Chapter 35
Tears of Broken Man [https://i.imgur.com/R1xTpSQ.png]
“They came at night. They killed the old Guzo at the gates and before we knew it was all over.” Warren said barely speaking as tears flowed over his pummeled cheeks.
His facial features were barely recognizable under the layer of dried-up blood and damaged flesh. Warren's breath came out of his chest with a wheezing sound as he sat on the hard wooden ground on his knees clutching his head in agony. Warren didn’t feel sad about his broken body. No. Warren’s soul was in pieces, and he clutched his chest in a hopeless try to pick the pieces back together in what used to be.
“I woke up in the middle of the night from strange sounds outside. There were screams and sounds of steel and in my still sleepy state, I could not understand what was happening. I was still in my bed when the doors of our bedroom were broken in splinters and daemons entered my life,” Warren said sadness seeping through his words, “They did act unbecoming to a human. My wife and children were tortured and sacrificed in their rituals under the moonlight. I could only watch as they split their throats, and I could only scream when everybody I knew and loved followed the same fate not instantly, but with time they sacrificed one after another.”
Caravan men stood in silence crowded around the broken shell of a man. No one stopped his story, they just stood there in grim solidarity listening to the destiny you would not wish for your fiercest foe.
“They stayed here in the village, like kings and queens, sacrificing my friends in their rituals. Every night they herded out a new batch of villagers and they returned alone with no one in tow. Druids of Blood Cult let me live. They found my misery entertaining and my pain was music to their ears,” Warren said,” They granted salver stone to me in my personal safeguard. It was one more joke. Put me and my mind jail cell and grant me keys from my cage. “
Men stood in silence. The story told by Warren was dark and cold. The hatred directed toward already dead elk people only grew when they heard all that happened before they came here to this desolate village in the middle of the Empire.
“Well, you heard it yourself, men,” Giogio said to caravan men” Poor soul did not mean to bewray our trust or bewitch our minds. He was just a tool in the hands of wicked creatures and holding a grudge will not do any more good.”
With those words from the caravan leader men left Warren be. If Warren was lying, then he was the best liar in the world. The emotions he showed and expressed seemed absolutely true and genuine. Everything seemed to support his claim and affirm the truthfulness of his story.
Men did not bother the broken man anymore and turned their attention to their real target. Black solid metal doors at the end of the hall looked ominous and out of place in this wooden building.
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Black steel had red glyphs carved into it and lanes ornated them like long ugly snakes. Men tried to pry the doors open but for now, their effort was in vain. Massive doors didn’t even budge despite their best efforts.
They tried to hack them in pieces with axes or pry them open with metal bars, but doors stood there unshaken, undisturbed like a monolith piece of metal.
Jack approached the black doors and put his palm on the surface of them.
The surface was ice cold.
“What kind of sorcery is this door?” Jack asked no one in particular, but he was heard by Giogio and the caravan master didn’t hide an explanation from him.
“This is some sort of spatial artifact,” Giogio explained, “ You see those black lines in the frame. It is where space is broken into pieces to facilitate a new dimension. A deeper one. I have seen similar things only in estates of Great families, but to see one here is truly interesting. The artifact must be portable as I don’t see any need to place it in this village.”
“What it means?” Jack didn’t understand.
“When we gonna cross those doors we will find ourselves in space made by the human hand. A place that does not exist in our plane. A place which doesn’t belong to any plane at that.”
“Okey.”
Giogio just smirked seeing that Jack didn’t get a more clear understanding of what they are dealing with right now.
“All you need to know is that we hit the gold mine,” Giogio smiled a merchant's smile, “When we will get inside and kill our host, we will acquire a treasure Great families or orders will pay a great sum to get their hand on. In other words, we are rich, my friend. We are rich.”
Men around them cheered and doubled their effort to open the doors in front of them.
"Who are they?" Jack pointed at corpses of half human half beast hybrids lying on the hall floor in their own blood.
"Cult of Blood," Giogio didn't have to explain as this time Linus was first to answer, "Everybody knows them, but this is the first time I have heard them do atrocities like that. Cults who honor Divines are allowed to exist in the Empire as long as their religious practices don't hurt common folk. They have always been a nuisance, but different cults have many believers, who are rewarded with special classes for their allegiance and strong beliefs. Cult of Blood follows in the footsteps of Divine of Blood, who tends to show himself in form of golden elk. At tier II they get the druid classes and transform themselves into closer forms to their beloved Divine. Crazy fuckers."
"And Cult of Blood has never... drawn blood?" Jack asked furrowing his brows.
"No. Never." Linus said with confidence, " If they would, they would be hunted down like animals they are. I don't know what they are thinking."
"I think answer awaits us behind those doors," Giogio said pointing at black metal doors hiding the coven leader.
With a loud crack, doors split open. Doors fell apart and dropped to the ground with a loud ring. In their place stood a purple maw of portal hiding what is beyond it.
Caravan men stood weapons drawn ready to fight whatever comes their way, but the mouth of the portal stood silent. After a moment of silence, Giogio moved closer to it. He was first followed by his men and finally by Jack, Linus, Orla, and Zaun.
Caravan men crossed the portal with no words said and Mad Dogs followed suit.
They had unfinished business with whoever hides on the other side and they were going to finish it once and for all.