Breathing was impossible with the strong grip of the pack killer's leather hand on his neck. All he could do was kick at him as he tried to pry him off.
Hunter wasn't expecting to be suddenly dropped to the ground though. He barely caught his fall in time as his wrist twisted in pain as it smashed into the brick floor.
'The Pack Killer just stared down at him, the glow of his white eyes being one of the only things Hunter could see in the room itself. They dimly lit up his armor as he stared down, not saying anything.
Only a couple of ideas entered Hunter's mind as he thought of a way out of this. The two just stared at each other until Hunter heard words he never thought he would.
"Help me," The Pack Killer's deep distorted voice pleaded.
Hunter only then noticed he was ever so slightly shaking in place. The darkness of the room hid it well but his glowing eyes made it noticeable. Was he scared? Hunter assumed not, so something else must be causing this.
Standing up, Hunter shook the pain in his wrist away. The Pack Killer had stepped back a little to give him space.
"Help me," He repeated, his distorted voice now shaking as well.
He had two options. Help the Pack Killer or fight the Pack Killer. The choice seemed obvious given his current situation.
"How?" Hunter asked, cementing in the fact that he was about to help a mass murderer.
"You fit?" The Pack Killer pointed towards the narrow path. "You make door open. More?"
"I don't know," Hunter said without thinking.
This seemed to anger the Pack Killer as his eyes turned red in anger and the leather of his gloves scrunched up.
"I'll try! I'll try."
The red of his eyes dimmed back to white.
Hunter took off his book bag and handed it to the Pack Killer, "Will you hold this?"
The Pack Killer stretched out his arms and held it like it was radioactive.
The two stared at the path. Hunter's flashlight shone along the edge and Hunter could read the words that were above the path into the deeper part of the castle. It must have been what gave the old explorers the name of this landmark.
THE CITY OF AME T
Hunter looked down the narrow path and slowly eased himself inside. With a slow pace, he shuffled along keeping his head forward. He turned back once and saw the two glowing white eyes on the other side staring him down.
His jacket scratched against the hard brick wall he was inching through. This was a claustrophobe's worst nightmare.
He came to a stop at the glowing barrier, he could now easily see the halls that lay beyond.
"Why stop?" He heard the Pack Killer ask.
"There's a barrier, I'm not sure if it's dangerous," Hunter realized how ridiculous this sounded. Could it be any more dangerous than working with a psychotic murderer who didn't seem to know proper grammar?
Hunter slowly inched his hand towards the glowing barrier, his pinky just barely touching it. He eased it in carefully, waiting for the certain death it could possibly cause.
Before he even knew it, his whole hand was past the barrier. With one large step, his whole body passed through the barrier and he stepped out of the path.
The torches that hung along the walls lit up in a magnificent blue flame, Hunter watched as they moved down the path before they turned off in other directions.
Hunter's body was covered in the same golden aura that appeared when he first entered the spirit world. And just as it did before, it slowly faded away.
The room was a close mirror of the one he was last in. This one though was actually lit up. It felt more alive.
The room had statues and shelves of books and other nicknacks. Paintings hung along the walls and dust was kept off the shelves. The whole place seemed like a maid had passed through and cleaned up. Could it be the spirits?
Hunter jumped when he heard the Pack Killer yell, "Open door!" It was followed by pounding on the other side of the tunnel.
Looking around there was only one thing Hunter thought could open the door more. It looked like a wheel that could be turned. He hadn't seen anything like this on the other side.
Hunter looked towards the small crack in the wall, the pack killer. Was letting him into the depths of uncharted spirit demon territory really the best idea?
He knew the Pack Killer couldn't get in this section alone and needed him. But Hunter didn't even know why he needed to be in this part of the castle. Hunter had his reason, but what was the Pack Killer's?
Slowly, he turned the wheel and the door started to budge. Hunter knew that he could try and wait out the Pack Killer but then he'd have a target on his back. And without Zekaj, Hunter couldn't protect himself.
There was a good chance that when Hunter got the door open the Pack Killer would just kill him anyway when he made it through. If Hunter explored alone he was sure the Pack Killer would wait him out.
And he had his backpack. He couldn't just abandon his backpack.
He just hoped he could shut this place off for good once they both got what they needed. Then he couldn't return and cause harm to the spirits.
The doors slowly opened with every turn of the wheel. When it was barely even halfway open, Hunter heard the scrape of metal in the tunnel. Suddenly, the large body of the Pack Killer emerged into the lit room.
Hunter now could take him all in.
He was tall, at his own height. Strong and muscular, around the same build as Emrys just a little smaller. His aura was a light indigo color that slowly faded away as well.
The suit he wore was black as the night and where his face should have been, was the void, only the glowing white eyes shown through.
Extending his hand, Hunter's backpack lay at the end of them. Hunter quickly snatched it and threw it back on.
The Pack Killer was looking at him as if he wanted to say something. He didn't and just started walking down the hall. Hunter soon followed and the two were heading off deeper into the castle.
The long hall came out to a spacious room and staircases that lead down. The Pack Killer gripped the side of the railing and vaulted over it.
Hunter ran to the edge and saw he had landed perfectly fine. The drop was about 40 feet down. Quickly, he made his way down the stairs.
The room was spacious and filled with beautiful statues and banners. Intricate details of silver were all around the room and beautiful sapphire and diamond gemstones were accented in parts of them.
The statues were that of demons, with horns of various lengths in different sets of armor. Many of them held swords, shields, and staffs. All of them were aimed towards one thing.
A sword in a stone pedestal.
It had grabbed the attention of both Hunter and the Pack Killer. An unnatural beam of blue light cast down upon it. The intricate diamond runes on the sword gleamed in the light.
The handle of the sword had grips made out of an almost dark blue scale-like texture. The rest of it was a slightly darker grey silver than the blade itself. At the end of the cross-guards were two light blue diamonds.
The pommel itself was a dark blue gem that almost appeared as if stars were in it. The starlike dots were moving by themselves in the gem. It made the sword feel almost alive.
The room was centered around the one sword, just sitting embedded in the pedestal.
"Wow," Hunter said. Amet was truly full of mystery.
"What it?" The Pack Killer pointed at the sword.
"A sword," Hunter said.
The Pack Killer squinted at Hunter. He didn't say anything snarky back and just gripped the sword out of the ground. It failed to budge which only made him angrier.
The sword was stuck in the ground. Refusing to be removed.
The Pack Killer growled in anger and stepped back, looking at Hunter.
"You," The Pack Killer pointed at the sword.
"You want me to try?" Hunter asked.
The Pack Killer shook his head and stared at the sword. Was this what he wanted?
Hunter slowly walked up to the sword. He stretched out his hand and his fingers touched the cold handle.
As his fingers wrapped around the sword. Reality flicked in and out. Until he was no longer in the castle.
Fire. Everywhere was on fire. Men in armor stood around sorrowly. They had won the fight, but at what cost?
The sky was burnt orange and the two moons of the spirit world could barely be seen through the occasional parting of the ashen clouds.
Hunter took in his surroundings. He was in a city. Amet?
Without thinking, Hunter started walking. He heard crying, many of the people whose faces were hidden by shadow were looking inward at someone. A Man. No, a demon. His glowing blue horns being the only discernible feature.
Hunter carefully made his way closer to get a better view.
"Wake up," The man sobbed, his face still hidden from view. In his arms was a blonde man with a crown. Lifeless.
"Please," He cried again. "Wake up."
The man looked up and his eyes locked on to someone in front of him.
"Did we?"
The man simply shook his head, yes.
The demon simply wiped his eyes and stood up. The blond still in his arms remained lifeless.
"Everyone return home, put your kids to bed, and do the same yourself." The demon said, his face still hidden in the darkness.
"But Mer-" The man in front of him said.
"It's the only way I can save him, Lancelot!" The man sobbed. "The only way I can save everyone!"
"Camelot is lost." The demon looked up and his dark glowing dark blue eyes met Hunter's.
Hunter jumped when he felt two hands on his shoulders and reality flickered away.
He lost grip of the sword and fell back into someone.
Hunter pushed himself away in a panic and turned around to the Pack Killer staring at him.
"Did you...?" Hunter asked.
"You look at sword for ten minutes," He said bluntly.
Hunter looked back at the sword. It was still stuck in its pedestal. The gears in his head were starting to turn. But it all made too much sense, right?
A Sword in a Stone.
A man named Emrys entering his life with a soulmate named Arthur.
A man in the vision named Lancelot.
And the one word that tied everything together.
Camelot.
Hunter looked up down at his feet. He was standing on an A.
The sword was surrounded by large words. Hunter slowly circled around the sword, keeping track of every letter in his head.
T H E C I T Y O F C A M E L O T
Amet was Camelot.
A/N:
Well, what do you think?
Thoughts on PK?
The vision Hunter had?
Camelot?
Not going to lie, I thought more people would realize AMET was CameLOt but surprisingly no one did lmao. Love to see it. Mwahahaha
PK (Short for Pack Killer) is a really interesting character. Just make sure to give him a chance <3 You never know what someones backstory is. hehe
Chapter 49 will be going up soon on Patreon (Patreon.com/MEK_14) (within the next hour and a half)
Thanks for reading,
-MEK