The Crystal in the Chasm

chapter 18

There was only darkness and a faint awareness of my body, or lack-there-of. It was as if every atom in my body pulled apart and was whizzing through a tunnel of water, intermingling with the atoms that made up Death Bringer. I couldn't see him but I could feel him. His essence or soul, weaving in and out of mine through space and time. Then I was falling.

I crashed into my body, my knees nearly buckling as my feet dropped firmly onto the solid floor. My hand was strongly gripping Death Bringer's hand, as if we had never really let go. The room we were in was strange and made me feel uneasy. It was dimly lit, surrounded by four walls of a glass enclosure of water. Bubbles floated through the murky water, strange looking fish swimming about. Directly in front of us was a simple white countertop, the man from the mirror leaned over it from the other side surrounded by jarred body parts. His skin was even more horrid here. He was a corpse. A walking, rotting corpse. Bits and pieces of his flesh were missing, revealing bones or rotting muscle. His eyes were still that empty, foggy look and the skin on his face looked like it might peel right off.

Glancing over my shoulder for any sign of an escape route, a mirror identical to the one we had stepped through looked back at us. I shuttered and let go of Death Bringer's hand, my fingers splaying from the tense touch. He did the same, shaking his hand once before pocketing it, as if to flick off my germs.

Above the strange, rotting man's head was a message written in dry blood. Dead men tell no tales hovered over us in a dripping crimson red. The corpse peered over his shoulder in the direction of our vision and chuckled.

"Blix has an appreciation for rather harrowing theatrics," he said as he braced his fleshy hands on the surface of the countertop and leaned toward us, "About my asking price..."

"What do we owe you?" Death Bringer stepped in front of me.

The man smiled in a way that made my stomach twist. "Blood. From both of you. A few drops will do," he responded flatly, pulling a rusted blade and a bowl made from bones and setting it on the table before us.

"Why?"

"I owe you no answers," the man snapped, shoving the blade closer to us.

I rolled my eyes and stepped around Death Bringer, swiping the knife off the counter and digging it into my palm. Red oozed to the surface as I held my hand over the bowl, a few droplets splashing with a clink. Death Bringer grabbed the knife from my hand and followed my lead. When his blood fell into the bowl, the red liquid began to move. It rolled to the center and spiraled around until it was one large drop. The sound of rock sliding against rock sounded from behind us.

I spun around just as a dark staircase revealed itself descending into a dark tunnel. There was a torch deep within, the only sign of light ahead. The mirror stared at us from above the staircase like a looming ghost.

"Seek and ye shall find what y'are looking for. There are three levels before the pit chamber where the crystal resides... if you make it that far. Failure to do so will result in the highest price," the man exclaimed without a hint of emotion in his voice.

"What's the price?" I eyed him suspiciously.

He gestured to his rotting body, "Your soul. I paid my due and now I will serve until I rot from the inside out. Until my bones can no longer hold together. Something in the air down here slows down the process."

"How long have you been down here?" I felt a small pang of sympathy for the man in my chest.

"Fifty years," his tired eyes stared into the bubbling water surrounding him.

I didn't ask anymore questions. Death Bringer and I began our descent.

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