“Look at that castle,” Ion pointed at a distance.

   “I see it," said Alfred, staring at the old structure up a hill. “What about it?”

   “According to folk tales,” said Ion,  “it used to belong to actual kings of the land. No one had used it since the war.”

   “What happened during the war?” asked Alfred.

   “I forgot,” said Ion, “but I do know how it ended. A rival army besieged the town, and slew both the king and queen. The castle has since been abandoned.”

   “I see,” said Alfred. “Does anyone ever visit?”

   “Only a few,” said Ion. “There is a legend; the king and queen supposedly had a heir, sleeping in the castle till the right time to bring back the kingdom. Such myth had been luring in tourists, and kept the nomads revisiting the area for generations.”

   With his hand on his mouth, a memory came back to Ion. “Come to think of it,“ he said, “those who visited ended up running and screaming. Something about bats and monsters  attacking.”

   “Bats and monsters?” asked Alfred.

   “That's what I heard,” said Ion.

   “Now we have to look around it! Come on!” said Alfred, running towards the castle, bewildering Ion.

   “Alfred! Wait up!" bellowed Ion, giving chase.

   Both boys crossed over the broken bridge linking the castle to the plains. Soon after, they made themselves through the castle’s partially opened gate. Filled with darkness, it was hard to see the hall at first sight.

   “I can't see anything,” said Alfred.

   “Give it a minute,” said Ion. “Our eyes haven't dilated yet.”

   Ion then opened the gate slightly, with rusty hinges making crackling sounds, to allow a bit of sunlight into the hall. Soon enough, the floor tiles, and the spacious hall, became clearer on sight. The deeper parts of the hall were still dark, but clear enough to notice the dirt and spider webs.

   “No one had lived here for years,” Alfred commented on the state of the hall.

   “Obviously," said Ion. “It’s been hundreds of years since the war.”

   “And the monsters?” Alfred asked.

“They were probably just rumors,” Ion shrugged. “The castle is dark as it is. Maybe those guys saw something that resembled monsters and ran.”

   “Maybe,” said Alfred.

   Now deeper into the hall,  the darkness prompted Ion to bring out his cellphone from his side pocket, and turn on the flashlight. Soon, more of the castle’s ancient interior brought both boys at awe.

   “Seeing the castle from the inside is way cooler than outside,” said Alfred.

   “Yeah,” Ion agreed. “I wonder if we can find the throne room.”

   The boys were busy examining the castle's spacious hall to their hearts' content, they didn't notice a shadowy presence slowly walking out of the darkness, and towards them both.

   “Hey!” Ion exclaimed, noticing the stranger. The stranger was wearing an old yellow robe, with a hood covering the face in shadows. It was a bit shorter than Ion, but its presence was enough to make both boys feel uneasy.

   “Who are you?” asked Ion. “Are you a fellow nomad?”

   Its silence only made both Ion and Alfred even more anxious. Alfred, especially, was ready to run.

   The stranger raised both hands on the sides, and stood its ground. Ion's eyebrows raised in terror, and his heart racing, after seeing how unhuman the stranger’s face looked, gleefully glaring straight at him.

   “Ion,” pleaded Alfred, “this isn’t fun anymore!”

   With no warning, bats bursted out of the falling robe and straight towards Alfred, causing him to scream and run towards the gate. The bats then turned on Ion. Braver and older than Alfred, Ion, however, stood his ground and aggressively pushed the bats away with his hands and flash-lid phone.

   The bats dispersed, giving Ion a brief sense of relief; it wasn't the bats, but the presence of what sounded like a growling wolf, that finally made him flee. Both boys ran as far away as possible from the castle’s gate, and back to the village down the hills. The wolf, transmorphing back to its human form, watched from the entrance with the robe in its mouth. The stranger walked back into the darkness, chuckling as it put its robe back on.