I made my way to the pier again and began my journey at sunset along the coast of the peninsula to the Albion estate. Alone and under the cover of night, I easily avoided detection but had great difficulty with the unpaved terrain. It must have taken me around six hours to traverse through the rocks and roots that littered the coast. On the way, I saw the horrid shadow that the Weald cast in the distance. It was as if malfeasance had drenched its land, depleting all positive energy from the forest. It may have been my imagination, but I thought I could hear the faintest hints of squealing as well.
After what seemed like an eternity, the hill on which Lord Augustus's manor was perched was in view. As I was about to start my ascent, I heard far-off screaming.
I could barely make out the terrified words, "The end is coming! The end is coming! The end is coming!"
Was that the Prophet? It sounded like he was running from the manor. I wanted to go and check what was wrong, but out of the corner of my eye I noticed a large ship in the distance. Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was Stanley's ship. Curious as to how he was delivering goods and men to the manor without using the roads and without a proper pier next to the Albion manor, I stealthily followed the vessel along the coast. The Prophet had survived everything done to him before, so I was sure that he was fine.
I hid behind a pile of large rocks when the ship had dropped anchor near the back of the mansion. A series of small dinghies full of men and crates were rowed to the steep rock face. How were they going to scale the mountain? This question was quickly answered as the men got off their boats and onto a sheltered pier built into the side of the mountain. They began to climb a steep set of stone stairs that led up to the manor. I had no idea that all of this existed. However, it looked as though these features were constructed recently and were made with the sole purpose of being inconspicuous. As for the crates, the men securely tied the crate-packed dinghies to a series of chains dangling off from the top of the mountain. A man at the bottom gave a shout, and soon after, the dinghy was lifted straight out of the water. There was a discreet system of pulleys that was easily hoisting the dinghies up to the mansion. This was all very elaborate. The extent to which Lord Augustus tried to keep all of this secret did not bode well. Nonetheless, my path to the Albion manor was now obvious.
I waited until all of the sailors had finished unloading the dinghies and the workers. They boarded the boats and rowed them back to their ship. Finally, the ship set sail and disappeared over the horizon. I waited a few more minutes just to be safe. Just when I was about to head to the stone stairs, I saw a singular light appear at the top of the mansion. It began to descend. I once again hid myself behind the rocks and peeked out. It was one man bearing a torch. He got to the bottom of the stairs and walked to the edge of the pier. It was none other than Lord Albion himself. He shouted in an unintelligible language at the ocean. He continued this for over a minute. Had he lost his mind?
The calm surface of the water began to ripple. I blinked, and then appeared a clan of atrocious mutant fish. These fish were huge, bipedal monsters, a ghastly cross between human and fish. I barely managed stifled my shocked scream. One of them began to respond to Lord Augustus with the same strange language. He was in league with these horrors? I started to shake uncontrollably. August, the man that I had once looked up to...
They talked for a long time. I got colder and colder. A feeling of fear was steadily building in my stomach. Everything was growing numb. It was time to act. I stepped out from behind my cover and drew my dagger. Before I could charge towards Lord Augustus, their conversation was done. The fishmen stuck their arms up in the air and gave a bone-chilling howl as they sank beneath the waters once again. The howl sent a wave of supernatural and unholy dread washing over me, and before I knew it, I was scrambling away. Every fiber of my being told me to run as far away as I could. My felt my mind fraying and ripping apart. I flew away cackling and weeping along the darkened coast for who knows how long, until I finally passed out.
When I came to, I was on a bed. Everything hurt. Sitting up was a painful ordeal, but I managed it anyway. Where was I? Had Lord Augustus captured me? After I took a closer look at my surroundings, I sighed in relief. This dilapidated building couldn't be Lord Augustus's manor. It was most definitely the hamlet tavern.
"The girl is in here. Please help her," someone said from outside the room. The door swung open and two armored figures entered. One was a young man wearing a chainmail tunic and had a beat-up looking longsword strapped to his back. His armor bore the cross of the church. The other was a robed young woman in old plate mail with a tarnished mace hooked on her belt. In her hands was a book also adorned with the cross of the church. Could the man be a holy warrior of the church, a mighty Crusader? And could this woman be a sister of battle, a Vestal? I couldn't believe that I warranted so much attention.
"Is this the girl?" the Crusader asked.
"H-hello, sir. That's me. Are you a Crusader?"
"Indeed I am, my fair lady. I have held the front lines in a hundred holy wars!" he announced drawing his sword and pointing it in the air.
"Hush, you" the Vestal spoke up, rolling her eyes. "He's barely fought in ten holy wars."
"Still, that's still very impressive. And are you a Vestal, miss?" I inquired.
"I am. I was ordained a Vestal very recently, actually. Of course, it's nothing to brag about. I simply do my duty. Anyways, I am here to heal your injuries."
"That would be amazing. Thank you, Sister."
The Vestal flipped through her book and began a holy incantation. She then raised her mace to the sky and let out a final shout. I felt an incredible feeling of relaxation and ease flow through my entire body. The bumps and bruises all over my body seemingly evaporated with all of my pain along with them.
"There. Are you feeling better?"
"Yes! I can't thank you enough for healing me, Sister."
"No thanks are required. I simply do my duty."
"Modest as always, Sister," the Crusader stated.
"Our job here is done, Brother. Shall we continue with our assigned mission?"
"Of course, Sister. Let us go. Farewell, dear maiden!"
"Farewell! Thank you!" I called out as they exited.
After they left, I collapsed back onto the bed and buried my head in the pillow. Although my wounds were healed, my mind felt cracked. All I could think about was the black slit pupils of those monstrous fishmen. I needed some kind of relief, so I went to the most comforting place I could think of: the abbey, my lifelong home.
I went directly to the transept and began to pray to God. I prayed for alleviation. I prayed for forgiveness for my sins. I prayed for justice for all of the townspeople that had died. I prayed for guidance. I prayed that everything I had witnessed up until now was just a bad dream. I prayed for hope. I prayed for knowledge. I prayed for insight.
Suddenly, a vivid image of a constellation of stars was blasted into my mind. I saw a great spherical object with an enormous beating heart within it, floating among the cosmos. It pulsed inexorably; I could hear every vibration within my own body. Without warning, the sphere violently exploded and a curtain of writhing tentacles enveloped my vision. I jumped up with a start and opened my eyes. I frantically looked around. I was still in the abbey. Everything was normal. What had I just witnessed? Was this a vision from God himself? Was this His idea of some sort of sick joke? Finding the opposite of comfort from my prayers in the abbey, I felt in my soul that my new-found torment would only end with Lord Augustus. It was time.
The full moon glowed an ominous shade of red, and it was bigger than I had ever seen it. It hung low in the night sky, drowning out the light from the stars. I made my way to the hamlet pier with purpose. I would make Stanley take me to Lord Augustus' estate, no matter what. I gripped my dagger tightly, anticipating all sorts of trouble. However, when I arrived, the pier was devoid of life, save for one figure near the very edge of the pier. His face was illuminated by torchlight.
Lord Augustus Albion.
He was standing next to some sort of large statue that had been set on the pier. I couldn't quite make out the other details of the statue from this distance, but the details of its octopus-like head with tentacles and leering eyeballs were clear.
"My dear waif... I have so much to expound. I owe you an explanation more than anyone from your town," Lord Augustus called out, seeing me approaching. "I have committed terrible sins, and I seek to atone for my crimes. I beg for your mercy." He threw his torch into the ocean and kneeled. I heard him begin to sob. "This darkness… it is consuming my sanity. There is no doubt I have been possessed by some foul deity. Sidney, please…"
Seeing Lord Augustus bawling on the ground made me sympathetic. His torment was exactly how I felt after those fishmen let out that ungodly howl. His mind must have been affected too.
"Kill me, waif. Kill me and end my suffering. It would be doing me a favor!"
"Is… is that really what you want me to do?"
"Yes… please. I beg of you, Sidney. Look at me! Come and look at what I've become!"
I walked up to him, hesitant about drawing my dagger and killing this poor man. He had to undergo all of this suffering alone this whole time? I stretched out my hand to him instead.
"Lord Augustus, please stand up. I can help you through this," I said gently.
He looked up at me. Through the light from the blood moon, I could see that he had aged considerably. His face was wrinkling, and his hair was beginning to grey. There was a hint of deep sorrow in his eyes. What had happened to make him look like a man almost twice his age?
"Hey… what… what is this statue?" I asked.
Suddenly, he leapt at my legs and I heard a snapping sound. I felt something cold around my left ankle. Looking down, I saw that he had snapped a metal shackle onto my left leg, connecting me to the leering statue with an iron chain. He got up and walked out my reach before I could grab at him. I tried to open the shackle and tug at the chain, but it was too secure and the statue was too heavy. He began to cackle.
"Lord Augustus! Release me!" I shouted, panicked.
"Foolish little waif! How could you approach me like that? Surely you must have appreciated the dangerous position you put yourself in. After all, you have heard all of the gossip about me."
"Tell me, Augustus: are the rumors true? Are you really responsible for everything?" I asked while desperately trying to break the chain.
"Since your role in this little tale will soon expire, I will graciously answer you: Yes."
"The necromancy?"
"Yes. Those necromancers that passed through town? I summoned them to my estate. After learning their secrets, I killed them."
"So you used all of those townspeople's bodies for necromancy?"
"Not completely correct. A great deal of them contributed to my summoning rituals, both as hosts for spirits as well as food for the giant beast that I managed to successfully bring to this world. A stupid and voracious one, but very large."
"What about the Hag in the Weald?"
"The Weald? Ah… the forest? Yes. Dear Acta was getting too primitive, experimenting on herself with her ingredients. The explosion she caused in my manor took weeks to repair. I sent her to the Weald where her savagery would be accepted."
"And you hired the bandits?"
"Yes I did, though they are not currently working for me anymore. You see, all of my excavations and occult research have exhausted what remained of my family fortune. Thus, I could no longer afford their services. However, Sidney, it is thanks to you that my financial difficulties will be solved."
"What? How?"
He walked over to the statue and rested his palm on its face.
"The fishmen, the Pelagics… they have unimaginable treasures amassed beneath the waters and in their coves. I struck a pact with them: they grant me the wealth I need to continue my work in exchange for what they wanted…"
He rubbed the face of the statue.
"This beautiful, obscure idol…"
He suddenly turned to me and grabbed me by the throat, rubbing my face with his other hand.
"...and this beautiful, obscure girl."
Realization dawned on me. I was to be Lord Augustus's tribute to the fishmen.
"No… no!"
I reached for my dagger, but he pulled it out and threw it into the water before I could get to it.
"I am terribly sorry it had to end like this, waif. You simply know too much. You never should have made it your hobby to shadow my every errand. I must admit, it was charming then, but it became troublesome later," he said, shaking his head. "When they demanded this obscure idol and one other item of more... troubling portent, I did not know which young woman I was going to sacrifice. However, right after the deal was made, I saw none other than you, hiding behind the rocks, a familiar witness to our meeting. It gifted me with this benign inspiration. You are perfect."
"Please, Lord Augustus. Please don't do this. It's not too late," I wailed.
"But you see, my dear, it IS too late for me. I may have said that you know too much. But me? … I KNOW TOO MUCH."
He gave the statue a small push. It tipped over, fell into the water, and disappeared into the ocean. The iron chain began to follow, quickly snaking its way into the ocean after the statue. Horror overcame me. I had to say something, anything, to Lord Augustus before I was pulled under.
But I could find no words. A violent force pulled me from the pier and slammed me into the icy waters. I panicked. I realized that I would drown. The need for air immediately became all I could think about. Light was quickly fading as I was pulled deeper into the ocean, away from the red light of the blood moon. I tried to swim upwards, but the statue was simply too heavy. The freezing water numbed my entire body, crushing it within its grasp. It was probably best to not struggle in order to stay alive as long as possible. My chest and my ears started to hurt more and more. Before I knew it, I was surrounded by complete murky darkness. My body was screaming at me to take a breath, but I resisted as hard as I could. As the seconds passed, the anguish in my chest grew more and more.
I should have killed Augustus when I had the chance. I shouldn't have just walked up to him. He tricked me. I failed the hamlet. I failed everyone. How could I have been so blind? This is unbelievable. How could everything end like this? This is all my fault. I deserve this. No, it should have been Augustus that drowned. I should have taken him with me.
My thoughts were interrupted by my eardrums bursting, crippling my head with intense agony. I screamed, but nothing came out. Instead, overcome by my urge to breath, my body took a convulsive breath. I felt the chilly water pour into my lungs, filling them completely. I could no longer move my arms or legs in protest of the overwhelming pain in my chest. My thoughts grew hazy as I felt Death coming to claim me. At long last, the pain of life was fading...