At the demon’s ball. Gothic. Natalie Yacobson

gaze flashed with fire again, and he extended his black arms as a sign of his strength.

      “I will destroy anyone who gets in my way, even my own heart,” he shouted. “I will kill you, a human dream, you are dead, Maerlin.

      This mad scream echoed along the entire coast, and the magic rocks themselves seemed to shudder from the hatred and anger that filled it.

      Meanwhile, Roderick quickly ran along the coast to a lonely house. He was supposed to fulfill his vow, but still behind him he heard the dreadful and blood-curdling laugh of the demon. Roderick fled with a drawn sword in his hand, he was ready to fend off any danger, he knew that now all the forces of evil rose up against him. He was helped by a sincere love for the beautiful Emily. Even if she herself died, love for her will live in his soul, in his heart and in himself. He had to keep his vow to Emily, a vow to defeat the forces of darkness at all costs and save her daughter Maerlin. Roderick was ready to keep his oath even at the cost of his life in memory of his love. One thought drove him forward along the sandy coast, past the magical rocks, the witch’s castle and the forces of evil embodied in them. In spite of everything and in spite of all the forces of evil that want to destroy him, he had to win, he had to get to a lonely house by the sea before the demon descended there. A black-bloody fog lay on the ground, and before the eyes of the tired Roderick appeared the grim victims of the vampire devil, who after their death became his voluntary followers. Seeing their crazy and terrible face, Roderick was glad that this did not happen to Emily. A bloody ghost of a fire witch stood in his way at the witch’s rocks. Her wild eyes glared directly at Roderick. Her deathly pale face was like a snow-white mask, shining in the darkness with a predatory grin.

      “Come to me,” she called to Roderick, holding out her long arms to him.

      Her call made the prince run even faster. He gathered all his last strength and tried not to notice either bloody visions or witchcraft fog. At the same time, he did not notice his own fatigue.

      Finally, the ring of rocks ended, and with it their magic power ended.

      Just a little, and he will get there. Roderick saw a fork in three roads, one leading to the sea, one to the rocks, and the third to Emily’s house.

      Where the roads diverged in different directions, there was a stone cross.

      Roderick stopped involuntarily to see what was written on him in small letters that cut deep into the stone. For a moment it seemed to Roderick that a black bird was sitting on the cross, thirsting, as before, for his blood. However, instead of a bird from the darkness creeping on the ground, a huge black wolf appeared with the same bloody eyes glowing in the darkness with magical fire.

      Roderick managed to dodge his jump and found himself on another road. He boldly moved forward along the mysterious road, and nothing could stop him. Now the road turned into a viscous quagmire, then the branches of forest trees clung to him and tore his clothes, then someone reached out to him from the very darkness of the forest.

      A gap had already appeared behind the trees, there, by a small lake, was Emily’s house.

      The root of the tree wrapped itself around Roderick’s feet and, involuntarily falling, he dropped his sword. The earth opened up, and against the background of fire and darkness, the silhouette of a bloody devil clearly loomed. At the very last moment, he managed to jump up from the ground before it fell into the depths of hell. As soon as he raised his sword, everything was quiet again.

      “My God,” Roderick said, gripping the sword tightly in his hands. Only now did he realize that the ground around him was soaked in human blood, rivers of blood had spilled here, but Roderick knew that Emily’s daughter was still alive.

      Suddenly, some strange darkness again enveloped everything around, and in its misty veil on a huge stone near the house there appeared the clear outlines of a slender figure sitting on it in a beautiful dark red dress.

      Or an obsession, or in front of Roderick, Emily was resurrected on a stone. Roderick, bewitched, froze in place. Life and death did not matter anymore. Now only one vision of a blonde beauty existed for him all over the world.

      He did not move, but he could not close his amazed eyes, and only his numb lips, barely obeying him, could whisper:

      “Emily.”

      She sighed heavily, as if bitter sobs were about to burst from her pain-pierced chest, but she did not raise her eyes to look at him, she knew that he was there.

      “Roderick,” she said, and although it was her beautiful, sonorous voice, it seemed now that it didn’t come from her at all, and it didn’t have the same life at all.

      “Roderick,” she repeated with a start, and her pale lips moved strangely in a faint semblance of supplication, but her beautiful face remained the face of a marble statue.

      She shook her head as if in a dream. Her eyes flashed for a moment with a bright dazzling light from under lowered black eyelashes.

      “There is a kingdom of darkness, and a humans’ love cannot disturb it,’ Emily said quietly. ‘How could you leave me there, how could you get out of there at the first onslaught of witchcraft, from which you swore to protect Maerlin, but the dream does not need anyone’s help.

      Perhaps, to the surprised Roderick, it only seemed that in the last words of Emily there slipped some kind of malevolent note that he had heard somewhere before, but could not remember where.

      “I don’t understand,” the prince whispered, but Emily cut him off with a slight movement.

      “Come to me,” she whispered, “forget about everything, don’t leave me. Roderick, not knowing how, but against his will and common sense, involuntarily approached her.

      “Come,” it sounded again in the silence, “don’t leave me”.

      A snow-white hand, still lying motionless on the stone, reached out to him. Roderick almost took the hand outstretched to him, almost touched her shoulder, wanting to calm her.

      “Emily,” he said, already reaching out his hand to her.

      As soon as he touched her shoulder, a shining lightning ran down her and with a sharp blade of a knife struck his palm, forcing him to withdraw his hand, along which blood flowed from a huge wound.

      Roderick stared at Emily in dismay, but it was no longer her, but a monster created by a bloody demon.

      Roderick lifted the fallen sword from the ground with lightning speed and dashed away from the monster. He ran into the house and found himself in a completely different world that kept the memory of Emily. The prince found himself in a long corridor with many doors. Roderick thought Emily was calling him to one of them. Roderick barely touched the handle of this door, and it immediately opened slowly, as if from a gust of witchcraft wind. Roderick froze in amazement on the threshold of the great dark hall. The first thing the prince saw in the hall was a beautiful portrait over an old fireplace. Roderick would recognize him anywhere. Emily’s beautiful face looked at him as if alive from the depths of the picture. If Roderick didn’t know that she was dead, he probably would have thought that she herself was now standing in front of him.

      Roderick involuntarily came very close to the portrait and peered into her face. It hid some kind of secret that no longer remained with the real Emily in the cemetery. This mystery, as if by magic, is now completely transferred to the portrait, giving the beauty’s face a half mysterious, half ominous expression.

      The shadows of evil that had left the repentant soul still continued to live in the portrait and cast their ominous reflection on her beautiful face. Suddenly, Emily’s lips slowly parted into an ominous, secret smile. A tremor ran through Roderick’s entire body in a quivering wave, and perhaps it was fright at the thought that the devil might again take possession of Emily’s soul. A sudden call came from behind him.

      – Roderick.

      He