Alex looked down at her, his expression softening as he took in the sight of Incognita, kneeling in repentance. The aura surrounding him flickered with warmth, illuminating her face, carefully not to burn her, casting her in a gentle glow.
“Stand up,” he said, his voice imbued with compassion that seemed to radiate from the very light surrounding him.
Slowly, Incognita rose to her feet, but her gaze remained downcast, her eyes shadowed with remorse. Her shoulders trembled slightly, a vulnerability she couldn’t quite hide.
“Forgive me for my... impertinence,” she managed, her voice raw and heavy with regret. “If I had known who you truly were... I wouldn’t have acted as I did.”
Alex’s heart tightened. Lathander had spoken to him about her, hinting at her haunted past. She was a vampire who had chosen the light against all odds, resisting the relentless pull of darkness that claimed so many of her kind. Yet Lathander had kept most of her story a mystery.
“Look at me,” he urged gently.
Reluctantly, Incognita lifted her gaze, meeting his eyes. The warmth in his smile melted the remaining iciness in her stare, and she felt her chest tighten, shame stirring within her. Her mouth quivered, and she bit her lip, her fang almost piercing the delicate lip. She couldn’t bear the kindness in his face, not after her actions moments before.
“Don’t beat yourself up too hard,” he murmured, a slight chuckle easing the tension. “And I’m not mad at you. Trust me—I’ve dealt with people who were far less friendly than you.”
The image of Astarion briefly appearing in his mind.
A small nod was all she managed, her shoulders loosening as she tried to absorb his forgiveness.
But the warmth in Alex’s smile faded, his expression turning grave. A ripple of unease crept through the air, and he glanced toward the entrance. “Someone’s coming,” he said quietly, the hairs on the back of his neck prickling as he felt the approach of an unfamiliar mind.
With a swift gesture, he raised his hand, and the shadows in the room seemed to respond, thickening and coiling around them. The flickering orbs of light that had illuminated the space vanished, swallowed by the darkness. In an instant, the room became a cavern of shadows, rendering them invisible to any intruding eyes.
From one of the far corners of the room, cloaked in darkness, Alex raised a finger to his lips in a silent command. Incognita gave a barely perceptible nod, understanding, her ruby eyes glinting briefly before blending seamlessly into the shadows.
They waited in tense silence as the wall of flesh—still from the earlier struggle—shifted. With a grotesque, organic sound, part of the barrier peeled back, revealing a metal gate behind it. The gate opened inward with a smooth, almost ceremonial motion, and from beyond it emerged a gleaming corridor, pristine and unnervingly quiet. Smooth white walls lined the hall, punctuated by glowing stones that cast a sterile, ghostly light.
A figure dressed in immaculate white robes stepped inside, the fabric so pure it seemed to shimmer in the dimness. The robes concealed every detail, from head to toe, granting the intruder an almost spectral appearance. The figure’s head moved slowly, scanning the room, as if searching for any sign of disturbance.
Alex’s eyes narrowed, focusing intently on the figure. He could see faint tendrils of magic woven into the fabric of the robes, enchantments thrumming with power. This was no ordinary guard or servant.
The figure’s head tilted, and though its face was hidden, Alex could feel the sharp intelligence behind that gaze, probing the shadows, seeking any anomaly. Incognita held her breath beside him, her body coiled like a spring, ready to strike or flee at the slightest movement.
They remained still as statues, the weight of the moment stretching unbearably, as the figure took a slow, measured step deeper into the room, its movements methodical and predatory, like a hunter stalking prey. The faint glow from the hallway illuminated only fragments of the space, leaving the shadows undisturbed in which Alex and Incognita hid.
As the figure’s gaze swept over them once more, Alex’s hand twitched, his fingers curling as he prepared a spell in the event they were discovered.
But the figure found nothing and soon drifted back through the open gate, the heavy metal gate swung shut shortly after.
For a few heartbeats, they waited, still hidden in shadow. Alex held his breath, his senses finely tuned to detect any lingering presence. Only when he was certain that the strange figure had gone did he let the darkness around them dissolve, revealing their forms. The dim light settled over them, and Alex wasted no time, linking his mind to Incognita’s in a swift, wordless connection.
'Do not open your mouth.' he whispered telepathically, his thoughts firm and unyielding.
Incognita nodded, her crimson eyes narrowing as she absorbed his command. 'Understood.' she replied, her voice echoing back in his mind with a mixture of intrigue and wariness.
He gave a brief nod, inclining his head toward the now-sealed gate. 'Follow me.' he instructed, gliding forward with steps as silent as a shadow. Incognita matched his stride, her presence equally muted as they reached the gate, its massive frame inscribed with symbols and spells that pulsed faintly in the dark.
Alex paused, his gaze skimming over the intricate markings that lined the door, reading the hidden magic within them. Lifting a hand, he pressed his palm against the cool metal. In response, the orb within his chest pulsed with a soft, internal light, attuning itself to the door’s enchantments.
'This door is sealed by an powerful enchantment.' he communicated telepathically to Incognita. 'It won’t open without a key—or something powerful enough to override it.'
He felt the magic within the door surge toward him, tendrils of energy that coiled around his fingers like curious serpents. The orb in his chest stirred, its energy consuming the enchantment’s power as Alex channeled his focus, his telekinesis prying at the mechanisms within. With a final, sharp pull, he forced the gate to yield. It groaned open, swinging inward to reveal a corridor that stretched ahead.
As they stepped forward, Alex’s mind was on high alert, the sterile chill in the air hinting at an environment designed for something sinister.
After walking for a short while, they stopped.
The hall before them shimmered, the mirrored floor beneath their feet casting back a distorted reflection, and when Alex knelt, pressing his fingers to the surface, it rippled like water disturbed by a pebble. The liquid-silver material surged up to coat his hand, cool and strangely alive, moving up his wrist as if attempting to draw him in. Incognita’s eyes widened, alarmed by the metallic substance devouring his arm, but he raised his free hand, stopping her from acting.
He could feel the metal probing his form, the enchantment attempting to detect impurities. His orb pulsed within his chest, drawing in the foreign magic, analyzing it, and dispersing it as harmless energy. A small smirk tugged at the corner of his lips as he turned to Incognita, his hand now free from the metal’s grasp, the substance sliding away as if losing interest.
'The hallway is a sterilization ward,' he explained telepathically. 'It’s meant to cleanse any organic matter, likely to keep contaminants out.'
She hesitated, the corners of her mouth tightening with a mixture of frustration and awe. 'I hope you know what you’re doing,' she said, just loud enough for him to hear. 'Touching that stuff without a second thought—what if it had tried to devour you?'
He shot her a wry smile. 'I’m not that easy to kill.' he thought, his tone light.
Through their telepathic connection, he could sense the lingering doubt in her mind, the unease that twisted in her gut.
Without any warning ,he set foot on the floor. The liquid metal enveloped him, cool and slick, before retracting with an almost sentient awareness, leaving him unharmed.
He waved for Incognita, who hesitated, eyes darting nervously to the shimmering floor. With a deep breath, she steeled herself and stepped forward, a yelp escaping her lips as the liquid engulfed her body, swallowing her momentarily before it receded, leaving her breathless and wide-eyed.
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Once past the ward, they moved ahead.
They moved cautiously down the hall. Finally, they approached another sealed door, this one inscribed with layers of intricate glyphs that shimmered with dormant magic, a stronger enchantment meant to guard something important.
A sense of foreboding washed over him as he reached out to test the door, brushing his fingers against the glyphs. 'This place…' he mused to himself, feeling an eerie familiarity. 'Feels like a lab.'
The thought lingered in his mind as they prepared to enter.
As they crossed through the door, Alex felt the unsettling weight of the place close in around them. The new hallway was an eerie echo of the one before it, but something here was different. The sterile white walls stretched out in three new directions, forming a cross with more halls and rows of doors, each etched with strange, gleaming numbers. Soft, artificial light streamed from the ceiling, casting their figures in ghostly reflections against the smooth, pristine surfaces. Yet for all its brightness, the hall felt oppressively dark.
A soft shiver crawled up Alex’s spine as he became aware of faint, flickering minds pulsing behind some of the doors, like dying embers caught in endless night. Intrigued but wary, he reached out mentally, attempting to connect with one of the minds. Immediately, his senses were overwhelmed by a wave of chaotic emotion—anguish, fear, rage , happiness , delight , lust . His mental link snapped, recoiling under the violent insanity that threatened to seep into his own mind.
He blinked hard, and glanced over at Incognita. Through their telepathic connection, he sent a warning, his tone laced with urgency. 'Do not open the doors. Whatever lies on the other side is… not friendly.'
She looked at him, her expression cautious. 'Do you know what’s behind them?'
Alex shook his head, his face clouded with a troubled look. 'I don’t know. Some of them are sentient, or close to it. But there’s something… deeply wrong. Their minds are twisted, lost in madness.' He paused, searching for words that could convey the horror of what he had sensed. ' It feels like their minds have been ripped apart and stitched back together.”
It felt similar to some minds that had been experimented on by the mindflayer colony.
Incognita’s gaze lingered on one of the numbered doors, her expression a mix of dread and morbid curiosity. But whatever fascination she felt vanished when she looked back at Alex, her face hardening with determination.
Suddenly, Alex’s heightened senses picked up on the faintest clink of metal. His ears twitched, honing in on the sound, his instincts on high alert. Without thinking, he pressed Incognita firmly against the wall, his eyes scanning the corridor for the source of the noise.
'Something is coming,' he explained.
From around the corner, two suits of animated armor strode down the hallway, their heavy, armored feet clanking rhythmically against the metal floors. Their visors, empty and dark, scanned the corridor in an unnatural mimicry of life. The hollow echo of their footsteps reverberated in the silence, a ghostly dirge in the lifeless hall.
The armored figures stopped, their hollow visors pausing only briefly to survey. But after a heartbeat, the armors moved on, their metal forms lumbering down an adjoining corridor, leaving the air cold and heavy in their wake.
The room they slipped into was sterile. A single, cold metal table dominated the center of the room, its polished surface gleaming under the dim light. Thick metal restraints were positioned at the ends, meant to hold down the arms and legs of whatever unfortunate being was subjected to the table's grip. Faintly glowing runes encircled each shackle, their silent hum of power betraying an enchantment woven into the table itself.
'A surgery room…' Alex said, his tone dark, his gaze lingering on the restraints as his mind pieced together the grim purpose of the chamber. These weren’t the kind of bindings meant for typical patients; they were designed for something that struggled and resisted.
Incognita’s eyes swept over the walls, which were lined with shelves containing silvery ,cleaned tools, some sharpened and gleaming as if recently used. Bone saws, scalpels, and other implements that seemed like twisted parodies of medical instruments lay on the shelves, that gave a sickening impression of what had happened here. She reached a hand toward one of the tools but drew it back quickly, as if repelled by an unseen force.
'Whatever was done here.' she said in a low voice, 'it wasn’t healing.'
Alex nodded, his jaw tight. 'Enchantments to bind, to silence, to prevent… escape.' He traced a finger along the glowing glyphs, feeling the energy thrumming through them.
A thick silence settled between them as they absorbed the room's heavy atmosphere, each of them haunted by the same unspoken thought: what kind of experiments were performed here ?
They both froze as a faint, metallic groan reverberated outside the room. Alex immediately gestured for silence, fingers pressed to his lips, and they ducked behind the steel table, feeling the cold metal dig into their backs. They crouched there, breaths stopped, bodies tense, every instinct screaming to remain as invisible as shadows themselves.
'Shit,' Alex murmured into Incognita's mind as the heavy sound of the door sliding open filled the room.
He glanced at her, his face hardening with a look of resolve. In an instant, he phased out. Moments later, his voice broke the silence, coming from near the door where he had reappeared.
“You can come out,” he said, his voice steady.
Incognita rose slowly, taking in the scene before her: Alex stood over a man in white robes, slumped and unconscious, and a shimmering magenta bubble now encased the room—a barrier Alex must have conjured. But her gaze drifted beyond him, drawn inexorably to the figure strapped to a wheeled table.
The figure was a drow, though it took her a moment to recognize it as such. Once, it might have looked like her. But now, it was a grotesque tapestry of mismatched eyes and mouths embedded all over its body, its face twisted into a rictus that held the barest remnants of its original features. Incognita felt a sickening chill twist in her stomach, a silent horror pressing into her mind as she looked upon it.
Alex’s voice cut through her thoughts. “Let’s see what this place is hiding.”
His gaze darkened as he extended a psionic tendril toward the unconscious man in robes, his mind reaching out, probing for any memories or knowledge. But the moment his mind touched the man’s mind, a dark reaction triggered: blood began streaming from the man’s eyes, nose, and ears in thin rivulets. Within seconds, his body went limp.
Alex expression was clouded with frustration. “An enchantment in his body...it melted his brain as soon as I tried to probe him.”
'I should have directly consumed him.' he lamented. 'But maybe he wasn't a bad guy.'
Then he turned his attention to the twisted drow. Incognita watched, uneasy, as Alex’s hand descended onto the drow’s mottled form. Tendrils of dark flesh extended from his fingers, and arm, wrapping around the drow in an unsettling embrace. The dark mass began to pulse, consuming the drow's disfigured body entirely, swallowing it until nothing remained, merely a moment.
In that instant, a flood of memories cascaded through Alex’s mind—fragments of the drow’s last moments, shattered and distorted like shards of a broken mirror.
'This one had been one of the Absolute soldiers, one of Minthara's subalterns.' He realized.
Most were ruined, splintered beyond recognition, but some flickered with faint images: cold hallways, harsh lights, and a grotesque tendril of flesh reaching out to touch the drow, transforming it in those final, agonizing moments.
“This place,” Alex murmured, his voice low and weighted. “It’s a laboratory. They’re experimenting with... something deeply twisted, and very dangerous.”
Incognita felt a surge of dread ripple through her, the weight of Alex’s words lingering heavily in the air. They both knew they had stepped into something far darker than they’d anticipated, and whatever horror lay at the heart of this lab would demand more from them than they had imagined.
Alex half-expected Incognita to turn on him with questions—demanding answers for what he just did. Yet she said nothing, her gaze steady, focused, her silence filled with a trust he hadn't anticipated. He turned his attention to the robed corpse at his feet.
With a deep breath, Alex extended his hands, a faint glow of necrotic energy swirling around his fingers. He cast Speak with Dead. The spell took hold. The man’s eyes flickered open, illuminated with a spectral light as he gazed forward, devoid of emotion, his life reduced to lingering fragments bound by magic.
Incognita edged closer, her presence steady beside him.
“What should we ask him?” Alex asked, his voice low.
“Why are you asking me? You’re the leader here,” she replied, her surprise barely concealed.
Alex turned, locking eyes with her. “Because until we get out of whatever hell this is, we’re equals. No one’s above the other. We’re partners.”
Something softened in her gaze, a flicker of appreciation that she quickly masked with resolve. She glanced at the corpse, her voice turning serious. “Ask him what this place is.”
Alex nodded. He leaned forward, his voice clear and commanding as he addressed the corpse. “What is this place?”
“A facility,” it answered, the word hollow, devoid of meaning. Its empty tone echoed through the small room, unsettling and cold.
Incognita’s lips thinned, frustration mounting. “What’s the purpose of this facility?” she asked, her voice tight with urgency.
“To study the effects of the beast,” the corpse replied, its tone robotic and unfeeling.
Alex glanced at Incognita, who was biting her lip, the shadow of frustration darkening her face. “What’s the beast?” he asked, hoping for a sliver of revelation.
But this time, the corpse stayed silent, as if bound by an invisible gag, the question hovering unanswered in the void.
Incognita let out a small, irritated noise beside him. Her patience was thinning, and Alex could feel it resonating in his own mind.
“We’ve only got two questions left,” he said, thinking fast. “A month ago, there was an incident in this facility—a disturbance. What was it?”
“A creature breached the walls,” the corpse replied, its voice deadened. “They killed it before it could reach the surface.”
“Who are ‘they’?” Incognita interjected before he could ask anything else, her voice edged with urgency.
“Master,” the corpse intoned. The single word, so final, hung in the air like a blade.
Then, just as abruptly as it had begun, the spell faded. The corpse’s eyes drifted closed, sinking back into the silence of death, its purpose spent.
Incognita let out a sigh, the frustration rolling off her in waves. “Well, that was useful...barely,” she muttered, her voice tinged with disappointment.
Alex nodded, his mind racing, turning over the meager pieces of information they had gathered. “This... beast, this ‘master’—whatever they’re hiding here...” His voice trailed off as he looked back at the metal table in the center of the room, its restraints gleaming dully in the faint light.