My vision returns, my face is pressed to the stone. The fires are gone. The shadows have been banished. I don't see my daughter. I'm alone beneath the earth. I stand, looking down to see where the chains burned my flesh is healed, fresh skin grown over.
On the ground before me lay weapons.
A gas-powered pistol.
A dagger.
A short sword.
A greatsword.
A scythe.
A spear.
An axe.
Behind me, a raw iron gate closes my way back to the church. I have one option: take a weapon and fight.
The daggers that I took from the armory prior are still strapped to my legs. Given what I know now about these monsters, I know that I need something more. I take the gas-powered pistol. A revolver, wooden grip, long barrel, and engravings of flowers running down its sides. Beauty packed into something built for death. I open the cylinder, giving it a spin. It's empty. I cock back the hammer and dry fire it at the wall.
BOOM!
In a flash of smoke, rocks fall from the wall. A hole where I pointed.
I cock back the hammer again, pointing down at the ground where I stand. I squeeze the trigger and watch something slam into the ground, a hole quickly appearing. Opening the cylinder again, it's still empty.
No bullets, yet still firing.
I store the pistol between my belt and pants. I have no holster, so this will have to do for now. Walking to the other weapons, I know that I will need to take one of them with me. I'll have to go back to that university and take care of that monster. Sbarina will need to help me figure out what is going on; maybe she will help me free my daughter once I've done this for her.
Sharp blades and leather handles. I loom over the weapons like a displeased god, wondering which of them would be the worst to take, which would be the best. Quickly, I mark the axe and scythe as practically useless. I already have two daggers, so there would be no reason to have another.
That leaves the spear, short sword, and great sword. I need something with reach; the short sword will have more than the daggers, but not enough. The spear will only be able to pole or twirl. So, I take the only one that seems to be of any use to me.
Taking the greatsword in my hands, I feel the heavy weight of the blade. The leather is soft in my hand, it's balanced, edges are sharp. I've never held a blade, but this feels so natural. I swing the blade and feel like I've been here before. Feel like I've done this.
I look through the darkness but see nothing else of value, so I begin to walk in the opposite direction of the stairwell that led me here with the Pope.
The stone below me is damp, wet in places, while in others, I can still see the char from the fire that was just raging. I don't know how long it's been since that Pope showed me my daughter and filled her with shadows. In my bones, I feel that it's only been minutes when it should be more like hours.
Time has felt like nothing more than an illusion since I arrived in this city.
On the other end of the room, I find a stairwell devoid of light and leading upward away from this horrid room and my original location.
"Go up," a voice calls.
I spin, looking around the room but seeing no one. "You will not find me, for I am not there. I am here," the voice is brooding and raspy.
My head begins to pound, my heart begins to race.
"Can you feel it? Our connection," The voice asks.
"Who are you? Where are you?" I question, placing my hand against my head as my brain knocks around my skull.
"Answers will come. Proceed forward, up the stairs."
My heart beat started to slow as the pounding in my head faded. I look towards the stairs and begin to climb them without thinking about the consequences.
I must save her.
Visions flash through my mind as I ascend the stairs. Climbing cold, wet rocks for what seems like miles until I begin to see faint light.
The end of the abyss.
I emerge from the side of a mountain into a forest. The light that I saw was from the stars that light the midnight sky. The moon hangs high like a guide, shining deep moonlight onto the earth. I don't know where I am, what day it is, or how to get back to the city. So, I follow the moon.
The vegetation of the forest is dense. Trees climb towards the heavens, creating canopies that hide the sky. Chirping crickets echo in the moonlit breeze. Leaves rustle around me, but I pay them no mind, just continue to walk forward like a man possessed.
A howl.
A scream.
Still, I walk. No change in pace. My grip tightens around the greatsword that's slung over my shoulder. I'm ready for a creature of the night to attack. I want it. A primal urge has built in my body, and rage is boiling over.
To my left, I hear leaves crunch. I see something in the corner of my eye.
I swing and cleave a bunny into two distinct pieces. A clean cut with little blood spray, though now it pools beneath the pieces.
Another crunch, but much more forceful.
I never see a thing, but something tells me to swing. My blade is met with snarling teeth that are ripe with foam and dripping blood. Black hair and bright yellow eyes encapsulate the beast's jaw, which appears to be roughly the size of my head.
Pushing into the blade and beast, I feel the cut along its mouth as its grip loosens. In this moment, I do not know fear.
"AHHHH!" I hollar as I drive the blade into the beast's maw and send a sinister slice ripping across its face.
The beast releases the blade as it's sent flying into a tree. I don't know this strength that I possess, nor can I fathom where it came from. I whip the pistol from my waist and fire three shots at the monster. I hear them pierce flesh, ripping skin and spewing liquid. It howls from the pain.
Another charges at me, but I catch it with a shot and drive the blade from my sword up through its neck and out the back of its skull. Blood sprays my face, and I see the monster through the pale moonlight. Black hair, razor teeth, bright yellow eyes, the body of a massive dog with long limbs and raptor talons.
I rip the blade from the beast, and it falls to the ground in a pool of its own blood. A fresh one has taken its place, circling me with the one that flew into the tree, which now limps and leaks. I fire on the fresh monster, missing twice but sending one shot into its bright eye, which closes and begins to run red. I leap into the air and feel the gentle breeze against my skin. I breathe in a wave of calm as I drive the blade through the back of the limping canine.
One final howl before it takes its last breath and falls limp onto the dry leaves, blood pooling beneath it. I'm coated in bright red liquid and can smell death like a vulture. I feel like a rabid animal that needs to be put down.
I stalk the cur that stands before me, snarling teeth, trying to bane intimidation. I feel nothing, like a feral animal hunting. I embrace something deep within and feel it pulling at my humanity. Together with a lunge, each going for the other's throat. I fire, slice, and land back on the ground.
I turn to see the head of the beast separated from the body and lying some meters away. My breathing is running rampant, but with each new breath, I feel myself transforming back into the man I was just moments before this. I wipe the blood from my face, then rub my hands against my already stained pants.
Another deep breath.