I cast my arms out, shielding my face from the fire as it consumed the room. The roar of the conflagration consumed my senses.
My eyes were shut tight as I realized the roar was actually coming from me; my voice raw and animalistic. The flames I had expected to consume me were nowhere to be found. Hands still in front of my face, I slowly opened a hesitant eye. Baffled – it was all I could do just to peak outside the veil of myself. What I saw was… confusing.
I ceiling of glossy black rock hung above me, alien in its shimmer. I opened my other eye, relaxing, aware that I was out of the immediate dangers associated with cremation. Confused wasn’t the right word: disoriented. This was not a hospital by any means. The walls shown with the orange glow of firelight, though dim it gave me a clear view of my surroundings.
I sat atop a large rectangular stone altar. Bones, claws and scales rested near the edge surrounding me. I held my composure. These things had obviously been meticulously placed but whoever did it hadn’t stuck around for the party. The altar stood in the center of a cylindrical room, intricately carved out of the stone. The altar angled upward to a point in the middle, which wasn’t doing my back any favors. Intricate canals were etched into the stone. A deep crimson oozed downward gathering in a pool around the base of the altar.
My arms and legs all seemed to be accounted for. I wasn’t in any pain that I could associate with my accident. I was wearing some kind of burlap tunic. Actually, it was more like a potato sack with a rope tied around the waist. Modesty apparently wasn’t an issue. Wherever I was, pants weren’t a part of the fashion. I was on full display. Seriously, I lived on the edge but this was easily the weirdest day of my life.
Life? Careful now. Life is more predictable.
The room and hallways were carved directly out of solid stone. Whatever had the ability to accomplish such a feat was something out of my imagination I had no intention of running into. A flat walkway surrounded the altar along the edge of the room. I sat up, my legs dangling off the high stone when I noticed the bones laying below. I finally realized that I hadn’t appreciated the gravity of my situation. I thought I had traded up from my previous encounter.
The room was split in thirds by hallways entrances. I reached out with my legs towards the ground. The goupy sludge of blood and decay seeped between my toes. It wasn’t the greatest feeling in the world but then again, I thought I was going to be paralyzed. I walked towards the cavernous enterence; I had no idea where I was or where I was going so I figured, screw it! Door number three.
There was no sound. Anywhere. Though firelight lit every surface I couldn’t hear the flame. It was frightening. I was unaware of how much noise we tolerate in our everyday lives. Even in nature, the wild life screams at you. Then again, there was nothing natural about this place.
Silence.
“Hello?” I yelled. It was dead before it left my mouth. It wasn’t just that there was no echo – the walls didn’t reflect the sound at all. It’s just as well, I thought flinching at my own stupidity. The last thing I wanted was for someone, or something, to come find me down here; with my luck today it would be Godzilla’s baby brother. I straightened; wherever I was, I was brought here. Someone or something was behind it but this was one hell of an inconvenience: if they wanted me for something, they could come find me again. I set one foot in front of the other and made my way down the hall.
My senses were playing tricks on me. As I ran my hand along the stone wall. It was completely smooth. For it to have the silencing effect, it had on my voice it had to have been porous. Though light shown off the walls as if the walkway were lit from beneath but the light cast no shadow. I looked down at my hand; the air was thick with moisture that had condensed on the wall, sopping into my hand when I touched it. Looking down at my feet, the gelatinous remains from the altar base were bubbling up between my toes leaving a distinct trail in my wake. I peered down the hall. The mist was thick. Even with the dim, apparent firelight, the mist kept my visibility to a minimum.
The long hall ended in another, larger, oval shaped room; it’s where I found the first of the bodies.
They were haphazardly stacked along the outside walls in piles, hundreds of them; each one bearing a burlap tunic like mine; each one headless. The room looked like it was used as a barracks at some point. Beds of straw surrounded an old hearth, its inhabitants long gone or… beheaded. The stench of decay was pungent.
This wasn’t my first rodeo. I’ve seen, and made, plenty of corpses but these were preserved somehow. There was no ichor dripping from the neck, as though the bodies were drained completely then mummified. How that worked with all this humidity, I wasn’t sure. The other option was these were just really fresh corpses. I walked closer to the nearest pile, inspecting them. The neck was cut cleanly; there were no jagged tool marks you would normally see with a serrated blade or multiple hacks of an axe. My hand rested on one of the bodies trying to get a closer look when I noticed it was still warm. There was a brand on his neck.
A sudden chill snaked down my back. It was a simple mark, I couldn’t know its meaning but you don’t brand men. You brand cattle. These bodies had served a purpose. I had regained consciousness on a sacrificial altar – I had no intention to join them.
I ran to the opening at the end of the room. Another hallway curved away towards my right. I looked back to the corpse-filled room once more, paranoid from the silence. I’ve hunted men. To understand how to stalk prey, you have to understand how they think: get into their mind. I was beginning to feel like prey. The last thing I needed was to start running in fear. Giving chase is what the hunt is all about, after all. Panic would be the end of me, I realized. Training worked best with a level head. In the teams, they condition your responses. This was different. I needed to have my wits about me. I took slow, deep breaths regaining my composure. I took slow, calm steps into the misty hallway. Sweat pooled on my forehead and legs. The density of the mist seemed to grow thicker the further I went. The air was so thick that with each breath I inhaled more moisture than air until I was nearly gasping. The light began to fade, as the air grew thicker until I was gasping alone, in the dark. Talons scrapped on the stone behind me.
I reached out, fingers to the stone wall, and ran as quickly as I could using them to guide me in the thick fog of darkness. My legs went rabbit as the hunter gave chase. The scrapes of claws grew closer, its rhythm accelerating to a full sprint and the sound of a multi-legged beast in full pursuit. It wouldn’t be long now; I was running in the dark from a creature that was going to devour me. Grimm was right – I hadn’t been in Hell.
Now I was.
A chill ran down my back as it nudged me. I pulled my arm off the wall and bearing down into a full sprint. The sounds still played tricks on me, I had no idea the creature was that close. My bear feet splashed in the puddles forming in the slick stone in panicked strides. I slipped; the ball of my foot sliding out from under me was the moisture got the best of me. My shoulder struck a wall. Would this finally be the end of my nightmare? I rolled, spiraling downward and I slid finally releasing the scream I had been holding in. Tumbling head first, my adrenalin focused solely on breaking my fall, I slammed down on my shoulder onto level ground.
The claws continued running, growing distant. Running in the darkness, I somehow managed to slip to my salvation. I took in my new surroundings. The room I was lit by a small brazier; smoke billowed out its top yet it somehow dissipated as it reached the ceiling. It was decorated, a stark contrast from the other rooms and oddly mist free. Tapestries hung from the shimmering walls, each one depicting a great battle. Returning to my senses, the smells of phosphorus and sulfur was replaced with sage. The brazier lit a benched alcove, at the far end of the room sat a woman. Her back faced me as she hunched over the brazier. Her gray hair hung in a loose braid but ribbons of black color still spun through, an echo of youth left behind.
She hadn’t stirred since my sudden arrival. I wondered how old she was. The fire cast a silhouette of a body in conflict with the aged hair. Her breasts were swollen and taut. She straightened as if noticing my attention and the glow of the embers emphasized her immaculate golden skin. The loincloth would be simple enough to remove, I thought. With all I’ve been through today, I felt like I deserved a little…
“You don’t know what it is you desire, little man. You would not be the first mortal to taste my flesh,” she said in a dark, rolling accent. She slowly turned her head, her eyes were a dark jade and the bangs of her hair were woven into a circular braid around her crown.
“I’ve told a lot of women I can’t read their minds – you’re the first to read mine, so far as I know,” I said, a smirk drawing up my face.
“You would do well to heed the danger of your situation, youngling,” her words sounded ancient but her voice was young and vibrant. I stood, trying to look nonchalant but was betrayed by my shaky legs.
“Yeah, danger,” I said waving a hand. “So far as I know, I’ve died twice today. Now this is a weird, freaky place but I’ve gotta tell ya: as far as weird shit goes a topless chick in a stone maze barely scratches the surface today.” As cool as I was playing it, I kept my distance; a woman was dangerous enough, let alone one with the power to read minds.
She smiled, but pity was all I saw in her face. “If you wish to act as a child I shall send you out to play with the hounds. They grow tired of their lifeless toys – you would be a joy in their dull lives.” She snapped the mist that the brazier had been keeping away suddenly coalesced around my body. I scrambled, trying to push it away but the mist had weight behind it and my body was soon encased in the thick vapor of the outer halls. Her mocking gaze said it all as the fog closed around my eyes: I didn’t know anything about women.
To Immortal Fear - 4.2 > >
To Immortal Fear - 4.2 > >
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