Chapter 2
Beyond the mist
I woke up suddenly the next morning, sweating. I had nightmares during the entire night like never before. A harrowing question came to my mind : what other hideous creatures that accursed city would offer me? Is there something much worse that lies ahead? I dismissed that thought, for it would only make things worse by thinking about it. Whatever was outside this church, I would face it. I prepared my bag and everything else and walked away from the bonfire, feeling its warmth slowly fading. I let out a sigh as I walked outside.
Once again, there was a dense mist covering the entirety of the area. But at least, I could see a little bit farther than before. The sky was cloudy and it was extremely humid, I started thinking of the eventuality that it would start to rain. Again, it was extremely silent, but I learned my lesson from my last encounter and I raised my sword in a defensive stance, ready for anything that would come at me. I walked a lot, and I eventually lost track of the time. I started to loose hope, around me, there was nothing but ruins and desolation. My heart almost stopped as I heard many footsteps coming from my left. I had no knowledge of my enemy and decided to hide behind the remains of what looked like a well in the middle of the road.
Behind the well, I tried to take a peek at what was coming. From the fog came out at least five soldiers, with the same weapons and a similar look. In their hands, they all had a straight sword, with gold ornaments at its hilt. They were all wearing a heavy armor, with a dark shade of silver with golden lines and a blue cape. It was evident that they were once warriors of high ranks. They had no helmets, so I could see how their faces looked like. I then realized that these soldiers were hollows. They are undead creatures that are no longer human, who have lost all purpose and hope. But even so, it seems that they are still walking the empty streets. I suppose that they are, in a way, keeping their old habits. They had empty eye sockets, just like the dogs from last day, and their skin was completely black. Strangely enough, they too had this strange dark substance coming out of their mouths. Were they affected by a curse? I had never seen such a thing in the past, and I needed to be on my guards. I knew that I had no chances against them, so I tried to sneak past them.
I underestimated their senses. Just as I stood up and tried to walk away, they swiftly looked at me and let out a horrible, inhuman groan. I knew I could not escape, so I looked around me for a way to defend myself. I found on the ground a shield in a really bad state, but that would do. The first one ran toward me with his sword. I was able to block and dodge his attacks. Hollows are particularly easy to fight since they simply swing their weapon around, with an absolute lack of skill. While this one was no different, his blows were unusually strong, so I needed to fight back as soon as I could. The hollow soldier continued to swing his blade until I was finally able to parry his last hit with my shield. The undead was staggered and I took my chance. With all my strength, I plunged my sword inside the chest of the hollow, piercing his armor and body. I then pulled him away with my right foot and it fell to the ground, lifeless. Doing this gave me more confidence, I realized that I could do it. But, as I looked at the lifeless corpse on the ground, something peculiar happened : its chest exploded and the dark matter erupted from it. Then, it faded away. I was completely dumbfounded by this, but I did not have the time to think about it. Knowing that they couldn't defeat me alone, the four others ran toward me, charging with their weapons. My shield could not endure these hollows at once, so fighting was out of the question. I decided to run as fast as I could, without looking behind me.
After some time, I saw in front of me a bridge made of cobblestones that lead further into the fog. As soon as I was on it, I looked behind me and saw the hollows. I raised an eyebrow as I looked at them: they didn't want to go further. Slowly, they walked away, disappearing in the mist. Without thinking much about it, I decided to continue walking. As I went to the other side of the bridge, I could finally see what was hidden behind the fog; An immense castle, with spires reaching the sky. The architecture was very similar to a cathedral, and I could see various statues near the entrance that seemed to represent divine beings. Perhaps the worshiping of the gods was important here. I looked around me in awe as I approached the castle. I climbed some stairs that would lead me to a great doorway. One of the doors was completely destroyed and the other one was also in a bad state. I stepped around the debris and I entered a great hall. Inside, the only source of light came from massive windows above me. The floor was heavily damaged and seemed to be made of gray ceramic. Ahead of me, it was really dark and a torch was primordial if I wanted to explore this castle. I lit the second torch I had with me and I advanced inside.
The further I went inside the castle, the more I started to feel uneasy. The walls were empty, with no paintings. I found goods and pieces of furniture in ruins, broken windows, and rubbles. Then suddenly, as I continued to walk on the ceramic, I felt something odd under my feet. I looked down and my eyes widened: the same strange dark matter covered the entirety of the floor. I looked swiftly around me and realized that even the walls were covered in this black substance. I touched it with disgust, its texture was almost slimy. I waved my hand around trying to take it off. It was extremely unsettling, but even so, a part of me wanted to continue. So I went on, with my torch raised above me. To this day, I still curse this damn choice.
I reached the end of the hallway and entered a great hall. It was difficult to see, because of the dark matter on every surface. I saw a set of two spiraling stairs that would maybe lead me higher inside the castle. But as I looked down, something blocked my path: there was an enormous gaping hole in the middle of the hall. How deep was it? I had to try something. I took a small piece of wood and set it ablaze with my torch. I then threw it in the pit. It fell into the darkness, without making a sound. I was having shivers, could that be the Abyss? This endless pit of darkness that corrupted and devoured anything in its path? Perhaps it was one of the main causes of Astora's downfall, and it could even explain the appearance of the hollows I saw earlier. Faced with such a threat, I did not fall back, I decided to try and find a way around the hole. But then, as soon as I tried to walk around, the earth itself started to tremble. I heard a terrifying growl that made me cover my ears. Whatever I may have awakened was not pleased. Then, out of the Abyss, an enormous, malformed dark hand appeared. I was frozen in fear by such a sight. My fate was sealed. The hand did not attack me directly. Instead, it smashed the ceiling above me, and parts of it fell right where I was. My senses returned and I tried to run away, but it was too late and I was completely crushed by the rubble.
I was killed.
So this was the second chapter. Feel free to leave a review, it may help me a lot for my next chapter.