Chapter 62
“Once, long ago, an ancient empire ruled this land and many others as well. Although we call this place The Continent, it is not the only one. We are but a small microcosm of the world. It is a conceit, but a small one in the grand scheme of things - compared to the Sunken Folk, our pride is that of a child.”
“Those people ruled over an empire which shone from the earth to the heavens with glory-filled light and peace. There were no wars, all men and women spoke the same language and were understood perfectly by one another - there was no strife other than the small things of day-to-day life. These people lived long lives - dwarfing our brief stints of existence tenfold, and yet, we are still here and they are not. One of the great riddles of our day.”
Something moved outside and Mikel shifted back, nearly jumping out of his skin when his back bumped up against the forgotten wall.
Helsket glanced at Mikel and then out the doorway only shook his head and continued with his story.
“The people, The Sunken Folk, as we know them, were great magical forgemasters. They could weave the very air around them into useful material - draw the prima materia from the wild chaos of the realms between the living plains and mold it as they saw fit. This place, this house and this city were some of their greatest creations.”
The sound of dry scales on dry earth rasped through the gaping openings in the front of the house and Mikel’s breath caught in his throat as a shadow of deeper black moved in front of the window.
Helsket continued his story, unabated, “These people were proud though, so proud that they thought they would rival the gods - but the belief was not enough. They worked each day to make that goal a reality. Using the untold powers at their disposal, they reached to ever greater heights of achievement. Then, when the rest of the world least expected it - when all the collected peoples huddled under the oppressive rule of The Sunken Folk thought things could get no worse, The Sunken Folk were able to bring forth their most terrible and vicious creations.”
The shape, lost in shadow, moved away from the window and black on deeper black, blocked the doorway entirely from the outside. Mikel pressed himself against the back wall and attempted to keep his heart from bursting through his chest as the hulking shadow outside shifted and revealed the shape of shoulders and a long, thin, head-mounted atop them.
He wondered what the thing in the doorway was. Why it hadn’t stormed in? Why it hadn’t rushed in and ripped him and Helsket apart?
The shadow rippled as steel cord muscles shivered beneath a silver hide, emblazoned with scales and darker streaks forming a pattern that scintillated as the creature moved.
Mikel looked to Helsket, terrified and seeking guidance. Maybe they could run - the upper level might keep the thing away. At least for a moment. Terror washed out from the creatures in the doorway and although it licked at Mickel’s heart, Helsket remained impassive and continued on with his story.
“Their High Mages worked feverishly to generate more and more power for the people until every one of the citizens wielded enough magical power to level entire continents. And yet, they were not content. Like children in a dessert shop, they continued to glut themselves, until their very beings reverberated with the power they’d drawn up from the earth and in from the air. They drew on this power until their humanity came into question and the goal they’d long since sought came into sight - Had they finally abandoned themselves as humans and emerged as gods? Their latest creations would indicate they had indeed reached this goal.”
The shape moved again, this time turned towards the doorway. Mikel bit his tongue to stifle a gasp as a massive, taloned, paw reached into the room and grasped the doorframe. He heard the stone crunch as the thing exerted itself. Golden eyes, flecked with black, traced the interior of the building and it was only now Mikel realized the thing looking into the room was as tall as the building they hid in and almost as wide. For a brief moment, he thought, maybe, just maybe it couldn’t fit through the door and he and Helsket would be safe - only to have that small idea dashed.
Shifting again, the shadow revealed an arm attached to the claw as thick and as stalwart as a centuries-old tree. The thing flexed again and dust fell from the ceiling onto Mikel’s head.
As slow as time, he reached for the sword strapped to his belt. He knew it wouldn’t do any good - couldn’t against something so massive. Maybe, if he had The Crest of the Evening, his father’s sword, but even then it would be a close call between himself and the creature peering in at him with cold, golden, intelligent eyes.
His mind flitted to The Callisto Jewel and the power contained therein - but he pushed the thought away. He couldn’t. Not so soon. He couldn’t see Callisto again - the next time she might destroy him.
He was about to draw his sword when he felt a strong, sure hand wrap around his. He jumped again and tried to pull back from the grip, but it was like iron. Mikel looked down and was relieved to see it was only Helsket, holding him in place.
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The big warrior nodded at Mikel and continued with his story, “The people, barely able to be called people anymore, turned their attentions to the heavens, and the gods within. In a great migration, the people left the ground and transmitted to the heavens, only to find them empty and devoid of life. Confused at first, the people tried to find their gods, the beings they’d measured themselves against for so long, and the things they’d sought to overcome. What they found shook them to their cores.”
The creature sniffed the air and its mouth, nearly as large as the door, parted, revealing a maw full of teeth, easily visible under the effulgent, green glow climbing up from its throat.
“They then sought to return here but found the way barred - the gates they’d used to gain entry to their heavens, locked and sealed behind them. The people cried out and gnashed against themselves and one another until, finally, something within them broke. And as it broke the people lost the power they’d so carefully guarded and hoarded for centuries and as one they plummeted down to the earth, shattered remnants of what they had once been.”
Mikel tugged at his sword, but Helsket’s hand engulfed still his and held it in place as surely as if there had been a lock on him. All the while, Mikel couldn’t look away from the thing peering in at them with cold, deadly intent.
“Then, lost, weak, and less than they’d ever been, the people hid and slowly they were all but forgotten - leaving only their cities, their creations, and something of themselves behind for us to remember them by.”
The creature growled and hot, rancid, dead breath filled the room and Mikel winced back against the wall. He turned his face away and fought down hot bile as it sought to rise up the back of his throat and erupt out.
Mikel locked eyes with Helsket, who peered at him with silent intensity.
“Helsket, let me go. I have to get ready to fight - you as well. Just look at that thing, just look at -”
“Help me! Oh, help me!” The scream came again and Mikel’s blood ran cold as he now saw the source of the noise.
It wasn’t a girl, or a woman for that matter as he’d thought - the sound came from the creature looking in at them with the all too intelligent eyes. Its lips parted, revealing green light once more, “Oh, it’s going to get me! It’s coming for me! Its claws! Its teeth!”
Mikel’s stomach dropped as the mouth closed and a single, golden eye peered directly at him, daring him to rush towards the door and meet his death in those massive, ancient jaws.
“Just sit tight, boy,” Helsket said quietly. He wasn’t trying to hide his voice, that much was obvious - whatever the thing in the doorway was, it knew they were there and it meant to coax them out.
“We have to run - we can make our way to the top floor and jump from one of the windows, or find another way out. We have to -”
“We’re going to sit right here and wait,” Helsket said through tight lips, “there are rules to this place and many people died to discover them. As long as we don’t leave this house, that thing can’t get us. The moment we set foot outside before the sun rises we’re just so much grist for the mill.”
The creature emitted the woman’s voice again, this time drawing out her final gurgle into a painful death rattle that lasted minutes.
By the time it was done Mikel’s blood ran cold and heart hammered in his chest.
The only reason he didn’t run or bolt for the stairs was Helsket holding tight onto his hand as if intuiting exactly what he had planned.
Then, as soon as the assault had started, it was over and the shadow thing with golden eyes was gone as if it had never existed in the first place.
Silence again fell over the city.
“What was that?” Mikel asked in a tight, scared voice, “What in the nine hels was that?”
Helsket squeezed Mikel’s hand and released it before answering, “That, I believe, is what is left of the Sunken Folk.”
“That wasn’t a person,” Mikel said, “That was a… demon or a nightmare monster born in flesh. It’s not real - it can’t be. It was worse than the Time Demon.”
“It’s as real as you or I,” Helsket said, “Your father and I believed these things, these snakey, human monstrosities are all that’s left of the people who came before us. We don’t have much proof - aside from some anecdotal experiences we’ve had during our adventures, but we’re fairly certain nonetheless.”
“Where’d it go then?” Mikel's eyes glanced up to the hole in the ceiling which led to the upper floor, “We need to hide - we need to get to safety. If it comes back it could just rip the roof off of this place and eat us as easily as we might get at canned fish.”
“Then why didn’t it do that this time?”
The question struck at Mikel and his heart dropped in pace as soon as the words sunk in, “Rules. Rules of this place - what are they?”
“First one is don’t go into one of these cities after dark,” Helsket said wryly.
“Then why did you bring us here? We are here after dark.” His voice was tight and drawn.
“Correct, we’re here after dark. We arrived when it was still light out. Barely.”
Mikel’s mind raced, “Then why come at all? Why even enter this place? We could have just as easily camped along the road and then…”
Helsket’s calm gaze cut through the panic threatening to overwhelm him and Mikel seized on the strength the older man proffered.
“You needed to see what we’re up against. You want to go to HelGate - you’re going to see much worse than that thing out there. We can protect ourselves here as long as we’re smart - but when we go to HelGate, there won’t be any protection. As soon as we set foot in the desert surrounding the first of the gates all of our protections are gone and things much worse than that critter will be after us from the start. They will find us, eventually and if we’re not prepared, they will kill us.”
“I’ve set out on a fool's errand,” Mikel said, despair settling into the pit of his stomach where he’d long battled it away, “I’ve been a damn fool, Helsket, and I’ve wasted your time and put your life in danger. Who am I to think we could just… walk into a living portal to Hel and come out unscathed.”
“You are your father's son, Mikel,” Helsket said as he slapped Mikel on the back, “You’re the spitting image of your old man and I’m proud to be on this trip with you. We’ll make it to the end, I know you’ll see to that, and I’ll be there to back you up the entire way. We’ll find your Panacea and any other treasures we can loot along the way and we’ll make it look damn good the entire way.”
From a long way away, across the ruined city, Mikel heard a woman’s plaintive cry once more, before the wind picked up and blotted out all other sounds but their voices in the shelter of the building.