I can't tell how much time has gone by, I sit down to catch my breath for a moment. I ran for a while and eventually lost it… but it's still here… and now it knows that I'm here too. I need to find the next set of stairs. That'll probably be the only way I can escape him. I grit my teeth and put my ear to the door. Nothing. Good. I open the door and walk out, going to the left and following along the path. I enter a room that looks like the remnants of a corridor of a castle after years of erosion and decay… The pillars along with most of the room are filled with cracks, and stained with what looks to be dried blood. What exactly is this place? Looking at it from the outside I couldn't have… no, no one would expect that it would have structures like this. It… shouldn't be physically possible… I don't understand, but I don't have time to make sense of this. I have to focus on getting off this floor. I walk through the door in the right corner and follow along the hallway. There's more doors to my left as I continue walking, a part of me wants to see if there's anything useful in one of them. Maybe… It would be safer in one of those rooms opposed to walking out in the open like this.
What? Why am I thinking like this?
It's like I'm trying to give myself reasons to look around more, even at a time like this… That realization leaves an unsettling feeling in my chest. Nevertheless I continue to open the door and I look around. Seems like I'm lucky I did. I open a chest and find some sort of arm guards. They're not in the best condition but it looks like they could help against some attacks. It seems like this place has really useful things I could find. Maybe it would be better to search more rooms if I'm not in immediate danger. I leave the room and continue along the floor. This floor is alot bigger than the ones before. Is it possible that they get bigger the more I descend?
…
Step…
Step…
Step…
I can hear the footsteps coming from my left and approaching me, I can feel my heart tighten and my nerves flare up. I quickly move away from my location as the footsteps get closer. I reach a hallway with two doors on each of the walls, the one to the right is closer while the other is farther down. The footsteps are approaching… quicker, maybe it noticed me somehow. I walk to the closest one and crack it slightly. The old door made a tiny creak which I'm not sure that thing heard or not. Then quickly walk the other one and dash inside being careful not to make even the slightest noise. There's not many hiding spots in here. Only a bed and a closet. Without much time to think I opened the closet door and hide inside… There's complete silence only being broken by the footsteps of that monster. Then they stopped.
SMASH…
It sounded like the door was broken. I can hear it go into the room, then silence once again. Then his heavy footprints follow throughout the rest of the floor, slightly quicker than before. I breathe a sigh of relief. That thing, it's strange it seems to have at least some form of intelligence, but not like an average human. If I were hunting someone I would've checked both of the rooms, but it did check the one that I opened, likely assuming that I went in there in a hurry. Or could it be that it assumed that I continued forward after not noticing I was in there? Does it actually have some kind of thought process? It's footsteps did quicken when it realized I wasn't there… That might be the case. It should be gone now, I have to get moving. I need to find the next door.
Step, step, one more step…
Those heavy footsteps echo throughout the floor once again. This time I don't have that much coverage. There's no rooms I can hide in so I instantly take cover behind a nearby pillar, from this angle I can still see it. It walks around for a bit. I can't tell what it's doing… is it simply walking aimlessly? Or is it looking for me? Its movements look random, but I can't be certain… I can feel my heartbeat getting stronger as it gets closer towards me, I hide my head behind the pillar and I put my hand over my mouth to suppress my breathing, just in case it's louder than I realize. Then it stops… . The tension I feel… waiting for it to do something is agonizing. From what I can hear it sounded like it turned around. I peaked my head around the pillar, ever so slightly to see for a moment. It had its head in the air at a slight angle, moving its head right and left, while slightly twitching upwards.
…
By the time I realize that it was too late.
It's trying to track my scent…
GRAHHHH
It let out a loud roar as it sprinted towards my direction. I run from the pillar and sprint down the hallway, before I can go much further I suddenly collapse to the ground…
CLANK
I try to get up and continue running but i can't get to my feet properly, I look back… then down.
it threw it… it threw its mace…
My leg…
Is it broken? I stand to my feet putting most of my weight on my good leg and do my best to limp away… I look back at that thing, it's no longer running anymore it's just walking. It picked up its mace and continued walking towards me. I look forward and try to quicken my pace. That's when I finally see it. The stairs… I'm almost there. I can make it. I could hear the footsteps getting closer, I grit my teeth, trying to go as fast as I can.
Almost there…
I felt a hint of relief and I realized something at that moment. My feet weren't on the ground anymore. It took a second to register what happened. I was knocked off my feet… I feel a burning in my stomach, and an unbearable pain, not just in my arm but my entire right side of my body. Even with the armor my arm was broken, I could tell that much… probably a few ribs too…
wheeze
I can't die. I reach out my arm and crawl towards the stairs…
BASH
I can my ribs shatter on impact of the kick…but I'm a little closer. The duffle bag flies off my body but, as quickly as I can I grab it with my arm and hold it tightly, continuing to inch towards the exit I'm… so… close…
SMASH
…
BASH
…
CRACK
…
SMASH
…
Wheeze
I twist and turn to avoid Aria getting hit, using all the strength for that and to inch slightly closer…I finally made it… I did whatever I could to make sure she didn't get hit. As I use my last remaining strength to push my tattered body through the door with my shoulder my body gives way, falling down the stairs. In the distance I can hear something. Coming from back up.
"H-ah-a"
Once it grew louder I realized what it was…
"HeheheHAHAHAHA"
It was laughing at me. The laughter grew distant as I fell down the stairs. Then I hit the bottom… when I opened my eyes, everything was red in one of my eyes. Probably from the blood. My body was mangled, I couldn't tell what was broken from what was not. Everytime i breathed in, I could feel my lungs being pierced by my broken ribs. Every movement sends excruciating pain through my body. I struggle to maintain consciousness. The single thing I see that's good about this is that the pain is keeping my mind off the things this place makes me feel. I can barely move but I manage to get the bag off and open it with my mouth.
She's… okay…
A feeling of relief goes through my body as I lay down. Somehow, she's okay… For the first time in a while my mind is clear. In a sense I'm kind of glad for this pain. I can't feel the old ones' presence anymore… ah maybe that's a good name for it. That feeling, it's as if I were standing in front of the old ones all at once, being judged by them… being crushed… by their very presence. I've been laying here a bit, delaying the inevitable. I know what I have to do next…
"O- lord…
In ex..change f..or pain…
Grant… me health…"
I can feel my body contorting… my bones crunching… twisting their way back together… repairing itself in the most inhuman way imaginable, I can feel pins in my bones reattaching the broken pieces back one by one. My bones themselves felt like they were on fire, molding them back to every other broken piece. I grit my teeth hard enough for them to start cracking…
It hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts It hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts so much.
A single thought goes through my head. Maybe this is hell..
"AGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH"
There's nothing I could do to suppress my screams . Before long I lost consciousness… I wake up again and look down at my body…
"Hahaha…"
…
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
The man is put in a state of delirium when he sees that only his right arm is fixed… his teeth begin chattering in fear. it's natural for humans to avoid pain, and with pain this great fear was the only thing that enveloped him as he struggles to chant the words once more.
"O lord…
In exchange for pain…
G-grant me… health"
This thing that was supposed to be some sort of miracle, acts as if it's now a curse.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
My screams echo out into this floor, yet no one answers my screams. Normally I'd be thankful… but this… this makes death seem like a paradise.
He lose consciousness once again as the pain from the healing process puts him in shock
I wake up again without even looking down I can feel… only my ribs are healed this time…
A part of me thinks this is some sick joke the old ones are playing. They must be watching. There's no one else who'd have power like this, who could give it to others… and they decide to give me something like this, with their power it would be so simple to remove the aspect of the pain… I grit my teeth. I'm not sure exactly what it is… but it feels as if something inside me is slowly beginning to wither away. The cold stillness of the air felt as if it now resided inside me. Maybe I've just lost so much blood that I don't feel warm anymore. No. It's different. I can't tell exactly what this emotion is. It's too strong to be anger. Yet I wouldn't call it hate, these things that this place makes me feel… I don't understand it. I don't understand this place… What I do understand, is that I… will NOT die this easily… I have to get her back. I have to
…
The screams of the man echo throughout the floor over and over, when he wakes up he chants those words again restarting the same harrowing process. There was no perception of time, or even danger anymore, all there was was pain and agony. Every time he prayed to the Lord he lost more and more of his sanity, he did his absolute best not to lose himself to the madness of this place. He prayed over and over yet the Lord he prayed to was no where to be seen.
"O lord
In exchange for pain
Grant me health…"
I have to continue… so the only thing I could do was chant the words and await the hellish pain that would soon come.
"Hehaha- AGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!"