“Does anybody else smell fire?” Ritz asked.

We all did. And as we crossed the bridge, the smell only became stronger. The inside of the temple was always lit by the many people using it as a place of rest and respite. Their light peeked out from the many windows, cracks and arched doorways that led into nothing. Yet now, a steady stream of black smoke crawled along the walls and ceiling, giving the temple an almost sinister impression.

Remember what Harris said. The smell of woodfire attracts things from the dark. And the dark has a lot of bad stuff in it. Like spiders. And fish. And…

It was wrong, such a wrong thing, with arms like a human, a head like a human, but a spine that was way too long and folded in many places like a twisted stick. There was nothing where the guts should have been, everything from the ribs down to the hip just a single, jagged line of bone.

I stood completely still, rooted in the moment. Fear. Indecision. Regret.

“We have to put it out.” I mumbled, half aware, half dazed.

My head was still hurting from being knocked around a lot. I didn’t explain much and instead started running ahead of the group, stepping and stumbling down the long frontal stairway with little concern for my own safety. The twang of the gem-eyed-sentinel above sounded out as it shot at something in the dark.

The moment I entered the temple, I could hear people yelling.

“Da’ god-frog is right, we just need ta’ wait for a lil’ while.” Said one screechy voice.

“God-frog? Hah, as if. Yer gonna sit here and do nothin’ for months if that’s the basket you want to put yer eggs in. And I’m not gonna sit around without at least a fire to warm me.” Said a different one.

“Boys, girls.” Said a third. “You’re all thinking about this wrong. What does anything matter? We’re in limbo, let’s not make our existence more unbearable than it already is.”

I reached the bottom of the stairs and stared at three people arguing in the middle of the main room. One was a fuzzy lady, long hair standing out and covering even her face to the point I could only make out her nose. Then there was a man with scales instead of hair, dotted at uneven intervals along his skin. Lastly, I saw a woman whom I could only describe as ‘unfairly alluring’ in that unlike the rest of everyone, there was not a single blemish on her rose-tinted skin. At least, not on the few choice areas her clothing deliberately exposed.

I-Indecent! Agh! At least armor your important bits.

They all stood with one hand on a burning torch between them, a small thing for the inordinate amount of smoke it was making. I immediately focused on it and despite how worn out I was, I stepped up towards them.

“E-excuse me?” I said.

The three people looked at me.

“Oh lookie, it’s da’ Runnergirl I’z been talking about.” The fuzzy lady screeched.

“Sod off, girly.” Said the scaled man. “This is between me and her and her.”

“I– wow, ok, first off, I’m not called Runnergirl. Or girly. I’m Rye.”

The pinkish woman’s scowl at the others turned into a smile as she leaned in towards me. “Rye. Heyyy~. That’s a beautiful name for a cute girl like you.”

“Um.” Was all my incredibly eloquent mind could produce. Even though I knew that I looked all but cute, pretty or even all that healthy with my missing hair and body that was still not quite un-deaded, I couldn’t help but feel somewhat overwhelmed by her sudden advances.

She’s too close. Personal space! Please! And augh, where’s that smell coming from? It’s making my head all warm and stuffy. Ugh. If only I could think straight, without a headache mind you.

“T-thank you for the compliment…?”

The lady looked at me for an intense moment. Her tail swish-swashed to the side, again, alluringly.

Wait, how can a tail be alluring? I’m not into tails. That’d be just… weird. I’m not weird. Not that weird. But the way she moves… I could lose myself in her eyes, just swim, swim and float aw– no! Focus. That’s just the concussion speaking.

“Sam.” She said, her grin growing wider. “Let’s go with that. I’m Sam. Now, Rye, would you be perhaps inclined to help a poor lady out here? These two people are being quite obstinate about… making trouble. Yes. They’ve not been very nice to me–“

The woman suddenly shrieked and jumped in place. A small assortment of hair-like quills stuck from her side and she fussed endlessly over them, cursing and cussing as she plucked and pulled at them. My mind was too hazy, inebriated almost to really do anything besides acknowledge it and move on.

“Dat’s what you get fer lying, ye wanton little villain. It’s da’ pricklers for sirens like you.”

“Agreed. Oriane that was deserved. Don’t go hookin’ others into this conversation. Strictly between the three of us.”

“Oriane? I thoughts da’ pinky’s name was Harold.”

“Harold is not a woman’s name, Iggy.”

“It can be.”

They continued bickering again, leaving me to sort out what the hell actually just happened. The conclusion was rather frightening and so my mouth dumbed it down in a way that made it acceptable to just put it in a box and forget about it.

“R-reading minds is rude.”

That was the understatement of the century. Still, there were agreements all around, and no one seemed particularly interested in involving me further. They still had their burning torch between them, none having let go.

Where’s Avice, where’s Vinesse when I need her? What’s taking them so long?

A distant screech got everyone to shut up. Another twang sounded out, dull and dangerous. The screech rang forth again. It wasn’t that far away anymore and sounds of yelling and fighting echoed from that direction as well.

“What the hell was that?” the pink woman asked.

“Demons! Demons! Gods forbid, we’z wronged dem!”

Not right. Technically. Maybe. Ugh. Words. Fail me.

“I need torch.” I said and made to grab for it.

People, obviously, resisted the grabby girl trying to go for their very unnecessary light source.

“Hey!” said the man.

I looked the prickly woman in the face. “Demons smell fire.”

I of course had nothing to back that up with. I wasn’t even sure myself if the creatures in the dark that Harris kept referring to were demons or just some other breed of insane insect monstrosities. But everyone understood the word demon at least. Especially the three in front of me, who at that mention took only second before realizing how hot the potato they were holding was.

She instantly let it go, as if it had burnt her. The other two were still a bit hesitant. I shifted my gaze to the others and wiggled the torch a bit.

Hopefully they get the message. I’m not a good liar.

They looked at each other and eventually both let go. I went to stamp it out, but it was tenacious, almost as if the flame didn’t want to die. Weird symbols carved into the side of the torch lit up and the more I stepped on the flame, the more the fire licked at my boots in warning.

“Da hell is with dis torch? Iz cursed, iz cursed!” the screechy lady screeched.

“Get it out, get it out, get it out.” The pink lady yelled, treating it like a disgusting bug.

Shit. I can’t douse it. It’s magic. Maybe. Ideas. I need ideas.

The sounds of fighting only grew louder and by this point, most everyone who hadn’t been sleeping was standing up, weapons in hand and somewhere between confused and scared.

I need ideas now.

I took the torch and raced towards the place where Glom was sitting. Before the toad could so much as utter a screech, I lifted her up and shuffled her into a nearby offering bowl. Her own one was filled with water to keep her moist and I plunged the torch into it under much protest.

It hissed and the pool of water came to a boil before the torch eventually flickered out.

I have no words. Then again, phew. Crisis averted? I don’t hear any screeching anymore.

“Where did you get this torch?” I asked the three.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Got it from the pillow man.”

Harris? Why would he of all people sell them a torch? Ugh, I’ll have to ask him later.

I better check up on Avice and the rest.

And so, I stumbled back up the stairs, half expecting to be lauded a hero, half expecting no one to understand why putting out a torch was that deserving of praise. When I arrived at the outside, I saw one last great arrow whoosh on by before seeing the aftermath of a horrifying struggle.

A massive beast, as wide as I was tall had crept up the side of our small temple enclave. It had too many legs and not enough heads, like a centipede made of fat and flesh. Much of its body still hung off the ledge. I frantically searched for my newly acquired friends and found most of them strewn about, just gathering themselves from what was a much more swift and thorough thrashing than the spider.

I think the spider was trying to run away from something itself. This thing? It had gone directly for us with malicious intent, regardless of the threat the sentinel posed to it. The result was that it had chewed through three or four other unlucky people on the way to the temple before it seemed to have gotten stuck on my party.

The moment I saw their bodies, most in dim light, many strewn haphazardly into the dim, my breath quickened, my view narrowed and the box in my head clamored loudly against its lid.

I was too late. People are dead and it’s because I was too late.

What the hell? What the hell? Why? When?

It’s not real. It is, but it’s just…

I was barely gone for a minute.

How? How!?

I wrenched myself from staring at the dead. I had to force myself to focus on those who were still alive.

At least most of everyone I know is still breathing. Bless the gods. They look like they wandered through a field of razors.

Avice was doing alright, though she was limping quite hard. She took one look at the two unfamiliar corpses and the one moaning person at the side and then chose a grave to empty her stomach on.

Moggen and Ritz both looked much worse for wear, their armor torn to shreds or with long scratches and rents in them. Vinesse had most of her face cut up, though she was lucky enough that no wounds reached her eyes. Unlike Krah.

The Bekki man was barely breathing, his body sown up and down with small and large gashes. His armor barely protected him from the worst, the creature’s legs coming with dreadfully hooked claws for climbing and catching. The worst part? A long raking gash across his face cut deep into his eyelids and the eyes beneath.

Even just from the first look of things, I knew then that Krah was blind. And I hadn’t been there to do a thing.

“I– I stopped the fire.” I said, out of breath. I did it. I was convinced that putting out the torch prevented anything else from crawling out of the abyss towards us. But I still felt shame. As if this was all my fault.

Everyone else just looked like they were ready to fall over, even the ones that were sitting and applying wyckwax to their wounds.

“And what the HELL is that supposed to mean?” Moggens voice shook me to the core.

“It’s, I, well… the monsters. They smell the fire.”

“They don’t smell the candles that are everywhere?” Ritz asked.

“N–no.” I said, knowing how ridiculous I must be sounding to them. “Just the wood fire. Wood burning. Stuff. Ugh. I–I’m sorry. I’m sorry I wasn’t here. I should have been. I was barely gone for a minute, but if I had been here, maybe I could’ve done something. It’s… it’s my fault.”

“Damn right it is. We were one frontliner short, and because of it, Vinesse is–“

“Moggen.” Vinesse said, her voice oozing with tiredness and venom. “Krah has been blinded.”

“Miss Vinesse, as the leader of our party and a caster, your safety is much more important than–“

“With all due respect, Sir Moggen. Shut the hell up. I know my priorities.”

Everyone was quiet then, the awkwardness in the air thick enough to strangle someone with.

“As you wish, ma’am.” He said.

No one really looked to be in the mood for talking about what had just happened. No report, no thoughts about what could have gone better. Nothing.

“We’re done here for today. We’ll divvy up the loot later. You’re all dismissed unless you want to help me carry Krah back. Further expeditions are postponed for the near future.”

We all got up and went our ways. My first day of adventures didn’t exactly end on a high note. Everyone was glum, even Vinesse and especially Avice. As I helped them both carry Krah down into the temple, I overheard the other two talking in the distance.

“Today was a shitshow.” Moggen said.

“We pulled through, despite the bad luck and all. Are you still feeling watched? I am. From across the bridge. Gives me the creeps.”

“Indeed. Something’s out there.”

“What do you think we should do about it?” Ritz asked.

“We do what Vinesse says we do. As for me, I’m thinking on doing some… things.”

“Things?”

“Yes. Sword practice.”

“What, so you can learn to stop a spider the size of two Grugs with your massive stick?”

“What the hell is a Grug?”

----------------------------------------

It took quite a while to get our resident Bekki blade dancer all patched up. We went through most of our collective stockpile of wyckwax and even had to buy a few leftover bandages from Harris. He wasn’t in much of a good mood after the incident with the torch.

“I told ya’, burning wood is bad, bad, baaad.” He said.

“Yeah. Should’ve told everyone else as much. Especially those that you sold a magical torch to.”

He shrugged. “Most don’t believe I’m real. A figment of their imagination. They all see me as some weird part of this place ‘cause I never move. Though, I haven’t quite rooted myself to the ground that literally yet.”

“And you take that as an excuse to sell them dangerous stuff?”

“Hey, I just sell what I have to. Gotta make ends meet and all.”

“And how much was it worth to you?”

“Three bright, two dim. Quite alright if I do say so myself.”

And for three feet of bright light, just as many people lie dead in the graveyard. And Krah was blinded.

“Huh.” Was all I had to say and left.

Everyone went to their respective sleeping places. The temple was starting to fill up quite a bit, almost to the point that it was getting slightly cramped. The best places were already taken, but lucky for me, Avice and anyone else who wanted to sleep nearby, I was here first and thereby had already chosen a wonderfully dry corner for myself.

Still, unlike most other days, sleep didn’t come for me today. I couldn’t even talk the time away with Avice because she was well and truly asleep, while Vinesse and the rest were gods know where.

I don’t want to bother either of them. They’ve got enough on their respective plates already. I wish I could help. But I don’t know how.

I found myself wandering around the temple, looking for a place to just… be. A place where I could sit and think. With the whole perpetual darkness going on, there wasn’t much of a difference between day or night in the activity of the people here. But some always were active. Sitting around, drinking, hawking wares. Yelling obscenities and dour prophecy.

“Th’ end is nigh.” Yelled a corpulent man with large, bulging eye-whites. “Noctis aeterna. Noctis aeternum sit!”

I bet he doesn’t even know what that means.

I walked up, up some dusty stairs. A shaggy woman with eyes like a kicked dog shrunk to the wall as I passed, clutching whatever she thought worth to her chest.

I wish I could do something about her. About all the other hopeless faces.

“Hey, lass. Don’t pass this up. Good ol’ wares, from good ol’ reliable me. Guaranteed quality and generous prices at my humble emporium.” A bald guy said as I walked along the first story of the temple. Even up here, I couldn’t find any peace.

And so, the only place I found was when I climbed along the outside of the temple, arriving at the small balcony atop the entryway. Which was right where the gem-sentinel was stationed at. Though, he was good company. He was silent and looked to be made of nothing but sooty black armor, like the Wolf, except his was wavy and bent, almost molten in places.

“Mind if I sit down here?”

The statue-like protector didn’t move a muscle. In fact, I wasn’t so sure he moved much at all except when he worked his bow. Then again, with how long and slender his armor was framed, I wasn’t even sure if it was a he, she or even a person in the first place.

I hear the gods have automatons as servants and soldiers. Life born of cogs and strings. Not that they’d send one so far out here. They also have giants, though beside the one at the beginning of my journey, I haven’t seen any others either.

I guess giants are just rare.

I let my mind wander, not because I wanted to, but because I resigned myself to the fact that I was at the end of a tiring day and that even without a pounding headache I’d have little to no chance of reeling my errant thoughts in.

I wonder what the gods are doing. Probably still sitting on their mountain. Probably doing… god stuff.

I wonder how my parents are doing. My family.

My dreams are… weird. Sometimes they’re just dreams, where I jump from one thing to another that doesn’t make sense. In the next, it’s like I’m reliving the most vivid memory from my past.

I miss Sam.

What about Mum and Da’? I miss them too. And the rest of my family. But if this is the far, far future, then what does it matter? They’re all…

“Frisky night for a bit o’ pondering, eh?”

I jumped slightly and turned around to the unexpected voice. It was the same bald man as before, squatting at my side. His face betrayed a mischievous grin as he looked out to the dimly lit ground below.

I politely scooted a bit to the side to get out of his personal space.

“Oh, apologies. Did scare you? I assure you; it was not my intention.” He said.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“A humble merchant. But you can call me Stitches.”

“Stitch then.” At least I got the name of this weirdo. “Alright. And you’re here because?”

“Oh, no real reason. Though, if I did have to give one, it would be that I enjoy watching people come and go.”

“Ah.” Well, it wasn’t as if I hadn’t thought of that when choosing my place to be alone. Though I could probably forget about the alone part, seeing as how this guy was very intent on staying.

“Take the porcupine-woman perchance.” He said and pointed downwards. There I saw the same hairy woman as before, walking about with two other friends of hers. They waited a bit, until a fourth joined them. Then, they were off the bridge.

“She’s a devout stickler that one. Faithful to no end. See how she turned back and made to bow four times towards the temple? She doesn’t even know to which gods she is supposed to pray to but pray she does. The sorry fool.”

“Huh.” I said, mildly disinterested.

“And there.” He pointed out another. “Big guy with well-cut wild hair and tusks? Treasure hunter. A greedy, greedy man. He’ll kill for the right price, but he’d rather just plunder the graves of folk already dead.”

“And you can read all of that from just a glance?”

He smiled again, as if I had complimented him. “A glance here, a few changed words there. I see it in their eyes, in their body, in the way they walk and talk.”

“That a boon of yours?”

“Oh, heavens, no. It’s all in here. All me.” He said and tapped his temple. “Wouldn’t trust any god or servant of, be they holier-than-thou or frighteningly honest to mess with that.”

At least that was one thing I could sympathize with. I didn’t trust Glom. I didn’t trust the whole selling of soul business. The discovery of a soul-tax only made the whole thing seem even more shifty to me.

“Do you think there’s a point to all this?” I asked. “Coming back from the dead, the suffering, taking each other’s souls?”

Judging by the long silence, that got him to think for a bit.

Eventually, he did speak up. “Why ask me such an odd question, little lass? I’m Stitches, but a humble merchant and all that. I just live from one treasure to the other.”

I looked at his face in the hopes of seeing whether he was lying or not. Exactly the same smile as before greeted me, somehow even more flippant than Ritz.

I didn’t believe a word.

“Well, that’s enough blabbing from me.” he said and motioned to stand up. “Wouldn’t want to impose on your loneliness any further up here.”

I snorted. “Yeah. Thanks, I guess.”

He chuckled, such an odd and self-indulgent tone. “Alright, alright, I get when ol’ Stitches isn’t wanted around anymore. Keep an eye out from up here. You’d be surprised what little secrets you can find out when people think nobody’s looking.”

Not like I was interested in spying on anyone.

Maybe. Possibly.

Yet the more I sat there, just me and the sentinel and the odd group of people walking down below, the more I felt that maybe there was a purpose to all this. Something bigger. It’d reveal itself eventually. Or I could go unearthing it myself.

I shook my head.

Me? A finder of secrets? Yeah, no. Not today. Or tomorrow in fact. I’m a finder of small solutions. A solver of little problems. I have to work on myself first before I can go out on another adventure. I need to fix my arm. I need to fix my mind. But above all, I need to fix my body. I am done being pushed around by everyone and everything. Maybe with the loot from this expedition I can finally get a good weapon? A shortsword, maybe, or a long one.

We’ll see. We’ll see.