Castlevania Nocturne: A Guardian's Tale (Part 1)

Hall of the Angels

Emma detected the change of pressure when she swallowed. "You said you'd lead us outside. We're going deeper underground."

"I told you we have to travel down before we can head up." The hermit responded, holding his torch. "Have a little faith in me, young lady, I know what I'm doing."

"Young lady?" That left a bad taste in Emma's mouth. "I might not look it, but I am much older than you."

"No you're not." The hermit brushed her off. He turned to the left dipping under an arch with painted horses galloping above  them. "Watch your head." The hermit advised. "Stay close to me, the path gets narrow."

Emma kept close to her guide, and as the torchlight faded and her orb diminished, she grew uneasy.  What if he's leading me into a trap, and he's in league with the vampires? I've seen that before.

"Why would I ever be in league with the murderous leeches that killed my father?" The hermit turned his head, giving Emma a sharp glance.

"What!? I didn't say-." Emma backed away shocked. "Are you a fucking mind-reader!?"

The middle aged man huffed in exhaustion. "I meant it when I swore I would never hurt you. I need you to trust me. Please, for your own sake."

"I don't have a choice." Emma hissed through her teeth.  "Who are you? You're not just a crazy old hermit living in a cave."

"I am not." The hermit admitted.  "Come. We're nearly through. Watch your head, once you get through you'll be in a wide chamber."

Emma followed his lead and sensed the space open up around her. It was pitch black where she couldn't see her own hand in front of her face. A cold sweat ran down her spine, and her glyphs prickled. She felt  lost and trapped.

"You're safe." The hermit reassured her. "Can you  make another light?"  Emma took a deep breath and summoned a great orb, illuminating the chamber and revealing its wonders. She gaped, nearly collapsing on her feet.

Emma and  hermit stood in a cavern painted  with the images of humanoid birdlike figures. It was the first time she saw paintings of creatures other than animals, though one would have easily mistaken them as animal-human  hybrids. Emma knew exactly what they were.

"Angels." Her eyes welled . Real angels. Not the pretty men and women in robes with wings and halos. Angels of how they actually looked,at least the  choirs more connected to the Earth. Like her  brethren, the Watchers.

Emma wandered the curved perimeter of the cavern, gazing in wonder at the angels flying above and around her, careful to avoid stepping on  the fossilized bones  of birds, rams, and deer. In the  center of the chamber, she noticed a darker patch on the ground. Remnants of ancient fire.  Emma wondered if this was a ceremonial chamber thousands of years ago . Humanity has always revered my  mother's people long before the days they had names for them.

The wall in the back of the chamber  drew her attention. Her pupils shrunk , and she approached with her racing heart thundering . The  wall was decorated with hundreds of human hand-prints, all surrounding the clawed hand-print of a larger, birdlike creature. Emma covered her mouth, shuddering. An Egrigori. Her kin. Her family.

For all she knew, that could have been her very own mother's print on the wall.

Emma softly touched her palm to the angel's print, closing her eyes, truly connecting with her angelic heritage for the first time in her three hundred and ten years of life.

She heard a still breath and opened her eyes to the hermit standing beside her, his hand next to hers on the Egrigori's mark. His sleeve hung back, revealing the glyphs on his arms.