2025-12-17 18:04:20The near-death encounter with the wolves failed to scare Isolde out of the High Carpathians, instead, it solidified her strange, dangerous obsession.
She spent the morning of the attack narrating to Ben, Leo and Maya, insisting the man she saw was the same man she saw in the castle, the night of the bonfire as well.
Leo, however, was thrilled. "A physical encounter! She was saved by something real. This is not a ghost story anymore!"
The person you have been seeing was actually a real person?? Alive and breathing!! Ben howled
Marius brought this, earlier this morning, Leo pointed to a large, brittle map he had spread out on the Corbul Negru’s table, pointing at a small structure half a mile from the main castle ruin.
“This is the only auxiliary structure labeled in the 17th-century texts, the Watcher’s Tower. It was supposedly the private archive and observation post for the Von Caerstein family, sealed after the catastrophe. If there’s uncensored history, it’s there.”
Ben was livid. “It’s a crumbling death trap! We are leaving, Isolde. That man.... whatever he is....is protecting that mountain. He owns a fucking demon who guards his castle and He.... OMG! Isolde! he knows your face.”
“He saved my life, Ben,” Isolde said quietly, tracing the path on the map. “And if he is the person who lived for five centuries, then his private archive is the biggest discovery in our lifetime.”
Maya, recognizing the look of dangerous commitment in her friend’s eyes, sighed. “Fine. We go. We document everything, and the minute we get data, we leave. Safety in numbers, right?”
Marius, sitting silently in the corner, finally spoke up. “The path to the Watcher’s Tower is treacherous. But there is a sealed servant trail I know. It avoids the main rock slides and is structurally sound. I will guide you.”
Fine let's leave immediately, Isolde announced
Wait.... Ben's voice stopped everyone in their tracks. How did he lived for five centuries???
He practiced necromancy! Remember... Maya reminds him
But what level of necromancy could keep someone alive for five centuries? Maya asked herself
All the answers to our questions might be in that archive, we should leave. Isolde left
Marius led the team through the dense, frozen woods, navigating ancient, barely visible stone paths. They reached the Watcher’s Tower—a squat, formidable stone column half-swallowed by ivy. Marius used a complicated series of knocks and levers, and a heavy iron door groaned open.
The interior was shockingly intact. The main room was circular, lined with shelves of ancient, brittle scrolls and heavy ledgers. A thick layer of dust coated everything, but the structure was dry and preserved.
Ben immediately began setting up his thermal cameras, frustrated by the lack of supernatural readings. "Zero heat signature, zero EMF spikes. Just old paper and dust."
Leo, ignoring his painful shoulder, was in heaven. He pulled a massive, iron-bound ledger off a shelf.
“The true family records! Look, the marriage contract of Hadrian the Frostborne!”
So queen Isolde was a peace treaty? Maya asked
Yes... Leo replied flipping pages from the records
Oh poor thing.... I'm thankful I wasn't born during the medieval period. Because there's no way in hell someone's gonna use me as a war Souvenir. Maya rants.
Well title comes with duty, the lavish the lifestyle the higher the price. Leo protested
Well she didn't asked to be born a royal so she could live lavishly. Maya continued
Leo heaved a deep sigh and close the records. Well she was lucky.... because according to history, King Hadrian was a loving husband.
Maya rolled her face.
Isolde drifted toward the largest piece of furniture, a massive, ornate wooden desk covered in a heavy, faded cloth. She felt the same pull she had felt at the festival, a cold, certain focus.
She reached out and pulled the cloth away, revealing the desk’s surface. Beneath the dust lay an ancient parchment. It was a beautiful, detailed map of the entire Aethelred estate, focusing on the hidden tunnels and catacombs beneath the castle.
As she traced a line with her finger, she became aware of a new shadow.
Aurelius was standing in the archway of the back room, hidden until that moment by the gloom. He was impeccably dressed in his high-collared coat, leaning against the stone doorframe with an air of aristocratic boredom.
He was looking directly at Isolde, completely ignoring the other three humans in the room.
Isolde froze, the parchment map clutched in her hand. Her breath caught in her throat. She looked frantically at her team, but they were deeply engrossed.
"Leo! Look at this engraving! It's Romania, but a dialect I've never seen!" Maya called out from the far wall.
Ben was too busy trying to recalibrate his gear to notice the dramatic entrance.
Aurelius didn't move. He simply raised his voice, quiet but devastatingly clear.
"You have been seeking the history, Miss," he said, the sound vibrating only in Isolde's direction,
He pushed off the wall and walked slowly across the room toward her, his movements fluid and deadly.
"The map you hold is a lie," Aurelius stated, stopping inches away from the desk. His presence was overwhelming, exuding the cold of the mountain itself. "It was designed to mislead trespassers."
Isolde dropped the map. "Who are you??" she whispered.
"Aurelius the I, Last prince of the Caersteins, Count Diavol, Lord of the Mountain." he confirmed.
His golden eyes pinning her in place. "And I am fascinated by your presence. Most who see my face flee forever."
"You saved me from the wolves," she said, her voice shaking only slightly.
"I protect what is mine," he countered, the statement possessing an ambiguous danger.
He leaned close enough that she could feel the arctic chill radiating from him.
The resemblance is..." He paused, searching for the word, "intolerable. I must know why the universe has done this."
He glanced past her to the busy, distracted researchers. "This little room holds dust and speculation. It holds no answers you truly crave. I, however, possess five centuries of unforgiving truth."
He reached into the inner pocket of his coat and pulled out a heavy, dark-metal key, a beautiful, archaic piece of ironwork.
"I invite you to the true archive," he said, placing the cold key directly into her palm. His fingertips brushed her skin, leaving a trailing electric chill.
"Tonight, the Lord of the Mountain will host the inquisitive historian. Alone."
He held her gaze, demanding a silent answer.
"The Great Hall," Isolde finally managed to say, her voice barely a breath.
Aurelius gave a cold, approving nod. "The King's door is always open to you, Isolde. Be there when the last embers of the sun die."
Before Isolde could utter another sound, he vanished. Not through a secret door or a shadow, but simply gone, as if he had never been solid atall
Isolde! Look what I found, the ledger describing the first 'Eternal Winter' event!" Leo cried, oblivious.
Isolde stared at the heavy iron key in her hand, still vibrating with cold. She looked at the empty space where the Lord of the Carpathian had stood.
She had been invited by a man who practiced necromancy to stay alive.
But what do they say about curiosity?
Isolde knew she would go, because what legend is behind a prince who owns a demon guard and had lived for five centuries???
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Chapter Eight: The Archaeologist Obsession
The near-death encounter with the wolves failed to scare Isolde out of the High Carpathians, instead, it solidified her strange, dangerous obsession.She spent the morning of the attack narrating to Ben, Leo and Maya, insisting the man she saw was the same man she saw in the castle, the night of the bonfire as well.Leo, however, was thrilled. "A physical encounter! She was saved by something real. This is not a ghost story anymore!"The person you have been seeing was actually a real person?? Alive and breathing!! Ben howledMarius brought this, earlier this morning, Leo pointed to a large, brittle map he had spread out on the Corbul Negru’s table, pointing at a small structure half a mile from the main castle ruin.“This is the only auxiliary structure labeled in the 17th-century texts, the Watcher’s Tower. It was supposedly the private archive and observation post for the Von Caerstein family, sealed after the catastrophe. If there’s uncensored history, it’s there.”Ben was liv
Chapter Seven: The Bride, Rose, and the Wolves
Isolde returned to the Corbul Negru after the festival, her mind reeling. The image of the pale man in the black coat, the man who looked the same as the man she saw in the castle burned behind her eyelids.After bidding the others goodnight, she couldn’t sleep, she tossed and turned for hours.When she finally drifted into a fitful doze, she was awakened by the sound of her window latch clicking shut.She sat up, heart pounding. "Who’s there?"The room was empty. The window, which she was certain she had locked, was unlatched. But on the sill, bathed in the pale moonlight, lay a single object.It was a black rose.It was fresh, velvety, and impossibly perfect, with thorns that looked like polished obsidian. Next to it was a small piece of parchment. Isolde picked it up, her hands trembling.There was no text. It was a charcoal sketch.It was a drawing of her, standing by the bakery wall at the festival, looking into the shadows.The skill was masterful, capturing not just her
Chapter Six: Bon fire Night
A week passed, and the sharp edge of terror began to dull, replaced by the mundane rhythm of recovery. Leo was discharged from the regional hospital, with his arm in a sling.He set up a command center in the Corbul Negru’s common room, analyzing the few blurry frames of data they had captured before fleeing the castle.In the meantime, Isolde and Maya tried to integrate themselves into the village. They spent their days in the small market square or the bakery, buying bread and asking questions.The answers they received were a frustrating tapestry of contradictions.Everyone only talked about one person, The youngest prince of the Von Caersteins "The Prince?" a baker said, dusting flour from his hands. "He was a great military leader who went mad with grief. He jumped from the spire.""No, no," an old weaver corrected them later. "He was a sorcerer. He dabbled in alchemy to bring his bride back and blew himself up. The castle is haunted by the explosion, not a man.""A tyran
Chapter Five: The mysterious Servant
The moment Isolde stumbled out of the Great Hall, her hands over her eyes, the sheer terror radiating off her was palpable. She didn't have to utter a word to signal the danger.Maya, whose nerves were already shattered by the attack of the Zimbrul Fomist earlier that day, waited for no one. Seeing Isolde’s face was enough. She abandoned the tripod she was holding and raced down the slope to the parked minivan, wrenching the door open and diving inside.“Marius! Go! We are leaving!” Maya shrieked from the passenger seat, her hands trembling as she fumbled for her seatbelt.Marius, who had been guarding the perimeter, moved quickly. He packed up the remaining gear with practiced efficiency, throwing the bags into the trunk before jumping into the driver's seat. Isolde scrambled into the back, her breath coming in short, ragged gasps. Ben hopped in after.The minivan tore away from the castle gates, bouncing violently down the treacherous King's Road.**********The chaotic journey
Chapter Four: The scent of old Blood
AureliusFive centuries. The word was a mathematical concept, devoid of feeling. Five centuries of cold, eternal night, where the only sensations were the gnawing thirst and the crushing weight of memory. Prince Aurelius, now the King of Ashes, stood immobile in the highest spire of Aethelred.He had sensed the moment the four warm bodies crossed the cursed line but it was not the scent of their life that drew him. It was a resonance, a sudden, violent vibration in the heart he hadn't known could still beat.He glided to the broken window, the air in the spire instantly falling to a temperature that would freeze mercury. He looked down upon the frail, fragile mortals setting up their strange, bright equipment. And there, standing on the desolation of his courtyard, was the impossible.Maria.......The gasp was silent, a physical impossibility that nevertheless ripped through his chest. Her face, the stubborn set of her jaw, the dark hair falling just so across her shoulders it w
Chapter Three: Aethelred
The frantic journey down the mountain road ended just as the sun broke fully over the distant peaks. They reached a regional hospital on the outskirts of Cluj-Napoca.After hours of tense waiting, the doctor confirmed Leo’s prognosis: a deep, ragged laceration, severe blood loss, and a clear need for heavy antibiotics. He was stable, but he would be grounded for weeks.In the hospital cafeteria, the remnants of the team Isolde, Maya, and Ben stared into their lukewarm coffees.Isolde broke the silence, the road to the clinic took us three hours.That’s six hours round trip on those roads. We’d be traveling well into the night to get back, and we know what happens after dark.”Maya, still shaken from the attack, stared down at her hands. “The Zimbrul Fomist. He called it the Hungry Auroch.”“It’s tied to the castle, Maya. That means this entire valley is a perimeter,” Isolde explained, drawing strength from the cold logic she was imposing on the situation.“Marius has organized a ro
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