Chapter 7: Counted Shadows
Strider, Guts and Wander strode through a harsh landscape of sand and dunes. There were no shadows for several miles in all direction. Directly ahead, a massive wall of a mountain range loomed over the sand sea. Wander's blade shone directly to it.
Strider and Guts wore their hoods to block the piercing sun. Wander had no such clothing, but seemed unaffected by the heat. Perhaps he was used to it, he did say he was from a nomadic tribe, after all.
The trio stopped atop a hill. Wander pointed forward.
"The light is becoming clear, the beast resides somewhere along that mountain. Our battle is at hand."
Strider counted the arrows in his quiver. Eight, all flawless. Not enough for him, though, he preferred to carry at least double that. He turned to Wander.
"An enchanted bow, yes?"
Wander looked back at him, but said nothing.
"Back in the forest, with the orcs, you pulled a bow from the air, and shot arrows from no quiver. Your bow is magical."
"I cannot answer you, Strider, as I do not know the properties of my gear myself. This "Magic" you speak of may be the reason, maybe not. I've grown accustomed to it, but never understood it."
Wander sheathed his sword and the boww appeared in his hands.
"I am thankful for it," he said.
Guts piped up.
"Yeah, well I think it's weird. And believe me, when I find something weird that can help me, I'll use it."
"Me as well," Strider told. "I found Guts, and he is strange, so I am using him." He said with a laugh.
"You sonuva bitch..." Guts said with a grin. Strider was the only one to make him feel humorous in far too long. It was an emotion Guts had forgotten about.
"Come, we are almost there," Strider led.
...
Thirty minutes later, the party stopped at a peculiar sight. It appeared to be a building of some kind, but submerged in waves of sand. Pillars stuck 10 feet out of the sand, but it looked like they were more like 40 feet tall. A domed-building rested at the center of the pillars, no doubt being the main entrance to some ancient palace forgotten by time.
"This look familiar to you Strider?" Guts asked him.
"I've never come across architecture of this form before. I've also never seen a desert like this before."
"Where I come from," Wander thought aloud. "there are deserts with ancient stones, but this... this is not it. The engravings along the pillars is foreign to me."
The three were stumped, but intrigued all the same.
"What should we do?" Guts asked. "If we stay here to check this old stuff out, that monster will just get farther and farther away. We should keep after it."
Wander rose his blade to check the direction of the beast.
"It has stopped by those mountains. It will rest for several days, so there is no need to rush."
Wander looked to the sky. The sun was beginning to set on the dry wasteland.
"It would be unwise to attack the colossus during the night, anyway. I think we should explore these ruins, then rest for the night."
Strider was already poking around the site, trying to find a way in.
"I am with Wander. We must rest tonight, then strike when the sun rises. We know not how long the fight will last, so we'll need all the daylight we can get."
"Alright then," Guts sighed, disappointed he didn't get to swing his sword yet. "Are we gonna try to break into this place?"
"That is my intention, yes," Strider responded. "However, it seems all the entrances are deep under the sand. It may be impossible to..."
Strider was interrupted by a loud smash behind him, followed by the sound of tumbling stones. He turned to see Guts, sword in hand, a massive hole in the dome of the center building. "There ya go, boys."
The three huddled around the hole and peered down. The remaining sunlight lit a beam through the hole that barely reached the bottom, which was 40 feet below them. This building was very, very tall.
"It's like an old monastary, and I hate those," Guts whined.
"It's far too dark in there," Strider determined. He produced a torch from his bag. "We need something to light this." He looked around, but all there was was sand and stone. Then, he had an idea.
"Wander, lift your blade. Shine the light."
Wander did as told, the light shone in a concentrated beam towards the mountains.
"Were you thinking of using this to light the way?" Wander asked. "There would be no sunlight down there."
Strider walked over and held the torch in front of the beam. In seconds, the torch began to smoke.
"Ah! Pretty clever, smart man," Guts chuckled.
The torch burst into flame just as the sun disappeared behind the mountains. That was close, he thought. He held the torch over the hole, showing a pillar beside the entrance. It looked thin enough to slide down.
"I will descend down this pillar and try to find anything of interest. There may be answers down here," Strider explained. "You two stay up here and set up a place to sleep. If I need anything, I'll call."
The two nodded. Strider bit placed the torch in his mouth, and hugged the pillar tightly. He loosened his grip slightly, causing him to descend into the darkness.
Once safely on the bottom, he looked to the ceiling. The hole was very far up, and he could not see Guts or Wander.
"I've made it!" he called.
"Alright, don't get lost!" Guts called back.
Strider checked his surroundings. He was in a beautifully decorated... something. It may have been a throne room, or an antechamber, but it was hard to tell at the moment. The walls were covered in an unknown text. It looked as though it was written hastily. There were several pillar bases along the floor, with their bodies laying in pieces nearby. The floor was cracked and covered in a thin layer of sand. Strider took it all in, but found there was nothing in this room. All the doorways around him were caved in from debris capsizing inward. All except one, which stood untouched. Behind it lay a wall of darkness. Strider entered in, finding a ruined stone hallway with arched doorways along either side. He briefly looked inside each room as he passed, finding them all empty. It was possible that this palace had been raided some time ago, he thought.
Some cracked under Strider's step. He looked down to see a crushed skull underneathe his boot. Finally, he thought, something that fits this setting. He raised the torch to illuminate further down the hall, revealing another dead man ahead. This one had a complete skeleton. Perhaps this is the remnants of a battle fought in these halls long ago? Perhaps a struggle for power brought this palace to ruin? Nothing was clear yet. Strider pressed forward.
He came to a staircase that lead down into the darkness. Even with the torch, Strider could not see the bottom. Regardless, he had to press on, or return to the surface, and he wasn't yet satisfied with his findings. He continued down the stairs for what felt like minutes. No, it was minutes. It was bringing him deep, deep under the surface. Every so often he would have to step over a skeleton that looked like it died trying to climb up the stairs, their arms often outstretched upwards. What happened here? Why were so many skeletons strewn about? Something terrible must have happened here decades ago, and Strider hoped he would be able to find some answers. He followed down the stairs silently, as if to not disturb the dead. Finally, a floor came into view. He reached the bottom and paused. The subtle sifting of sand could be heard around the room. He raised the torch, but there were no walls to see, not even the ceiling was visible. Strider had stumbled into an enormous room. He walked forward, occasionally passing a thick pillar that stretched up into the void. Then, he heard a familiar crunch. He looked at his feet to see another crushed bone, but was met with the sight of more skeletons around him. And more. And even more. Hundreds of skeletons lay lifeless along the stone floor, some missing arms, legs, skulls, everything.
Strider heard a loud crunch ahead of him. The sound of bones being utterly crushed underneath a great weight. He instinctively threw the torch hard in the direction of the noise and darted behind a pillar. He watched the torch roll to a stop amidst many skeletons. He watched it burn in the darkness. Then, heavy footsteps. Slow, heavy footsteps, that shattered the silence. Each step shook the ground and caused sand to fall from the abyss above. He watched the fire closely, patiently. He knew whoever was down here with him would see the light and want to investigate. Then, a massive hand reached into view, grabbing the torch and lifting it high. The torch revealed a man of incredible size, far outsizing Guts. He had black hair, that stood in spikes. Around his neck, a fur cape made from some great animal. He wore a leather armor that covered his chest only, his arms and shoulders left unprotected. His nose was a tad flattened (clearly from combat), and his eyes were pupil-less red orbs. He inspected the torch in front of his face. He then looked around and behind himself.
"Show yourself, coward!" he roared into the darkness. No response from Strider. "Hmmpf!" he huffed, disappointed. The man-beast turned and walked away from Strider, crushing countless bones as he went. Strider followed like a shadow. He took note of the massive horse-slayer on the man's back. It reminded him of Guts' ridiculous blade, but not nearly as big.
Off into the darkness ahead of the man appeared a source of light suspended 4 feet in the air. It gave off a faint blue glow, but in the darkness it shone brilliantly. Strider wondered to himself. What could that light be? It must be what the man is after.
The beastly man stepped up to the light, towering above it. He paused to look for a moment, and Strider thought he heard something deep below them. The man reached down and grabbed the light, revealing it to be a blue, shining sphere. The light it produced outshined the torch, illuminating the nearby pillars in a blue glow. Strider felt himself being pulled towards the object, enticed. The man also seemed entranced by it's light, staring down at it for some time. He eventually broke his gaze and stuck the object in a bag around his waist. The light shone through the bag still.
The man began to walk to the staircase. Strider had been thinking about what he should do: Try to escape silently, or attempt to take the orb, by force if neccessary. The orb must have some kind of power, that it left a room full of hundreds of ancient bodies, and only itself remained. These people could have died trying to take the orb... or trying to escape it. Strider knew the orb must have some power, maybe even the power to reverse the world's transformation. He knew he couldn't pass this opportunity. He stepped out into the darkness behind behind the man.
"Hold," he commanded.
The man turned around very slowly. The torch revealed his face hadn't changed, even though there was a possible threat here. This man must have been fearless.
"Yes?" he answered. Strider was taken back from the man's calmness.
"What is your purpose here, bladesman," Strider asked while slowly sidestepping around the man.
The man laughed.
"You have some kind of deathwish?" His voice was incredibly deep. "Don't you know who I am? It doesn't matter to you what I am doing here, because as soon as I see you, you're dead."
Strider was a master of being unseen, but he could tell the orb was too powerful to run and hide now. He emerged into the torch's light. He was behind the man now, blocking the path to the stairs, hood still drawn. The orb would be his.
"Well," Strider taunted. "Here I am."