A chill ran up her spine as she approached the mouth of the cave. It was so dark that she couldnt see more than three feet ahead of her. A few yards in, when she took a step forward, she heard a loud crunch and froze. Then she heard a faint shakey voice. She couldnt quite hear what it said but it sounded like, help me.
She could barely hear the wind over the sound of her pounding heart. She slowly crept forward when something grabbed her ankle.
She heard the scraping of flint, then a candle lit up the cave. Her heart went from thundering to a dead stop.
She fell and crawled backward on the sandstone floor. The cave was filled with bones, both animal and human, some still had rotting flesh on them. But the worst sight, the most terrifying thing she had ever seen, was the man in the floor.
His torso was ripped open and his organs were sprawled out around him. All still attached and working. But the man was still ALIVE. He was wheezing and spitting up blood. Then he spoke.
"G...Get out." He sputtered. "Do not trust him." He coughed, splattering a bit of blood on the ground. "The music enchants people. Lures them here. Then he-" He started uncontrollably coughing and wheezing.
"Then he what? Please you have to tell me."
"He...EATS them. He eats people like theyre livestock. He started on me before you came along..." He started another coughing fit.
His eyes looked behind her and grew wide with fear, then he stopped breathing all at once and his organs stopped moving.
"Gods help me." She whispered. Then she slowly stood and turned around.
The man was standing behind her. Just staring at her.
"Please dont be afraid." He said in a low voice.
"What in the nine hells do you mean?!" She screamed. "Your a killer, a cannibal, a...a..what are you?!"
"I used to be a knight." He spoke slowly with his hand outstreached as if he was afraid. "One day, over five-hundred years ago, the king sent his best warriors to fight a very powerful deamon. I was among them. We searched for days until we finally arrived here. It was waiting for us, Bale, the deamon of pain and dispair. We fought as hard as we could but he was overwhelming. After moments I was the only knight still standing. We fought for hours, neither able to kill the other. It continued so long I thought I would simply die of exhaustion. Then he just stopped." The man paused as if he was still living the moment.
"And?" The girl asked.
"He spoke to me. He said that I was a great warrior and could be of use to him. He cursed me with immortality and an unsatisfiable hunger for flesh. He makes me harvest blood from the living, as a sacrafice to him. He survives by it. And as long as he draws breath I can never leave this place."
"If what you say is true...If you are such a great warrior... why havent you killed me yet?" She asked in a shakey voice.
"I dont know." He said in a confused sounding tone. "Theres something about you. Something different than the others. I could not bring myself to kill you."
"And where is Bale now?" The thought suddenly struck her.
For a long moment the man, the knight, did not speak. He was thinking.
"You must leave. You must leave NOW." He grabbed her arm and walked, almost ran her out of the cave.