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"They're insane! Every last one of them has been twisted by that demon!"
The younger prisoner slammed his fist against the ground, tears streaming down his face.
"Tell me exactly what happened," Soren said. He sliced through their shackles with a clean swing of his blade. "What the hell is going on in this place?"
The bearded prisoner and the younger one dropped to their knees the second they were free, bowing their heads in gratitude. The third man on the right never moved. Without the chains holding him up, he simply collapsed face-first onto the stone. He'd been dead for a while.
The bearded man looked at the body with a flicker of grief, then started talking in a low, heavy voice.
Soren listened in silence, one hand resting on his chin as he pieced it together.
The bearded man had been the town's leader. They really were the first settlers on this continent. At some point they lost all contact with their home country. With no way to sail back, they were stuck here, living off whatever supplies they'd brought.
Then, a few months ago, a brutal plague hit during the worst winter they'd ever seen. Food ran out. People started dying of hunger and sickness.
That's when the stranger in the black robe showed up.
He performed what he called miracles—healed the dying, promised the whole town they'd never go hungry or get sick again if they followed his teachings. He even swore eternal life wasn't out of reach.
The bearded man refused. He'd seen enough black sorcerers to know what they really were.
But the townspeople who'd been saved turned on him. They accused him of wanting to keep immortality for himself and abandon everyone else. The anger spread fast. He got overthrown. Dozens of his supporters were either killed or thrown in here with him.
Soren didn't react to the talk of eternal life. Instead he asked the real question. "What was the price?"
The bearded man's eyes filled with tears.
"The stranger said their god needed pure souls to guide the way. He told them to pick the seven purest children in town, bathe them in the blood of the other kids, and perform a blood ritual on the night of the full moon."
"We couldn't accept it. It went against everything we believed in. We fought back."
"But the ones who bought into the promise of immortality had already become his followers."
The younger prisoner punched the ground again, furious.
Soren's eyes went cold as he listened.
Child sacrifice. Eternal life.
He wasn't about to walk away from this. Not when he'd already stumbled into it.
And now it all made sense.
Those smiling monsters that surrounded the town at night in the real world? They had to be the townspeople who'd gone through with the ritual. The ones who'd killed their own children for immortality.
That explained why there were no kids among the monsters. Plenty of modern people of all ages had wandered into the town, but the monsters only had adults—men, women, even old folks. The children were all gone.
If he wanted to break the curse on the real town, he had to save those kids.
Soren's brow tightened. He pulled out his communicator.
The dot for Nico was close—very close. Boyd's signal was nowhere to be found. Hopefully the guy hadn't gotten stuck inside a wall somewhere.
He needed to link up with Nico first. She'd come through earlier than him. She might already have new information.
Soren put the device away and looked at the two surviving prisoners.
"Relax. I'll get the kids out."
He didn't wait for their thanks. He turned and headed up the spiral stone stairs behind him.
The dungeon was quiet. No guards on patrol.
When he stepped out, he found himself inside a tall stone watchtower. He climbed the stairs to the top platform.
A full moon hung in the night sky, but the light it cast had a faint red tint.
Below, scattered wooden and thatched huts dotted the forest. In the distance, a huge cluster of torches lit up a village square, painting the sky red and linking with the moonlight above.
"Looks like I showed up at the right time," Soren muttered, eyes on the village. "Tonight's the night of the blood ritual."
He vaulted over the railing. Demonic power surged. He kicked off hard.
[Trickster – Aerial Dash]
A streak of purple light trailed behind him as he shot toward the firelight.
Seconds later he landed on a rooftop inside the village.
Two guards in crude leather armor, carrying pitchforks, were patrolling right below. One of them heard the landing and turned.
"Who's there?!"
His voice barely left his mouth before Soren vanished from the roof.
The next instant both guards felt warm liquid running down their necks. They looked down, legs gave out, and they dropped.
Soren looked toward the square.
Over a hundred townspeople in rough linen clothes stood packed around the center, torches raised. They chanted in unison, faces lit with the kind of joy that came from believing they were about to live forever.
Soren checked the communicator. Nico's signal was right ahead.
He looked up. Behind a half-collapsed dirt wall, a figure was crouched low, watching the ritual.
Soren slipped up behind her and tapped her shoulder.
Nico spun around fast, already pulling a massive handgun. The barrel lit up with a faint glow.
Soren grabbed her wrist before she could fire. "It's me—Soren!"
"Soren?!" Nico exhaled hard, lowering the gun and patting her chest. The motion made everything up front jiggle. "When the hell did you get here?"
"Thanks to the log you left on the laptop. Gave me a straight path."
Soren grinned.
After a quick catch-up, Nico's expression turned serious. She nodded toward the square. "You figured it out too, right? These lunatics are sacrificing the town's kids to some demon for eternal life."
Soren nodded. "I'm stopping the ritual."
"It's not that simple," Nico said, pushing her glasses up.