There were bad rumors about the Count's castle in the district. They said the Count's castle was cursed, and that every night some unholy creature came there and killed people.
The warriors in the nearby settlement reported that the Count would welcome anyone who wished to kill the monster.
A man with a hood pulled low over his face and wearing a cloak sat atop a horse in front of the castle gate.
The guards atop the tower asked, "Who are you, and what do you want in the Count's castle?"
"A wanderer. I wish to kill the monster."
Silence hung above. Then the gate groaned as it slowly rose.
The hooded man rode into the inner courtyard.
Several large bonfires burned in the square before the castle. Corpses lay within the flames. Black smoke rose toward the sky.
"Are these the monster's victims?" asked the Cursed.
"No. These are those who didn't survive the icy terror spread by the monster," answered a guard.
He entered the castle with the Cursed.
A cold, piercing wind blew through the gloomy corridor. The Cursed heard a woman's voice. Then he saw a female figure at the end of the corridor: a beautiful, fair-haired girl with blue eyes. She stood and looked at him. The Cursed stopped.
"What is it?" called the guard.
"Don't you see? The fair-haired girl at the end of the corridor?"
The guard looked closely, then shook his head.
"I see no one. Strange things happen in the castle all the time. Ghosts appear, items disappear, people vanish. We stopped paying attention long ago. Only the monster and its crimes matter. All misfortunes and troubles come from it."
They continued down the corridor. But the Cursed no longer saw the fair-haired girl.
The Count sat at his desk in his study. Twilight hung in the room. The windows were almost completely covered with curtains. Apparently, the Count had no interest in what happened outside and had completely closed himself off. Several candles burned, and the fire crackled in the fireplace.
The Count rose to meet them. He nodded to the guard, signaling him to leave.
"So, another volunteer. A hero. What makes you think you can kill the monster that has terrorized us for many years?"
The Cursed pulled back his hood.
"This is why."
The Count's face changed.
"Impossible. Is that really you? So many years have passed."
"Ten years."
"But what happened? How did you survive? We thought you were dead."
"It happened."
Magical inscriptions flared on his face and then faded. Horror reflected on the Count's features.
"Why did you do it? What was the cost?"
"Ten years of life, and every night they hunt me. I have only one chance: reach the throne faster than they reach me."
The Count shook his head incredulously.
"This is madness. But you have always been known for getting into insane messes. Yes, if you have become what you truly have, perhaps only you have any chance to destroy the monster. At midnight it will come to the castle for a new victim. Only two of our family remain: me and my daughter. A few servants and two squads of hunters. Most likely tonight it will come for me or my daughter."
He said this matter-of-factly. It seemed he was no longer worried about the horror he had just described.
"What is it like?"
"We call it the Executioner. It began coming after the Demon took the throne. The King's favorites who refused to serve him were executed. Others joined the Demon's side. He never asked me anything, as if he didn't notice me or I didn't exist. But since then, the plague settled in our castle, and I considered it the price of our servile existence.
It comes where there is darkness and cold. For ten years. Takes whoever it wants, whenever it wants. Without pattern. We know of the misfortune from the screams of the victim because it never gags them. It enjoys their pain and horror.
It drags them to torture chambers, which appeared in the castle with its arrival. Terrible rooms with pools of dried blood and an unhealthy atmosphere. Each has a specific torture device. It uses it on the victim long and deliberately. The torture lasts a whole night. In the morning, we find what remains of the victim. All its behavior and habits indicate it is training and perfecting its mastery of torture.
At first we tried to destroy the torture chambers, but the next day they were intact again, as if some terrifying magical force restored them. And the number of victims tripled each time, as if it was punishing us for our disobedience and resistance.
In the following years, a squad of hunters was formed, who were brave enough to fight the supernatural creature. Others fled at the mere mention of it. Many hunters died, many disappeared without a trace.
Recently, we use the tactic of smaller squads. Two or three people each. We realized it was more effective to fight that way than as one large squad. It allowed us to find it faster and defend better. But to kill it, as you can see, we have not succeeded."
"Where is your daughter now?"
"In her room upstairs. I told her to lock herself in and not go out for the night."
"I need to see her to know who to protect."
"Come. I will take you."
The Count's daughter opened the door and saw the guest. She was not surprised to see him. Just another hunter of the monster. Yet he remembered her from when she was ten years old. And she, apparently, did not remember him. He also noticed that he had seen her figure in the castle corridor below when the guard had led him to the Count.
He noticed the girl was looking at him strangely with her blue eyes, as if she knew something significant but could not say what.
"Daughter, today is a momentous day and the last night of our terror. He has come who will put an end to it all. This is..."
"The Cursed," said the hero.
Magical inscriptions flared on his face and then faded.
"The Cursed?" the girl looked at him carefully. There was no fear in her eyes, the kind that usually appeared on the faces of those who recognized him. "Then I am calm. In the ancient books of prophecy, forbidden by the Demon King, it is written that one day a man from the border of the Kingdom, having made a pact with the Sleeping Demons and becoming the Cursed, will come and overthrow the tyrant from his throne. Tonight I will sleep peacefully, though I know the monster will come for me. But even if I am not destined to see the dawn again, I know we will all be avenged."