Codex Mortem

The land Between

"You need to find it, lady. You are with a foot in the mortal realm, so you might seem dead to the others. Is it the venom that opened the door to here? Or the moonberries?"

"What essence? It seems to me, good sir, that instead of providing answers, you only rise more questions."

"I can not tell you what you can not understand. All I know is that when I saw you first time, you had no wish to go back, and yet- you had to. You were not prepared to reunite with your true-self, but now you are."

"Can't you just say something clear?" I couldn't make sense of what he was saying.

"I am sorry, but is not my place to tell" he said. "You will understand in time. It began at the Stone and it must end at the Stone. The only way I can help is to allow you to remember what we talked." He touched my temple with his glowing finger and returned to his boat, leaving me baffled. "But you can't remember all at once!" he shouted.

The strange glow of the sky intensified, blinding me for a moment. And he was gone.

I stood there for a time, trying to make sense of what happened. In my heart, I was hoping that Charon will show up again and put some light over the many questions I had, but he didn't. I decided to follow the same path back, so I turned around and walked. This time, I did not admire the shy little blossoms, nor I raised my eyes to the old trees. I wanted home.

I spotted what it looked like a small door, hidden into a tree trunk. My excitement grew and my steps hurried.

When I was just about to reach it, my shoulder collided with something and I lost my balance.

"Are you all right?" A rich, masculine voice asked. Green, deep eyes stared at me. He offered his brawny arm to help me up, and I took it.

"Yes" I smiled. He looked concerned.

"Where are we, girl? It has never happened to me before, but I lost my way" he said with a dram of shame.

"I don't really know-"

"Jayce is my name." Somehow, I felt I don't need to fear him despite his intimidating looks.

"I don't know where we are, but I can get us back. I am Dawn, nice to meet you"

He smiled at me.

Suddenly, someone was running toward us. I turned my head and saw the man from the river, his eyes spitting hot ambers. Fear embraced my heart and I squeezed Jayce's hand so hard that my nails dug into his flash, leaving a red mark. He understood my signal but didn't utter a word. Instead, he squared his shoulders and just stood there, dumbfounded.

"NOOOO!" Charon shout. "He can not come with you, he does not belong there anymore!"

I turned to him, gathering myself. I thought of the nightwalkers. Mother mentioned once that death was a part of their transformation process.

"If he doesn't belong amongst the living now, then how comes that vampires rise from the dead?" I shouted with a fake bravado.

The boat man stopped running. "It is against the nature's laws! Imagine if everyone would just go back! It would be chaos!"

He leaned on his paddle, looking at Jayce, and continued: "It's the demon blood. In the longest night of the year, the dark grows stronger than the light; the demon stronger than the Sun. So strong, that he pulls back the cursed souls"

"So it is possible for a soul do go back!" I concluded. "And he" pointing to a now mute Jayce, " Is coming with me!"

"That will unbalance the realms, lady. There will be consequences, a price to be paid. Only dead can pay for life. Are you willing to pay?"

His harsh words echoed in my ears. Death for life. A chill run dawn my spine and I opened my mouth to say something, but in that moment, the werewolf kneeled.

"Take me back, and I swear to you, by the Sun and the Moon, that I will serve and protect you with my life, Dawn"

Charon hissed loud. "He won't fulfill his oath, he won't remember a damn thing once he wakes up!"

Annoyed, Jayce pulled a blade from the inside of his boot and rose.

I took a step back, unsure of his intentions, but he caught my hand and cut into my palm with the sharp metal. I shrieked and tried to escape his grip, to no avail.

With his free hand, he squeezed hard the blade, red drops falling on the ground, then he tossed the knife.
In a blink of the eye, he brought our palms together and our blood mingled, under the alert look of the old man. "This is a blood oath now. If I forget, this will remind me!"

He turned to the man with a hard look. "I am a man of my word!" Then, he bowed again to me.
"Lead the way, my lady!"

I was confused. I didn't really understood what just happened, but nothing so far was making any sense. I pressed the door's handle and slowly pulled my new protector with me.

As we walked through, I turned my head and looked back. Tears of fire were digging into Charon's cheeks, and he whispered " Fare well, my lady".

.......