A strange sense of calm overcame Calvin as the barrier enveloped him, moments before there was a small pop as the barrier released him and reverted to its original state. In an instant, his senses were assaulted as the strange chanting became significantly more intense and was accompanied by the anguished cries of tortured souls. A peculiar pressure seemed to assault his body and mind as a mysterious force seemed to pulsate through the chamber with the same tempo as that of the now booming chant. Getting used to the waves of discomfort caused by the strange chanting, Calvin’s other senses soon came under fire as he became aware of the pungent odour that filled the air. A mixture of blood, death, and decay filled the air, while a strange mist blurred his vision.
Calvin stood rooted in place, dazed and confused, as he attempted to allow his body to acclimate to this new environment. “What have we done! This place is pure evil. I’ve never felt anything like this before. It’s as though the very air is trying to kill me. We shouldn’t be here. We shouldn’t be the ones to attempt this rescue. We should have turned back!” panicked thoughts clouded his mind, over and over again he could hear his own voice shouting at him from within, telling him to leave, when he felt a sudden pressure on his right shoulder.
Startled, Calvin squirmed and pulled away from what had touched him, looking over to realise that it had been Fellaroth who had placed a hand on his shoulder. “You’ll be alright, Calvin.” Fellaroth’s voice sounded muffled and distant to Calvin’s ears, and his blurred and panicked vision made it so that even Fellaroth’s figure seemed somehow wrong. “What you are feeling is quite normal, I can assure you of that.” Hearing Fellaroth’s voice through the droning chant brought a strange, calming sensation to Calvin’s mind. In moments, the chanting became quieter and more bearable, while the mist that filled the air seemed to dissipate, allowing him to see more clearly. “What you’re experiencing is the effects of dark magic. It clouds the mind and the senses, turning even the most seasoned warriors into fearful, doubting cowards who can be easily overcome. Have faith in yourself and your party, Calvin, this is not beyond you.”
“Fellaroth, I don’t understand. What was happening to me? My mind was filled with doubt, a strange fog blurred my vision, and the chanting… the chanting was so loud I could barely hear my own thoughts, but now… now it is as though the world is clear once more. I can see and I can think clearly. Even the chanting doesn’t seem quite as loud as it did moments ago.”
“When I place my hand on your shoulder, I cast a clear mind spell on you. It has a calming effect and allows you to block out the psychological effects of dark magic. Once you entered the barrier, it became clear that the evil magic that fills this place had been taking its toll on you since we entered the chamber. Once you crossed the barrier, the effect was magnified as you were exposed to its full force. I apologise, Calvin. I should have seen it earlier and should have taken measures. I was too preoccupied with finding the people of Cruwshant and hoping that we hadn’t arrived too late.”
“You needn’t apologise, Fell. I was the one who had succumbed to its effects; if it weren’t for you, I might have done something unforgivable in my panicked state… What of the others? Were they also affected by the dark magic in this place? And what of the people of Cruwshant? Have we found them? Are they here?”
“The others are fine, and as for the people of Cruwshant, you may want to brace yourself for what you’re about to see!”
“What do you mean, Fell? How bad is it?”
“Over there, by the others, if you look down, you will be able to see it for yourself.” Answered Fellaroth with a gesture of his head.
Calvin paused for a moment as he looked over at Riegert and Jackson, who at this point were down on their knees looking over the edge of the walkway. Breathing heavily, Calvin slowly walked over to where the others were and hesitantly peered over the edge before recoiling in horror and falling backwards to the ground. “What kind of being could be capable of such things?” he stuttered in disbelief, as the screams of tortured people returned to his ears for the first time since Fellaroth had touched his shoulder.
Two storeys below where the group now stood, unfolded a scene of unimaginable horror. Arranged in a spiral pattern around a large central plinth rose hundreds of equally spaced jagged stone pillars, onto which had been chained four people, one on each of their four sides. Each person was covered in hundreds of small stab wounds in varying stages of healing, while a force of cloaked people walked through the maze of bodies, casting spells and opening new wounds in their prisoners. Staring down at the scene below them, Riegert and Jackson had been entranced by the combination of cruelty and the rhythmic nature of the chanting. With rage building within them, Jackson turned to Fellaroth and asked. “What in the world could be the purpose of this? Are they just gaining some sick joy from causing suffering to others?”
“Unfortunately, Jackson, there’s a deeper meaning to what you see below. Look closely at each of those pillars down there, much as you don’t want to. When the people are stabbed by those spears, their blood is allowed to flow from their bodies and down the pillars to which they are chained. Once the blood reaches the ground, it enters a channel that links to each of the other pillars and directs the blood toward the large central pedestal. From there, the blood is converted into a form of magical life energy by that chant we keep hearing, which is then being channelled into the obelisk you see on top of that pedestal. That obelisk, though no larger than a human man, is being used to redirect the magical life energy up into that crystal above us. From there, one can only guess where the magical energy is being sent.”
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Turning away from the scene below, Riegert got to his feet and joined Jackson and Fellaroth before asking. “And what of the spells being cast by those people down there?”
“Those appear to be life-sustaining spells. Not quite healing spells, as they don’t close any wounds but rather simply prevent the captives from dying. It ensures that their bodies continue to produce blood while keeping them just barely alive.”
“Well, it clearly doesn’t work for everyone.” Said Jackson, pointing to the far side of the chamber. “Have you noticed the enormous pile of bodies they’ve tossed into that ditch? There must be hundreds of bodies in there!”
“Unfortunately, no amount of life-sustaining magic can keep a person alive indefinitely; sooner or later, the trauma becomes too much for the heart to bear and eventually the person will die, no matter what magic is cast. This has been going on for weeks now, maybe even longer, Jackson. We were never going to be able to rescue them all. For now, the best we can hope for is that we can stop this before the damage to these people becomes irreversible.”
Upon hearing this, Calvin quickly got to his feet and turned to Fellaroth. “You mean to say that you know how to undo this?”
“I can heal their bodies, but as for their minds, I don't have the knowledge needed to undo what has been done to them. This trauma is something that will sadly haunt them for a very long time to come… possibly for the rest of their lives.”
“People are resilient, Fellaroth, given enough time, they can overcome this.”
“Not this kind of torture, Calvin.” Interrupted Riegert. “We’ve seen this before, a long time ago, back in Brightwatch. You remember, don’t you? The old man who used to live on the outskirts of the town… the one in that old run-down shack at the edge of the forest. The elders used to talk about him when they thought we kids had gone to sleep. One night when I was young and couldn’t sleep, I snuck out of my room and overheard the elders around the fire just outside our house. This was just after the old man had returned to town. The elders were saying that he had been abducted by some evil people, who had done unspeakable things to him. They said that it was the duty of the elders to ensure that the children of the city steered clear of that old man, because, with his mind in the damaged state it was in, he couldn’t be held responsible if he were to perceive a threat where none was, and lash out at someone, potentially harming them. That is why we were told that he was diseased and that we needed to keep our distance from him. He never did recover from what was done to him. In the end, he died alone in that shack, with no one to care for him. Can you imagine that on the scale of an entire city?”
“So that’s why you always scolded the other children when they taunted him and threw rocks at his house! Why didn’t you ever tell the rest of us?” asked Calvin.
“It wasn’t my place to share that information, Calvin, and besides, did we really need a reason not to treat someone so poorly? But never mind all of that, Calvin, you’re missing the point. Think back to that old man. Can you imagine that kind of person, but this time on the scale of an entire city? It would be completely nonfunctioning and would become a burden to the rest of the kingdom!”
“What are you suggesting here, Riegert? Do you suggest that it would be more humane for us to allow all of these people to die?”
“No, Calvin, I’m not suggesting that at all. I’m just saying that we will need to do something to help these people other than just healing their wounds.”
Knowing his friends and seeing that this conversation wasn’t going to progress any further, Jackson decided that he needed to step in. “Neither of you is wrong in this discussion, however, you are wasting time while overlooking the bigger and more pressing issue at hand! We first need to rescue them before we can consider the aftermath!”
“Jackson’s right.” Started Riegert. “We do have bigger problems to deal with first. Chief among which is finding out where the rest of the people are. Even with all of the people on the pillars and the bodies in that ditch, this couldn’t possibly account for the entire population of Cruwshant?”
“You’re right, Riegert, it’s not.” Answered Fellaroth. “I can sense a large number of people directly below us, I assume there is some kind of prison cell below us where they are keeping the people until the ones on the pillars die. From what I can estimate, little more than half of the city’s population is alive and unharmed.”
“Little more than half?” stammered Calvin in disbelief. “You mean to say that they’ve already killed hundreds, if not thousands, of people? How long has this been going on for? We need to find a way to get the rest of these people out of here before anyone else dies!”
“Wait, Calvin.” Interrupted Jackson a second time. “You seem to be overlooking the fact that there is a lot more than just the one person Fellaroth had warned us about!”
“Actually, there isn’t!” answered Fellaroth. “I can still only sense a single evil entity down there. Every single person you see walking around down there appears to have the same life essence. Meaning that they are all one and the same. I know of a spell that can interfere with a hive mind, like the one that is likely being shared by each of those people down there. If I’m able to cast it correctly, it should incapacitate everyone except the host body, allowing Calvin and Riegert to get those people out of the cells, while you and I deal with the host body, after which I will be able to heal the remaining people, who we can then lead to safety.”
“Well, that sounds like the best plan we’re going to be able to come up with on short notice. I suppose we have nothing to lose except our lives. Let's go for it!” said Jackson with more gusto than the others would have expected, given the dire nature of the situation.
“Very well. Give me a moment, if this works, then we won’t have a moment to lose. Be ready to act!” said Fellaroth as he began to gather as much magical energy as he could.
