Zoé is a young immortal. She is only 186 years old. Currently, she works in an incredible library of the occult, located in Budapest and curated by a very old immortal called Ikshan. Unfortunately, one day she stumbles upon a terrifying monster in a...
"You surrender? Wise decision," says the grey-haired man who stands in front of us, his features expressionless. His sorcerer's tattoos rise up to his eye on the left side of his face. Four of his followers stand behind him, eyes locked on us.
Zoé lifts her hand - her other hand points a crossbow at them - attracting attention to her. "Unfortunately, my friend here is only fluent in Latin - because of the whole I've-been-imprisoned-by-wankers-for-centuries thing - and also he's a very nice man, so I'm going to take charge here and tell you to go fuck yourself. He will not surrender."
The man shows no sign of emotion in the flickering yellow light. "I don't think you understand who you're talking to. My name is Jan Ostenson. I represent the Akandjat in this part of the world. And the defense of our rules and of our heritage is my responsibility. Show some respect."
"Yeah, I'm not big on hierarchy and stuff. Or rules by the way. Also the Akand-what? That's so 400 BC, dude. Be in the now. Leave the cult and celebrate magic for all."
Zoé is stalling. We prepared this little game in advance. She assured me she could do the talking - and she clearly can -, while Ikshan stayed outside the building to cast the protective spell linked to the amulet Carlos and Sonia gave us.
We chose an abandoned building, an old factory, on the outside of the city as our meeting point. We came prepared. It takes some time to cast the spell, unfortunately. But then, if they cannot use magic on us, we will be able to have a fair fight.
Jan Ostenson remains undisturbed, his body as steady as his gaze. "Willingly or not, you'll be imprisoned again," he says, ignoring Zoé to look at me. He lifts his bony hand and waves at his followers.
The sorcerer at Jan's right casts a spell at us - well, he tries to -, and he narrows his eyes when nothing happens.
"Oh yes, I forgot to tell you," Zoé adds, smiling, "we know people."
At this exact moment, Ikshan enters the building with the amulet glowing around their neck and I can't help but smile. They succeeded. Now, it's time to get down to business.
Another sign from their leader and the sorcerers walk towards us. Zoé throws away the crossbow. We look at one another before pulling out our swords.
In this instant, I measure the time that had led me from my first confrontation with the sorcerers the day my dad died to this moment, centuries later. Now I'm facing them, I realize I'm not afraid. They are remnants of their past splendor. I can feel the immense power that irradiates from the leader, but it's also obvious to me how different it feels when you have a well-oiled institution behind you and when you try to salvage what's left of it. Today I'm ready to take back control over my life.
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