Kael had been in the damp, suffocating confines of the cell for about a week now, and every second felt like an eternity. The days blurred together in a monotonous cycle of darkness and the faint glow of lanterns flickering in the hall. The only signs of life came when a guard would slide a wooden bowl of unidentifiable slop through the small opening at the bottom of the door. The slop was barely edible, a gritty mix that tasted like dirt and rot, but it was enough to keep him alive—barely.
His body ached from the hard stone floor, and his muscles were beginning to feel weak from the lack of proper food and movement. Yet, his mind refused to surrender. Kael spent most of his time trying to make sense of his situation and forming plans. None of them had progressed beyond the daydreaming stage.
Then he heard a voice from his right, it was coming from the neighbouring cell “hey”
Kael turned his head sharply, startled by the sound. For the past week, the other cells had been mostly silent, their occupants either too beaten down to speak or uninterested in conversation. The voice came again, clearer this time.
“You. New guy. What’s your name?”
Kael hesitated, unsure whether to engage. He shifted slightly, trying to peer through the bars separating his cell from the next, but the dim light made it impossible to see the speaker. After a moment, he decided there was no harm in answering.
“Kael,” he said, his voice low. “Who’s asking?”
A dry chuckle echoed from the other side. “Salvador the red, or just call me Sal”
Kael couldn’t help but be amused did this man just call himself, Salvador the red? A slight snigger came out of.
“Salvador the red” Kael repeated with sarcasm
“I guess you’ve never heard of us then, shame, we are but a humble…group”
“Right…okay. Do you know if anyone ever leaves this place?” Kael asked, his voice tinged with frustration.
“There’s only one way out, other than through those doors,” Salvador replied, his voice dark with an unsettling calm. “And that’s below.”
Kael raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Below? What do you mean by that?”
“Exactly what I said,” Sal continued. “There are tunnels beneath this place, hidden away. But trust me, they’re more of a death trap than these cells ever could be.”
“Why’s that?” Kael asked, curiosity piqued despite the foreboding tone in Salvador’s voice.
“Because of the abomination,” Salvador said, his voice dropping to a near whisper. “There’s a creature down there, one that no one has ever survived long enough to tell the tale about. It’s said to be Gold rank, maybe even higher.”
Kael’s gut tightened. Gold rank? He’d heard of such creatures, but they were as rare as they were deadly. To be trapped in a place like this, with something of that caliber lurking below… He couldn’t help but wonder if Salvador was exaggerating—or if this abomination was truly as dangerous as he made it sound or even if it existed at all.
“I can give you a passage down there if you’d like? It would only cost 10 or so lives up to you”
Slightly shocked Kael responded, “huh lives, what are you talking about?”
Salvador’s voice returned, now deeper and more cryptic. “Like I said, it’s up to you.” Then, without another word, he disappeared from view, retreating further into his own cell.
Kael sat in silence for a moment, trying to process what had just been said he didn’t even know what to think of this Salvador the red or whatever his name was has the guy gone crazy from imprisonment? Then another thought came to mind, Ten lives? The thought echoed in his mind, making his stomach twist uncomfortably. Sacrificing lives? What could it even entail? was this some kind of twisted joke? But Salvador hadn’t seemed like he was kidding. The mention of the tunnels, the gold-rank creature, and now this strange, cryptic exchange it all felt like a trap. But could Kael afford to ignore it? The abomination and the tunnels Salvador had spoken of could very well be the only way out of this hellhole.
For a few moments, Kael simply stared into the shadows of his cell, his mind racing. He had been trapped in this miserable place for far too long, and the thought of facing that creature, of entering the tunnels below, made his blood run cold. But the idea of staying here, without any hope, was even worse.
What if there’s some truth to it? Kael thought. What if this is my only chance?
He gritted his teeth, pushing the discomfort aside. No matter how twisted Salvador’s offer seemed, the idea of escape was too tempting. But ten lives? That number was grotesque. It seemed almost impossible—how could Kael justify such a price?
Kael leaned against the cold stone wall, his thoughts clouded by indecision. He hadn’t even met Salvador face-to-face; everything about the man seemed off, he seemed perfectly fine at the mention of killing? Kael eventually decided that he wouldn’t speak to Salvador and he would find his own way out.
Kael leaned against the cold stone wall of his cell, deep in thought. The hours had turned into days, and the days had turned into weeks, but one thing hadn't changed: he was still trapped. His meals were sparse, his body was growing weaker, and the prospect of staying here indefinitely gnawed at him. He couldn't afford to waste time anymore.
The conversation with Salvador had haunted him. Kael eventually realised that here was no way out, there was always two guards keeping watch and they seemed to be about as strong as Kael even without his power being repressed by the chains with no gaps in their shifts, the bars were simply unbendable and all this got to his head an in the end.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“Salvador!" Kael called, his voice raspy from disuse. He didn’t want to ask, didn’t want to lower himself to the man’s twisted offer, but the desperation in his chest won out. He had enough. Enough of the cage, enough of the fear, enough of waiting. He wanted out. He needed out.
After a long, unsettling silence, Salvador’s voice, laced with amusement, drifted through the bars between them. "So, the puppy crawls to the bone, huh? Come to beg, have you?"
Kael swallowed hard. The last thing he wanted was to appear weak, but the reality was undeniable—he had no choice. "You’re right," Kael said, his voice steady despite the bitterness pooling in his stomach. "I’ve had enough. How do we get out?"
“well, that’s simple really dear pup, you see all those other cell mates, well lets just say they will be helping us”
“What does that mean, stop speaking in riddles Salvador” Kael wasn’t in the mood for his games and just wanted to escape
Salvador didn’t seem to be bothered by Kael’s frustration. Instead, his voice remained calm, almost amused. "How about I show you?"
Before Kael could respond, Salvador stretched his hands out in front of him, his fingers splayed wide like he was grasping something invisible his fingers popped in and out the sockets sometimes twisting at unnatural angles, The air around him seemed to ripple with tension. His fingers were straining, muscles trembling as if the effort was too much, but he kept his focus.
Then, with a voice that was both alien and commanding, Salvador spoke in an unknown language, the words laced with a dark power that sent a shiver down Kael’s spine. The sound was unlike anything Kael had ever heard—twisted syllables, reverberating with a sinister energy.
Suddenly, the air around them grew thick with something Kael couldn’t see but could feel. A cacophony of screams erupted from the other cells, loud and frantic, the sound piercing through the stone walls. Kael’s eyes widened as he watched in horror.
The prisoners around them—dozens of them—began to lift off the ground, their bodies writhing and spasming uncontrollably as if they were caught in an invisible grip. The sounds of their agony filled the air as their flesh seemed to stretch and contort, their faces twisted in torment.
Then, without warning, it happened.
The prisoners imploded in a horrific burst of blood, their bodies disintegrating into nothing but gore. The blood splattered in every direction, but it didn’t fall randomly. Instead, it swirled and twisted in the air, forming a grotesque, pulsing star-shaped pattern, the blood itself moving with an unnatural grace, as though it were being controlled by some invisible force.
Kael recoiled, his stomach churning at the sight. His mind was reeling, struggling to process the brutal, graphic spectacle unfolding before him. But he couldn't look away. The blood, once in the shape of a twisted star, rushed toward Salvador in a torrent, as if it were being drawn to him by some unseen force.
Salvador stood there, unblinking, his eyes closed in concentration as the blood gathered around him then entered his chest, Kael was speechless, his legs shaking from the sheer terror of it all.
Finally, Salvador opened his eyes, and Kael saw something dark and merciless flicker behind them. "There," Salvador said, his voice a low, satisfied murmur. "That’s what I mean by a price. Ten lives. I told you there was power in sacrifice."
Kael could feel the aura coming from the man and it was the most intense thing he had ever felt, it was strong, very strong he could kill Kael if he wanted to and Kael knew that.
Suddenly Salvador smashed the floor and it crumbled Kael fell amongst the rubble down further and further from his cage he once stayed a couple of weeks in. he knew he was heading towards those underground tunnels however he didn’t know whether to be more scared to the abomination down there or Salvador, he was clearly of the gold rank at least from what sunny knew.
The fall finally came to a stop with a large splash, he fell he had fallen into a large body of water right in the centre of the cavern he couldn’t see the bottom, just endless blackness stretching below him, and the pressure of the water around him made it clear that this wasn’t just a shallow pool. His heart raced as he struggled to keep his bearings in the darkness, his mind racing through the worst possible scenarios.
Panic clawed at him for a moment he was going to drown. but he pushed it aside, forcing himself to focus. He needed to swim, needed to find his way out of this submerged abyss before something worse found him. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing thoughts, then started to paddle toward the surface, his eyes straining against the darkness, his hand cutting through the water.
As he swam upward, Kael's thoughts drifted to the unknown dangers lurking beneath the surface. There could be creatures in these waters—creatures that had made this cavern their home for who knew how long. The thought made his heart pound faster, and his strokes grew more frantic, but he forced himself to steady his breathing, to focus. He couldn’t afford to panic now.
The water felt cold, the kind of cold that seeped into your bones. The further he swam, the darker the water became, His muscles screamed in protest, but he pushed through the pain, desperate to escape whatever horrors awaited him below.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Kael’s head broke the surface of the water. He gasped for air, gulping it down greedily as he scanned his surroundings. The cavern was even more immense than he had imagined. The ceiling stretched up impossibly high, disappearing into the darkness above, and the cavern floor was far too distant to see. The water stretched as far as the eye could see, filling the space with an eerie silence that seemed to reverberate in his skull.
But that silence was deceptive.
The faint tremors beneath the surface made Kael freeze, every nerve on edge. He wasn’t alone.
A low, guttural sound echoed from somewhere deep in the water, just beyond the reach of his glowing blade’s light. Kael's heart skipped a beat. The sound grew louder, closer, and Kael could feel something moving beneath him, shifting in the darkness, something huge, something monstrous.
He didn’t wait to see what it was. Instinct took over. Kael pushed himself harder, swimming towards the edge of the cavern, toward one of the dark tunnels he could just make out on the far wall. He didn’t care what lay ahead—anything was better than staying in this water with whatever was lurking beneath him.
His arms burned as he fought against the current and the fatigue. He could still hear the movement below, the heavy splash of something enormous swimming just beneath the surface. It was closing in on him.
But he was almost there.
With one final push, Kael reached the edge of the water and scrambled onto the rocky shore, pulling himself out of the cavernous pool. He lay there, panting heavily, his chest heaving with exertion as the cool air of the cavern washed over him. His heart still raced as he dared a glance back at the water, expecting to see something rise up from the depths.
But there was nothing.
For now, at least.
Kael took a moment to steady himself, wiping the sweat and water from his face as he gathered his bearings. The tunnel he had swum toward was narrow and steep, but it led upward, which was a good sign. The last thing he wanted was to get further lost in the depths of this underground labyrinth.
With a steadying breath, Kael stood up, his muscles aching from the swim. He took a few cautious steps, his hand resting on the hilt of his [Flame Blade]. The cavern was eerily silent now, but he could still feel the tension in the air. He had no idea what awaited him next, but there was no turning back. The only way was forward.
As Kael ventured deeper into the vast open cavern, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was still out there, lurking in the darkness, waiting. He had to stay alert—whatever he had escaped in the water might be just the beginning of the horrors this underground world held.