Karla was standing in front of four church doctors. They all looked at her in apprehension.

“Are you a hunter?” shouted one of them.

“Don’t be stupid Arthur! Since when did hunters seek help from church doctors?” answered the man called Arnold.

“He’s right, I’m no hunter” said Karla “I was kidnapped just like you and brought here by those giant men.”

“You don’t look too well. Are you injured?” Asked the second man whose name was still unknown to Karla.

“I was injured fighting one of those things. I’ll be fine once I mend some of these injuries.” She replied.

“We have some extra blood vials, they’ll invigorate you instantly.” Said Adela to the frowns of the other three.

“I thought you were church doctors. Don’t you know how to mend wounds without using those cursed vials?” Karla never liked the use of blood. But from the look of things, it seemed that she would be forced to use them after all.

“Listen,” started Arthur “We are doctors who work in order to prevent the scourge from further spreading in our city. We roam the streets looking for the sick and we cure them from their fatal disease. Blood is our only cure. But if you’d like to take a chance at dying painfully to one of the beasts up there, I don’t think we’ll be willing to aid you on that endeavor.” The other two nodded in agreement while looking at Arthur.

“If you survived a fight against a kidnapper that means that you can fight. We’ll need your help in order to get out of here. But we won’t risk protecting an injured woman who can barely move.” This time, it was Arnold who reinforced his friend’s point.

“You have a point I guess. I’ll need to be in full control of my body if we are to bring down at least one of those things without getting killed.” She turned then towards Adela and said “I’ll take you up on that offer for blood vials.”

She took three vials from Adela and injected herself with one. Instantly, she felt the pain in her ribs relieved and the headache dissipating. ‘This blood can really heal anything.’ She thought in amazement.

“Now, what’s the plan?” She asked the four doctors.

“I’m not moving from here. I’m confident in my faith in the gods, and they will protect me.” Said Adela in a resolute way.

“Don’t be stubborn Adela. You’ll just end up as food for those cruel kidnappers.” Said the man whose name was still unknown to Karla.

“Leave her be Bernard. We’ll come back for her once we find our way out. She’ll be convinced by how unsympathetic the gods are then.” Said Arnold in a mocking voice.

‘Alright, his name is Bernard. Finally, I won’t have to ask for anyone’s name’ Thought Karla in relief.

“Mock me all you want. You will die an agonizing death and I will be here safe and sound.” Replied Adela in a scornful tone.

“Alright lady,” said Arnold facing Karla “Let’s move out. Do you have a weapon on you?”

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Karla checked her sheath and realized that she had dropped her sword while fighting the kidnapper earlier. She felt even weaker without her trustworthy sword. Arnold took a sword which was hanging by his belt and presented it to her. “We’ll need all the help we can get. I have this extra weapon that I found earlier on a hunter’s corpse.”

It was a long sword but not a very heavy one. Karla estimated that it would take her sometime to get used to it as it was heavier than her previous weapon. “This will do. You have my thanks.” She placed the weapon on its sheath and buckled it to her waist. Adela remained hidden behind some of the mirrors and sat on her knees, murmuring some prayers.

The four of them then moved upstairs, towards the prison where Karla had woken up. With the help of the torches Bernard and Arthur were carrying, Karla could see better in the dark dungeon. More skeletons with long cages on their heads sat on chairs or were lying down on the floor, no torture signs were to be seen on them.

“Do you know what those cages are for?” She asked, addressing the three men.

“They must be some kind of torture device” replied Arthur.

“This place really is terrifying” said Bernard with his deep shaking voice.

“I’m more worried about those chants I hear. Am I the only who hears them?” asked Arnold.

In fact, there were some chants in the distance. Their sound, however faint, was bone chilling. It seemed like a choir singing something of a diabolical nature.

They went through a big door that used to seal the access in and out of the prison. The door was not locked though and the four people went through without a problem. They found themselves in a corridor with serpentine stairs that led upwards.

The stone walls were composed of bricks that started withering and the whole place looked to be falling apart. The more they climbed up the stairs, the louder the sound became. They reached the second floor where they saw a door leading down to some dark chamber.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to split up yet. Let’s take a look at the area at the top of this place first. It might be our best chance of escape.” Said Bernard, to which the others nodded quietly and continued their ascending.

They soon reached the end of the stairway and found themselves in a large room. It looked like a church at first sight. The room was spacious and had pillars on each side. The ceiling extended to reach a height which made making out its patterns impossible.

The building was gigantic and gave the impression that it was majestic at some point in time. The floor of the room though was composed only of bars, tightly stacked together to reinforce its sturdiness.

From there, Karla could see the cage in which she was imprisoned before. Karla bumped into Arthur’s back who suddenly stopped in his tracks. A kidnapper, tall and menacing, was walking towards them.

Arnold immediately asked the others to surround their foe in order to make him lose focus. They surrounded him and each time he made to attack one of them, the other three jumped at him in unison. The kidnapper was fast though and managed to dodge their attacks.

Karla was still getting used to the strength she had to use in order to swing her weapon properly. She missed each attack by a long shot. The kidnapper came at her and Arthur this time managed to cut his leg and cause a deep injury.

The tall beast let out a scream, and red aura enveloped its body. “Beware, it’s getting angry!” shouted Bernard. The kidnapper ran quickly towards Arnold and struck at him with an uppercut. The movement was so fast that it looked like he teleported from Karla’s point of view.

Arnold however managed to dodge the attack and pierced the kidnapper with his sword. It was time to move forward, and Karla and the others ran towards their common enemy. The tall beast was still capable of movement and with its backhand, swiped Arnold away.

The poor man rolled numerous times on the ground and only one pillar managed to stop him. The other three surrounded the kidnapper and Karla, swinging her new sword, managed to injure its other leg. The beast fell down on its knees and Arthur pierced it again with his own sword while Bernard shot the beast in the head using his large firearm.

The kidnapper fell to the ground, finally dead.

“No matter how big they are, if you pierce and shoot them, they’ll eventually die,” Arnold said as he moved back towards the others and retrieved his sword from within the beast’s chest.

“With the four of us, I think we have a chance of getting out of here.” Bernard was finally cheerful.