A few hours later, we were still deep in our search, with no leads whatsoever on this damn mythological creature.
Suddenly, Riven stood up, a satisfied smile on his lips, as if he had just solved an impossible problem.
"Hey, I'm going to grab something to drink. Want anything?"
I answered with a simple shake of my head, eyes glued to the screen. My fingers stayed frozen on the keyboard. Sitting there, I wondered if we were on the wrong track. Out of habit, I swept my hair back, my mind already shifting to the next step: how to upload that photo onto our BLACKDOG without raising any alarms.
When Riven returned with an orange juice bottle in hand, he took a sip and offered it to me.
"If siphoning worked on corpses, it would make our job a hell of a lot easier. Here, try it. It's cold."
I looked up. A sharp, brilliant idea struck me. I shot to my feet.
"You're surprisingly inventive today."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Okay…?"
I grabbed his arm.
"Follow me."
"Where to?"
"You'll see."
We stormed out, slamming the door behind us.
The car soon pulled up at the edge of the forest. Night had already wrapped the trees in a cloak of ink. We opened the trunk; I pulled out two shovels and two old rags.
Riven frowned.
"What's all this?"
"A treasure hunt."
"We're not supposed to be here. It's forbidden."
I vaulted over the fence the forest rangers had put up, landing softly on the other side.
"Rules are made to be broken."
He joined me, grumbling.
"We're gonna be in deep shit if we get caught."
"We'll be in deeper shit if you keep talking this much."
The crunch of dead leaves under our boots sounded like a sinister ASMR in the oppressive silence of the forest. The air was thick with humidity and a damp, almost rotten earthy smell.
"What the hell are we doing here? You still haven't answered."
I stopped dead and turned to face him.
"We're going to dig up some corpses."
Riven froze.
"Oh no. No way. I'm not touching dead bodies."
I locked eyes with him, my voice low and cutting.
"If we don't do this, you, me, and the others—we all risk dying. Is that what you want? If yes, turn around and die quietly. If not, keep moving."
He hesitated, jaw clenched. Fear and loyalty battled in his eyes.
"We're probably going to die anyway," I added coldly.
I pushed open the rusty gate of the old cemetery. It let out a long, piercing creak that sent a shiver down my spine.
"Here we are. Let's get to work."
"Which grave do we start with?" he asked, his voice a little too high.
"We search them all."
"I knew you were crazy…"
The cemetery stretched out before us like a labyrinth of weathered tombstones covered in moss and wild grass. Hundreds of graves. Like looking for a needle in a haystack… filled with other needles. We split up: me to the left, him to the right.
The night swallowed us completely. Cold seeped under our clothes, dampness clung to our skin. Our shovels struck the earth with a dull, rhythmic thud.
After a long while, Riven called out, breathless:
"Pure coincidence… what's the name of the person we're looking for again?"
I froze.
"Samuela Miller."
"Wait… we've been digging for hours and you're only telling me now?!"
"I thought you had it in mind."
We continued in silence. Suddenly, his tone changed completely.
"Ohhh… I thought we'd found something."
"What?"
"My grandmother's grave. And my grandfather's. That's… wild."
"Riven…"
"Sorry."
A moment later, his voice shifted again.
"Oh shit…"
"If it's one of your parents, we stop right now."
"No. Samuela Miller. We found her."
I walked over to him, my heart pounding harder. The tombstone, eroded but still legible, seemed to mock us, forever etched in our memories.
Without a word, I drove my shovel into the damp soil. The earth gave way with a spongy sound. Riven hesitated for a second, then joined me.
We dug for nearly thirty minutes. Sweat stung our eyes despite the cold, our muscles burned, and blisters formed on our palms. The silence was broken only by the metallic clink of shovels and our ragged breathing.
Finally, my shovel struck something hard. A hollow, ominous sound.
Our eyes met. Finally.
We hauled the coffin to the surface. It was abnormally heavy. Riven grunted:
"Why the hell is this thing so heavy? What did she eat before she died?"
"I'll remind you she doesn't have any organs left."
Together, we finally managed to pull it completely out. We collapsed onto the ground, panting, a mix of relief and dread washing over us.
"We're finally going to find out who wants to exterminate us," I murmured as I stood up.
Riven opened the coffin. A sickening, sickly-sweet stench of death burst out, so powerful it clawed at our throats. Yet inside lay only a clean, almost unnaturally white skeleton. Samuela Miller.
"Why does it smell like this if she's nothing but bones?"
"That's not our biggest problem right now."
I carefully lifted the skeleton and laid it on the cold ground. Riven stood behind me, tense.
"What do we do now?"
I knelt down and placed my hands on both sides of the skull.
"I'm going to siphon."
I closed my eyes, searching for the faint thread of her soul, a connection, a memory… Nothing. Absolute emptiness.
"Do you see anything?" Riven asked, nervous.
"Not yet."
I pushed harder, forcing the connection like breaking down a locked door. Still nothing.
"And now?"
I stood up abruptly, frustration boiling inside me.
"Either her soul has vanished forever—which is impossible—or someone or something is deliberately blocking access to it."
Suddenly, a calm, mocking voice rose from the darkness:
"I suggest you choose option two. It's the most appropriate for your situation."
The trees rustled violently. The sky growled. Heavy raindrops crashed down all at once, cold and relentless, soaking us in seconds. The smell of wet earth mixed with the stench of death.
I knew that voice. All too well.
Riven and I spun around at the same time. A silhouette dropped lightly from a low branch.
Riven's eyes flashed a pale yellow. A deep, primal growl rose from his throat as he took a threatening step forward.
The stranger smiled in the darkness.
"It's been so long… Jäher von Tod."
Riven lunged. With a single precise kick, the man sent him flying into a tree. The impact echoed through the night.
"Calm down, flea bag."
I clenched my fists, rain streaming down my face.
"You haven't been missed much, Jayden Spencer Park."
"You still remember me? I'm flattered."
"Where's your worthless brother?"
"He wouldn't like hearing that. And he's not around here."
"What are you doing here?"
He began circling us slowly, like a predator.
"To be honest… I don't even know myself."
"Why did you block my connection to her?"
"I didn't cut it. I simply… ordered her spirit to see you as a threat. To stay away from you."
"Why?"
"You always ask so many questions."
"Shut the hell up and unblock her soul. How did you even do it?"
A carnivorous smile stretched his lips.
"A magician never reveals his secrets."
He vanished in a swirl of shadow and rain. The downpour intensified, hammering the graves like war drums.
Riven got up painfully, wiping blood from his split lip.
"Who the hell was that guy? He's freakishly strong…"
I stared at the spot where he had stood, my heart still racing.
"You shouldn't even know who he is."