Mutnya had sacred symbols drawn all throughout the cavern walls and floors. Some glowed softly as I passed them, forcing me into a random, steady pace that had me shifting around in odd patterns to avoid touching them. I couldn't tell for certain what all of them meant - it appeared some sections were writing backwards, and then shifted halfway through.
It didn't help that the strange thing on the ceiling was watching me roam the cavern. I could hear a steady, constant shift in the air, like soft snores of a slumbering beast. I kept expecting the ground and walls to move with the eerie sounds, but they never did.
There were other hidden doorways scattered throughout the structure, but I didn't bother attempting to figure out how to open them. I didn't know what could be there, and with the nymphtan on her way back, I couldn't afford to get myself trapped between a lair of stone. Surely she had a safeguard in place for trespassers.
Wait a minute.
Curious, I backtracked to where I noticed one of the drawn, faint arcs that'd suggest there being a door. The writing flowed uninterrupted, here, and there was a single symbol of a withered flower to suggest that this would either lead to dry herbs or poisons. Then I walked a few paces down, where the writing appeared to be organized out of random. There were no symbols that stuck out to show where this would lead, if it were to lead somewhere at all.
Hmm.
"Well, there's the safeguards," I muttered to myself, turning in a circle to examine the rest of the cavern. I didn't need to figure out what led behind every door - I just needed to find where the nymphtan would have an altar built for Tanryn, who 'served' as the exiled god to her people.
The one that breathed and demanded evil like one would need air.
I craned my head back to study the ominous face of black, withered vines watching me. Then I closed my eyes, focusing on the voices that did not seem eager to quiet down anytime soon. Images of naked flesh exposed in harsh, brutal winds flashed before my eyes. I man struggling to scream as his skin was pelted in large, ugly boils, his veins matching the vines covering the cavern walls.
Oh, shit.
Suddenly, it was like I was looking down upon myself from above, like a bird's eye view. There was a girl dressed in rags, her long, red hair cascading down her back like a veil of blood. Her eyes were a deep, brilliant blue, as cold and blank as the stillness of a snowy dawn. Her bare, dirty feet dragged over smooth stone as she made her way to me. She held a box in one hand, something barely bagger than her palm.
And her attention was focused directly on me - my body.
"Have you come to pass the test once more?" Her voice echoed inside my head. My body remained still, frozen, caught in a place where time and timeless met. I couldn't move my mouth to speak, couldn't focus my thoughts to proper words for her to understand me.
"Oh, child," she cooed. The single part of me that understand what was going on struggled not to panic when she reached out a cold, clammy hand to rest against my cheek. I wasn't sure how I was able to feel the icy daggers digging into my skin when I was currently having an out of body experience. "You've brought upon more chaos than those who dedicate their entire lives to reign it."
The quick return to my senses came like a swift punch to the gut. I stumbled forward, gasping for air, arms protectively wrapped around my midsection. I even fell to my knees, both of which cried in protest when they slammed against the unforgiving stone.
Eyes watering, I forced myself to look around, searching for the girl holding the box. While I wasn't surprised to find her gone, a part of me was tempted to demand that she come back so that I could shove my sword down her throat.
YOU ARE READING
On Death's Honor
Fantasy"When you're in a place that darkness thrives, you learn to fear the light." "Why?" "Because the light will kill you faster." ------ For as long as she could remember, Wren has lived a rather unconventional life. She's hunted down trolls, bled out w...
