Arcanum [WATTYS 2016]

PART ELEVEN; 11

"What was that?" Frasier panicked when he heard the screams, echoing softly throughout the dungeon. Kylo's eyes widened for a moment, getting a bit scared momentarily, before forcing himself to be strong.

"Ignore it." He growled out, continuing forward.

"What if something's there?" Marc inquired. "It's haunted down here, you know that."

Kylo brushed off their words like they didn't exist. If the myths were true and that was a spirit, he knew another part of the story stated that they wouldn't bother those who remained together. That's why they'd split into almost-equal groups earlier. He drew his sword now, holding it across his chest. A series of screams and shouts were soon heard, more masculine than the singular scream earlier on.

"That's gotta be them," he muttered to himself, forcibly moving further down the corridor. There came a crossway between the two cut offs he and Deghusk had encountered earlier, and he saw that further into the dungeon, guided by little light that poured in through the opening the enemies had dug, Deghusk, Ludwig, and the two guards engaged in an onslaught with five of Ayridge's men.

Miriabella lay unconscious in the center of the corridor, far from anyone else. Images flashed across her mind, all of dying men, starved and practically falling apart. Then it panned to a view of a book, open and glowing with green vines on a page that read "MIRIABELLA" in large, black letters. Her hand stretched out towards it, trying to bring it closer to her, but it slammed shut. The vines moved, tightening further around the book. On the front, it read in capitalized, gold lettering, "BOOK OF SAREVITA". She gasped, moving backwards in this haunting dream of hers, until she hit a wall. She leaned against it, bracing herself as it had been so long since she'd heard the name Sarevita.

All of a sudden, she felt multiple hands on her, grabbing her by her ankles, wrists, throat, and hair. They yanked her back, holding her to the wall tightly. Every time she tried moving, they just held her tighter, the hands around her throat choking her at that point.

Then, as quickly as everything had shown up, it was all gone again. She sat, gasping, in an entirely black room, the only telltale sign that it was a room being the small reflection of light in the corner. She felt cramped, as if all at once she had claustrophobia, and the walls were moving in tight on her. Only after a few moments of sitting there did she realize that the walls actually were moving towards her. Panicked, she began banging on the nearest wall to her, screaming for help. When she felt the walls pressing against her, she squeezed her eyes shut. It felt as if the walls moved through her. When the pressure was gone, she opened her eyes.

A face jumped out at her, gnarled with warts and a long nose, face red, but not the typical flushed tint of pink; it was entirely colored by a constant shade of neon red. It screamed at her, a high pitched, nonstop noise, rows of sharp fangs sticking out of its mouth. Her heart felt as though it had stopped, the face of Sarevita right in front of her. The goddess of the underworld was nothing to joke with, and she couldn't understand why she was seeing such a rumored image now. She didn't breathe, just zoned out on the face, eyes wide.

"TELL ME WHERE IT IS!" Sarevita screamed in her face. Everything felt so real.

"I don't.." Miriabella started, then stopped, frozen with fear.

"YOU "DON'T" WHAT?"

"I don't even know what you're talking about!"

"YES YOU DO! STOP LYING!" Sarevita screamed, flames surrounding her head, which appeared to be floating in space. Sarevita opened her mouth to speak once more, mustering a "tell" out, before the image of her face faded. Everything was replaced with Kylo's voice, chanting her name over and over like a mantra, followed by, "Get up Miriabella!"