Chronicles of the Artisan Nomad

Chapter 62: Echoes of Torment

The woman, who had seemed so invincible up until this point, had completely broken down, reduced to a shell of her former self. The voice was still taunting her, but I decided that we needed to hurry up and leave this place. Wordlessly, I grabbed Yuna's hand, pulling her to her feet. I glared at her, "Get ahold of yourself! The enemy is treating you like a toy. We need to keep going." She didn't say a word; she held my hand as we walked, still occasionally sobbing. Truly, her spirit had been broken. It would appear that whoever or whatever that was could dredge out our worst fears and use them against us.

I walked the endless corridor, my feet beginning to get tired. How long did this corridor last? Yuna hadn't said anything in an hour. I debated turning around many times, but I was already an hour into this maze, and it felt counterproductive. The voices were slowly wearing on me—my mind was hazy, I was getting tired, and my feet felt like bricks. Would it be a good idea to rest here for a bit? I just needed a few minutes, and then I could get out of here. Just as I thought that, I shuddered. What is up with this corridor? It was taking effect on my mind. Why had I even thought that resting here would be suicide. Who knows what lurks in the darkness.

As we walked, I finally got to a door made of sandstone. There seemed to be an indent with a keyhole, and the key seemed to already be in place. It had a marking on it written in normal writing. The marking read, "Family." I scratched my head as I turned the key in the door; the door creaked open automatically. The sound hit me first—screaming. The screams were intense, almost like they were in agony. Inside the room was mostly dark. I lit up my gauntlet to create fire. The fire lit up the room, revealing two people inside, both collapsed on the ground. I noticed an orb in the center of the room. Before I could understand what was going on, my vision faded away as I looked at the orb.

My hand suddenly let go of Yuna's, and she disappeared into the darkness. I found myself alone in the dark abyss, calling out, "Yuna? Yuna! Can you hear me?" A voice echoed from the shadows, a man's voice saying, "Nobody can hear you here." A woman chimed in, "Forget about them, just come home." They emerged from the darkness, and I recognized them. My heart fluttered as I saw my mom and dad again. I frowned, "Mom? Dad? Why are you here? I thought you were traveling."

My mom, Hazel, responded kindly, "Lucius, come on, don't you remember? We came back a few days ago. Your father and I were just talking about how grown up you look now." My dad, Nero, laughed happily, "I was betting your mom that the place would have burned down now that my dad is dead."

I frowned, "Jeez, dad, grandpa showed me how to run the store. I can take care of it." He ruffled my hair, "I am just teasing, son. I know how much you have grown since you were a child. Listen, we have been gone a long time, but I just want you to know we aren't going anywhere now." My mom smiled, various tools on her, and she held up a chisel, "Your father is right. Mommy missed you on the road, Lucius. Every day we talked about you. I couldn't wait to make it back." She hugged me, and I almost cried, but I felt like they would disappear again if I let myself cry. I hugged her back, "Mom, you gotta show me a few things. I am doing my best, but I just keep messing up. I wanted to be a merchant, but all I seem to do is fight lately."

My mom patted my back as I accidentally let out a few tears, "Don't worry, my baby, we are here now. Nobody will hurt you again. Your father is strong. You can just focus on your work without worry." I muttered, "Thanks." It was at that moment I knew I had to do it, even if it pained me. I brought out a knife from my pocket and stabbed her in the back of the head. No blood poured out, but the vision faded into darkness again as a voice screamed out. The voice yelled, "You failure! You're no merchant; you are a failure of a son." It used my dad's face, but I gave a small smile, "Maybe, but I have every intention of not dying to some spineless monster who can't face me himself." I stabbed my father as the beast yelled out, "Lucius Evergold! Your soul will be trapped down here forever!" The vision faded as I returned to reality. It appeared the shock brought me back to wakefulness.

Once my vision returned, I glanced around the room, fear setting in as I heard yelling and crying from all around me. On the ground, I spotted a passed-out Pilot, Yuna, and Lulith. Pilot was crying a little on the ground in front of the orb, Lulith was sleeping peacefully, and Yuna was screaming out loud. I tried shaking Pilot awake, but he didn't even stir in his sleep; he just kept weeping. Next, I tried Lulith, but a similar display took place; nothing I did to her worked. I even tried slapping her a bit, but she barely even registered the hits. Next, I attempted to close Yuna's mouth or block her airways so she would wake up. However, all that did was slightly quiet her screams, and she seemed to be suffocating instead of waking up.

I thought about shattering the orb, but part of me feared that if I did, they would never wake up again. I slammed the door in frustration. What the hell is going on? Whoever is responsible for this, I would make them pay; they are tormenting my friends with painful memories. I decided that for now, it would be a good idea to leave the room; I could do nothing for the three of them on the floor. I would have to focus on the person or entity doing this. I walked out of the door, closing it a little before I looked around; it seemed there was another corridor to the right of the room. I decided to walk down that corridor this time, similar to the way we came. Just like before, time seemed to flow differently; I heard the voices come back, like before.

This time they chanted things like: King, temper, betrayed, killer, coffin, fire, crown, banished. I got to the end of the corridor after what seemed like an hour; this time, I was faced with a new door, and this one had a key in place with the word "past" written on it. I turned the key, trying to collect myself; this time, I decided it was best if I didn't look directly into the room. Just in case something similar happened again, I had my eyes glued to the floor. This time, however, as I opened the door, I didn't see anything noticeably off. There was no orb in the center as I walked in, but I did feel like there were bodies scattered around here. I could feel faint magic in the area around the center.

Suddenly, without warning, I felt the door behind me close, knocking me forward a bit. I decided to take the risk; I raised my head, lit my gauntlet up again, and quickly tried to exit the room. But as much as I pulled on the door, it seemed sealed shut. I looked behind me again; the faint fire lighting up the small room revealed a small glowing light on the bottom of the floor in the center. That was when I noticed the smell; it smelled like blood. I stepped forward; a lot of blood seemed to be pouring out from somewhere. The sight I saw next was horrifying. Quinn lay on one end of the room, his body seemingly sizzling as his skin had been burned. The puddle of blood came from a different source, though. Lysandra was near the door, bleeding heavily; both of them were knocked out, but her wounds were intense.

I ran over to her quickly, digging out some tools from my pack to stop the bleeding. I didn't know much about medical procedures, but she was bleeding out of her stomach. I put my hands under her nose; she was just barely breathing. I quickly took a needle out of my supplies, and with some thread, I sewed up her wound. I was clumsy with my sewing; my hands were shaking. I had never seen this much blood coming out of someone before. I managed to somehow stop the bleeding, but I could tell she needed medical attention right away. Damn, I felt so powerless. If only I could heal, but all my spells are for combat. Just as I was thinking negative thoughts, the deep voice from before came back.

The voice, seemingly amused over my panic, stated, "You are powerless; no way to heal anyone. Your magic is weak. Your friends died due to their leader being so stupid. Each of them faced the embodiment of their past regrets. I wonder, what do you fear? Perhaps you will die in the dark like a dog, having faced an old threat. I wonder if you will scream like that girl did before she dies, or if you will go out with a whimper like that monster did." The voice trailed off as I yelled, "Shut the hell up! I swear to god, I am going to make you suffer!" The man laughed hideously in the dark. I have never wanted something to die so much in my life. I haven't ever killed anyone, but that voice angered me on a cellular level as it mocked me in the darkness.