NOVEL NEXT Chapter 25: Hel
She walked slowly up the castle's entrance stairs, with parts of her hair stuck to her cheeks and looking sweaty, the dark paint on her face had created thin webs line up to her neck. "Where do you think you're going!" said one of the guards at the castle gate. "Go on your way!"
"You better think about your next words," said Thri, with a look of disdain. The guard lost his voice after seeing such confidence, but the other became irritated and advanced.
"Let her go! Fools" said a voice from behind, a boy.
— Daeron, do you know this girl? — one of them asked. "Daeron," she murmured, looking him up and down. "No," he said, turning to her, "but... Maybe it's... Thri?" She snorted at him and went inside. "Get out of the way, you damn idiots," she said, pushing past them and opening the gate. Daeron followed her, and the guards were left speechless. "Thri?" he asked from behind. "So, you're Daeron?" she said, without looking at him, walking towards the stairs towards Gwayne's room. "Where are you going, where is Gwayne?" She didn't answer and continued walking towards Gwayne's room, as if she knew exactly where it was. She opened the door and sat on the bed, looking at the bed. Then, she went out to the balcony and looked at the forest. While Daeron followed in silence. "I'll stay here until my new home is ready." — she said, turning to him with a mischievous smile. — so, you are the famous Daeron. He spoke a lot about you, and about Cerella. Where is she? "You haven't answered any of my questions yet…" he said, uncertain. "Gwayne went to the woods, he might not come back today." — she said, turning around again. "What did he do in the woods?"
— I don't know, a boy he called Jacks gave him a sheep at the entrance to the village, then he sent me here and told me how to find his room. The end. Now help me find the hot bath rooms he bragged about so much... — Thri said, giving a friendly-looking smile. "Okay, follow me," he said, without much desire. They walked the other way, down the stairs and into the main corridor and walking to the side door, which was a little after the entrance to the main hall, on the other side of the wall. "Why a sheep?" "You tell me," she said, looking at the paintings on the wall. "You're the one who's been with him lately." Daeron was thoughtful and continued down the corridor. Then he no longer felt her presence behind him and turned around. "What's down there?" she asked, looking at the large staircase on the side of the corridor. "The dungeons and deeper floors. Come on, there's nothing down there for us." She went back on her way, he opened the door and she removed her dress right there, making him blush and look away. "What are you doing?" he said quietly. "You can't take a shower with your clothes on, keep me company." she said, getting into the pool while watching him look at the wall.
— Or do you think a maiden should stay in this place alone with the ghosts and darkness outside? He sat on the benches far from her and didn't look that way once. Thri washed herself with the crystal clear waters of the natural stone bath. The moonlight made her skin glow blue. "Gwayne was right in his boast about this place, I can imagine many things to do here," she said, laughing. "So, how was the war?" "We came back alive, that's all that matters." She snorted. "He told me a lot about you, said you were as beautiful as a girl." She laughed. "He was right. How well do you think you know Gwayne?" "I've known him since…" "Since I was a child," she added, then laughed. "I'll tell you a story. We were on our journey to Valysar, we were going to capture villages and search for… No matter what, this isn't about that. That day, the enemy was in cahoots with the peasants, and they attacked us during the night. We lost control of the village, and many of our men. They took the peasants prisoner, so when they fled in desperation to our side, who would have thought it was an attack? At a glance you would think they were fleeing with only the clothes on their backs, but hidden in their robes were knives.
There was a crowd of people running towards us, and the enemies behind them. Gwayne soon advanced with the vanguard. When the peasants passed them, they turned and drew their knives, even the little puppies, children of six years old, maybe more, maybe less. They turned and attacked those behind, it was madness. Daeron listened calmly. Our vanguard was surrounded, my uncle Leif was with Gwayne, my brother Harald and my sister Astrid. It was Gwayne's vanguard. He ordered the attack and defeat would fall on his head. But he made a decision. There was no mercy at that moment. Gwayne ran his sword through the belly of a little boy. She stared at him. Gwayne killed the first one, then killed his parents and everyone followed his command. Most of the peasants were killed in the middle of the battle, even those who dropped their weapons. They couldn't be trusted, not in the middle of the fight. "That's a lie! He wouldn't do that." — Daeron said in disbelief. "But he did, and after he won, he ordered the village burned." Thri laughed darkly. "Gwayne ordered the survivors killed, then he burned them, each and every one." "Why would he do that?" he said, looking at her.
— He wanted it to be over once and for all, all the screams stopped, it was over as quickly as it had started, no children were left crying for their dead relatives, or for their wounds. A painless death. Afterwards, Gwayne returned and received the glory of the battle, but not everyone was satisfied with his leadership, even though he had made the decision quickly, the damage had already been brutal. Leif went after him with words the moment he arrived at the camp, calling him to single combat. You should have seen my father's face, he wanted to kill Leif himself, but Brianna stopped him. My father thought Gwayne's victory was very good, not caring about the losses. But, Gwayne had that face. — Thri got out of the pool and began to dry herself with one of the towels, Daeron looked away and his tears were dry. — You must have seen it, during the time you spent at war. His face was stern and distant, as if surrounded by something. My uncle might have won on another day, but not that day. It was a brutal fight to watch, my sisters almost got involved in the battle several times, when one of them was close to death. My uncle was getting the worst of it, even though he was a much more experienced warrior, Gwayne was perfect in every blow, attacking with absurd strength and speed, Leif struggled to defend himself.
My uncle managed to land some heavy blows, enough to make Gwayne bleed a lot. That cut he has on his face, it was him. I felt in the middle of that battle that he was wanting to be hit. In the end, Gwayne tore it from the waist to the shoulder. It was a miracle that he survived. After that, Gwayne decided that his time was up. When he finished speaking, Daeron quickly walked past her, and left, slamming the door. He continued running outside, quickly descending the castle stairs, the guards shouted at him, but he ran away. Gwayne was walking slowly between the trees leading the sheep, the forest was completely silent, with only the sound of the wind in the trees for company. He didn't know exactly where would be the best place to do it, but as Aerea said... "I feel an energy coming from the lake." The waters had their own light, not needing the moon to illuminate them at night. He thought they should call it a white lake instead of an icy one. He knelt down with one leg and petted the animal, with the other he did not pull out a dagger and kept it hidden from the animal's sight, he brought his face close to the animal, while approaching the blade from behind, with a single blow he hit from below the neck to the head, the sheep fell and died, pouring its blood into the lake.
He waited for a moment, looking around, every little sound that came from the trees. Until he finally heard the sound he was waiting for, the footsteps of a large creature. Unconsciously he put his hand on the hilt of his sword. The darkness between the trees, in the distance revealed the shape of a moose, but it was so dark that he could only see its outline, its height reaching seven meters. The creature approached a little, still hidden in the darkness, knelt with its front paws, emerging from the darkness of its chest a human shadow, a little smaller than Gwayne, the thing walked to the edge of the trees, revealing itself against the moonlight. A woman with impeccably clear skin, lips and hair completely black, her hair not reaching past her neck, with no fabric clothing on her body, which seemed to be soaked in oil. Her skin shone in the light that emanated from the water and the moon, making the contours of her body shine in purple from the moonlight reflected in the water, pink from the flesh and a greenish white from the water. Gwayne looked away and quickly drew his sword, pointing it at the thing. He didn't know much about the legends of creatures, he didn't waste time with horror stories to scare little children in his classes with the Maester, but he knew that monsters only used beautiful forms to lure and lead men to their doom. His thoughts were as fast as his heart. "Not a mermaid. Impossible, a mermaid doesn't walk in the form of a moose. As you know, you've never seen a mermaid. Damn it! Let me think!"
"Don't be afraid, little Gwayne." The voice seemed to be getting closer. He turned his sword in the direction of the sound. The thing responded by letting out a sweet, pleading laugh. "You didn't come here just to meet me... Open your eyes, don't you remember that I helped you," the thing said, in an ancient voice. "I won't die here," he thought, opening his eyes. She was right next to his face, making him startle and take a step back. "She's fast... How did she get so close to me so quickly, without me even noticing?" She touched his hand, pulling the sword away and letting it fall to the ground. "As she did that, Gwayne was holding it with all his strength. Her touch felt wet." "You couldn't run away or fight me if I wanted you dead, my good Gwayne," she said, in a seductive voice. Almost everything about her was used to attract him, her scent, her voice, her appearance. It was how Gwayne imagined the effect of the mermaids. "What are you?" he asked, sweating. "My name is Hel, what good would it do me to tell you what I am? Just know that I have lived in the depths of this forest since the beginning of my existence. "And why did you help me, why did you put the bodies in the trees?" She pointed with her finger to the seven-pointed pendant around her neck. "I don't know why I was awakened, but it happened many years ago, the first thing I saw was you, when you was still a child.
I was there, watching you that day that woman and her husband were murdered. Humans are despicable creatures, almost as despicable as myself. But I saw that man. What was his name? "Gerard! Gerard, save me, save our daughter! Help him!" she imitated, in an almost perfect voice. Which made him lose the strength in his leg and fall to his knees, remembering that cursed day. Gwayne put his hands on his head. "That's right, Gerard. I'm sorry, Gwayne. You don't know how happy I was to find you years later, putting on a show for my eyes, a show of death. Gwayne, one day, a man came down from the forest covered in a garment of light. I could hear his voice thundering in the forest, he was talking about you." She pointed again to the pendant. "If I protected him, I would be free from loneliness. The evil that afflicts you affects me equally." We are the same, what you suffered that day, I suffered with you, but you are far from me. I wish I had gone to your castle that day, I wish I had been there when that creature found you, when it touched you... I felt it too, and now it knows about you. Gwayne looked at her. "I don't know what that thing is, since I came into existence, I have never felt anything like it." He stood up slowly, his eyes a little red. "Let me guess, it's not a simple snark." "No Gwayne, it's much worse. By the way, there are no snarks or snarks on this side of the wall.
He looked at her thoughtfully. — I have to feed every thousand years, I feed not only on the blood of men, but on their thoughts and knowledge... — Do you eat men? — he said, in a firm tone. — I am a dirty and unpleasant creature, but I am here to serve. That is why you must not return to your castle. I cannot protect you there, the people of your village would flee from there and my forest would burn. — I know how to protect myself, I have things to do and I do not plan to stay here forever, anyway you could not protect me far from here. — The forest goes all the way to the borders of Castamere, I will always be close. I can give you that castle, but stay with me so that I may fulfill my purpose. — I do not intend to die, so your prize is already guaranteed. — he said, picking up his sword from the ground. — He had not realized how much time had passed, the moon had already risen from the middle of the sky. — I am not doing this just for the prize, you being here yourself is already my prize. — she lamented. — come with me, let me show you how to give it to you. Gwayne thought about it, but it seemed so tempting that his feet moved on their own. She followed her past the huge lifeless body of the moose, he walked with her for a long time, in the same way that he didn't feel time passing, the distance also made no difference when he was with her, walking behind her always, Gwayne had never faced such an ordeal, everything about her was attractive.
After walking for a long time, she got involved behind a large bush that was next to a tree and a large rock. She disappeared back there, he followed her and found an entrance that widened a lot soon after and turned left. Gwayne wondered if he should continue on her path, she seemed to be leading him into the darkness. "Come Gwayne, let me show you," she said, in a desperate voice. "Why don't you come..." Gwayne walked towards her, who smiled as she felt his approach. Gwayne couldn't see her in the darkness, only her bright eyes. "Take my hand and I'll guide you." Gwayne obeyed and after advancing along a not very difficult path, but he felt himself going down. Then, he saw a golden glow coming from the place they were going, getting there. He could see again. — This will be yours, Gwayne... I will give you as many mills as you want, I will subdue your enemies if you wish, and I will give you all the wealth you desire. — she said, lying down on the shining pieces, her breasts swaying lasciviously and with them a smile of longing. The stones behind her were of the most crimson gold, along with the most shining silver and necklaces ever seen. "Will you marry me, Lord Gwayne?" — she asked, levering herself on the coins to see him better. Below the gold on her legs, a sword and a mace appeared that shone in shining silver. "Take them and fight as you will fight, you will certainly win, but accept my request.
"Marriage..." he thought. "Yes or no..." she said, her voice sounding more like a lament. "You will wear if you are better than a king, clothes not woven with thread or needle, but of the whitest silk." "I am already promised to a girl," he said, turning back. When he broke the surface, she was behind him. He went back the way he came, with her behind him making offers that he knew she could fulfill. He could have everything, if he stayed with her. "If she wasn't cheating. I almost believed it." Her eyes were filled with tears from how much she was lamenting.
"Will you marry me, Lord Gwayne? For that I will give you gifts, Castamere will be yours and all the gold and silver I possess, just stay with me."
"Such gifts I would accept, if you were not a vile creature and had a deceitful tongue. If I stay, you would not need to fulfill your purpose, for you would already be free from loneliness." Gwayne said, with his back to her. — Castamere is mine by right, I don't need you to give it to me. I will stay alive, so that you will lose your torment. "You will not leave, Gwayne. You will stay with me!" Hel screamed, in a desperate voice. Gwayne turned to her, but she had disappeared. He saw the elk rise from the ground, and bellow an extremely loud and terrifying sound.
He ran to the village as fast as he could, Hel crashed into the trees and flanked him, she tried to grab him several times, but it seemed like she was letting him go, she grabbed him by the feet, letting go as soon as she could and pulled him, making him fall violently to the ground. Gwayne thought he heard her whisper "I'm sorry" He arrived at the outskirts of the walls, Hel stopped in the distance in the darkness. "Gwayne, come back!" — she said. "I can't accept it, you tried to deceive the gods themselves..." "They weren't fair to me!" — she screamed, between the trees. "I'm sorry too," he said, turning around. "Come back to me! Please, come back to me!" Gwayne heard his mother's voice coming from behind, his gaze turned furious. He drew his sword and ran to Hel, who was back as a woman. Hel closed her eyes and waited for the blow. Gwayne stopped at the last second, making Hel's hair flutter in the wind. "How do you know her voice!" he shouted, enraged. "I heard her in the forest, I swear, I swear, I'm so sorry Gwayne, I don't know what to do anymore." She fell to the ground. He controlled his breathing and turned to the village. "You never used her voice again." he said finally, tears streaming down his eyes.