I walked through a corridor that curved towards the left and I approached the turn carefully to take a peek behind the corner before walking in a straight line again. I found yet another ventilation system in a small chamber covered in thick vines. If only the ventilation system was operational, my lungs wouldn't be tortured with breathing in that stuffy air that smells like a dead raccoon. Wait; there really is a dead raccoon here with me. It was skinned, missing the head, limbs and tail and hanging from a low beam by a chain ending with a hook through its rear end.
Just who does all those things? The process of skinning an animal takes time and effort and I can't imagine a ghost doing all that. They even went so far as to procure a hooked chain to hang it with, which brings back my initial theory that those guys must find someone to possess and make them do the shit work before eventually killing them off leaving behind the corpses I found at the beginning of the cauldron. I shuddered at that being the fate I might end up with if those guys managed to get their hands on me. I imagined my possessed self cutting a slit around an animal's legs and pulling the skin off of the body before chopping off the limps and head then hang them around like sickly decorations. Those things can't possess me from a distance, can they? I shook my head in annoyance at my lack of knowledge on what I'm up against. In my defense, I'm a machine slayer, not a ghost hunter. I signed up for this because I was looking for a plausible explanation behind all the mind fuckery that has been happening for the past couple days. But ghosts? How the hell am I supposed to handle those?
Ok, the core shouldn't be too far now. I scaled up the vents and grunted as I had to make a higher jump past a missing vent shuttle. I adjusted myself then, from my hanging position, sharply turned my head towards the metallic sound I heard behind me. I focused my eyes on the skinned mutilated raccoon. Did that chain just move? I'm pretty sure the animal's body was facing forward, now rotated towards me.
Yup, definitely a jinn in the room with me.
Those guys know I'm in their stronghold and those moving objects and carcasses are enough proof. But I had to keep ignoring them if I want a chance at doing things smoothly. So I carried on with climbing the little remaining distance left until I was at the top. I looked behind me again expecting to see a shadow standing in the corner but there was nothing peculiar besides what is already obvious.
"Oh shit…" I mumbled as I spotted an out of order override node and behind it laid a large gap separating me from a door where an electric shield used to be. I pinched the bridge of my nose slowly shaking my head at my fears coming true. Besides getting zombified by some angry jinn to skin some corpses for them, this is what I have been dreading the most. I knew that sooner or later I'm gonna stumble upon an override node that creates a bridge except that this one won't be helping anytime soon. Now I have no way to get across and in a haunted place to boast. Ok, I gotta figure out another way. I looked left and right to see if there are other doors or any alternative routes but all I saw were moldy walls and crates full of rotten meat.
The option that constantly kept popping up in my head is that if there's really no way for me to get across, I'll have no choice but to turn back. I hated that kind of scenario but better that than staying here until the worst happens. I was anxiously looking everywhere in fear that the jinn might catch me in my moment of confusion. I was especially terrified of the possibility that one might show up at the doorway blocking my only escape route, with nothing but a large deep fissure separating me from the other exit.
"There has to be a way." I whispered putting a hand to my hand in distress while pacing back and forth feeling complete anxiety. "There has to be one." I must move on somehow. The more time I waste, the more dangerous it gets. But no way am I backtracking all the way out there again. Where's the guarantee that I won't get caught by the jinn after I have survived every encounter so far? And remembering that human/goat mix freak that's dwelling in one of the previous champers just gave me a stronger reason to stay where I am. Come on. My eyes moved back and forth sporadically in all directions desperate for any route I could take until -
"Yes!" my eyes went wide as I spotted a ledge I could scale across the wall. I hurried to it to take a better look and sighed in relief when I saw that it was about the right size for my feet and it stretches all the way to the opposite platform. Good to know I won't have to take the alternative route, not after everything I have been through. Ok, now that I know what to do, no reason for me to waste more time.
And so I slipped onto the ledge firmly pressing my entire front against the wall, and began to shuffle my feet sideways with my hands against the wall whilst maintaining my balance. I need to make this quick yet steady. I have stayed in this dangerous place long enough. It's only a matter of time before I find myself at the co – "Eh?"
I felt it. A small hard object just hit my back forcing me to stop. I tentatively looked behind my shoulder and my heart beats began pounding faster than they already were at the sight of an abnormally tall shadow. The thing was standing over… nothing. It was outright floating.
And a few feet from it was a small rock stuck in midair.
"Ow!" I flinched as I got hit hard again by the rock that dashed at my shoulder. "You sonuvabitch!" I growled at the shadow ass as I understood what it was attempting to do. "Trying to make me fall off? Well, not today!" I scaled along the wall faster trying my best to avoid the projectiles getting tossed at me from all directions by that psycho. One hit me in the shin, another in my arm, another was tossed at my feet with dangerous accuracy almost making me trip. I yelped as I got scrapped hard in my cheek with the sharp rock. As it began to burn with pain, I felt a warm wetness trickling down to my jawline.
"That wanker…" I spat underneath my breath as I carried on. Apparently, it heard me as I felt a rock got thrown specifically hard at my feet and this time I gasped in horror as my feet gave way and I fell only to grasp onto the ledge with my hands. I grunted and panted as I adjusted my position while keeping my grip. And so, I quickly continued the scale this time with my hands on the ledge and my feet against the wall. Only for the bastard behind me to toss rocks at my hands this time. That thing really wants me dead, doesn't it? It's no coincidence that it switched targets; it really is aiming at where I grip to force me off.
"Ugh…" I grunted as I felt another rock hitting my lower back. Just where the hell does it keep getting all these rocks from? I scaled faster and faster trying to ignore the rocks. One got thrown dangerously close to my face and another aimed at my fingers almost making me let go. I managed to hang in there (no pun intended) amongst the onslaught until I finally hoisted myself up on the other side of the demolished chamber. I turned around just in time to dodge a rock that passed my head only to turn around in midair and dash at me again and I had to lean to the side to avoid that one too. I spotted with wide eyes the rock falling down to the darkness below only to return flying up again. I turned my attention to the shadow that was still there keeping the rock floating next to it as if threatening me with it. So this whole time, it was using the same rock?
No time to dwell on a rhetorical question I already knew the answer to. I ran through the exit as fast as possible hearing a loud crack behind and I knew it threw the rock at me but it missed.
"Well, next time don't fix your aim at a moving target, buddy." I mumbled wishing so bad to yell those words at it but I preferred to keep announcing my presence at minimum. Can't afford to alert the jinn next room, can I?
I passed through the door and when I looked behind me to see if I was being followed if not used as a target practice, the shadow was gone - gone as if it was never there. The only thing it left behind was the rock it threw at me for the last time. That reminded me to wipe my cheek only to find my hand stained with red. Just the sight of my blood on my own hand goes to show how much harm those guys mean. And so, I've said it before and I'll say it again: Must. Reach. The core.
I wiped my cheek again as I was walking along this nasty corridor that smelled like a graveyard, and when I found the source of the stench, turned out that it really is a graveyard. There were dead animals hanging from the ceiling through metal chains or vines like the raccoon I saw earlier. All sorts of bird and mammals were on display in this grim scene featuring pelicans, vultures, rabbits, foxes, you name it. Some of them were relatively intact but the rest were heavily mutilated, you could barely tell what type of creature that was. A pelican was missing the beak. A rabbit head was hanging and a boar was missing its entire bottom half while a goat was missing its left half completely. I could see the contents of its anatomy from this state and it was a bizarre sight to say the least. I aimed my Focus flash at the animal which gave me a view of its brain and teeth from inside its skull, followed by a straight vertebral column next to a cavity where the stomach, lungs, liver and other organs reside. All of them were missing their corresponding half. And when I turned around to its other side, it seemed much more normal save for the lifeless eye and the tongue sticking out.
Just who did this? I thought raising my eyebrow. Do the jinn really possess the capability to create such massacre? Apparently, they do somehow. The proof has been slapping me in the face left and right.
"Oh!" I almost jumped out of my armor when the half goat suddenly began swinging back and forth. The force of the swings caused some of its intestines to dangle out from its open body. I put a finger to my nose in disgust at the shitty as hell stench that increased tenfold now that a portion of the entrails is free. I moved away from the body only to be hit in the back by the half boar. And when I looked on in the corridor, all the dead hanging animals along the path were either swinging or shaking sporadically in their place. As if the entire corridor was brought to life – ironically – by dead animals.
I anxiously sped walked through this madness, eyes never stopping for a second at the scene. My head turned in all directions at what's going on around me while staying alert at any sight of whatever is moving the bodies. With slight terror, I figured the jinn must know I'm here. Having all the animals move like that out of the blue is no coincidence. This is a deliberate attempt to intimidate me.
"Don't mind me. Just passing through." I said in a slightly higher pitched voiced with wide eyes in my shaky attempt to literally communicate with the invisible dwellers in this corridor. But apparently, they weren't in the mood to talk things out as I felt something smack me in the face. I felt that it wasn't as hard as a rock and when I looked, it was a human hand. "Oh boy…" I mumbled as my eyes slowly followed the direction the hand had come from. "Not humans too."
Further ahead in the corridor, there was a row of human bodies alongside the walls on both sides of the corridor. All dangled from random parts of their bodies with metal chains ending with hooks going through either their arms, legs, necks, shoulders, the skin on their back, anything they can go through. One was even hanging by a large nail penetrating his head, both sides of the nail were tied up by a rope hanging from the ceiling. Their states were just as bad as the Tenakth from the outpost if not worst. They were missing body parts ranging from missing skin patches revealing the anatomy within to limps and even entire body halves. One of them was definitely the owner of the hand that bitch slapped me. And judging from the tattoos and outfits that they were all from different tribes; Utaru, Tenakth, Oseram, everyone from different affiliations and none of them is in a good condition. The more I saw, the harder it is for me to believe that these were all the doings of the jinn. Aren't they supposed to be just ghosts or are they something much uglier? I suppose they are if they were capable of pulling off such atrocities. If I'm lucky not to die here, I'm SO going to start my research on those guys. I stiffly made my through this massacre until I jumped with a yelp at one of the bodies suddenly reaching out to me with a pale hand, only to pump on the body across from it and I felt its legs kicking at me. I had to keep reminding myself that the bodies aren't moving on their own and that a much bigger force is keeping them active. I literally clawed my way out of the corpses trying to hurt me with whatever parts they have left on them. One of them tried to impale my eye with a bone shard sticking from the arm stump. And an entire body was swung at me almost knocking me off.
I had to put up with getting assaulted by the dead until I finally reached the end of that catacomb of a hallway. Just when I was about to take a breather and examine the next chamber, I yelped as I felt a hand fiercely grabbing my shoulder. When I looked behind with a thick bead of sweat down my temple, the owner of the hand was a corpse whose lower jaw was only attached to his head through a torn muscle ligament making his mouth open unnervingly wider. The torso was stained with dried blood and he was hanging from a hook running through the bicep of the other arm by which the head was hanging lifelessly.
"Let the fuck go!" of course I wasn't addressing the body; I was aiming my bark at whoever is moving the body. No point hiding anymore. My presence has already been known by the otherworldly residents of this accursed cauldron. I shook my shoulder roughly to free myself of the dead grip but when it didn't release me, I forced myself off with a grunt before carrying off. I looked behind to see if the body was still moving but it went back to its static state again; arm dangling as if it never invaded my personal bubble under the influence of a paranormal being. When I looked past it at the other bodies, they all stopped moving as well save for a few swings here and there. As if the jinn decided to let go of the bodies when they saw me exiting the corridor, most likely preparing for the next nasty surprise.
I turned around feeling dread for the chamber I'm about to enter next. If you think I forgot about the massive jinn I found a couple chambers away, then let me tell you the prayers I have been reciting to never meet that fucker has never left my mind except occasionally. Out of all the jinn I met since I got here, I knew that one in particular should be my biggest problem.
The next chamber I entered almost made me groan. As much as I'm happy to see plenty of hiding spots, I knew they will be as much of a disadvantage. I can keep myself concealed but that would be at the cost of getting good visuals of my surroundings. There were lots of pillars and scrap heaps. Remnants of leftover cauldron machinery littered the floor. The plants and dirt amidst the junk gave off a mix between natural and artificial. The door was on a high platform connected to a ladder missing many of its handholds. If I'm correct, the core should be beyond that door.
I took a few steps forward in the pitch darkness only interrupted by the bright green light emanating from my Focus under which I was being guided this whole time since I stepped foot in this massive graveyard of a cauldron. I wonder how dark it is going to be when I turn off the light.
Click.
Guess what? Absolute blackness. It's as if I was closing my eyes. Alright, time to turn it back on.
Click.
"WHOA!" right in front of me stood the shadow figure in all its glory under my device's glow the moment I turned it back on. I think I jumped back a distance that's at least worth the width of a Stormbird's wing. I warily stared at the figure that remained perfectly still in contradiction to the shaky Focus light. What do I do? Should I run or stay still or…? Owing to the horribly simple fact that I have never been in this kind of situation before, I was at a terrible loss as to what the hell to do. Luckily, before I was forced to make a decision, the thing silently and slowly retreated behind one of the pillars.
"Phew…" I sighed half in relief and half in irritation. Not ten seconds have passed since I stepped in and I already got caught. Good thing it left me alone though. Who knows what it could have done had it decided to – crack! I silently squeaked out a gasp of terror sharply turning around towards the… the crack noise!
I remained still waiting for the source of the noise to show up. The sound of a rolling object could be heard gradually louder and when I saw said object getting revealed from behind a pillar, I dove towards the nearest shrub doing my best not to stain my pants in my own piss. I crouched there shaking trying not to pant too loud as what I just saw was a horribly bad sign. Why the hell was a human head moved in my direction?
It's not the sight of the head itself that terrified me – even though the pale lifeless face was far from a pretty sight - I'm more concerned about what sent it towards me. I'm definitely going to face a horrible end had I fell in the hands of the jinn. It has been revealed a lot before that those guys aren't fooling around. If they won't hurt me physically then they're going to hurt me mentally. Though I wouldn't put it past them to aim for both…
I warily peeked through the shrubs to find the head still in place. If it wasn't for the fact that it's a head missing the body, the expression could be mistaken for a sleeping face. The closed eyes and relaxed face seemed so… peaceful. As if whoever suffered at the hands of the jinn has finally been relieved and found peace.
"…." I sighed in sympathy eyeing the head. I wonder who that was and what kind of person he was. Just like the previous human bodies I found, this one had its facial tattoos which seemed to be of an Utaru nature. How did he get here? Did he make it all the way from Plainsong to this cauldron? Since when do people get inside cauldrons anyway? Is it because the door of this one was already busted and opened and thus available for access? Perhaps the humans I found earlier were also curious trespassers until they paid for it. But what about the animals? Did they wander in here or did they get dragged by the jinn? And all the other bodies I found, were they the product of the jinn manipulation?
I shook off the questions from my head and tried to stop thinking before more of them invade my exhausted brain. Can't afford to get distracted when I need to be on alert the most. Can't seem to catch a break in this fuck heap of a cauldron, can I?
I looked up and my eyes almost popped out of my head when I found the head gone. Just when did it roll out of my sight? When I was busy having my own stream of questions, that's when it did. I wonder what else is going to happen when I look away but I reminded myself to do that less often or I might face worse consequences.
I breathed deeply to keep myself together before I slowly left my hiding spot and stood up straight moving my head in all directions. I was getting increasingly sweaty and breathing felt like a chore. It was hella stuffy in here and reeked of shit. I bet all this time, I'm inhaling the scent of a dead boar's ass or even the body the head came from. Where did it go anyway? Don't wanna trip on it at a later time.
I was gradually losing my patience the more I stayed here worrying about something for the next two minutes, not to mention I was getting more and more itchy to bail out and get this whole horror trip over with. So I mumbled a small 'fuck it' before rounding a pillar and walking beneath a massive machine piece. Ok, so far there's no one in sight. I gotta make good use of this opportunity and just make a beeline for the exit. But I guess I deserve a boot to the face for daring to think I'll slip away that easily.
Clang. Clang. Bang.
I instantly went behind the nearest pillar so I wouldn't be spotted by whoever is making that noise. I saw from behind the column a large metal arm moving by itself as if it was powered up by nonexistent electricity. The movement was sporadic and bizarre as if the jinn controlling it had no idea how to handle that thing. It was knocking into the pillars and the wall emitting dust everywhere. I took a few steps back away from the sandstorm lest I inhale some of that. However, when I stepped away from the column, I yelped and stumbled at the sight of a distorted looking shadow standing atop the pillar I was hiding behind. How long has that thing been standing right above me without me noticing?! Before I had time to react, much less panic, I felt a sharp stinging pain in my thigh.
"Agh!" I grunted at the pointy metal object lodging itself right in my flesh, blood slowly staining my pants in red. I opted to pull it out but it hurt like a bitch. It would be a risk doing that anyway fearing it would cost me more blood. If the situation was bad before, now it's a total disaster. I was having a hard time with those guys already and an object impaling my leg is not helping my case. I looked up to where I saw the jinn but it was gone. I can bet my whole inventory that that was the one who threw the thing at me. Though it doesn't really matter who did it as much as the fact that leaving the cauldron became more urgent than ever.
I wolfed down quite a handful of medicinal berries to alleviate the pain as much as possible. They definitely won't heal the wound, not while the metal object is still there, but it should be enough to push me through just a little bit more.
"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." I panted as I limped my way through the metallic structures in my haste to reach the next door beyond which the core laid. "Hah!" I gasped as the Focus light fell on a dead person missing a head. The body was impaled on a long sharp pole resembling a massive spear. That's when it happened: suddenly the body started twitching and moving sporadically. It became especially weirder when an arm kept on rotating in its socket multiple times. It rotated and rotated until the skin was torn and the bone cracked and the limb eventually fell off to the ground right by my feet. I shakily stumbled a couple steps back before it's my turn to be possessed and my shit falls off. As I turned to the direction of the door, my thoughts instantly returned to the head I had seen by the entrance earlier. Easy to assume the body was the owner. Easy to assume that the jinn was moving it and putting on this weird show. Easy to assume that's how the head came off and thus the crack noise I heard when I first walked in. Easy to assume I'll be facing that fate if I don't hightail it out of here.
"Ow!" I winced as I put more weight on the injured leg more than I should have. I might be in a hurry but I gotta slow down a bit to lessen the bitching in my leg. I put my hand to my hip and carefully yet steadily wobbled my way to the exit. I had to ease through a tight place between machinery pieces and crawl through a bush to avoid being seen by jinn figure standing nearby. I even had to force myself over a large arm blocking the way. I didn't care about checking my surroundings anymore, I just want out. I was panting, sweating heavily and my body felt like I was dragging a Behemoth with me. I felt a rock hitting my back but I ignored it and kept on moving to the exit – oohhh shiiiiit. I forgot I need to climb my way out of that one.
I had no time to grumble about it so I put my hand on the first ladder handhold and pushed myself up without putting pressure on my impaled leg. Even though the platform wasn't so far up, my injury made me feel like I'm climbing a tower. It wasn't even helping when there's a missing handhold that I could have easily jumped over had I been in top condition. I stopped there clinging to the handholds feeling more helpless than ever. What now? There's no way over there but to jump over yet my leg says otherwise. I looked down to see how bad the injury has gotten. The circle of blood from which the piece is protruding has gotten bigger and darker. Now I gotta add bleeding out to the list of fainting possibilities. If this situation could get any worse, then let it happen already.
"Hey…" as if my thoughts were heard, I tiredly turned my head to look behind after feeling yet another rock making contact with my back. There was one – no, two shadow figures standing nearby. One of them was distorted in shape while the other looked unnervingly humanoid. My vulnerable position was perfect for any jinn feeling evil today and I dropped more sweat at the notion. I tried to make a leap for it past the gap where the missing handhold used to be but my leg burned at the slightest pressure so I forced myself to jump with one leg but it wasn't high enough that even after a couple tries, I slipped but still managed to grab the lower handhold before I fell to the ground.
"Fuck, no…" I drawled feeling the despair setting in at this point. I'm exhausted, badly injured and can barely make an easy jump that's my only ticket out of a place full of bitchy jinn. At this rate, I'll never make it to the core, much less escape. My pants were increasing as my clammy shaky hands were barely holding on. No, please. I can't fall off. I can't let the jinn win. I gotta –
Thud.
No, that was not the sound of me falling off. That was the sound of a rock hitting me in the back. And another. And another. Multiple rocks and other materials getting hurled at me in different parts of my body; My back. My legs. My arms. My shoulders. I even felt my left butt cheek slightly jiggle from having a rock thrown at it. And I knew the purpose behind the ones specifically getting tossed at my fingers.
"I'm not your target practice! Fuck off already!" I snapped behind my shoulder. I get it. They're mad because I barged into their abode. Unless they're planning to use my skin as a carpet, letting me go would be the fastest and easiest way for both of us and especially for me. But who is to say those psychos would let me off the hook that easily? I shrieked as I felt someone grab me from my ponytail and forcefully yank my head backwards. I tried pushing my head forward but all that did is force it back even more as if whoever is pulling me is fighting back my attempts at freeing myself. I shook my head left and right then went to move forward again. My hands almost gave way and my neck muscles felt like fire from the strain. If that thing broke my neck, there will be hell to pay. Best case scenario, I'll blissfully die. Worst case scenario, I will be paralyzed from the neck down while entirely under the mercy of the jinn to do with me as they please while I'm still conscious. Only then will the statement 'a fate worse than death' couldn't be any truer. That thought alone made me fight for a better case scenario: which is freeing myself. And so I did when I rammed with my head forward especially hard only to have my headgear bang loudly against the surface I'm clinging on to, which would have caused my head to bruise if not knock me unconscious if it wasn't for the protective gear I'm wearing. The second I was freed and I made one last desperate jump and finally managed to reach the upper handhold despite the nagging in my thigh. I climbed the rest of the way up and barely heaved myself atop the platform on which the door resides. I was practically out of energy at this point. I knew if I stood up, I'd fall back down anyway. I heard something hard drop to the floor back below and I looked on instinct to find one of my worst fears – besides getting mauled alive by the jinn – had come true.
I'm glad I made it up here before that guy showed up. I thought with worry as I eyed the massive jinn I found a few chambers ago. I was wishing so bad to never meet it, now it's standing over there as if towering over my helpless ass. And the thing that dropped was a Shellwalker's case rolling across the floor below me with absolutely nothing that can be seen pushing it forward. And since the case was hexagon shaped, it made a clanking noise with every roll that echoed throughout the place. I couldn't afford to be distracted by the eerie sight as the source of my biggest worries is staring me down from across the room beyond the rolling machine part. I hastily turned on my knees and crawled fast towards the exit without putting too much pressure on my left knee. I knew without looking that the big jinn is closing in on me. This time, I absolutely didn't have the heart to check lest I come face-to… (face? Or whatever that fuck is) with a massive shadow towering over me. There were a group of shrubs right at the exit but instead of questioning my luck, I slipped inside and went as far in as I could. I got out the shrubs, turned a corner and sat against the wall trying to catch my breath. But that thing wasn't about to let me go. My eyes went as wide as a Tallneck's head and barely managed to keep myself from gasping as a giant shadow arm creeped inside the corridor I crawled across. And I knew from the way the arm kept on moving left and right that it was searching for me. I quickly scooted sideways as the arm almost touched me when it was sweeping the ground – looking for me, trying to get me. Lord knows what would happen if I was captured. Is it gonna grab me outside? Am I gonna get sliced to pieces or get possessed? No way was I gonna figure that out the hard way so I scooted further in as far away from that abomination as possible. And good thing I did too because it made a sweep over the part I was sitting in literally a second ago. I scooted a little more for good measure until I was sure that thing couldn't reach me. I wanted to get up and walk so bad but I felt like if I stood up, my body will break down the way a machine does when you kill it.
Five minutes. I thought through my droopy eyes and quickened breath. Only five minutes and I will move my ass. Can't stay here a minute longer. I leaned my head against the wall in order to relax while trying my best not to fall asleep. I looked down at my thigh to see how fucked up the injury had gotten so far. Underneath the green light of my Focus, I could see the blood had stained my Carja armor pants big time with the metal piece still lodged in. If I had a cloth or any sort of bandages, I could have pulled it out then wrapped my thigh up. But if I don't wanna leave my blood all over the place, I gotta keep this thing my companion until I reach the core… which is right at the end of that hall. Guess I'm lucky I haven't acquired this injury until after I have reached the final chamber. Can't imagine the kind of bullshit that definitely would have been tenfold had I been forced to go through all this with a metal piece practically touching my femur.
As I sat there, I had time to think back on some things for a bit. I wonder how Ahmik and the others are doing? Have they done anything regarding Tsulu? I hope Zohha still has Ahmik's back cuz he will definitely need it. Is Yulia still under the impression I'm to be blamed for Maki's death? My mind stilled on Maki for a bit.
Maki… he's in a better place now. I would have wished he was watching over me if I had believed in this stuff. But no, he's in another realm now. A realm beyond the reach of the living. And if I don't want to pay that realm an eternal visit sooner than I plan for, I'll have to make a move for it.
"Ugghhh…" with a grunt, I heaved myself up to my shaky legs while supporting myself with a hand against the wall. Come on, just a little more. Just a little push and I'll be done with this mess. I made to limp my way to the end of the corridor but I winced so hard at the slightest pressure on my leg. So I used my spear as a crutch and hopped my way towards the final destination under the support of my weapon.
I'll get out of here. It's finally over. I'll be done with this nightmare. My thoughts of hope kept repeating themselves in my exhausted brain as the entrance to the core was gradually getting closer. I was so close I could see the ceiling of the room from here which encouraged me to pick up the pace as fast as my state allowed.
Finally. The core.
It should be right over there.
The motivation behind all this suffering is within reach. I had a hard time believing it myself. Before I got here, it felt like it was gonna take me an eternity to reach that bitch of a goal. Now I'm only a few steps away.
My pants were getting faster in excitement as I reached the elevated platform overlooking the wide chamber where the core resides in the center – or where it was supposed to be. One look at the room and I suddenly wished the jinn would just kill me and rid me of this misery.
The core.
It's missing.
And want insult to the fucking injury? There is no way out. The core is normally connected to an elevator that would take me to the exit through the ceiling. But there's no blasted core, no elevator. No exit. So that leaves me with a chunk of reality harder than a Fireclaw's punch:
I'm weak, exhausted, injured, and officially trapped in a ruined core-less cauldron with a bunch of angry jinn. At this point, a swift death is all I can hope for.