The Cursed was rapidly falling down the shaft of the well.
Below, he saw a glow. Several times, he grabbed the stones of the shaft, slowing his fall. He landed on his feet and rolled over. He was in an underground tunnel that led into the twilight darkness. Skeletons lay on the floor, and bones were scattered everywhere.
The Cursed moved forward through the tunnel. He had traveled a considerable distance. By his rough estimate, more than six thousand steps.
Further ahead was a dead end, and to the right — a passage with stone stairs leading upward. The Cursed climbed the steps and found himself in new dark chambers and rooms. As he gradually moved through them, he realized that he was inside another castle.
In the dark chambers, warriors lay in a deep, heavy sleep.
A terrifying, inhuman scream echoed over the castle in the darkness. The warriors awoke, rose, and moved through the corridors toward the outside. They were passing by the Cursed as if he did not exist.
He stepped outside as well and saw that the warriors had taken positions along the battlements of the castle. They stood ready to defend it. Outside, a large army of the dead was advancing toward the castle.
In one place along the castle wall, a warrior in armor stood towering above the rest. On his back was an emblem of a rose with falling drops of blood.
The Cursed approached him and spoke:
"Somewhere out there, beyond the dead, there must be an estate that is the root cause of all the evil here. To reach it, the Lord of the Dead must be killed."
The tall knight turned his helm toward him. From beneath the visor, a determined gaze fixed on the warrior.
"The problem is this. It's impossible to reach him. We barely hold back the dead's attacks every night. And we are taking losses. We are losing."
"I could do it."
"You? Just who are you?"
"The Cursed."
Magical inscriptions flickered and faded across the warrior's face several times. The tall knight froze, as if paralyzed. Apparently, the news had caught him off guard.
"You will open the gates. I will go out through them and break through the dead using magic."
"Are you sure you can make it? We have held this defense for ten years and have never once been able to break through their army."
"I have no other options."
"There is another way."