The Unbidden: A Nocuous World (3)

Chapter 3 (Part 2)

The air suddenly became damp, and the smell of wet stone hit my nose. I opened my eyes and found myself inside a dimly lit corridor. Some type of moss stretched across the ceiling, emanating in a dull blue glow. I inhaled deeply, partly relaxed to be out of imminent danger.

"Now where the hell is it?" I asked in a low voice to no one in particular.

I held a large mote of fire in my hand to illuminate a larger area as I ventured further in. The corridor opened up to a larger room with four peculiar statues of people. I approached the first one cautiously to inspect it. The moment I was within arm's reach, the statue moved and its arm darted out.

I felt a cold, thick hand wrap around my neck and squeeze down. In a panic, I grabbed its wrist with both hands and tried prying its hand off me. Realizing that was useless, I tried Blinking back to where I first arrived, but the statue came with. I choked out as it crushed my neck and cut off blood to my head.

My eyes fluttered as my consciousness rapidly faded. Using what little power I could muster, I slammed both palms into the statue's forearm, sending a heavy shockwave through its arm, shattering it. The hand was still around my throat, but the grip wasn't getting any tighter. I was able to get my fingers wedged around the stone hand. With a mighty pull, channeling all the martial essence I had, I snapped the fingers off me until the remaining piece fell to the floor.

I collapsed to the ground with a massive inhale, followed by several coughs. I snapped my eyes to the sound of stone grinding on stone and rolled to the side as the statue tried snatching the air where I had just been. My vision was still cloudy and my mind still a haze, but I pressed forward. Clambering to my feet, I slammed my palms against the construct's toro, launching a large shockwave at the same time.

Its body exploded backwards violently. Larger pieces shattered against the wall, while smaller ones bounced off and ricocheted around. I quickly raised my arms to block my face as several pieces shunted against me, and other grazed my sides, cutting me up a little.

Shit, I didn't realize how much power I used to get here, I thought as I dropped to the ground and lied on my back.

The cold, slightly wet stone was a comforting feeling, but not one that would last. I rested for only a minute before getting back to my feet and heading back into the large chamber. Without getting near, I quickly dispatched the remaining statues with ease. The nice stone floor had become covered with the fragments of Visilius' constructs.

Though the moss was all over the ceiling and walls, the dull blue glow didn't illuminate much. It was clear, however, that there was a platform in the center of the room. At the top was what looked like a rectangle – a wall of some sort. Reigniting my mote, I approached, taking each step up with extreme caution. The distinguishable form of a person became visible as the light washed over them.

I hadn't even reached the top when I got a clear view of what exactly it was. A naked elvish woman so emaciated it was like looking at a skeleton with the skin still attached hung lifelessly in chains. Drawing near, life seemed to come to her. She lifted her head excruciatingly slowly to look at me.

Her eyes looked vacant – as though all the life she had was long taken away by being trapped here. A weak raspy sound left her thin lips, but they didn't move to make a word. My eyes wandered from her skeleton-like face to her chest. In the center of it where her heart was, was a gnarly stitching in the shape of an X.

My eyes drifted back to her face, and I wasn't sure, but I felt as though a smile may have crept upon her lips. While I couldn't be sure, I felt like the phylactery was inside her. I sighed in resignation. I doubted there was saving this person. She was probably under some spell or curse. Either way, she wasn't my priority. Stopping Visilius was.