I kept close behind Katherine as we made a mad dash through the woods.
“This place you’re taking us better be safe from that thing,” Reggie said as he dodged under a branch.
Ignatius gave no reply but kept running towards what we hoped would be somewhere remotely safe.
“Mak!” Reggie said without looking back, “How close is it?”
“A couple of kilometers, I think it is on the other side of the town, but…”
“BUT!?” Katherine said.
“It is getting closer,”
“Brilliant,”
“We’re nearly there, stay close and try to keep quiet,” Ignatius said as he led us towards a large hill.
“There is supposed to be a cave entrance somewhere around here,”
“It is this way, just past the large oak,” Gus said with dark expression.
Just as he described, we found the entrance to a cave in the side of the hill.
“Have you been here before, Gus?” I asked.
“No, but… I’ve heard the stories. This hill is where my grandmother made her last stand against Nihlthrax’s forces, she described taking refuge in this cave after she was left for dead,”
We entered and saw that the cave had a steep slope downwards. The way was dark and damp, and it stunk of rotting flesh.
I half-expected Reggie to make some sort of comment about this reminding me of home, but whether it was the approaching monster or some increased respect he kept quiet as we descended.
“My grandmother lost consciousness shortly after entering the cave, but she mentioned hearing voices and nightmares of death and slaughter. I always figured that it was just the recent battle, but…”
We all heard them.
Wailing, screaming, warning, tempting voices. Impossible to interpret any one specific message. Just that this place is extremely, indescribably.
Cursed.
“Frederick had mentioned hearing whispers from the cave, but nothing like this,” Ignatius finally said.
“Perhaps the bandit raid triggered it?” I suggested.
“Just what I was thinking, whatever curse is tied to this place, it is amplified by violence,”
The voices grew louder and more incomprehensible as we descended. There was no way I could keep track of the invisible monster down here, but turning back seemed out of the question at this point.
The ground began to level out and Ignatius stopped for a moment before running forward.
“Frederick? Is that you?”
A man in familiar-looking armour sat with his back against the wall, his face pale and withered, his hair stark white. In the center of the room, there was a pile of rubble on and around some kind of altar. On it was some kind of ancient writing and the image of a deformed deer skull with large twisted antlers.
“I-Ignatius?” the man said in a hoarse voice.
Even in this state, it was obvious who this man was.
“This is your friend?” Reggie said, catching himself before he could yell, “Frederick Rundon? He is an enemy of the state!”
Frederick Rundon, one of the Guildmaster’s apprentices. Or as I had known him until now.
The Mountain.
I stood still, looking upon Dralp’s killer, completely helpless. Not unlike we were when he snuffed out my friend’s life. To him, we were nothing.
“Killer!” I yelled.
Everyone looked at me.
“No Mak,” Ignatius said, “I know what has been going around about him and the others but-”
“That’s not what I’m talking about!”
“Shh! Quiet Mak!” said Reggie.
The Mountain took a deep breath.
“No, this is all my fault. I should never have messed with this ancient relic. Not so close to the village, it-”
“NO! I mean Dralp!”
Everyone gave me a quizzical look, save Katherine, who bent down and put her hand on my shoulder.
“I know not who you speak of?” he replied.
I could feel my heart beating faster and faster. This was not the time. There is a monster at our heels and now I choose to speak up? Why now?
Katherine looked at The Mountain, “Frederick, you fought a group of raiders at Trodthrew, about eight years ago,”
He nodded weakly.
“You killed a close friend of Mak here in that battle,”
“He said that we surrendered!”
“I have no words to ease your mind,” spoke The Mountain, “That moment, which scarred you so deeply, was nary even a passing thought for me.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. Of course, it wasn’t important to him, I already knew that. The Pestak care nothing for the lives of Nequese, we’re merely pests to exterminate. And yet I could not help but take it personally.
“I’ll spare you empty apologies, take your vengeance upon me if you will, but I ask that you hear my warning first,”
“What? Don’t say such things, my friend!” Ignatius pleaded.
“I’ve not much time anyway. I’d rather die at the hands of a fighter than from what I unleashed,”
“What did you unleash?” Reggie asked impatiently.
The Mountain turned to face the altar, “Fear”
Ignatius turned pale.
“So… That’s what activated it. The terror which the bandits caused in the village,” the Archeologist said grimly.
“That…” said The Mountain, “And my damned curiosity. This tunnel was far shorter before I arrived. It seemed the ancients insulated these creatures under the earth to prevent them from rising again. No sooner had the bandits attack the village, than the statue erupted and…”
“How did you survive?” Reggie asked.
“I was its first target, and as I said, I’m as good as dead. My heart burst at its touch, I’ve been using every ounce of magic I have to keep my blood flowing so that I may give my warning,”
“So, you know how to beat this thing?” Gus asked hopefully.
He shook his head.
“Nay, but what I do know is that you must stop Guildmaster Vincent at all costs,”
“And we should just trust you? After you attacked the guild and unleashed this monster!?” Reggie said.
“I have no time left to debate, my notes are in my back pocket. Glean from them what you may.”
He turned to me.
“Kill me know if you will, the final rest is upon me,”
Everyone looked at me, a mixture of expressions.
Fear. Pity. Concern. Contempt.
My base emotions craved revenge, my time with Katherine’s family said mercy, my insecurities feared how everyone would react to either choice.
As it was when Dralp and Crob were killed, my reaction was no reaction.
A few silent moments and the man was dead.
“Mak?” Gus said as he bent down towards me.
“D-don’t, I shouldn’t have said anything. We have bigger problems,”
Ignatius made a quick prayer over his fallen friend and took a deep breath.
“This creature must be defeated,” he finally spoke.
“But how?” Katherine asked as she walked over and put a hand on my shoulder.
“Not even your “friend” here knew how to beat it,” Reggie said, approaching the corpse.
“I’ve been studying others of these creature’s kind for many years,” Ignatius replies, “Information about them is scarce, mostly describing their sheer terror and violence,”
“There must be something about one being defeated?” Katherine suggested.
“Most often, the stories tell of the utter destruction of a city or even kingdom; however, there was an account of a village that was spared from a creature called “Scorn”,”
“How?” Katherine asked.
“It is uncertain, all that was said is that they refused to abandon their elders or even the criminal in the stocks. The beast was almost upon them when they had finally prepared to leave, but it merely stopped in place,”
“Then what?” Reggie asked.
“It… has been lost to time, the villagers escaped and never returned. We learned this tale from a tribe near the mountains, supposedly the village existed under what is now an enormous hill,”
My eyes widened, “It stopped there, and is still there?”
“That is what we assume, we had scheduled the dig for next year,”
“That’s it then!” Katherine shouted, “If the beast called “Scorn” was stopped by the loving actions of that village, then this thing called “Fear” could be stopped by-”
RING RING
That dreadful sound interrupted her train of thought, but we all knew what she meant.
But how would we do it? Would it even work? I can barely move in the face of fear at the best of times.
“Wait here, I’ll stop this,” Katherine said as she began to turn towards the exit.
Ignatius grabbed her by the arm, “No, I’m an old man and the consequences of this research are my responsibility,”
RING RING RING
“Stop bickering! It is getting closer!” Reggie yelled, “I’ll go, Gus, look after my mom if this… Gus?”
We all paused.
Gus was no longer in the room.
ns 15.158.61.13da2
