It's raining. Why was it raining? These cold drops in a dark tunnel, the sound of running water and his own soaked shoes. The only light he had came from his torch as Jakurk navigated the narrow tunnel. He did not know how far he had traveled. The ground was uneven, filled with gaps and loose stones. He passed through many hanging green walls of wines. But saw neither monster nor man, only a few bugs here and there. "Hello? Anyone there?" no, just silence.
Walking through the damp dark corridors of the second floor Jakurk felt a sense of loneliness. It was a little strange since he had managed by himself for the last fifty years or so without trouble. Yes he had journeys with others now and then, worked with other adventurers and this feeling had come then too. Even though he had spent most of his life at this point alone he still longed for the comfort of others. To belong somewhere once more.
But he couldn't. No such place could exist for him. Nor should it. What he needed to focus on was the goal. To take a dragon's smouldering soul. Then he would have four. Four souls of tremendous power, Together they could make the ritual complete. His final promise could be fulfilled. The iron amulet around his neck felt heavy against his skin.
The sound of running water intensified as the path neared its end. "Focus" Jakurk slapped his face and focused on the task at hand. Finding a way back to his companions. The end of the path revealed itself to be a hole in the earth, an old well or at least one from where water had once been drought by the long dead denizens of this fortress. The hole reached all the way down to the third floor and seemed to reach all the way up to the first. Yet it was as dark below as it was above.
Jakurk was alone in an uncharted section of the dungeon. It wasn't good. People who ventured into the depths alone scarcely returned. And those who did were never the same. That is why one travels with a party. So that the odd sounds and blurry shapes in the shadows did not get under one's skin. Well it wasn't like there was anything down here which could scare him, just rocks, moss and the occasional insect or small monster. Nothing too scary.
There were three other paths which ended at the broken well. Each one dark, each one empty. The question was which one should he take. The first one caved in just around the corner so it was a no go. The loose stream of water which ran out from the second one had an odd smell so likely not a good choice. The third tunnel was wide, a bit short on height but without water as its stream had dried. and so it lacked any of the greenery of the other tunnels. Perhaps for now it was the best choice.
The tunnel was linear with few bends yet it seemed to lead away from the first room rather than towards it. Perhaps the second tunnel would have been better even with its smell. And so Jakurk took a look back to the tunnel from where he had come, Of course what he saw in the dark was nothing. Nothing at all, so much nothing that he had to turn back to the current path and tell himself it was just his imagination. He had seen nothing. There was nothing there. His pace increased as a cold sweat hung to his back like a blanket.
Quick footsteps turned into a sprint. Jakurk kicked up dust from the empty corridor as he ran towards its end. There was nothing behind him, nothing at all but no matter how many times he told the lie his eyes would remind him of what was there. So close. So terrifyingly close.
A light. Another light at the end of the tunnel. Jakurk could hear nothing but his own footsteps. Nothing else but that. Two shapes moved alongside the foreign light. One small and one fairly large. "Who goes there!?" A rough and dry voice shouted it seemed somewhat familiar.
"A friend!" Jakurk's voice was almost dry and it was all he could manage. The sound he made was so low he doubted if they heard him. Yet he came ever closer to their light.
"Stop or else!" The two seemed to be on guard. And the voices felt familiar like he had heard them before. Then he remembered where he had heard it before it was that Drakyr and that simple mage.
"It's me, Jakurk!" He was almost there now, just a few steps away, then he saw a light blue formed in the dark shapes jaws. Instinctively Jakurk threw himself to the ground. As a blue flame ruptured through the hallway. Bright blue an enormous wave of power which licked the stone walls. Whatever the thing that had chased him was it shrieked with a scream befitting neither a child nor a deer. Something unnatural not meant for this world.
"Oh, It's just that mage" Blue sparks flew out from the drakyr's mouth as he approached sheathing the sword he had intended to silence his opponent. "What are you doing in the darkmarch?" A darkmarch, a place where no light reached in the corners of a dungeon where the underworld's curse was at its greatest.
Such a place could appear on any floor in any dungeon, it was a stretch of no man's land where creatures made of dead souls lingered. The kind of monsters so terrifying you would use them to scare men not children
"This is a darkmarch?" In truth Jakurk had thought such a place was a myth, but his recent experiences proved him wrong. "I'm looking for my companions, Opip and Tristin, the hound and the hill folk, have you seen them?"
Equa shaked his head. "If you lost them in here, they likely won't be alive when you find them" Gnist spoke up. She stared at Jakurk's torch for a moment before turning her eyes away. She didn't seem to be in a happy mood. The torch she now carried was wooden, simple, commercial.
"No, I lost them in the lighter tunnels…What are you two doing here?" If this was a darkmarch then there was no need for there to be other adventurers there. If anything their presence there was shady. Then again so was his own from an outside perspective. Hopefully they weren't here for some dark ritual or some other strange activity.
"Hunting, Men" Equa seemed proud of his statement. While Jakurk looked at him funny. "Bandits, he means bandits, a rumor says that their hideout is somewhere in the dark march, it's a mystery how they can survive out here" Gnist did not seem to like the way her companion described their just quest. "We have taken a job from the house of coin to get rid of the bandits leader Lijat"
"Can you show me the way to the exit?" Jakurk did not want to stay in the dark march for much longer. He wasn't exactly a fan of dark especially after what he had seen roam within it. It brought back old memories of a place he'd like to forget.
"No, it could take hours to find it in the dark, and we'd rather focus on our own goals than yours" Gnist gave him a blunt answer.
"We could give you some directions if you'd like to find it for yourself?" Equa was a bit more helpful.
"Honsetly, Id rather not go by myself, but if that is the only option…" Jakurk looked back at the winding black tunnels. A feeling of uncertainty growing in his mind. What was it that he had seen out there in the dark which had terrified him so? he did not know.
"You could go with us if you want some company, we'll eventually head for the exit if we can't find the bandits camp and if we do it would be nice to have another ally with us" Equa felt it could be comforting to expand their party slightly. Having two mages for back up was better then one especially now that Gnist had to get used to using just a normal torch. "Equa!.." Gnist said a silent protest and kicked his leg lightly. He did not feel it.
"Sure, I won't bother you for too long" The last words were added for Gnist. Jakurk was no fool if he had lost his own precious torch to someone he'd hate to have to talk to them, let alone be in the same room. "By the way, did any of you see what was chasing me? No, forget it" It was likely just a play of the light, surely there was nothing there in the dark worth worrying too much about. Maybe it was an illusion of the dark light. Who knows.
"What are you talking about?" Gnist hadn't seen anything other than the mage on the ground. If something was chasing him it was his own shadow.
"A Agman, Skinsteeler, I saw it just briefly on the other end of my flame, but you shouldn't worry, they are afraid of groups and of fire" Equa had seen it. The hideous creature, born from rotting souls.
"Skinsteeler?" Jakurk had heard the word Agman a few times before. It was a name used by some groups to refer to an evil spirit or otherworldly phenomenon. A Agman killed all the sheep, A Agman stole the child in the night. A Agman cheated him out of his soul. Those kinds of stories.
"Agman are born from the rotting souls of corpses that have not been buried, the skinsteeler Agman will steal and wear once very skin, you should be happy it didn't catch you, otherwise you'd be a meat puppet by now" Equa chuckled but it didn't seem like anyone else appreciated the joke.
"I hope my companions are having an easier time than me, I wonder how they're doing" Jakurk pondered as he glanced into the darkness. Not knowing the dire situation of his companions. Not knowing they were running for their lives at this very moment.