Coalesce: The Escape
Chapter 15

Now it was the first of Frost Fall and it had begun to snow. The snow provided more cover from predators and made it hard to move quickly. Our journey was still only just beginning. We had found a small Inn no more than fifty miles from New Leaf and decided to stay there until the storm eased up. At least enough that we could travel on the road with limited danger. My wrist hadn’t gotten any better since the day of the attack. Neither had my heart. I never thought losing someone I didn’t really care for would affect me so deeply. Maybe I did care after all…

A few minutes of walking had left our tracks covered with fresh, glistening white powder. The howling wind bit at any exposed skin. Fingers numb, I tuck my hands into my armpits in some vain attempt at warmth.

“Kylon, what is that?” I shout over the wind. A dark stone mass jutted from the ground to our right and was barely visible through the swirling torrent of snow. He turns his head and holds his arm up to shield his face, trying to make out the structure.

“I don’t know, we should get out of this storm though. Maybe there’s shelter there, something at the least,” He pulls the horse towards the stones and hands the reins to me, then surveys the area before allowing me to come any further. It was a strange crater in the ground, with a staircase leading down into the pit. It was near impossible to see much else. We leave the horse in the shelter of an overhang and climb the rickety wooden staircase into the carved earth. A thin layer of white lay on the bottom of the hole, under the top of the stairs is an iron door.

The door is black and splits in the middle. At the top of the split, there is a large circle with the Cyrillican crest in it. The crest is an orb with a dragon curled around it, on the left side is the sun, the right the moon. The moon’s side of the dragon is silver. The sun’s side of the dragon is red.

The rest of the door has vines carved into the metal. Cautiously, I push open the door and reveal a long tunnel with burning torches lining the walls. Someone had recently been here. Or still was here. We need to be careful if we’re to go wandering into this place. We couldn’t afford another fight now.

Looking around I notice the floor is covered in vines and bits of dirt on the stone, giving the tunnel a much older feel. I don’t doubt that it is old, but I notice things like that. A strange snapping, creaking sound echoes up and down the tunnel. A soft rattling and clinking follows. Seconds later, an ancient looking skeleton drags itself halfway out from a lead-off tunnel to the right of the tunnel where we stand now. Scraping metal on stone echoes as the skeleton moves. I tense, Kylon holds an arm out in front of me to keep me behind him.

“Master, Master? Where has the Master gone?” The dry, raspy voice of the skeleton rings through the near silent halls. Behind it, the living bones drag a large rusted sword it can’t even hold up. It’s empty eye sockets glowed with light blue orbs in place of eyes that had long since gone back to the Earth from whence they came. Very slowly its head turns in our direction and the blue orbs turn into a deep, scarlet red. It seems to gain a strength it had not previously sported. The sword shrieks as its heaved upwards, knocking into the wall of the tunnel sending dust raining down on us.

“Uh-oh,” I mutter as the bones creak and they are drawn to us at a run. Kylon lifts his sword and sends the stark bones to the floor in a loud clatter and series of splitting cracks. A small leather pouch, that neither of us noticed before, drops to the floor amongst the bones. A few gold coins spill out next to the sword the skeleton had tried to use. I pick it up and open it to see what is inside. Three more gold coins.

“Looks like we have a bit of gold now,” I murmur as I slip the coins into my bag, looking up at Kylon.

“It would seem so,” He half smiles and ushers me down the tunnel with his sword at the ready. The tunnel separates to the left and right, both looking similar to the entrance tunnel. Glancing at each other we nod and take the right lead-off where the skeleton had come from. A few steps and we replace ourselves in a large room with a fireplace, table, chairs, and several coffins lining the walls. All the coffins are empty and opened. Not exactly reassuring. Old wraps of linen and blank parchment lay on the table with some goblets stained with blood. Wooden plates with cracks and holes in them lay with the remains of what may have once been food. Cobwebs stretch around the items on the table and the chairs and pretty much all around the dimly lit room. It was a strange sight.

The torches flicker, then they all go out. We are left in total darkness, eerie and still. Neither of us move for fear of what might happen. A hand creeps up my back and I struggle to keep still, spine stiffening. I jerk my hand towards Kylon, feeling for his arm.

“There’s something behind me,” I hissed in a hushed tone. I feel him tense, sword at the ready.

“Duck,” He whispers and raises his sword, I drop to the floor just before he swings and hits the skeleton standing there. Letting out a shaky breath I grapple for his hand and stand once more.

“You alright?” He asks, patting my shoulder as he blindly reaches for me.

“I’m fine,” I bat his hand away. “Let’s replace a light or something…”

We search blindly for a light or the tunnel leading out. I run into the walls often, Kylon trips over several coffin lids, swearing loudly each time. Eventually we replace a tunnel that has lit torches and decide to try and sleep. Maybe leaving the Inn wasn’t such a great idea after all. It was certainly better than a skeleton infested cave…