The forest seemed dead, for there were no leaves on the trees, no fresh grass on the ground. Jukka supposed that a chemical or a nuclear disaster had broken out in this place. Jari joked that gaining an additional pair of hands would be a new word in guitar playing.
Warning: mature content
Least of all they wanted to stay here for a long time; though all the three were hungry, having lunch in a forest like this didn't seem quite a good idea. The moving shadows in the mist made Wintersun nervous, though none of the band would admit it.
Soon the soil became wetter and softer under their feet, soon it started producing unpleasant sounds under their feet: the place was turning into a swamp. Jari struggled to restrain himself from cursing the two ravens who led them through this ugly wasteland with no human beings and no living beasts or birds other than the ravens.
Though there was no shortage of swamps in Finland, Jari did not feel quite right about having no solid ground under his feet. And it was even more difficult to pick the way with a heavy backpack on his shoulders. Every second the bandmates risked getting sucked into the mire, and thus they walked with double caution, doing their best to only step on the tree roots and the rare mounds emerging from the quick ground.
The older men felt tired in less than two hours, but Teemu experienced a strange transformation. He was full of strength and energy despite the difficulty of the way. The younger guitarist sang all the way, though normally he did not do it quite often.
"Jari, do not be so sulky," Teemu said, putting his narrow palm on the lead guitarist's arm. "Do you remember the Swamp of Sadness in the "Neverending Story" and the fate of Artax?"
"Love that movie," the front man's bony face lit up at once, and a broad smile lit his face up.
"My watch!" Jukka exclaimed. "it's stopped!"
"Mine is dead as well!" Teemu answered, but still, he was calmer than both his friends.
"No signal!" said Jari, checking his cellphone.
"The best horror film tradition," the younger guitarist sighed. "But, at least, we have the ravens..."
"And what shall we do when night falls?" asked Jukka anxiously."I don't see any large mound where we could pitch up the tent."
"Then we'll have to walk until we reach solid ground," Jari shrugged. "The bog must end somewhere."
"My back already aches," complained the bass guitarist. Teemu approached and adjusted his backpack in the way it became easier to carry.
The Wintersun men walked through the marshland till dusk, but it was not going to end. They lost the ravens out of sight, but still heard them cry. Jari possessed what people call "absolute pitch", but here, in the underworld, Teemu seemed to hear as well as a bat.
"The forest does not sound good," he said. "I suggest that we should spend a night on a tree. That'll be safer."
"What do you hear?" Jari asked. "Wolves?"
"Some other creatures I don't know. More dangerous, I guess."
"You must be joking, man" Jukka exclaimed nervously. "See, there is light! There must be some people!"
Jari smiled, but Teemu was not so excited. The rythm guitarist looked upwards, gazing at the ravens who were flying in circles over his head.
"Come on, Manta Ray," Jari said. The fans nicknamed Teemu "Manta Ray" for his grace, and some time after even his bandmates sometimes addressed him like this. "Look, there is a house! Its windows shine with a yellow light! We must be there until night!"
"Seems we've got no other choice, for you will never prefer sleeping on a tree," Teemu sighed.
"Does anything disturb you?"
"A strange feeling I can't explain. But perhaps, it must not trouble you. Let's go then."
The dusk became thick, and they heard strange howling, not even resembling that of a wolf. Anyone on their place would rocket to a human dwelling.
The house was quite large, shabby but still beautiful. It was unclear why would anyone build it at the edge of the marshland, but perhaps, at the moment of the construction, the bog hadn't been there yet. The light in the windows was not electric: it seemed to be coming from numerous candles.
As they approached the door, Teemu moaned with pain which suddenly pierced his head like a bullet. Jari kissed the younger man on the forehead to ease his suffering, Jukka knocked.
Teemu saw a very old woman open the door. Tall she was, with an ugly face and thin white hair, but still posessed a slender body of a young girl, clad in a neat, long, all closed black dress. The contrast scared the young man, and his headache increased so much that he was struggling to hold back tears.
The front man, on the contrary, gave the old woman a broad smile and looked at her with admiration. So did the bass guitarist.
"Good evening, gentlemen! You seem to have walked a long way! - the woman said. - Please, be my guests! I'm Elizabeth."
She led them into a spacious dining hall and laid the table quite soon. Jari's and Jukka's eyes followed her every step, while Teemu collapsed into a chair, biting his lips.
"Jari... Will you please find the pain-killer?" he asked. "It must be in your backpack."
"Ah?.. Oh, yes, sure," said Jari, unwillingly tearing his gaze from Elizabeth, who was coming back from the kitchen with as much as three bottles of wine and four obsydian goblets. It took the blond quite a time to find the medicine, and when he finally gave it to Teemu, the table was already was laden with food: different sorts of meat and poultry, pies and cakes.
No one could say where all these things came from. But the bandmates were too hungry to care.
Despite the pill, Teemu suffered too much to eat or drink anything. But his bandmates, involved in drinking and chatting with the hostess, did not seem to care any more. Even Jari, who normally would risk his life for his beloved one.
What the fuck was going on?..
On noticing Teemu's distress, Elizabeth encouraged him to drink wine, claiming it would relieve the pain at once. But the young man only touched the goblet with his lips without really drinking and only ate bread to regain strength.
He noticed, that despite her looks, old Elizabeth was as polished as a princess and as swift as a girl. She discussed high, fine things with Jari, especially music. She asked Jari to play and to sing. And then a strange thing happened. The woman invited the front man to dance, and even after he put aside the guitar, the melody was still filling the air...
Did Jari pay attention? Never. Neither did Jukka, hypnotized by the sight of their dance. Teemu approached the bass guitarist and shook him by the shoulder.
"Jukka, we should run away from here. At once!"
"Man, you're insane!" Jukka answered. "Who will leave such a place with such an eye candy for a hostess?"
"Eye candy? She must be well over a hundred years! I bet she only has four teeth!" the rythm guitarist argued.
"Teemu, you're dead-drunk if you speak things like this! The lady's brilliant! Don't like don't watch" Jukka growled.
The next second Teemu saw Elizabeth on Jari's lap, giving him a long passionate kiss. His hands were already trying to find a way under her clothes. Teemu felt his fists clench and tears come once again into his eyes.
Impossible.
Elizabeth laughed and waived to Jukka, inviting him to join her and Jari. For a second, Teemu saw exactly what his bandmates must have seen - a gorgeous lady with long obsydian hair and porcelain skin. But then the vision disappeared, replaced by the monstrous picture of Jari and Jukka kissing and touching the old hag. Most of all the young guitarist wanted to sting his eyes out.
"Will you join us?" Jari's drunken voice asked Teemu. The younger guitarist just stared at his own knees, saying nothing.
"Let's find some other place, boys," Elizabeth said with a mischeivous laugh. "Your friend's not in a mood, so let him drink to his pleasure!"
Teemu was so stunned he couldn't move and almost couldn't breathe. The harridain led his bandmates to the tall doors at the end of the room and closed them, leaving him alone in silence. He buried his face in his arms crossed on the table. How things like this could ever happen?
His reason still resisted the thought about magic. But there was no other way to explain all the wicked things that were going on. He recalled fairy tales from his childhood, where even milder situations did mean a great trouble. The guitarist rushed to the door, but it was closed from inside, and the muffled sounds of the orgy he heard were tearing his heart apart.
Something awful will happen, if he does not act at once. He could not believe old Elizabeth's only wish was to fuck.
He closed his ears and tried to guess why the weird hostess of this place seduced his friends so easily but could not get him laid as well. Did it have anything to do with his excruciating headache? Anne would have asked the Runes, but she was so far away...
The Runes. Perhaps, Jari's notepad would help? Teemu found it in the inner pocket of his friend's jacket. He feverishly thumbed through the pages, but saw nothing that could help him. Suddenly a phrase caught his attention: "Opening the Way". On the next line he saw a relevant runic formula. The trouble wat that he had neither marker, nor pen to copy it on the door.
"Damn it!" Teemu exclaimed, forgetting his headache in the first place. Not wishing to lose time on looking for stationery, he just cut his arm and started writing the formula with his own blood.
While writing, the guitarist was thinking through another question: what he would do with the creature looking like an old woman. It was obviously an evil spirit, and Teemu doubted it was afraid of a crucifiction. Besides, he did not have any. Still, he had a thin silver chain around his wrist and a hatchet.
He touched the bloody inscription, asking it to open the door for him, then pushed it with all the force that he was capable of, and nearly fell, when the door gave way.
Jari, naked, did not react when Teemu stormed into the room. He seemed to have passed out. Jukka still moved and moaned under the woman, whos hair had started to blacken, who looked much younger now and who was sucking greedily at the bass guitarist's neck.
"Now, leave him!" Teemu ordered, making a step forward and clenching the hatched in his hand. Elizabeth reluctantly turned her head but showed no fear. Her lips were red with blood, her narrowed eyes were full of hatred. Teemu noticed some blood on bedsheets and thought that he must have appeared too late.
"First, I'll get rid of you, ugly piece of Elven trash!" she hissed, showing her four long fangs. Her pose now was that of a beast of prey, ready to attack.
Teemu did not have time to ask himself why she called him "Elven trash": the creature threw itself at him at such speed that any ordinary human would be knocked down. However, the guitarist saw her move as quite a slow one and managed to evade the attack. His hatchet whistled in the air, but missed. His next strike reached Elizabeth's head. It would have killed or seriously injured a normal woman, but she hit him so fiercely that the hatchet flew out of his hand, drawing a large curve in the air and nearly hitting Jukka, who was either drowsy or dead.
Not caring about the weapon, Elizabeth fell on her prey and knocked him down on the floor. Her razor-sharp teeth gnashed at his neck, but somehow he managed to protect his throat with his left arm. The creature gave a blood-curdling wail of agony, loosening its grip, as the silver chain got into its mouth.
The next second, Teemu overturned the vampire and hit her with all his force. Stunned, she missed a moment when he tore the chain from his wrist and pressed it to her throat, as if he was going to slice something soft with it...
She struggled, she screamed and attempted to tear her enemy with her claws, as the fine silver thread was burning into her neck. Finally, with a rapid strong move, Teemu sliced the vampires neck open. Dark blood burst into his face. Trembling all over and avidly gulping the air, the young man rose to his feet and went to check on his friends. He had deep wounds all over his face and the traces of the fangs on his wrist. However, the headache troubled him no more.
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