Absolute Silence

Cecilion stood at the top of the bell tower overlooking the whole city. He held both of his hands behind him. His wide cloak rattled in the wind.

The clouds drifted across the sky and covered the moon. In this dark night, the whole city fell asleep. There was nothing but silence in the air.

This peaceful city was the fourth stop for Cecilion and Carmilla. After passing through this place, they would be in the interior of the Moniyan Empire where the Blood Demons could never lay their hands on them. Cecilion and Carmilla kept heading north after leaving the Castle Aberleen. Chasing after them were the Blood Demons and the pursuers from the Castle Aberleen.

To take away his lover from the graveyard, Cecilion’s identity, which he tried so hard to conceal for so many years, was exposed. Alice, who have deemed Cecilion and his people as traitors, went after Cecilion herself. Meanwhile, Carmilla’s father, Earl Aberleen sent a lot people to go after Cecilion to take his daughter back, dead or alive.

Overlooking the whole city, Cecilion dashed downward from the tower and fell in a dim yard. In the shadow, Carmilla was leaning against the wall, pale. Since Carmilla revived from the death with Cecilion’s blood, she was unable to control the power of Blood Demon and was haunted by her thirst for blood from time to time. Tortured by battle, and the pain of continuously running from enemies, Carmilla became extremely feeble and weak.

Cecilion held Carmilla in his chest and caressed her back, trying to ease her. However, Carmilla was suffering from extreme pain and began to breathe heavily.

“After tonight, we will arrive in the interior of the Moniyan Empire. There, the Blood Demons can never take one step.”

“Wherever we go, we will be with each other and never be separated.” Staring at the dim moonlight, Cecilion kissed Carmilla on her cheek.

“Are we… able to see… the moonlight… tomorrow?” Carmilla opened her eyes and glanced behind Cecilion.

“Rattle, rattle, rattle…” Scary sounds of footsteps broke the silence and echoed in the night.

Suddenly, the whole yard was flooded with bloody mist. Numerous ugly Blood Demons, with scary faces due to the effects from the abyss, loomed in the mist. Alice, surrounded by thousands of bats, walked towards Carmilla and Cecilion, laughing sarcastically.

“What a beautiful show, Cecilion.” She said tenderly, staring at Cecilion.

“Don’t worry, you will die together. I’ll personally make sure of it.” Alice kept laughing arrogantly with obvious sarcasm.

“These bugs? And you?” Cecilion laughed disdainfully and held Carmilla tight. He carefully placed Carmilla behind him and raises his wand towards Alice. He’s determined that no one would ever take away his lover from him, no matter what price he would have to pay.

The bloody mist spread out, like crimson flowers in the night. A bunch of inferior Blood Demons dashed towards Cecilion. With a strong surge of energy, those ugly creatures were eliminated, growling. However, more and more Blood Demons kept pouring in. Cecilion fought against them, waving his wand. With each wave, the bodies of the Blood Demons piled up. The city was lit by the dramatic fight. Under the bright light, Cecilion moved to and fro, fighting against those inferior creatures.

Alice watched the fight, frowning. She had calculated incorrectly. She underestimated Cecilion’s determination. The longer they fought, the higher the risk that they would attract the humans who were also after Cecilion. And they were hard to defeat.

Watching more and more Blood Demons die, Alice was not eager to strike. She wanted to find Cecilion’s flaw and deal a lethal strike. Suddenly, she saw Carmilla behind Cecilion. A conspirational smile emerged on her mouth – that’s Cecilion’s lethal weakness. In this world, love is the biggest weakness.

In an instant, Alice dashed towards Carmilla with an inconceivable speed. Cecilion saw Alice’s movement from the corner of his eyes.

In a blink of an eye, the two figures flashed by. Alice landed scornfully wwhereas Cecilion fell heavily on the ground – he had protected Carmilla with his own body.

Blood oozed slowly from Cecilion’s mouth. His face grew more pale under the moonlight. He was severely wounded and was unable to fight anymore. Alice strode towards them, mocking.

“Cecilion!” “No!” Staring at Cecilion, Carmilla couldn’t stop the blood in her body from boiling. The thirst for blood had been turned into power and kept pouring from her body.

Then, the bloody mist filled all the sky. However, unlike the regular one, which looked creepy and crimson, this time, the mist bloomed like flowers. Amidst strong light, Alice shrieked with surprise. She couldn’t believe what happened and retreated into the darkness.

Soon, the yard regained its tranquility. After the bloody mist disappeared, Carmilla showed up and fell into Cecilion’s arms.

They were exhausted and extremely feeble.

However, the peace didn’t last for long. A low voice broke the tranquility. Several figures were silhouetted against the darkness. With them, a thick mist hung, just like the mist looming over Castle Aberleen.

Here came the pursuers of Aberleen’s family and they came so fast.

Cecilion used all his strength to stand up and held Carmilla in his chest, looking around, alert. Carmilla fought against Alice with a surprising outburst. But now, they didn’t have any strength to fight against anyone anymore. Those people have been fighting all kinds of demons harassing the south of the empire. They were so experienced and powerful, which made them appear to be unstoppable.

“Leave me here and run, Cecilion! They are under my father’s order and they won’t do anything to me.” Carmilla tried to wipe away the blood around Cecilion’s mouth with her last strength.

“No, this time, I would never leave you behind.” Cecilion pressed Carmilla into his chest and grabbed his wand tightly. He had prepared to embrace the end of his life.

With more and more people gathering on the roof, they were surrounded. There was no escape for them. Maybe that was the end of their story. However, Cecilion and Carmilla had no regrets. They looked at each other and recalled their past.

Suddenly, all the people on the roof stopped moving. They grabbed their weapons, nervous. However, that was not Cecilion that they were afraid of.

“You could go.” Cecilion turned around and saw a figure at the center of the yard. This person looked so familiar. Suddenly, it occurred to Cecilion that this man was Gusion, the rebellious lad of the Paxley family and, also, the most famous swordsman in the Castle Aberleen.

“I recognize this sword.” Cecilion raised up and said.

However, Gusion seemed to not hear him at all. He just took a glance at Carmilla, emotionlessly.

“Take good care of her.”

“And you, you owe me a favor.” Then, Gusion walked in front of them slowly and took out his sword, aiming at the pursuers on the roof.

Cecilion took Carmilla up and staggered into the alley. In the sky, the moon grew darker and darker. The sun will soon rise.