Chapter 18 Chapter 17 Freedom One Night

The three of them stumbled down the long walkway in front of the library, lined with rows of tall trees, and Cadderly, eager as he was, couldn't help thinking how often he used to see these trees as symbols of his return home .Cadderly's world had changed dramatically over the past few years, but all the previous suffering, not even the deaths of Avery and Pertelope, or the fact that the evil Aballister turned out to be his father, Neither could prepare the young priest for the ultimate upheaval. Cadderly and Pikel had to carry Ivan, the dwarf's head bobbing limply back and forth, his bristly, shaggy yellow hair scratching at Cadderly's exposed skin.The young priest couldn't believe that Ivan's muscular body had grown so heavy.Cadderly had to bend low to get Ivan flattened between him and Pikel, and soon began to tire. "We must find a cave to rest," he reasoned.

The green-bearded dwarf nodded his head up and down in agreement. "Yes, it should be done." A reply came from above.Cadderly and Pikel hurriedly stopped and looked up at the same time, their distraction made them let go of poor Ivan.The unconscious dwarf flew forward, hitting the ground on his face. Rufo crouched on a branch a dozen feet above the group.With an animal snarl—that sound came from him so aptly! ——He jumped out and gently landed on the path behind the two of them.They immediately turned and crouched low to face the vampire. "I've tried to get better as soon as possible," Rufo said reproachfully, and Cadderly could see that the monster was telling the truth.The wound Cadderly had slashed Rufo's cheek with his cane had closed, and the scar Pikel had inflicted with water had turned from red with anger to white.

A wolf howl pierced the night sky. "Did you hear that?" Rufo said nonchalantly, and Cadderly found the vampire's confidence very discouraging.They'd hit Rufo with every weapon they could get their hands on, and yet, here it was, facing them again, and apparently unafraid. Another howl echoed through the night air. "Nocturnal creatures are my servants," said the vampire triumphantly. "They howl because they know I'm around." "How is that possible?" Cadderly asked bluntly. "Why are you around? What the hell did you do, Zirkan Rufo?"

"I found out the truth!" Rufo retorted angrily. "You have fallen into a lie," the young priest quickly corrected.The vampire began to tremble, and Rufo's eyes glowed red with anger, as if he was about to rush forward and strangle his mortal enemy. "Ooh," Pikel muttered, anticipating the vampire's charge, which neither he nor Cadderly could stop. Rufo suddenly calmed down and even smiled. "What do you know?" he asked Cadderly. "You spend your time in useless prayers to a God who just makes you small and unimportant. What do you know? You dare not go beyond the limits Denier has given you."

"You are not allowed to mention his name!" Cadderly warned. Rufo laughed at him.Cadderly knew that the other party was laughing at the god Denir, knew what Zirkan Rufo had become, every bit of it was mocking the god Denir and all good gods, mocking the value of moral justice, even its concept itself.In Cadderly's mind, that was mocking the purpose of life itself. The young priest stared firmly at this tool serving the Twisted Chaos with a pair of gray eyes, and began to sing slowly, forcing the song of Denir into his mind.Fire was needed, Cadderly understood.He needed a fire spell to damage the monster, to burn a wound that could not regenerate.How he wished Dorigen's onyx ring still had magic power!

Cadderly put aside that superfluous and useless thought, and focused on calling out to God Denir.He needs fire to cleanse what is twisted, fire given to him by his god through him.Cadderly began to feel a familiar pain in his head, but Cadderly did not budge, steering his thoughts into the main current of the river of melody. "I've got her!" he heard a triumphant Rufo say, and Cadderly's heart throbbed at that moment, his concentration faltering even though he knew with all his heart that he had to move toward his goal. Pikel let out a shriek and rushed in front of Cadderly, waterskin tucked under his arm.He howled and squeezed, but the waterskin responded with a full blast of air.Pikel looked down at the empty bag, the last drops of water dripping from the edge.Then the dwarf looked at Rufo, and saw the monster glaring at him angrily.

"Ooh," Pikel wailed, before Rufo's backhand slap hit him before he ducked to the side.He rolled and somersaulted several times until he hit a tree, then jumped up, dropped the club again, and performed the same strange dance he had performed in the library corridor. Cadderly did not turn away, and this time he did not and would not retreat from Rufo's presence.The vampire's mention of Danica shattered his focus, pushing him out of the current of Denir's song, and he didn't have time to re-enter it.However, he still has his own beliefs.More than anything, the young Cadderly had the firm belief that he would not show fear in front of this vampire.He stood his ground, raised the holy symbol, and shouted with all the strength he could muster, "Go back!"

Rufo staggered to a halt, and almost took a step back, before finding the strength to resist in the evil surge of the Chaos Curse.However, there was no smile on the vampire's face. Its expression once showed confidence, but now it only showed determination. Cadderly took a step forward, as did Rufo, and they stood facing each other, less than three feet apart. "God Denir," Cadderly said clearly.How much the young priest wished to fall back into his godsong, to find a spell of fire, or a most holy word that would contort the vampire's scrawny form incongruously in waves of agony!However, he couldn't do that, Rufo was too close and too strong.It became a battle of wills, a test of faith, and Cadderly had to hold on to the footing he had found, and he had to actually hold the holy symbol with all his heart and focus.

The air between them seemed to burst into flames, fighting positive and negative energies.Both men were shaking with tension. In the distance, a wolf howled. Every second seemed like an eternity, and Cadderly felt like he was going to explode under the pressure.He could feel Rufo's evil, something tangible, washing over him, denying his faith.He could feel the power of Tandor Chiro Myanche, a poisonous potion he had fought against, a curse that had nearly defeated him and the entire library.Now in human form it was still powerful, but Cadderly had grown older and wiser. Rufo tried to move forward, but his feet couldn't move as he wanted.Cadderly was focused on holding his current position with all his heart.He wasn't expecting Pikel to rush forward like he used to.He expects nothing.His focus is very pure.He'll drag Rufo here until dawn if necessary!

Lightning of green energy slammed into the young priest's ribs.He gasped and flinched reflexively, and by the time he straightened up and barely regained his concentration, Zirkan Rufo had pounced on him, clutching his wrist, and raised one of Cadderly's arms aloft. , so that Denier's emblem is no longer in front of him. "Allies are useful!" Rufo snapped. Cadderly managed a sideways glance and saw Pikel jumping around, swinging his club furiously, chasing a taunting Druzil from the lowest foliage of the nearest tree. Rufo pressed forward, and Cadderly struggled helplessly.Ivan groaned on the ground behind him—Cadlier was rather surprised that the dwarf had regained consciousness.However, Ivan couldn't help, not this time.

"I've got her," Rufo said again, convinced that he was about to win, and even though Cadderly was furious, he was in such a disadvantaged position that he couldn't do anything against the vampire's prodigious power.Rufo was bending him back, and he felt like his back was going to snap. The vampire jerked violently, and then again, and then Rufo straightened up, taking the pressure off Cadderly's back.Rufo twitched and moaned again, his features contorted in pain. When the fourth thrust hit it, Rufo threw Cadderly back to the ground, then turned so sharply that Cadderly saw four long arrows protruding from his shoulder blades.The fifth arrow swished and struck Rufo in the chest, causing him to stumble, his red eyes widening in surprise. Xuelin continued to advance steadily, calmly put another arrow on the bowstring, and shot it accurately into the vampire's body.On the other side, Pikel, weary of the futile chase, emerged from the woods, club held aloft, and aimed at Rufo.The dwarf skidded to a halt between Cadderly and the vampire, club at the ready. Rufo spun around suddenly, throwing his hand out in the air, sending a wave of energy that momentarily froze Pikel. "Come for your love, Cadderly," spat the vampire, paying no heed to another arrow that went into its side. "I will wait for you." Rufo's figure blurred, and a puff of green smoke rose around it, engulfing the vampire.Pikel woke up from the hypnosis, shook his head so hard, his thick lips crackled, that he was dizzy, but then he froze suddenly, as Xuelin shot an arrow directly through the hole. A disembodied vampire shot his club hard. "Oh," the dwarf muttered, eyeing the arrow. "How long is it going to play this trick?" Ivan roared, and both Cadderly and Pikel turned sharply, startled by the roar. Cadderly sat back on his knees, staring straight at the tough dwarf—tough indeed, because the wound on Ivan's body that the young priest once thought was nearly fatal seemed to be less serious now! Ivan noticed the stare, blinked in response, and raised his left hand to reveal the ring that Vander had given him when he parted them.Cadderly recognized the item, it was a healing device, capable of even bringing the wearer back from the dead, so it finally made sense to him. At least everything to do with Ivan.The young priest stood up, looked back to the other side, and looked at Xuelin.What is she doing here?And how much did she know about Danica's situation? "I just turned around." Xuelin greeted and approached the three, as if she could clearly see Cadderly's series of questions. "I left Danica and Dorigen yesterday at a pass quite high from here, and was supposed to be halfway to Simista." "But?" Cadderly urged. "I saw smoke," Xuelin explained. "And your friend Percival came to me. I knew something was wrong in the library then, but..." She paused at Cadderly's expression, and the young priest leaned forward, eyes wide and mouth open expectantly. "But I don't know what happened to Danica after that," Xuelin said, and Cadderly sank back to his standing position.Rufo had told him of Danica's fate, and now that Shereen had confirmed that Danica and Dorigen had arrived at the library, he found he could no longer deny the vampire's claim.Besides, knowing what had happened to the library, and the obvious possibility that Danica and Dorigen had stepped into it so directly, Cadderly believed he understood where the fire in the chapel had come from.It was not easy to generate the typical flames that would burn so badly a room in a stone library, as there was so little fuel to support it.However, the magician's fireball spell (and Dorigen is quite good at this kind of magic) is enough. "It wasn't just fire that hit the library," Cadderly answered the elf gravely. "Rufo has turned into some kind of evil monster." "A vampire," Xuelin said. Cadderly nodded. "And there are other monsters." "One is missing." Xuelin replied, and the three friends looked at her curiously. "I found Headmaster Thobex at the back of the library," the elf explained, "in the burial crypt. He was also undead, but I think it was sun-damaged and not that strong." "And you beat it?" Ivan asked, and the dwarf sounded and looked nothing like he was seriously injured. Xuelin nodded.She approached Pikel and yanked out the arrow buried deep in the dwarf's stick in the trunk.It was pulled out with a pop, and Xuelin held up its tip for the others to see.In the moonlight, the sharp arrowheads shone bright gray. "Silver arrow tip." Xuelin explained. "The purest metal that undead monsters can't ignore. But I'm afraid I don't have much left," she explained, pointing to her nearly empty quiver. "We encountered a few trolls..." "We know," Ivan said. "I got some of those arrows back, and I got all the arrows I used against Headmaster Thobicus," Xuelin said. "But Zirkan Rufo just took a few more, so I'm afraid I'm running low on arrow points left." To emphasize the point, she reached for a small pouch on her belt and shook it quickly. "My ax can't hurt those monsters," Ivan said angrily. "Where's the diamond?" Xuelin asked, nodding expectantly. "Neither the substance nor the iron will work," Ivan explained. "My Frisbee can't hurt Rufo either," Cadderly added. "But my cane—" He held up the magical ram's-headed cane in front of him. "—it's magical, and it's made of silver. It's a blow to Rufo." Ivan nodded his head up and down in agreement, and both he and Cadderly looked at each other curiously.At the same time, they slowly turned their heads to look at Pikel, and Pikel hid the stick behind his back in embarrassment. "It's just a stick," Ivan said, slipping up to his brother and pulling the huge weapon out from behind Pikel. "I watched him get it out of the trunk of a dead tree!" "It's just a stick," Cadderly agreed. "But it still hurt Rufo." Pikel leaned over and whispered a few words next to Ivan's ear, and after the members of the Stone Shoulders family with yellow beards heard it, their eyes lit up suddenly. "He said it wasn't a stick," Ivan explained to Cadderly. "My brother calls it..." Ivan glanced back at Pikel questioningly, and Pikel hopped back on tiptoe and whispered to Ivan again. "Call it like a rolling tree," Ivan explained cheerfully. Cadderly and Xuelin repeated the strange phrase together, and then Cadderly figured it out. "It's acorns," he said, and for a moment it made perfect sense that acorns were a magic staff that druids used often.Such weapons can indeed harm a vampire.Of course, after a while, things didn't make sense at all—where did Pikel get a druid's magic wand? "And water?" Cadderly asked Pikel. The proud dwarf jumped up and tiptoed and brought his mouth to Ivan's ear. Yiwen's expression became disappointed, because he also began to figure it out, and began to understand the impossibility of this whole thing. "Druid water!" he said gruffly, his voice flat. "Doo?" Pikel said sharply. The curious stare returned, and all three wondered what had happened to Pikel.Xuelin and Ivan had seen Pikel tame a snake at Walled Trinity, but unlike the stick and water situation, there could be other explanations for that incident.Yet these events... could there be any explanation other than that Pikel had acquired some level of druidic magic? However, with so much going on, this is not the time to get to the bottom of it, or question the good fortune they apparently have.Cadderly, Shailene, and even Evan were tacit, and if they told Pikel firmly enough that there was no way a dwarf could become a druid, he would probably just believe them.And doing so would do no good at all, it would only make them less armed against Rufo. "So we do have a way of attacking Rufo," Cadderly announced firmly, ending the discussion. "We have to go back to the library." Pikel's smile disappeared, and Ivan was already shaking his head, and Cadderly hadn't even finished the proclamation. "Wait until morning," Xuelin interjected. "If Danica and Dorigen are there, and we don't know where they are, there's nothing we can do for them tonight. Trust them. Rufo is strongest in the dark." The howl of one wolf pierced the night, another responded, then a third and a fourth. "And the vampires are gathering their power," Xuelin continued. "Let's stay away from this place. In the night, the only right choice is to keep moving." Cadderly looked back at the library.Despite Xuelin's words, he knew in his heart that Danica was there.Dorigen was there too, though the young priest had a terrible feeling that something had happened to the magician.However, Xuelin's description of Rufo is indeed true.It's Rufo's moment, and soon his gang will surround them.Cadderly couldn't beat Rufo, not at night, not in the library. He agreed and followed the elf maiden's lead, and she led them into the woods, while Pikel delayed to refill his bag with fresh water in a nearby stream.