Oh weeps my soul, so lonely and cold

Oh without hope trickles away my time

Hear my voice oh merciful one

Accept my tears and pain

Through longest nights I have suffered in vain

Through burning days I have toiled

Darkness falls over my sunken eyes

Ghastly smoke snuffs my breath

Alone, alone I am

Fear that kills devours my soul

Where should I seek my defense?

O holy light come to my side

Dry my tears

Lighten my path

Rescue me from this fate…

Galen Vesa

Lyrics I have never learned in a language the world has not heard in eons, flown from my lips. Burning bright with the power I did not command, my lips sang of light and light came. Living bustling dancing. The wind, the stars, the stones the grass. All sang for the light and the warmth it brought.

Like waxing moon it spread it shroud and swirled in the dust of the grave. Where the magic circle once defiled the sacred stone, no sign of it left. The light burned, bleaching the stone, turning to dust everything in its path. It filled the whole room with the light of the day. What was once black, shone brighter than white marble or the sanded limestone covering the pyramids of Egypt.

The dead vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving no bone or body behind. That was when I heard them. The voices that sang. The chorus of voices of old, singing a song as one. The air shimmer like a curtain of silk and I saw a crowd I could not count. All singing in a voice of old. One voice.

I sang along. I sang as one of them. Sang since the song wished to be voiced.

“That was terrible.”

Soft whisper cut through the air when the song finally ebbed.

“You sounded like they were skinning a cat.”

Myriads of chuckles and nods followed that.

One of those shapes from beyond the veil, move closer. Slithering in the shape of a woman holding a staff. She raised it up the brought it down with full force, shuttering the divide.

A woman, clad in armor worthy of a Valkyrie, stood beside me with a gentle smile on her red and full lips. The lantern, her staff, shone brightly adding more to the light piercing pricing this tomb.

“Al?”

“It’s… been a while since I’ve heard that name and…“

Her finger poke one of my exposed pillows, sinking in it considerably.

“…and you have changed quite a bit my friend.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Ignoring the hand that still explored my shapes I focused on her face. Mature. Much more mature. This was no longer a face of a girl but one of a beautiful woman. Long auburn hair cascaded around her arms. Small pointy nose sprinkled with gentle freckles.. Full red lips and mesmerizing blue eyes.

“How?”

“The noodle of time bends slightly more around these parts. It sometimes turns, sometimes twists and sometimes… things happen.”

She stuck out her tongue and winked at me, waving her hand towards the tomb.

“But this is no place nor time for this story. What I can say is that, this chamber was once intended to hold the body of the most beloved wife of the emperor. Instead it became a prison. Prison for one so vile that it should not be remembered. Nor by its name nor by its glory. Just by its sin.”

She once again raised her staff and let it fall, crushing the chains that bound me.

“That was in the past long forgotten but future came and seekers of the false god disturbed this sacred ground, freeing the ancient horrors.”

She helped me sit, then picked me up.

“They used your blood to “wedge” a foot into the doors that should remain locked forever.”

My head kept spinning as I stood. For a moment though, I could swear I saw a pair of familiar eyes within the crowd, that quite openly stared at me.

“For that very reason, you must be the one to shut them again.”

She braided my hands round her staff and I felt my mana rush into the artefact, burning with pain as blood in my veins boiled.

“I don’t know what you expect from me.”

“Nobody knows. That’s what the life is about. Of finding your own purpose and exceeding all expectations. But enough of that, the noodle grows weary of our presence here. You must sing. Sing the door shut.”

I almost asked what door she meant when I felt it. If darkness could have a taste, I would say it seemed like chewing lead and smelling burning garbage. Just millions of millions times worse.

I gagged an puked.

“Hey! Watch were you aiming! I just cleaned those boots! Besides, who told you to look that way? A?”

Not a single pair of eyes looked down. All were focused in the center. Focused on me.

“We don’t stare at that. We don’t think about that. And most of all we don’t fear that.”

Her eyes were drilling deep into my soul.

“Focus on the gate. There is a gate down there. That is a fact. Focus on it. That gate must be closed and must remain closed.”

Suddenly her hand grabbed at my chin and lift my head, bringing our eyes to level.

“What did I say about peeking? A?”

She held my head up and I gazed into her eyes.

“We don’t look down.”

“Fast learner are you?”

The song began a new, one by one voices joining the choir.

“Whatever happens, promise me, the gate stays closed.”

“The gate stays closed.”

I replied and my mana exploded. All that power gathered within me suddenly came out, rushing out of every pore of my body, burning through every ounce of my being. Somewhere deep within me, Erta screamed as her soul burned.

Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain!

It Burns!

The voices wailed within the mist.

And I screamed too. Blinded by the very same pain that pushed me towards the coldness of the blade.

But no cry came. My lips moved to the alien melody, birthing words I did not say.

It hurt.

The Gate! The Gate! The Gate! The Gate! The Gate! The Gate! The Gate! The Gate! The Gate! The Gate! The Gate! The Gate! The Gate! The Gate!

Lock the gate! Bar the gate! Then she free us from pain!

Pain! Death! Gate! We Burn!

Logic clapped her hands and my mind was again my own.

Close the gate.

She ordered and I complied.

Somewhere there below me, the gate trembled. The wings moved. The crack sealed.

I imagined the chain binding that gate. Cold, frozen chain. And the Jailer came pulling his chains. He chained the gate and pushed it beyond the mist.

Just when the song reached its end.

“You did it.”

Alirea whispered, hugging my steaming frame. I couched with smoke and choked with the smell of cooked meat. My veins still glowed through my scarlet skin.

Slowly, the crowd begun to disperse.

“Your staff…”

I still stood perched against her Lantern.

“Make good use of it. I no longer need it.”

She smiled and her body shattered into golden dust.

Along with the last of the crowd, the light went out. Once again I was left alone in the darkness.

Sizzling.

“Erta, I think we might have accidently fried our ass.”

The dragon groaned and muttered something unrefined. One of those dragon curses. Something about being dropped in an egg or hatching in a donkey’s ass or maybe both. I think she felt it too.

I collapsed to my knees.

My Love, I have come. The barrier is no more.

Groovy. Just what I needed. A perverted wind… or maybe.

“I need water. Lots of water. Take me somewhere safe with lots and lots of water.”

The wind swirled around me and, well, as the saying goes, careful what you wish for.

There was the feeling of weightlessness. Then the sense of falling. Then my butt splashed against something.

Oh well. At least there was water in here. Blasting jets of steam like a red hot iron thrust into water, I sank to the bottom.

My mind seemed strangely light as I sunk and I looked deep within me and asked:

“All in favor of passing out, hands up.”

All hands rose in unison. Even Erta lift her tail.

Good.

Out in the corner of my eye I saw Guilt.

Her hands were bleeding. She looked me in the eyes and said nothing. She didn’t have to. Her palms were covered with runes carved in her skin.

Names.

The biggest one read,

Dosie Whiteclaw.