Chapter Nineteen - Descent into Darkness

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

The escape from the prison had been a surprisingly uneventful one. Elmont had proven to be more than a capable guide, leading them through the back halls of the sprawling complex, out a doorway guarded by two men that pretended not to notice them and through the city streets with ease.

Now Estra stood amidst the rubble of the place she'd once called home with her lantern raised high. The slow crash of the waves below seemed to add a sad music to backdrop the decrepit ruins of the convent and the silvered moonlight made sure that no detail went unexposed. Little purple flowers had decided to grow over the ruins, trying their best to cover up the sins that had once stained the ground with blood and ash.

"Found it," Dost grunted, throwing the remnants of the rotted altar aside to reveal the doorway of the passage beneath.

"All this time," Estra said, watching as the man tested the lock. She'd spent the first twelve years of her life living in this place with no inkling of the secrets being kept right beneath her.

"This passageway leads to a tunnel that'll take us directly to the catacombs beneath the prison. Something that the Faith cooked up after Wulfdonria's declaration of freedom," Brennan explained, watching as Dost tugged at the doorways rusted latch fruitlessly. He motioned the giant out of the way, pulling a familiar set of instruments from the folds of his cloak. Within seconds the lock came open with an audible click.

"So, everyone in this city knows how to pick a lock then?" Dost asked, echoing Estra's own thoughts.

"That's about the gist of it," Brennan said, hoisting the lid open, "Just one of those things they teach in every school, right along with how to properly pry tokes from a tourist's pocket."

The four of them descended into the passageway with Estra taking up the rear. The stairs seemed to spiral beneath the earth forever, sinking them further and further into the jaws of unknown horrors. Estra's skin crawled with unease by the time they finally reached the catacombs.

"Best prepare yourselves," Dost said, brandishing a massive great axe that could have only been made for his hands alone. "Nothing but the dark and the dead lurking down here."

The group trod slowly, ever wary of the danger hiding at the edge of their lamplights. When the passageway leveled out Estra was offered her first proper view of the maze lying beneath the city of no nights. She'd expected walls of stone, embedded with yellowed skulls, instead, she found herself traversing halls lined with metal barred rooms; as if it were only an extension of the prison somewhere above them.

The Blade Witch leaned in close to one of the cells, straining to see into the dark recesses that hid its contents. There were only two pieces of furniture left to identify, an overturned table and what must have once been a bed. Dark stains covered the cell from floor to ceiling, marking some struggle that she could only guess at.

It wasn't until they'd traveled too far to turn back that they ran into the first of the corrupted.

It stood blocking their path forward. A blueish mass of flesh and bone, with an arm that ended in a misshapen clublike stump. The group stood in a still silence watching as its eyes rolled lazily to observe them. Estra called forth her flames, devoid any misgivings that she'd be able to conserve her strength.

The creature lumbered forward, each step causing a shower of dirt as its head scraped knotted against the top of the passageway. It threw its arm back, releasing an ear-splitting wail as it prepared to strike. Elmont was the first to meet it; crushing his hammer into the monster's side, causing its own blow to go flailing into the wall.

Dust blanketed the passageway, but Estra caught just enough of the creature's position to send a stream of flames hurling towards it. Even that proved to be less than enough to kill the thing.

Though its skin sagged under the heat of Estra's power, it still moved forward with the mindless tread, heedless of the concept of wellbeing. It flailed around as the golden flames consumed its body, catching Elmont with a wild strike that sent the man tumbling backward. Estra stepped towards it as Elmont rose at her side, both intent on meeting the monstrosity head on. Before either got the chance, Dost flew past to deliver a flurry of inhumanly savage axe blows, sending carnage flying all around them as the monster grew still.

When the ordeal was over, the four of them stood over the body, looking at each other in silence. Estra knew what they were all thinking. How could something so disturbing come into existence? How many more of them would they have to face before they reached the sorceress?

"Void take Helena for giving life to these things," Estra spat out, stepping over the corpse as Dost took up the lead once again.

"Wasn't Helena that made them this way," Dost grumbled. "You saw him as well as the rest of us. The scraps of peasant's garbs hanging from him, not the uniform of a Broken Pillar. Likely some poor man that lost his way down here some way or another. If anything did this to him, it was the sins of your faith."

The man's words had credence to them, that much Estra couldn't deny. Instead of agreeing with him, she kept her thoughts to herself. Her own questioning of the Faith had already become a constant thorn in her side, the last thing she needed was someone like Dost providing more fuel for her doubts.

"The way you defend her, I'd say you loved Helena," Brennan said from the back of the group.

Dost looked over his shoulder, making an unrecognizable expression with his deformed face, "I suppose I did for a time. Would have followed her to the hall of bones if she'd asked me to," he turned his eyes back towards their route. "But the woman I knew is long gone. All she wants now is the see into the chasm. All she wants is to speak with the ancient dead. The secrets of the God's, that's what she's after."

A tortured moan up ahead ended the conversations abruptly. Brennan called them to a stop to gather his bearings before choosing another route through the underground maze. The path they took lead them past what Estra initially mistook for jail cells, cordoned off by rusted iron bars. It wasn't until one of the creatures trapped inside reached out to grab her coat that Estra realized what the rooms really were.

She took the things hands off in one broad stroke, jumping away as it fell back shrieking. It looked like nothing more than a little girl, starved down to a gaunt-faced skeleton and left to die. But further inspection showed the elongation of her arms and the claws that tipped each of her detached hands.

Estra shined her light on the room as Brennan made a clumsy sword swing through the bars to put the creature out of its misery. The grey floor of the space was splattered with blood that covered everything from the overturned work tables, to the instruments that had once rested upon them. Turning in a slow circle, Estra could see similar setups in each of the other cells. Her stomach twisted into a sick knot as the purpose of this space came to light.

"I suppose there was more credence to the rumors than most people thought," Elmont said as he moved forward.

"These were the Faith's experiment rooms," Dost said. "Where the tried to figure out what made each sacrifice different from the others. During the inquisition, they took their prisoners down here. Did things to them I can only guess at, but you see the results for yourselves. The declaration of freedom ended all that, but thanks to your convent, they had an avenue to continue their studies, albeit somewhat limited. Still, what the bard helped them discover down here was enough to merit another try. You know the rest of how that story goes."

Estra continued with her head down, incapable of finding the strength to face the atrocities of the people she served. The further they went, the more the corrupted's numbers swelled. There was no end to the terrible things, each of them more twisted than the last. The group moved with hurried steps; every shadow suggesting more enemies for them to face, every footstep met with tortured groans echoing in the distance.

Estra moved with the zombified stride of someone walking into the maw of hell itself. Her body went through the motions; her magic sprang to life with feverish power, her sword sang its lustful song, but her mind was locked on a single goal. It was that incentive that kept her going through all the carnage. It was that singular driving force that found her standing in a chamber, surrounded by things too deformed to give comparison to.

Something that may have once been a dog leaped at Estra from the side, only to have its head lopped off midflight. Three came at her together, not with any sense of strategy, but because their bodies had become fused like melted candies in child's pocket. Just as they approached as one, so did they find their end, consumed in a blaze of searing flames that made their skin bubble and pop.

A long, thin thing, managed to slip close enough to rake a long claw against her armor, finding a weak point in her chainmail that left a ragged gash behind. It lost its head to Dost's axe and Estra got the impression that the man had been sacrificing himself to cover her back the entire time. She buried the thought for the moment, turning her attention back to the more pressing matter.

The four of them hacked about with their weapons, never failing to strike a target, no matter how haphazard their swings went. Even with Brennan joined in on the fighting, for what little he was worth, it became apparent to Estra that they were fighting a losing battle.

"Go!" Dost boomed. The deformed giant pointed down a passageway that led to nothing but darkness. "The bard can lead you." He swung his axe, sending something close to a tentacle soaring over their heads.

Estra almost began to protest his offer of self-sacrifice but shut her jaws when she recalled who she was speaking to. Instead, she gave him a final glance over her shoulder, shared a nod with the man, and cut her way towards the passage with Brennan close at her back and Elmont bringing up the rear

She listened to the giant man's roars as he gave way to his corrupted mind, throwing himself into a crimson frenzy that shook the walls. If there was any way for Dost to make up for his past transgressions, this was likely as close as it got. That was as far as Estra could get to offering him praise. Estra continued her tread through the reeking passages, the flames enveloping her hand standing as the sole source of light. Somewhere within she would find vengeance against Helena the Defiler. In the depths of this place, her journey would come to an end.

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net