Hinges screeched as the heavy door swung wide, hitting the inside wall with a loud thunk.
The Inspector cringed, as the sound echoed across the cavernous room.
He waited for someone to notice, to come running, to sound the alarm… But no response came.
Kint released an anxious breath, then peeked his head inside to look around.
The lab was dark. It extended well over a hundred paces into the distance, and was relatively narrow for its comparative length.
The only reason Kint knew it was a lab to begin with, was the sight of floor to ceiling glass cylinders glowing toward the end of the room. The glowing glass chamber lit the silhouettes of the identical cylindrical tanks around it, and the Inspector began to realize the room was full of the giant vessels.
Two rows of floor to ceiling glass chambers extended down the length of the room. Dozens of them on each side.
And just beyond the end of those rows… was a door.
Kint’s cheek twitched.
He could feel something emanating from that door.
It called to him. Ripples of energy pulsing across his skin.
That was where he needed to go.
The Inspector took a step, his boot echoing.
Again, there was no reaction.
He was alone.
At least for now.
Kint moved gingerly through the room, analyzing his surroundings.
Wooden crates of various sizes were stacked on either side of him. They’d been packed in a hurry.
The Dowser grimaced.
Either this place was about to expand, or they were packing it up. He suspected the latter, which meant someone would most certainly be here soon to finish the cleanup.
He needed to get this done quickly.
Kint approached the first set of towering glass tanks, searching for evidence of Lord Crecius' foul experiments.
The ones nearest to him looked empty, but it was too dark to tell.
He approached the tube to his right, looking it up and down.
The massive vessel was mostly barren, its walls extending from a stone platform on the floor, up into the ceiling.
He squinted his eyes, at the top of the cylinder. There looked to be a thick root protruding from down into the tank.
His brow furrowed in confusion.
A root from the Stalwart Tree, maybe? But, all the way out here?
It was possible. But, not what he was looking for.
The Inspector moved on.
Down and down through rows of reflective glass he moved, the clacking of boots echoing through the cavernous room.
With each step, Kint could feel the rhythmic pulse calling him like a gentle wind, tempting him forward. He wanted to rush in, to heed the call and open the beckoning door, but he held off. He could not help but think of Mr. Syfeeli, and Mrs. Insmuth. Is this what had happened to them? Had they been called to act by this unseen force? Driven into madness by its tantalizing breeze.
No.
Kint would not be like them. He would find the evidence he needed in this room. Some artifact or object of dark magic would do. Anything with the taint of Rot would be ample proof of the Lord’s misdeeds.
Kint continued down the corridor of glass tubes.
He cocked his head, noticing a subtle splash beneath his feet.
Looking down, the Inspector frowned.
A thick viscous liquid shown across the floor. He followed the trial of fluid to see that it was spread haphazardly all over the room.
He knelt down, brushing fingertips through the liquid, putting it to his nose.
Oil…
The Inspector’s eyes widened.
They were going to destroy it… The whole lab would go up in flames leaving no evidence behind.
Kint stood, quickening his step.
Who knew how much time he had left.
He needed to find his leverage and get out of here.
His eyes searched the lab frantically for anything of interest. He checked tables and open crates, even using his Dowsing powers selectively to quicken the search… but there was nothing.
As he came near the end of the hall, Kint began to worry that the Acolytes had already taken away everything of substance.
But his hopes lifted when his eyes landed on the only Cylinder still glowing.
The Inspectors pulse quickened. He did not need to dowse to tell that there was something magical happening inside the tank.
He approached, oil splashing underfoot.
His brow furrowed.
There was someone… Someone was inside the tank.
Kint jogged past the final empty tubes arriving in front of the shimmering glass.
It was a girl.
She looked to be in her late teenage years, with blond hair and pale skin. The fragile girl floated inside the glass curled into a fetal position.
It looked like she was alive, though he did not know how. Her chest rose and fell like she was breathing, but no air bubbles were present inside the chamber.
Whatever liquid was that held her up, was likely keeping her alive as well.
Kint grimaced, as he spotted something familiar.
The girl was covered in hundreds of delicate scars, much like the urchin in the mortuary.
A thought occurred to the Inspector, and a hopeful smile bloomed on his lips.
This was it… This was the proof that he needed.
A witness. Not only that, but a test subject herself.
If he could find a way to get her out of this glass without killing her, then this girl could be his ticket to safety.
Kint peered closer into the glass, chest bursting with renewed vigor.
His eyes narrowed as he noticed glistening flecks of glowing purple molecules drifting through the viscous fluid. He followed them upward, to the top of the cylinder, where a thick root glowed purple and black.
Dozens of small crystals of similar colors glowed throughout the tree root. The gentle purple magic emanated from them, descending like snowflakes to move around the girl.
Kint stepped forward, putting a hand against the glass to test its density.
His foot splashed.
The Inspector frowned, forehead creasing.
That splash had a different timber than the oil he’d been stepping on previously.
He looked down, it wasn’t oil. A puddle of the glowing liquid from the tank had pooled around the edge of the glass.
His eyes squinted.
Kint stepped to the side, moving around the vessel, searching for…
There it was.
A crack in the glass.
Thick glistening fluid spilled from a long splinter in the cylinder.
The Inspector looked up again, noticing that the tube was not filled completely. In fact, much of the descending root was exposed.
His frown deepened as he noticed that where the liquid was no longer touching the root, the crystals no longer glowed, and the glistening molecules of magic no longer fell.
A discomforting thought wormed into his mind.
If the magic from the crystals was keeping the girl alive, then how could she lose before–
The girl shuddered violently, body convulsing.
Kint stepped back, eyes wide with panic.
She shuddered again, mouth open, gagging. The girl was choking.
Her eyes shot open, terror knotting her face.
She was trying to breathe, but there wasn’t enough magic in the fluid anymore… She couldn’t breathe.
His eyes widened.
What could he do?
He couldn’t let her die. She was his only chance.
The Inspector looked around, searching for a way to break the glass.
The girl continued to struggle, eyes bloodshot, bulging from her skull.
He circled the area around the tube, finding nothing of use..
“Shit… Shit. Shit. Shit.”
The girl was dying. Hands to her throat. Fear on her face.
He looked back at the cylinder with worry.
The crack!
Kint sprinted around the chamber, finding the splinter of an opening.
He pulled out his stalwart knife, and went to work, smashing the butt of it against the jagged hole.
Nothing happened.
Shit…
He tried again, swinging as hard as he could.
Nothing.
Once more he tried, and blessedly, he heard a subtle crack.
The glass was thick, but the break had grown.
He tried redoubling his efforts. Harder and harder he swung. Again and again.
Slowly, the glass began to shudder, it’s structural integrity wavering.
“Come on!” Kint growled, throwing himself against the crack with all his weight.
“Come on!”
Was she still alive? Could she have lasted this long.
He threw his hands forward once more, and...
Snap!
A massive shard of glass fell inward and Kint was blasted in the face with a jet of the viscous fluid.
He fell back, liquid pouring onto him, forcing him to cough it away.
The Inspector stood quickly, brushing fluid from his eyes as he scrambled toward the girl.
His vision cleared and his face fell.
The tube was nearly empty, but the girl was slumped at the bottom of it, eyes closed, unmoving.
Was she alive?
Kint approached to check her vital signs.
Had he made it in time?
Thunk!
A loud echo of steel on stone rippled around the room.
Kint froze.
The noise ricocheted ominously through the lab. It hit the back wall, then brushed back over him.
“It’s not my fault.”
A deep voice sounded from the entrance.
“Davros told me to lay down some oil, so I laid down some oil.” The man complained.
“He meant after we’d removed the assets.” Another man replied. “Doesn’t that make more sense?”
There was a pause.
“Oh, fuck…” The man realized. “Sorry, Dipple.”
“Will you two shut up and help me with these damned crates?” A nasally voice spat.
“Apologies, Master Qorvast.” Dipple replied. “I’ll be right there.”
Another pause.
“Kelly, you go down and start draining Subject three.” The Acolyte commanded. “Davros wants to play with her before we’re done.”
“Right.” The man chuckled.
Shit…
The Acolyte was coming this way.
Kint looked at the girl.
She wasn’t moving.
They were coming for her…
But what could he do? Where could he take her? Was she even alive?
The Inspector gritted his teeth.
He had to hide.
His eyes searched the space.
There was very little glow left in the purple fluid around him, which made things easier, darker.
Unfortunately, the only thing in the room to hide behind were clear glass tubes.
Kint grimaced.
His excitement rose a bit when his eyes alighted on a vessel that was darker than the rest, back toward the Acolytes. He couldn’t see through it. Which meant the Acolyte wouldn’t be able to either…
The Inspector moved quickly, taking careful steps toward the dark tube, crouching down behind it.
He slowed his breathing, trying to quiet himself as the man approached.
Footsteps echoed toward him.
Closer…
Closer…
Kint took a chance, standing to peak around the edge of the cylinder as the Acolyte neared.
The man was tall, wearing the purple vest and black shirt of house Vorva. He had a hatchet face, and eyes that held little spark.
The Inspector’s gaze followed as the man muttered his way down the hall.
“How was I supposed to know…”
“Gotta wait till all the boxes are out…”
The man passed Kint’s hiding place.
The Inspector's eyes lingered, following through the glass.
As his gaze passed through the tank, his breath caught.
He brought a hand to his mouth to catch his scream.
A haunting set of dead gray eyes were locked on his own.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
It took everything in his being not to step away from his hiding place.
The gray eyes stared lifeless, floating in the dark liquid.
Kint’s horror deepend as he took in the whole of the test subject.
It was a young boy about Nessa’s age. His skin was pale, hair cut short.
Kint looked up, seeing another descending root from the ceiling. Except, this one was thicker, spiraling down to connect with the boy at the waste.
The Inspector spewed into this hand, he couldn’t help it.He cupped his other hand beneath the dripping bile to keep it from splattering to the ground.
Nausea still wracked him as his eyes followed the root to where it connected with the boys naval. Then they drifted lower, to where the boy… ceased to be human.
It was a gruesome sight…
Skin split and muscles ruptured where chords of thick tree roots had exploded from the child's legs. Flesh and root combined across his whole lower body, leaving a horrifying bloody mess.
Kint had to look away. Unable to comprehend the savagery of it.
To do something like that to a little boy…
The pain it must have caused.
“What the fuck?”
The voice cut through Kint’s shock.
“She’s already dead.”
Kint cursed himself, peaking around the dead child to see the Acolyte standing over another.
If only he’d been quicker.
“Hey, Dipple.” The man called back to his partner. “The bitch is already dead.”
“What?” A voice called back. “Subject 3? That’s impossible…”
A pause.
“He says she’s…”
Kint heard muttering voices from across the room.
“Then go check it out.” Qorvast ordered.
“Right.” Dipple replied, “Hold a minute Kelly, I’ll be right over.”
Footsteps echoed toward them with slow purpose.
“Alright.” Kelly muttered, still examining the dead girl. “What happened here?”
He took a closer look at the liquid pooled around the base of the cylinder.
The Acolyte began to move around the tube as Kint had, looking for the crack.
The Inspectors breath caught.
If Kelly went all the way around, they’d be on the same side of the cylinder. All he’d have to do is check his periphery and Kint would be right there.
The Inspector ground his teeth, mind racing through options.
There was nothing he could do, nowhere to go.
If he tried to move to the other side of the room, he’d pass directly in front of Acolyte Dippled.
Kelly seemed the dumber one, so Kint took his chances and stayed put.
The tall Acolyte circled the broken tube methodically, examining each section with confusion until finally, he arrived at the cracked section and the hole in the glass the Kint had expanded.
“How the fuck?” The man pondered, brow furrowing.
Kint stared at him, eyes wide with panic.
They were directly across from each other. All Kelly would have to do is turn his head, and Kint would be discovered.
Sweat dripped from the Inspectors brow as he watched.
The Acolyte was completely absorbed in his examination.
He stared at the hole, testing the glass with his fingers.
His eyes locked onto the space like it led to another world.
The man shuddered slightly, muscles twitching.
“What the…”
It happened again, Kelly’s neck twitching several times.
“Oghh” The man grunted, confused.
His arms began to move, slowly, shivering with effort.
The Acolytes hands reached out, grasping at the hole in the glass.
“Aghh.” He cried in pain as both hands gripped at the shattered glass, tightening around its edges.
Blood seeped between the Acolytes fingers.
“Agh…” He groaned again, but didn't stop. His grip held tight, strong arms pulling at the heavy glass.
Snap.
A piece came away, widening the hole.
The man’s face was scared and confused. Like he didn’t understand what was happening.
He raised his hands again.
They were covered in blood. Deep gashes cut across his palms and fingers.
But that didn’t stop him.
He moved more quickly now, motions increasing in fluidity as he grabbed at another section of the cylinder.
He clutched the shards of glass with both hands, leaning back to leverage his bodywieght.
“AHHH, God’s, Ahhhh!” He screamed now, full throated.
Kint grimaced, as he heard the squeaking of scerating tendons and the scratching of glass on bone.
Another large piece broke away, creating a sizable opening.
“DIPPLE!” The man cried, panicked. His ravaged hands reached back up to grab another shard of glass.
Dipple sprinted past where Kint was standing, approaching his frantic colleague.
“What is it, Kelly?” He asked, breathless. “What are you doing?”
“I don’t know?” The Acolyte replied, voice filled with fear.
He pulled another piece away, wrists slicing on broken glass as he did.
“God’s Kelly! What are you doing?” Dipple growled, pulling the man away from the glass. “St–Stop it!”
Kint shuffled around to the opposite side of his cylinder. Then used the Acolytes distraction to cover his movements as he dashed to the other side of the room, to duck behind another empty chamber. He crawled a ways down, back toward the entrance, trying to put some space between him and the struggling men.
The Inspector crouched low behind his new tube, observing the mayhem through warped glass.
“What are you doing man– Stop it.” Dipple grunted.
The Acolyte had wrestled Kelly to the ground and was trying to hold him back from taking another piece of glass.
Kint was going mostly by sound, as he no longer had a clear view of the conflict.
“Hey!”
A voice called from the entrance. “
What’s going on over there?”
The Acolytes weren’t listening.
“Kellyyy…Put your… hands…. Down!” Dipple growled.
“I’m trying!” The man said, panicked.
Viscous fluids splashed and glass screeched across the floor as the two men struggled.
“Dipple…” Kelly said, a fresh fear in his voice. ‘What are you doing?”
“Just… Holding…”
Silence, a pause in the action.
Then more struggling.
Kint heard choking sounds across the room.
“Dipple… Your… Chocki–”
Bodies shifted on shattered glass.
“What is this…” Dipple muttered, worry tinging his voice.
Their frantic limbs splashed across the floor.
“I can’t stop, Kelly…” Dipple whispered, a horrifying realization dawning on him. “I can’t stop.”
More choking noises.
The struggles became louder, more hectic.
“I’m sorry, Kelly!” Dipple cried.
Glass moved, shards sliding across slick floors.
Another shudder of movement.
“I’m so sorry…”
Silence.
“Ohhh… God’s…” Dipple cried.
Footsteps echoed from across the room.
Qorvast was approaching.
“I’m so sorry…”
“Dipple?” The scholar called, “What’s going on? Is everything alright?”
He’d stopped about ten paces from the two men, close to where Kint was hiding.
The Inspectors eyes widened as a female voice cut quiet through the darkness.
“Kill him.”
The Acolyte stood with elacrity, walking out into the center of the room, facing the diminutive scholar.
“What are you doing, Dipple?”
A sword blade slid from its sheath.
“I’m sorry Master Qorvast. I don’t know what’s happening.” The Acolyte pleaded. “I can’t control myself.”
“This isn’t funny, Acolyte.” Qorvast said, a hint of fear in his voice. “Put that blade away.”
“Run, Master Qortvast…” Dipple begged. “Please, run.”
The Scientists eyes widened. He did not need another queue. The man turned and ran, sprinting down the hall.
But the scholar was just that. He had no latent athletic ability to call on.
The sturdy Acolyte Dipple quickly tracked him down.
Sharp steel met soft flesh.
Kint cringed as the sound met his ears.
The Scholar screamed, bloody violent gasps.
The carnage echoed through the lab, rippling off the cavernous walls.
Dipple stabbed into the man over and over, apologizing profusely all the while.
Kint looked up as the subtle sound of bare feet on shattered glass broke the violent tenor in the air.
He stood up from his cautious crouch.
There it was again, and again.
The Inspector looked out from behind his tube.
It was the girl.
Subject 3.
She stepped slowly out through the hole in her tube, face and body glistening with viscous goo.
The girl moved gingerly around the body of poor Kelly, making her way to the center aisle.
There was a smile on her face, one full of sadistic intent.
She walked down the center of the room, making her way toward where Dipple was still hacking the Scholar’s corpse to pieces.
As she passed Kint, she paused, turning to meet his eyes.
He stiffened.
Her smile widened.
She put a finger to her lips, indicating that he should stay silent.
Subject 3 turned back to her quarry, striding casually, leaving bloody footsteps in her wake.
She hadn’t made it another ten paces before a new voice joined the fray, one Kint recognized.
It sent a chill down his spine.
“What nonsense is this?”
Executive Davros Savillette strode carelessly into the room, bald face irritated.
Subject 3’s eyes grew wide with rage at the sight of the man.
“Kill him.” She commanded.
Acolyte Dipple stood like a puppet, rushing with abandon to do her bidding.
“Run, Master Davros!” Dipple cried, voice hoarse. “I can’t st–”
Thunk.
Thunk. Thunk.
Three sharp objects pierced warm flesh.
Then silence.
Kint leaned cautiously around the glass to get a better view of what had happened.
He couldn’t see much, but he could clearly make out Acolyte Dipples lifeless body, held aloft by three spearlike skewers.
“You don’t seem to care for your men very much.” Subject 3 commented, voice thick with an urchin twang.
Savillette looked down at his dead colleague with distates.
“He was a bit of a bore.” The man replied in a neutral tone.
A harsh grin sprouted on his face.
“You’re the real prize.”
The girls lip turned down slightly in a grimace, but she recovered quickly.
“Am I?” She cooed.
Kint could hear the renewed grin in her words.
“How ‘bout you come get a better look then?”
The Executive began walking forward with that same unnatural motion Acolyte Dipple had displayed.
“I was on my way, darling.” The man commented, voice unfazed by his body's actions.
He sighed, disappointed.
“You couldn’t wait another half hour to see me? Had to cause all this mess, did you?”
“I get antsy.” The girl shrugged. “Cooped up in that tube all day.”
She played it off well, but Kint could see Savillettes casual tone was eating at her.
It was eating at him too for that matter.
“Makes sense.” Davros replied. “I can see how you might need to stretch your legs from time to time.”
“Exactly.”
She gave a smile that did not reach her eyes.
“That’s close enough.”
The footsteps stopped abruptly.
“Now kneel.” She whispered, voice dripping with tortuous memory.
The man did as he was told, body moving by rote, knees hitting the ground hard with a splash of oil.
There was silence in the room as the girl stared down at her abuser, rage simmering.
“So what happens now?” The Executive asked, annoyed. “You’ll have your way with me?”
“Something like that.” The girl said, distracted.
She turned around, walking back to the body of Acolyte Dipple and pulling a knife from his belt.
Subject 3 walked back to the Blessed with purpose, eyes hard.
“Oh, It’s like this, is it?” Davros grinned. “Up close and personal.”
“Shut up.” She spat, grabbing the man by the throat.
“Do you think you can do it? Kill me? Torture me like I did you?” The Executive questioned. An insane smile grew on the man’s frown lined face. “I envy you girl. If you enjoy it half as much as I did, you’re in for the time of your life!”
“Shut up!”
The girl screamed, wrenching Savilette’s mouth open and thrusting the knife down toward his tongue.
Thunk.
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.
Choking…
Choking sounds echoed across the hall.
Blood splattered across the stone floor.
More wet choking sounds…
Then silence.
…
There was a long sigh…
Davros clicked his tongue.
“What a waste.”
The Executive sighed again.
“I had such plans for you girl.”
He pause.
Then footsteps… heading toward the exit.
Kint let out a slow breath through his teeth as Davros Savillette reached the door.
“Oh wait.”
The words hit him like a Tube, sending shivers through his spine.
“I’m forgetting something, aren’t I.”
The Inspector stood frozen, still crouched behind the rows of glass chambers.
The Executive turned, boots sliding across slick stone.
“Inspector!”
His voice echoed through the room like a bell tone.
“Could you please come out.”
Kint’s blood was cold, his body immobile.
Did he know? Or was he just guessing.
Kint remained still.
“I know you’re behind the tubes, Inspector. If you don’t come out to greet me, I’ll begin to grow irritated.” Davros threatened, “Come out here and face me like the proud Kadenite you are.”
The Inspector gritted his teeth, and sighed.
He stepped out from behind the tube, tapping into his well and activating his dowsing as he did.
There was no sense in holding back now.
Kint stopped in the center, between the two rows of cylinders.
He examined the Acolyte.
The man wore gray pants and vest to match, with a purple shirt beneath. Firelight danced off his bald head from a torch behind.
Presumably to light the oil on the ground.
The Inspector frowned. There was a golden ringlet around the man’s neck that hadn’t been there the last time they’d met.
Ignoring that for the moment, Kint scoped Davros’ aura.
It was a harshe gray.
Earth Mage.
His eyes narrowed, as data collected in his quiet mind.
Kint strode casually toward his enemy.
“Arson?” He commented, “Seems a small crime for such a vile place.”
The Executive smiled.
The expression didn’t look right on his sagging face.
“Are you squeamish, Inspector?” The man asked, stepping around the skewered body of Subject 3.
The girl was still standing, held up by spears of stone extending from the ground. Two in the chest, two in the head.
Those spears are how he attacks…
“I draw the line at tortured kids.” Kint replied, boots clicking on hard stones.
“The price of progress, I’m afraid.” The Acolyte sighed. “Some people don’t have the gut’s for it.”
They were about thirty paces away from each other now.
The Inspector was approaching the body of Acolyte Dipple. He’d received the same fate as Subject three, two spears in the neck and just one in the head.
His sword had fallen beside his still standing form.
This could be the edge of Davros’ range, but it probably wasn’t.
The man was smart, and powerful. He wouldn’t give his range away that easily.
He also didn’t need to worry about well depletion, since the Executive was most certainly a crafter…
Kint, however, did…
He’d already drained half his well in less than a minute of dowsing, but he couldn’t stop now, he needed to see.
Everything had the light glow of aura in the room, from the glass, to the walls, even the oil on the floor. But that wasn’t what he was looking for. His dowsing eyes continued to search.
“Guts… Is that what they’re calling sadism these days?” He spat, buying time.
Davros frowned, a bit disappointed by the reply.
“You know, I would have expected a stiffer spine from a Dowser.”
Kint paused.
He was five paces away from Dipples body, about twenty-five from his adversary.
“How did you know?” Kint asked.
Davros raised an eyebrow.
“I can see your eyes from here, Inspector.” He commented. “That purple glow is quite alluring. I’d love to get my hands on it.”
And there it was…
Shimmering gray aura appeared below his feet.
Kint dove to the right, five stone spears exploding upward from where he’d just stood.
Not wasting time, he scrambled to his feet, moving behind the nearest cylinder.
A film of gray aura appeared on the wall in front of him.
The Inspector didn’t hesitate, he moved left, in the direction of his attacker.
Glass exploded behind him as spears lanced from the wall, shattering the horrifying chambers.
He kept going, sprinting behind the row of glass, closing the distance to Savillette.
More glass tubes behind him as spears just missed his back.
Aura lit the wall in front of him.
Kint shot left, to the center of the room, bending down to and grabbing Dipple’s sword as he careened toward the opposite row of glass tanks.
He slammed into the wall on the other side.
His well was three quarters empty now, there was no time to waste.
Aura glowed in his periphery.
Kint ducked as stone lances fired overhead.
He crouched himself forward, scrambling back to his feet to sprint down the side of the room.
Tiny spots of gray lit the floor and walls around him, forming a ring around his back.
Encirclement.
The finishing move.
Kint lunged from behind the glass chamber and threw the sword he’d been carrying at the Executive.
The man’s eyes went wide with fear as the blade tumbled end over end across the room.
He dove behind a tube on the opposite side of the room.
Davros’ concentration broke as he moved, dissipating the deadly aura encircling the Inspector.
Kint moved quickly, acting on his advantage.
He sprinted to the tube where the Executive was hiding and trying to pull himself to his feet.
Kint pulled his Stalwart blade from it’s sheath, swerving around the opposite side of the glass.
The knife sang through the air like a scythe, aimed right for the bald man’s head.
Pain shot through Kint’s forearm as his momentum suddenly and sharply stopped.
The Inspector gasped, as another spear of stone exploded through his back and out his clavicle.
He looked down, watching as blood dripped from the protruding spike.
Kint clenched his teeth, eyes rising to meet those of Davros Savillette.
A spear had impaled Kint’s arm with the blade just an inch from the Acolytes ear.
Savillette glanced at the knife, a sheepish grin on his sweating face.
He looked back to Kint.
“So close.”
He shook his head, frowning with pity.
Kint grinned.
“Too close.”
His left hand shot forward, grabbing the Acolyte by the vest, pulling them together with bestial force.
Davros’ nose connected with Kint’s forehead in a spray of blood.
The man cried out and the Inspector let him go, freeing his hand to reach up and grab the spike in chest.
He snapped off the protruding spear, and slammed it like a nail through the Executives eye.
Breath gasped from the man’s throat. His mouth hung open.
A bloodcurdling noise rose from his lips, then fell backward to the ground…
Dead.
…
The Old Dowser stood, swaying, breathing labored.
It took him a moment to catch his bearings and an even longer more painful moment to extricate the spikes from his back and arm.
He walked with dogged determination to the center of the long room, examining his work.
Four bodies strewn down the hall.
Blood, glass, and oil all the way along.
Kint glanced down at the body of Subject 3 beside him.
Blood still dripped from the twin wounds on her head, spears of stone still keeping her afloat.
Her death, like her life, had been ugly and hard… but at least it had been quick.
The Inspector frowned.
She was no use to him now…
Nothing here was of any use to him.
Nothing here could save him…
Nothing except…
The door.
…
It called to him.
Now more than ever.
Like it knew he had overcome the final obstacle.
Now, the only thing left was to open it.
Kint took a deep breath, sheathing his blade.
In truth, he was happy to finally be walking this path in earnest.
Logic was useful for staying alive, but logic was not what had guided him here. Something else had steered his steps. Kint knew, deep in his soul, that whatever that thing was, lay behind that door.
He made his way through the carnage, pain racking his shoulder with every step.
In a moment, he stood before the steel hatch.
The energy behind it thumped, resonating with him, coaxing him forward.
It wanted him to enter. Needed him to.
Kint reached out, turning the wheel, opening the door.
A wall of darkest black greeted him, like staring at the outside of an enormous bubble of miasmic aura.
The inspector reached inside himself to dowse the bubble, but his magic was drained.
He grimaced
Kint had never seen a magic so dark, so horrifying as this.
And yet…
There was no use inspecting it, no use testing its safety.
There was no choice at all really.
He was out of time, and out of options
The old Inspector had made it this far.
Time to go just a little further.
He stepped into darkness... Into the void.