In the days following the Great Covenant, I didn't sleep much as I wondered what more I could do about the Witches of the Night. I didn't know where they were going to attack next since all of their enemies I knew about had already been defeated. I constantly looked in the newspapers for signs of their activities, but never found anything. Someone must have been cleaning the locations of their attacks.
440Please respect copyright.PENANAuDJBmhS5dg
Then I remembered - The Organization! They must have been the ones who were hiding the Witches of the Night activities. If they were, they would certainly also be frustrated by the highly visible nature of the attacks.
440Please respect copyright.PENANAemej3p3twO
I didn't have direct contact with the Organization, but I knew that they monitored my old blog - terceirarealidade.wordpress.com - because they would occasionally send me articles or changes that they wanted me to publish through untraceable messages. As such, I wrote an article about the Witches of the Night, hoping the Organization's frustration with them would make them contact me directly.
440Please respect copyright.PENANAVf3urqtdf3
The very next day, my plan bore fruit. At the end of the day, after I left work, Almeida was waiting for me next to my car.
440Please respect copyright.PENANARYIehg7iT4
"So, you're also investigating the Witches of the Night," he said as soon as I approached, getting straight to the point.
440Please respect copyright.PENANAORHVzBn5WG
I started to tell him what I knew, but he then interrupted me.
440Please respect copyright.PENANArmKvAxQ1fO
"Not here," he said.
440Please respect copyright.PENANAY2svX0O272
He then took me to a black car with tinted windows that was parked nearby.
440Please respect copyright.PENANAst4rcFKxFy
"Now we can talk."
440Please respect copyright.PENANAXV5nSN80OG
For over an hour, I told him all that I had discovered about the Witches of the Night. Halfway through, I had to call my wife to tell her I would be late.
440Please respect copyright.PENANAVGXhqtGDBb
Almeida was very interested in everything that I had to say, and even asked a few question to clarify some points.
440Please respect copyright.PENANAxwmWvRCcwK
"I wonder what’s at the bottom of that lake in Tibães," he wondered when I finished. "The Witches of the Night's soldiers surely went somewhere."
440Please respect copyright.PENANAy22wjLxSo1
I didn't know what to say, so I just shrugged.
440Please respect copyright.PENANAnhGHtmDGIa
"I hope you're not busy tonight. We're going to drain the lake."
440Please respect copyright.PENANApUSMBK49bl
Almeida’s tone showed that it was more of an order than an invitation. So, while he phoned for the equipment and manpower to drain the lake, I called my wife to tell her I was going to be even later than I thought. She wasn't very happy as I had been coming home late too often, but she ended up agreeing.
440Please respect copyright.PENANAD8rmDJ2Bfd
Once Almeida finished his calls, he ordered the driver to take us to the Tibães Monastery.
440Please respect copyright.PENANAsiRiqVtJh1
As expected, we arrived there long before the draining equipment, and Almeida took advantage of this time to (again) hear what I knew about the Witches of the Night in case he had missed something the first time. We only left the car when the rest of his men arrived.
440Please respect copyright.PENANA8K2DcuXYHj
Contrary to what happened on my previous visit, we didn't have to jump any walls to enter the monastery fields since the Organization contacted someone to open the door for us.
440Please respect copyright.PENANAZ9cQMUHFMt
Almeida and I quickly went through the paths beneath the vines and in-between other cultures before reaching the lake. It wasn't very different from when I saw it last time - it was only missing the cloaked figures of the Witches of the Night next to the stone from which flowed the water that filled it.
440Please respect copyright.PENANAqhA2z3qfsH
While their mates assembled the equipment to drain the lake, some of Organization's men searched the forest for signs of the creatures that had been summoned by the Witches of the Night. Although weeks had passed, they still found faded footprints and broken branches, confirming my story.
440Please respect copyright.PENANA1YtFG7Oj8O
Gradually, the lake bed became exposed. At first, there seemed to be no place where the Witches of the Night's army could have gone, but soon, a tunnel appeared under the Eastern shore. However, we couldn't investigate it immediately since the pump still took about an hour to drain enough water to clear a path to it.
440Please respect copyright.PENANAIKYDmUyYwz
After putting on tall rain boots, myself, Almeida, and some of his men stepped into the lake's mud. Advancing was difficult because, with every step, we'd get buried halfway to the shins, but we finally reach the tunnel 's mouth.
440Please respect copyright.PENANAoOgBXdkdOl
We pointed the lanterns into the interior. The floor, the ceiling, and the walls were made of earth. Ahead, on the edge of the area illuminated by the lanterns, there was a sharp bent in the tunnel, so we entered, curious about what was beyond. The Organization's men, armed with automatic rifles, went up front with Almeida and I behind.
440Please respect copyright.PENANAkVMwwOOWt5
A connection to the tunnels under the city of Braga, a cave that the army of the Witches of the Night could use as barracks and many other possibilities went through my mind as to what we would find around the bend. However, we found was the only thing I didn't expect: nothing. About three dozen meters after the bend, the tunnel simply ended.
440Please respect copyright.PENANAPBH28YKUK1
Frustration immediately appeared on Almeida's face. Incredulous, I advanced till I reached the end of the tunnel. Perhaps there were signs of a collapse and that it hid the rest of the passage. But before I got to the wall of earth, it vanished.
440Please respect copyright.PENANAyCpPNUePcr
Stunned, I pointed my flashlight back and realized that Almeida and his men were no longer there. It was only when a cool breeze led me to look further did I realized what had happened. Nothing and no one had disappeared. I was no longer in the tunnel, but in a huge clearing surrounded by distant trees. Here and there, I could see the huge, dark silhouettes of mountains covering the stars.
440Please respect copyright.PENANAe4lqSxhYEX
Moments later, Almeida appeared behind me. At first, he seemed as confused as I was, but he soon realized what had happened.
440Please respect copyright.PENANAYCkgNNjbu7
"Teleport" he said, surprised. "The Witches of the Night are even more powerful than I thought."
440Please respect copyright.PENANA5snBwEkJPG
We quickly inspected the site and immediately found campfire remains and makeshift shelters. This was a campground for the Witches of the Night's army, or at least it had been.
440Please respect copyright.PENANAZGcEhDQfhO
"How do we get back?" I asked.
440Please respect copyright.PENANA5XP8j4C3bo
"Let's see if we can get back by taking the reverse path. If not, I'll have to call a helicopter. But, before we do that, let me first mark the coordinates of this location on my phone."
440Please respect copyright.PENANAI95kjt6FzJ
When he finished, we tried to go back to the same place where we appeared in that clearing. As Almeida predicted, we found ourselves in the tunnel again in the blink of an eye.
440Please respect copyright.PENANAOMaJlooKSM
We no longer had anything to do there, and since the investigation of the Witches of the Night camp would have to wait for daylight to be thorough, Almeida took me back to my car in the City.
440Please respect copyright.PENANAtwZwm0MaGo
When I opened the door to leave, he told me, "We'll keep in touch. Your experience and knowledge about the Witches of the Night might prove useful again."
440Please respect copyright.PENANA0e2ubfplV8
As soon as I got into my car, the Organization's departed.
440Please respect copyright.PENANAFt3ltAmia7
So, for the first time in awhile, I went home satisfied after an investigation. We didn't discover the intentions of the Witches of the Night or their whereabouts, but we found their army's camp which would certainly lead to new discoveries. I just hoped that Almeida was being sincere when he said that he would keep in touch.
440Please respect copyright.PENANAfukXfcWGIb