Artemesia Family/Jeherad/Diary of Night/03
Part 3
June 14, 952: A week has passed now, and I believe I am now recovered enough to describe what happened. There were ten of us left, and we were starving for days. Our navigator took it worst out of all of us. He died on the sixth. I hope that whomever reads this refrain from judging us too hastily, for we were in dire need of food, and none was to be found in the ashen black earth of the volcano. We were all going crazy from want of food and drink, and one of the crewmen was occasionally grasping his knife as if he meant to kill one of us. But thankfully that did not occur because the navigator died. For a day we argued about how to treat the body. I wanted to give him a proper burial, but only one other took my side. The remaining seven all let their bestial natures consume them. In the end, we butchered the body and crudely roasted the parts over a fire. When one of the crewmen offered me a piece, I refused. But after smelling the sickening meat, I eventually felt faint from hunger. What good are the standards of society when one is dead? (The original line actually read: But after smelling the repulsive yet alluring flesh, I felt faint from hunger. What good is honor to a dead man?)
June 15, 952: Without our navigator guiding us for the past week, we have wandered into very unknown territory. We know not in which direction we move, nor whether we are moving at all. We have seen no one but our own. Even as we passed several huts, entering them on our way, we found them deserted. Or rather, not deserted but vacant. There must have been inhabitants, for the food and water was still fresh. Yet that unsettles some of us even more. Still, we are sustained by the food we find, and we can move better with our stomachs full.
February 20, 935: My liege had requested that I hold the line even if the other units break formation. Looking at the approaching armies, I believe that today will be my last battle. I can already see the dust clouds from the horses' hooves, and the claws of their riders, mouths gaping in large maws of teeth. The many eyes stare at me, yellow bulbous orbs, beckoning me to become one with their spawn. I answer heartily and with glee, for the mother is soon awakening to reclaim his throne.
(That entry was transcribed faithfully, as written. Care was taken to maintain that the Feb 20, 935 entry was preserved verbatim. I believe that this entry was due to the effects of a drug or drugs placed in the food and water the survivors found in the natives' huts. Strangely enough, when Jeherad makes his next entry, the date appears reasonable. However, I must advise taking caution with all subsequent dates, as I do not believe Jeherad's sense of time is very reliable in the entries to come.)
June 16, 952: Something happened to Charles, the crewman with the knife. Last night we scattered when we heard approaching things, with fast and heavy steps. We also heard some growls. All we could think about last night was running from whatever was after us, but always the growling and the sound of hoofbeats would be ahead of us, as if they were waiting for us to run to them. But nothing touched any of us, except Charles. We found him this morning, or at least we found his head, lying on the ground, with one eye missing, and the tongue partially chewed off. We saw the bite marks on his neck. They looked sharp, and very numerous. But there was not much blood around his head, as if it was drained from his body first. We are down to eight now.
June 17, 952: We can spot the silhouette of a fortress of some sort through the thick ash. All eight of us have agreed to go towards that place, hoping that we would find some sort of civilization there. Last night, we heard growling again, but it sounded distant. We are glad, for none of us wants to be the next victim.
June 18, 952: There was another human. I swear I saw someone moving near one of the huts. But when we examined the area, there was no one to be found. The castle looks clearer now, and it should only be a few days before we reach it at last.
(At this time I managed to gain entry into the Ruins of Walfurgisnacht in order to gain a better understanding of what Jeherad saw and experienced. Also, there are symbols I do not recognize later in the diary, that perhaps one of the natives, or perhaps one of the Guardians, can translate.)
