“Who was that?” Was Nova's first question once the blue-eyed Author and the woman disappeared among the petrified trees.

“Danger,” Talon replied with a single word. “I can’t tell what rank that guy was, but sure as hell it ain't fabled.”

A flash of lightning streaked across the sky above, followed by a resounding boom that echoed through the air.

“Flood Season has started. We’ll have a difficult journey back,” Talon added solemnly, not even sparing a look to the sky. Sticks and Nova nodded assertively.

“Let’s get going,” Talon continued, combing her gray-streaked black hair with her hand. “We’re late.”

By his side, Nova heard Sticks taking a deep breath, steeling himself before he followed closely behind Talon.

─ ⴵ ─

Nova stepped carefully on the slippery, uneven stone floor, trying to distract himself from the nauseating smell.

There was barely any light inside the dark cave, mostly from the purple fluorescent moss that grew on the walls.

Nova was certain the place was trapped, and he wasn’t sure if their host had been kind enough to deactivate the traps to welcome them.

He used his sleeve to clean the droplets of sweat on his forehead before glancing at Sticks beside him. The young man was paler than usual and appeared as if he was about to throw up.

A noise towards the cave’s entrance startled Nova, and he turned around in a hurry, startled by the sound.

“Just a loose rock,” Talon said in a monotone, raising an eyebrow. “Keep moving.”

Nova nodded, trying to calm his racing heart. Embarrassed, he kept moving forward. His head was not yet in the right place.

After finding out that Stella and Adam knew about their plan, he spent the next few days paranoid, barely able to sleep, and expecting Aeymenchuk guards to break into his shelter at any moment.

He glanced at Talon, who was two meters ahead.

Nova had not told the truth to the Epoch, afraid they would postpone their plan or, worse, abandon them. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and he would take it, even if it cost him his life.

He put his hand over his jacket, feeling the Gift of Illusion he had hidden between the two layers of the fabric. He hadn’t even looked at the thing properly yet—he needed someone who could read Ancient Labyrinthian to decipher the page–he couldn’t find anyone he could trust.

The cave reeked with blood and feces—not surprising, given the impressive number of cages of different sizes around—some hanging from the ceiling and others scattered haphazardly on the ground.

Most were empty, but not all of them. Vicious rodents, reptiles, and monstrous abominations–unlike any he had seen before–threw themselves into the rusty iron bars, growling violently, their teeth scraping against the metal, trying to escape.

Splurge!

Nova stepped on something viscous and almost slipped. With disgust, he took a good look at the blood-colored substance sticking to the sole of his boot–it was similar to coagulated blood.

Shit, he cursed inwardly.

To his side, Sticks watched the floor with repulsion as he barely managed to avoid stepping on the viscous substance. They exchanged a disgusted look before carefully resuming their march.

It didn’t take them much longer to see a flickering light in the distance.

Following the light led them to a large, dimly lit space illuminated by hundreds of candles. All over the cave were numerous stone platforms containing a myriad of metallic tools, restraints, unorthodox apparatus, and blood—lots of blood.

Everything, from the floor to the ceiling to the stone platforms, was covered in a thick, sticky layer of coagulated blood.

What the hell is this place?

Nova felt a shiver running through his body.

In the middle of the cave was a large stone dining table. On it, an open pig carcass lay open, with fresh blood dripping profusely from its flesh. A small, busy figure was hunched over it, unaware of its presence.

Suddenly, a cold breeze blew behind their backs, dimming the light as the candlelight flickered. Nova had a bad feeling, so he scouted his surroundings, looking for danger. All he saw was darkness.

“Sticks? Talon?” He shouted, but no one answered.

Where did they go?

He took two steps forward and bumped into something.

The stone table, he realized, and as he did, the table appeared in front of him.

The pig carcass was gone. In its place, only a severed pig head rested on the table. Its mouth was grotesquely open, the jaw unhinged far wider than any real pig’s mouth could stretch. Lodged inside its gaping maw was a round, hairy object, but Nova couldn’t quite understand what it was.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

The eyes had been hollowed out, with fresh blood still dripping from the empty eye sockets onto the floor in a rhythmic, macabre pattern. They looked like tears of blood.

Lying on the table beside the pig’s head were two glassy eyeballs with pieces of flesh still clinging to them. Nova tried to look away, his stomach churning, but an invisible force rooted him in place.

Without warning, one of the eyeballs rolled from the table to the stone floor, only stopping against Nova’s boot.

An irresistible desire took hold of him, forcing him to bend and grab the eyeball. It was warm, and the gelatine-like flesh adhered to his hand. Curious, he inspected it carefully.

The iris was large and dark. Deep inside it, there was an even darker swirling abyss that sucked Nova in. It was almost as if it could pull out his soul.

Nova struggled, wrenching his gaze away with immense effort. As he did, a sickening plop echoed through the cavern, like something gelatinous hitting the floor. At the same time, his vision blurred for a moment, and when it cleared, he was now sitting on top of a large stone platform.

Whatever force prevented him from moving was still there, and only with much effort did he manage to look at his sides.

The left side was empty, only an endless, bare stone platform that disappeared in the darkness. However, there was a large, glassy eyeball on his right side.

What is going on?

Scared, Nova looked up.

Above him, a grotesque ceiling of flesh, lined with rows of rectangular teeth, each stained with dried blood. The sight was horrifying, but even worse was the paralyzing grip that held him in place.

Thump.

Something heavy fell on the floor, startling him.

He struggled to turn around just in time to see a headless corpse hitting the ground—his own body.

Three separate screams echoed across the cave.

─ ⴵ ─

When Talon shook Nova awake, he was drenched in sweat. Sticks was on the floor, right beside him, still unconscious but breathing. His face was deformed with fear.

“Is he ok?” Nova asked, worried.

“Who knows?” Squealed a rough voice above him.

Nova looked up and saw a hunched figure—the same figure who had been leaning over the pig carcass.

It sat on an elevated stone platform with its back turned against Nova.

“Are you the Swine?” Nova asked without thinking.

The figure turned around in an instant, startling Nova.

It was a thin, old woman…man… thing. It had short hair and a smudged, pig-like nose. It stared at him with small, dark eyes and a grim smile that revealed unordered jagged teeth.

It turned to Talon with a sarcastic smirk. “The Epoch used to be more respectful.”

Talon grabbed Nova’s head and pushed it against the ground, forcing him to bow down.

“I’m sorry, madam Gee,” he apologized. “It’s the mind attack; it caught us off guard.”

Madam Gee gestured dismissively before jumping to the ground with unnatural agility. Only now did Nova realize how small it was–not even five feet.

“I’ll let it go this time,” it said with an amused smirk.

Talon bowed again in thanks, and Nova followed suit.

Madam Gee ignored them and approached Sticks, its small, piercing eyes staring at his face for a moment.

“This one might not make it.”

Nova’s heart skipped a beat.

“Can you help him?” He asked. Talon threw him a warning glance.

Madam Gee, however, wasn’t bothered. Her thin lips curved into a grin, and she turned again to face Nova. The nine fingers on her left hand playfully bickering with one another as if they had a will of their own.

“I’m afraid not,” she said. “Don’t worry, if he can’t take this, he wouldn’t have managed to hold on to the Mark.”

Nova jumped up, determined to force her to help Sticks, but Talon stopped him and motioned for him to stand down.

“I understand, Madam,” Talon said respectfully, “What about us? Can you work on our Mark while we wait for Sticks?”

Nova noticed a hint of worry in her voice. He wasn't sure what terror she had faced, but it shouldn’t have been simpler than his.

“What are you talking about?” Madam Gee squealed.

“The M-Mark, w-we’ve made a deal, please,” Talon stuttered. The fear was evident on her face. Nova had never seen her so scared before.

With her long, ragged dress sweeping the floor, Madam Gee approached Nova. She raised a bloated, distorted finger and, with a tug, tore part of Nova’s jacket just below his shoulder.

Scared, Nova jumped back and grabbed his arm.

“What are you doing, old woman?” he shouted, disregarding Talon’s warning glance.

It didn’t reply, laughing instead while pointing a finger at his arm.

“You were asking about the mark. It’s already there.”

Confused, Nova examined his arm.

On his pale skin, there was now something else.

His flesh was split open, blood pouring from the jagged wound. Nova’s stomach churned as he saw a large, grotesque eyeball embedded deep within it. The eye twitched, its dark pupil dilating.

He felt a searing pain, the strength on his left arm rapidly draining away as if the eyeball was drawing nourishment from his blood.

“You don’t have much time. It takes a few weeks at most before it consumes you completely, so you better find your targets soon.” It snickered, letting out a laugh that froze the blood in their veins.

“How do we activate them?” Talon asked. She had rolled her sleeve up and found a similar, disgusting eyeball on her arm.

“Don’t worry, it will activate on its own,” Madam Gee replied. “But beware, it won’t help you avoid the guardian.”

It waved its nine-fingered hand, dismissing them.

“You two can wait outside,” it ordered. “If this one doesn’t return in a couple more hours, consider him gone. I’ll take the body as a bonus payment.”

Nova opened his mouth to protest, but Talon interrupted him, pushing his head down and forcing him to bow again.

“Thank you, madam Gee,” she thanked respectfully.

“And one more thing,” Madam Gee added, “If you happen to meet a guy called Christopher there, don’t touch him.”

“Why?” Nova asked, a bad feeling swelling inside him.

“I owe someone a favor.”