Stepping into the door felt like I was passing through an endless darkness— except this endless darkness had countless menacing shadows dancing across its surface.
And, of course, it could be as a result of the vertigo I was currently experiencing, but I more or less tended to believe that wasn't the case.
Experience with shadows had taught me better.
Right now,
"Ukh—!"
It felt as though I was falling into an endless void as opposed to the step I'd taken into the portal. In this state, my surroundings were warped and contorted as though struggling to manifest.
But eventually, the darkness receded, along with the numbing sensation of falling into an endless void.
"...."
My eyes fluttered open, and as I struggled to breath, chest heaving, an eerie urge to puke slowly began to rise within me.
"Ukh—! Ukh—!
And with each passing second, the urge only continued to increase, along with the growing difficulty in breathing.
"Akh—!"
I held onto the wall, clutching tightly, as I struggled to breath through the haze clouding my mind. It was difficult and unbearable, but eventually… I'd succeed.
"Huh…"
Letting out a mouthful of air, I shifted my gaze to my surroundings.
"...."
An eerie silence surrounded me, broken only by the rhythmic pounding of my heart.
Ba- thump! Ba- thump!
The silence that surrounded me was unlike what I'd expect of the cursed land. For that reason, it felt eerily disturbing, eliciting a wave of unease within me.
Calming my rapidly breathing heart, I forced down the fear swiftly rising within me and stepped forward.
Step—! Step—!
My steps echoed through the silence, each one intensifying the unease within me.
And as if to make matters worse.
The further I walked, the scantier, and more desolate my surroundings became. It was what I'd deem an anomaly, that is, in contrast to the expected, harrowing nature of this cursed land.
For once,
Tap—! Tap—!
There were no dark creatures. No Negéns. No… eldritch horrors.
Not that I'd be happy to encounter any, but even that was better than t-his… suffocating silence.
And to make matters worse.
This region I'd found myself in was probably the most problematic. Not in the creatures it could potentially harbour, but in its… structure.
It felt like I was stuck in an endless branched labyrinth, each connecting with numerous others in ways that sometimes defied logic and reasoning.
"Ukh—!"
It was annoying to think about.
Such a region was probably the worst of them all. An achilles' heel of a regressor, if I had to say.
"Huff…"
Exhaling lightly, I forced myself to calm down and assess my surroundings more logically.
And slowly,
Step—! Step—!
A pattern began to form.
The Dark Maze.
An endless circuit of interconnected routes connected to the Zelkéith, an in-between space, where space and time are warped in the form of a supernatural echo.
'I see…'
I nodded.
"I guess that explains a few things."
But if that's the case. And the endless circuits of interconnected routes were made by someone in the distant past… or perhaps, a group of people.
Was it the previous citizens of this cursed land? And if that was indeed the case, like I suspected it was. Why…?
I pondered on each question, and slowly, before I knew it, a solemn expression crept onto my features.
And the scowl on my face only deepened as an unsettling realization settled in.
I didn't know why I'd waved it off previously, but now that I thought about it, I realized that I knew of the dark maze.
"Probably through a forgotten regression."
But, of course, just like any other day, I had no memory of it. And that only further served to intensify the scowl on my face.
'That feeling of incomplete memory. I didn't like it one bit.'
However, on the bright side of things. Since I knew of the dark maze or rather, had knowledge of it, then it made sense that I could slowly piece together, the history of this cursed land and perhaps in the long run… my own memories.
The thought brought a small smile to my lips. However fleeting it might have been.
But.
Step—! Step—!
A single question remains. One that was rather unsettling.
Who or… what were they hiding from?
As for why I'd have such thoughts. All the theories I came up with all came back to one, certain conclusion. They were hiding from… someone or… something.
Tap—!
A frown tugged at the corner of my lips. 'Nyarlath?' I wondered.
Somehow,
"..."
I had a feeling that was indeed the case.
However, with no further facts to support this hypothesis of mine, it was still rather... baseless.
I shook my head and was about to take a step forward, when—
I suddenly froze mid-step, breath hitching.
Ba- thump! Ba- thump!
A strong metallic scent wafted through the air, sending shivers down my spine.
"Blood?" A grim expression darkened my features.
My muscles tensed as my gaze shifted.
There—
"...."
I saw it.
A pile of corpses.
In that instant, fear crept in, chilling me to the core.
However, at the same time that it did, an even more disturbing question found its way into my mind.
Who… or what could have killed this many dark creatures?
With a grim look, I crept closer, and slowly touched the corpses.
Twitch!
My hands came slick with blood. And,
Ba- thump. Ba- thump.
I realized it was still... fresh!
For a second there, my heart tightened.
Drip—! Drip—!
Before I knew it, sweat poured down my face, and I was finding it hard to maintain my calm.
'Calm down Dean. Calm down.'
Clench!
My hands tightened at my sides, curling into fists. And, without wasting as much as a second, I immediately made use of the supernatural detector.
But to my relief, it seemed that whatever had caused this horrifying carnage was gone.
Yet, I just couldn't shake off this ominous feeling that something was wrong.
A frown tugged at the corner of my lips. Even though the supernatural detector couldn't find anything. I still needed to be on guard. Very much so...
"Huh..."
Glancing at the corpses with a grim expression, I muttered under my breath:
"May your souls rest in peace."
Having done that, I made way to leave when.
Whoosh—!
The corpses beneath me stirred. And then.
Flick—!
"...!!"
A claw wreathed in stygian darkness slithered out of them, rapidly reaching for my throat.