Chapter 18: Capture
My apprehension was growing as the three of us entered the Chancel. Who knows what could be waiting for us up there? Things had been too calm lately, and I knew that something was about to happen. Don't think like that! It'll only make things worse.
We remained silent as we descended up the staircase, pausing only when a door presented itself. Daniel hesitated, hand lingering inches from the handle. I noticed that Isabelle had grown pale, and she was visibly sweating. What did they run into up here? I haven't seen them that nervous since the Prison… Daniel breathed in sharply before shoving open the door. I flinched, expecting to see the bladed demon waiting for us, but the only thing I could see were blue torches and an abnormally large door.
"Well, things seem alright." Isabelle let out a taut laugh. Daniel and I exchanged doubtful glances before stepping out into the open. Hesitating, I pulled back to stand in the doorway. I don't like this place. There's something about it… I watched as my friends turned around the corner, and I was about to follow, but Isabelle suddenly let out a scream. She and Daniel came sprinting around the corner, and that's when I saw three of the long-jawed monsters pursuing. The nearest one lashed out, landing a deep score on Daniel's back. He let out a scream and went down instantly, soon followed by Isabelle. I watched as the three beasts turned toward me, slowing their sprint to a saunter.
"Stop, demon!" I screamed. I was surprised when the monsters actually did stop; they were caught off guard by my sudden outburst.
"I've had enough!" The three monsters stared at me for a moment longer, and suddenly, I regretted my outbreak. When the nearest one started breaking into a sprint, I whipped around and desperately bolted for the door. I was halfway down the staircase when I felt the beast's claws tear down my back. In shock and agony, I stumbled down the stairs. That's when everything went black.
I let out a moan, my mind a blur and my body aching. What… happened? My head was throbbing, as if someone had smashed it into a wall. Over the ringing in my ears, I could barely hear hushed voices. Who's there…?
"Oh, he's awake!" A voice whispered. Suddenly, I could feel a presence at my side, but I was in too much misery to see who.
"Felix," It was another voice this time, "Felix, you need to get up!" I let out a groan before rolling over, trying desperately to obey. I can't, I'm hurting everywhere. When the two realized I was refusing to move further, one of them grasped my shirt and hauled me to my feet. Instantly, I opened my eyes, only to see it was Daniel and Isabelle. I was relieved to see familiar faces, but when I noticed our surroundings, my relief evaporated.
We were in some sort of cell. It was much larger than the ones in the Prison and Nave, but it looked similar. There was a bedframe propped against the wall, along with a small table in the corner. Other than that, it was empty.
"W-where are we…?" I asked, wincing as my headache worsened.
"I don't know. All I remember is running into those monsters." Isabelle replied, glancing around the cell with eyes full of worry.
"Well, at least we aren't dead." Daniel reassured, but I could hear the panic in his voice. "But we have another problem: we're locked in."
"There has to be some way out of here!" I protested. After some arguing, the three of us began searching the cell, frantically looking for anything that could aid our escape. I was growing more and more flustered by the minute, knowing that with each passing second, we were coming closer to a horrible demise.
"Wait, I found something!" Daniel exclaimed, and we rushed over to his side. The man was standing by the stone wall. "The stones are loose! I still have the hammer from the Prison, so maybe we can break down the wall."
"Well, hurry then!" Isabelle snapped. Daniel pounded relentlessly at the wall, breaking some of the stone, but not enough for us to slip through.
"Hey, there's something on the other side…" He observed, reaching through the small hole. "It's a wooden beam. Stand back, I'm going to see if it can break the wall."
Isabelle and I stepped back as Daniel pulled the wooden beam down, letting it crash through the wall and opening an escape route. We let out a sigh of relief.
"Come on, let's get a move on! Who knows when those monsters will come back?" Daniel said sternly, climbing through the hole and into the cell beyond. Luckily, this cage wasn't locked, and we exited the chambers with haste.
The room was full of cells. In the far corner was a door that led to an area beyond, but after some exploring, we found it to be locked. There was also a well in the center of the room, but we were dumbfounded by its use.
"Let's search each cell. The key might be in one of them." Daniel stated. We each picked an area to search, but after half an hour, all we had found was a bucket.
"It's useless, there's nothing in here." Isabelle sighed with irritation.
"No, there has to be! We can't give up." Daniel's voice was laced with desperation. I just want to sit down until my headache goes away… Things are calm right now, so why can't we just rest? I'm so tired… And I'm sick of all of this! I didn't want any of this! How did I wind up involved? I want to go home…
"Wait, I found something!" Daniel exclaimed. He walked out of a cell, holding a note in his hands. "This note talks about a key being stuck in one of the pipes. Let's take a look."
Sure enough, there was an assortment of broken pipes by the locked door. I could even see the key lodged in the rusty metal.
"How do we get it out?" Isabelle inquired.
"Maybe we can flush it out?" I suggested, "Fill the bucket with water from the well and pour it into the pipe. It should dislodge the key."
Isabelle nodded, considering my idea. She walked over to the cell with the bucket, brought it over to the well, and attached it to the rope. I watched in silence as the woman lowered the bucket deeper into the well, stopping only when a faint splash could be heard. She quickly hoisted the bucket back up to the surface and unhooked it from the rope. Daniel took the water-filled bucket and poured the liquid down the pipe. Luckily, the key came flowing out the other end.
"Good thinking, Felix." Daniel praised, picking up the wet key off of the ground. He unlocked the heavy door, only to hesitate in pushing it open. I could hear a faint roar in the background, and I knew instantly what it was. We should get going… I think that was the Shadow.
After a few more moments of doubt, Daniel finally opened the door. A long, misty corridor was what lay beyond, and I knew instantly that nothing good would come out of this. We shut the door behind us before setting off down the passage, tension high in the air. We were halfway down the corridor when the ground began to shake violently, an earsplitting roar echoing throughout the castle. The prison-like door behind us suddenly broke to pieces, a red mist seeping through the new entrance. Mounds of flesh began building up in the hall at an alarming rate.
"It's the Shadow!" Daniel screamed, but his voice was lost when the Guardian wailed. We took off down the corridor, slamming open the wooden door at the end with no hesitation. The ground kept trembling, making it almost impossible to stay balanced.
We bolted around the corner, only to see the next door was blocked off. We went to work, removing the debris obstructing our escape route. Daniel was on the verge of a breakdown, letting out a cry of panic each time the ground shook with devastating force.
When we cleared the door, I turned around, only to see the Shadow's residue building up meters away. Isabelle threw the door open, not wasting another second. The cosmic beast let out a roar of frustration, speeding up its pursuit as we narrowly escaped its grasp.
That's when we came to a decision. The corridor split into two directions: left or right. Without taking a moment to think, Daniel sprinted off to the right, only to let out a scream when rocks came crashing down in his path. He returned to our side in seconds, only to lead us down the other corridor. The trembles soon became more violent as we rushed down a staircase and into what looked like bloody water. It's getting closer! Come on, come on! We can make it!
The water slowed us down considerably, and I knew that if we didn't get out soon, it would prove fatal. We jumped through the liquid, seeing how it was the quickest option, and finally made it out of the water. The Shadow let out another heart stopping roar, but this time, it sounded too close. We kept running through corridor after corridor, and I wondered how long we could keep our pace. My legs were on fire, and I knew I wouldn't last much longer. We have to be close to safety! I prayed, throwing a look over my shoulder. The red mist was right there, mere meters from our fleeing forms.
"We're almost there!" Daniel let out a gasp as we turned a corner, only to see a massive staircase leading upward. There was a door at the top, and I knew it meant safety.
The Guardian let out one last shrill wail as we reached the top, frustrated by our getaway. Daniel slammed open the door, closed it behind us as we bolted inside, and collapsed onto the ground.
Isabelle and I fell as well, the three of us shaking uncontrollably. That was too close… I thought before examining the room. The upper level of the Nave had been completely overrun by the Shadow, for the fleshy residue covered nearly every inch of the stone walls.
"C-come on, we s-should get going…" Isabelle stammered, climbing to her feet. She started to sway, as if the woman was about to fall.
"Isabelle, we need a break." I retorted, throwing a glance at Daniel. He was propped against the wall, quivering hysterically and mumbling to himself. I knew she wanted to protest, but I could see exhaustion in her aqua eyes. We definitely need a break… I thought. I leaned against the wall, closing both eyes in an attempt to block out my headache.
"Felix, we need to get moving. We've been sitting here for a long time now, and I'm growing worried." It was Isabelle's voice. Timidly, I opened one eye, only to see the woman looming over me. With a sigh, I climbed to my feet.
"How's Daniel doing?" I asked.
"He could be better, but he's improved." Isabelle said bluntly, "We can't wait around any longer, though. We need to see if Agrippa is alright."
It took a few moments to convince Daniel to move. We slowly made our way to the spiral staircase that led to the lower section of the Nave, avoiding the mounds of pulsating residue. Every torch had been extinguished, making our descent down the massive staircase difficult. When we passed the gate at the bottom, I noticed that the laboratory was open. The once boarded up door had been thrown from its hinges, allowing access to the small room beyond.
"Maybe we can make Weyer's tonic?" Isabelle said, but her voice was muted, as if she were talking to herself. We entered the laboratory, but instantly I was confused. There were three tables and a collapsed bookshelf. On the tables were all sorts of strange devices, and I knew of none of their purposes.
I pulled out the sticky bone before setting it on one of the tables. Daniel set the poison gland next to the bone, soon followed by Isabelle putting a glass jar full of blood in the center.
"Okay, let's make this quick." Daniel stated. He grasped the bloodied jar before setting it on what looked like a burner. The man pulled the wheel not far away and watched as a small flame flickered to life. The red liquid soon came to a boil, and surprisingly, turned a pasty white. Daniel picked up the jar and set it beneath what looked like a tube.
"Put the bone in there, Felix." He said, pointing to some sort of metal box. I obeyed, placing the bone inside the chamber and pulling the lever attached to the side. After a few brief moments, a small stream of green liquid dripped into the jar, turning the pasty white to a pale emerald.
Isabelle placed the poison gland in some sort of grinder. I placed the jar beneath the device, and watched silently as she spun some sort of lever. The poison gland burst and began leaking into the jar.
"I think it's complete!" Isabelle exclaimed, triumph flashing in her eyes. Daniel let out a small sigh of relief, probably thankful that it wasn't too difficult to make.
"Come on, we need to check on Agrippa."
