Morality and intelligence create an enormous disconnect in human nature. Inherently, humans know what is right or wrong. Their intelligence allows them to rationalize actions to legitimize atrocities under the guise of ‘the greater good.’ That argument isn’t necessarily wrong, but that doesn’t make it moral. It is that duality that makes other races of man fear humans the most.
~Cernunnos, Lord of the Wild Things
Crow approached his glowing gate among the stone rings of the henge and slowly let the air out of his lungs. It wasn’t quite a sigh and more like the expulsion of the built-up stress he hadn’t known rested on him.
The rune in the center of the stone slab that crossed the top part of his gate glowed brightly. The crude lines of the Awen symbol looked like someone carved them with a primitive tool giving it the appearance of a claw mark. From those markings, a harsh blue-white light radiated exceptionally brightly. It was powered by the other ninety-nine runes from the completed Shrines.
Reaching up, he tapped the Awen, and the portal rippled. Unlike the Shrines, this time, the image on the other side was covered in fog, so he couldn’t see anything on the other side. Looking over at Hooligan, he saw that she’d already entered her gate, and he did the same, unsure if they were going to the same place.
The first thing he noticed was the smell. It was musty and carried a hint of decay but remained relatively dry. With its cobbled stone walls and uneven floor, the chamber only had one feature—a roughly cut wooden door that didn’t fit the jamb properly. Light leaked through the gaps, enough for him to see everything clearly.
Dust covered everything; clearly, no one had been in this room for a long time. His breath fogged slightly, which indicated how cold the chamber was. While it wasn’t perfectly square, the room was roughly three squared, give or take a few centimeters.
Crow ambled toward the exit and pushed on the door to see if it would open. Unexpectedly, the wood was solid and showed no signs of rot, but what shocked him and gave him no time to react was the entire jamb came from the stone it was anchored into. Somehow the stone crumbled before the wood, and the door crashed into the hall beyond the entry.
Boom!
The sound echoed down the hallways, breaking the tomb-like silence and startling Crow more than he wanted to admit. Dust exploded upward, creating a hazy cloud, and he reached for his weapons, afraid of what might be lurking in this place.
“Can’t take you anywhere,” Hooligan laughed from the hall, and he peeked out the door and stuck his tongue out at her. Crow quickly realized all the rooms in this hall were probably entry points from the gates. While they entered different rooms, they ended up at the same place. Looking back, he saw that the portal to Sanctuary was still there, which made him wonder if they’d have to come back here to leave.
“Let’s go,” Crow said and stepped across the fallen door. Then he paused and looked down at the door and stole it. He didn’t recognize the wood, but since it hadn’t rotted, it wasn’t normal. Seeing his actions, Hooligan snorted.
“Pretty sure you are a kleptomaniac,” she laughed.
“Shut it,” he grumbled.
“The door? Pretty sure you took it,” Hooligan replied, playing dumb, and Crow rolled his eyes at her.
Looking left and right, he saw the right side was a dead end. Going left, they walked slowly to prevent stirring up the dust, which was so thick that it even muffled their footfalls. It was clear that no one had been there before them because their footprints stood out like a sore thumb. It was highly likely that the portals to this place were determined by the number of Shrines solved. This would explain why it looked like no one had been here for thousands of years. Still, he was curious about other parts of the temple, so he hoped he had a chance to explore more of it than wherever they ended up.
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“It’s so quiet,” Hooligan whispered.
“Shh!”
Crow looked over at Hooligan, and after a long pause, they both burst out laughing. It wasn’t that funny, but their nerves were taut.
Hooligan walked slightly to the side of Crow, one hand lightly grasping a dangling strap from his leather armor. They weren’t sure if there was any danger here, so they moved cautiously, listening for anything that sounded out of the ordinary. The silence was more taxing on their mental state than any sound.
Initially, they hadn’t realized that the hall was curved because of the dim lighting, but as the light grew brighter, they found their sight was now limited by that curve. Even if it wasn’t, the gloomy atmosphere produced a lot of weird shadows, which had them both wondering where the light was actually coming from. Crow checked a few rooms, but none of the doors budged. However, without even communicating, they both reached the same agreement. Even if the doors didn’t open, they’d check each one, so he pushed on the ones on his side, and Hooligan checked the ones on her side.
After another ten minutes, they came to a door made of metal bars. Immediately, they both knew where they were. These chambers and halls were part of the prison where that old bastard brought them before. Through the bars, they could see the cylindrical containers with the Scath writing in pain. It was because of the glowing stones placed on the ‘lid’ of the container, and the light suppressed them to the point they could barely move.
Hooligan pushed open the door, but the metal had partially rusted together because the door hadn’t been opened in a long time. While it opened, it created an unbearable squealing sound causing the Scath to take notice of them.
Crow still had some compassion for the Shadowmen. They might be evil or driven by some madness, but most likely, none of them made the choice to become what they are now. Maybe he sympathized with being forcibly cursed and felt some connection to their fate.
However, he didn’t do anything about them because he didn’t want to act rashly. While it looked cruel, a few sacrifices were acceptable if the person performing the experiments was looking for a cure. Reversing the corruption was more important than a few souls—or at least that’s how he tried to rationalize it. The Scath are evil, there was no doubt about that, and he knew his line of thought was highly optimistic about what was happening here. Crow didn’t want to lose his sense of compassion because he felt it was the only line dividing humanity from monsters.
Even with his humanity, he wouldn’t—shouldn’t act rashly on his emotions. His hand itched to end the Scath because he wanted to end their agony. He knew he was justifying this place to put his mind at ease and tried to understand his bottom line. Ignoring injustices was often necessary because he lacked the ability and time to save everyone. A priority had to be established, which was obviously given to anyone he considered part of his people, whether family or friends. In the end, he wouldn’t break open these chambers or do anything that might jeopardize Hooligan’s life.
“I hate this place,” Hooligan said. “It reminds me of what we could become if our path diverges for the worse. We are all at risk of becoming a corrupted Soul.”
Crow nodded. The solemness of their combined thoughts was on par with the macabre scene before them.
“Even if you choose wrongly, I’ll bring you back. You aren’t allowed to leave me in this life,” Crow said softly and side hugged her while staring at the tormented Scath sprawled out on the ground.
“I’m gonna punch you in the face! Who says I’m going down the wrong path and not you?”
“Because you’re a damn hooligan,” he chuckled.
“I’m an honest hooligan!” Hooligan shouted, which agitated all the creatures in the various cells. Crow was pretty sure they weren’t all Scath based on the sounds.
“Hehe.” Crow flicked Hooligan’s forehead, and she rubbed the spot vigorously with her nose scrunched up. “Let’s go.”
“You know where to go? This place is like a maze.”
Crow pointed toward a spot on the ceiling with arrows and the word ‘exit’ painted on them. Hooligan’s sight wasn’t as good as his, so she could only spot them after Crow exposed it.
“Well, that seems…”
“Not very dungeon-like?”
“Y-yeah. I mean, who sets up a challenge and then paints exit arrows to help out—wait! Is that a trap?”