Emiel Regis x Reader

Thirty-Six

"Can you walk?", Ulez asked, eyeing you up and down.

"I hope so.", grunting, you tried to stand up again.

It was painful and a lot more exhausting than it had to be. But you managed to get back on your feet. Even though your legs were shaking and so weak, walking was an exercise.

Checking on your arms and legs, you circled around yourself and examined the many marks, bruises and injuries. It was a wonder that you were still alive. Judging by the long stairs, you could have broken your neck more than a few times on the way down. Or your legs.

But every bone seemed to be just fine. As if they were made of steal.

Must have been your guardian angel.

"You will be fine. I ensured that my creations can't die in these caves.", Ulez said while walking away.

"How so?", you asked, a little baffled that most of the bruises were already starting to heal.

"Magic, obviously."

"You are a mage? What kind?"

"I'm not fully one. I'm more of a... shifter. I study what I need at the moment. And another time I study something else. But I'm always a scientist, a seeker of answers and chances."

Checking, he stopped and looked at you, to ensure that you were following him. As he noticed the distance, he did a hand gesture and waited for you to react.

Curiously you followed him. He did not seem to be a threat. At least not in this very moment. And even if he would turn out to be dangerous, right now his company and knowledge was useful. He knew this cave and the labyrinth that was trying to trick you.

To make things even better, he was willing to guide you and explained.

"I have a question.", you said after a while of wandering through the cave in silence.

"I'm sure you have a lot more than just a few. But not now.", he commanded and led you down another stair.

The surroundings looked old, with broad stairs of stone, statures and pillars. Painted tiles were covering the cave floor, forming an elegant mosaic. Maybe the cave once had been a palace of the elves.

Or a cemetery. At least it seemed very elven. The elegance was unmistakable, just like the typical kind of interior design that was very common among the elven folk.

How did you knew all this?

Ever since you had set foot into this cave your brain found new things to remember. It was as if your intelligence and knowledge had improved the moment you entered. Maybe it was a side effect of the magic. But it didn't seem to affect Regis on the other hand.

For a while, you just kept following the illusion without saying a single word or trying to get answers that would have only confused you even more.

There were so many things that you did not quite understood or just didn't seem to make much sense. However, it was better than knowing nothing at all.

Wrapped in silence, the illusion guided you down some more stairs, through many great halls and corridors, while passing countless statures in the meantime.

You noticed that there were many of them, each and every one recognisable by its own differences. Many of them showed offspring and crossbreed between races that would have never been able to create being like this through the simple might of nature itself.

There were elven dwarfs, statures that pictured a child of a horse and a gryphon or a mouse that had the physical features of an undead one. It was a strange view.

Still driven by your own curiosity, you let your eyes wander over the many stone faces that did not look too different from a human being and wondered
what races were united inside their angel like bodies.

They probably must have been half-elves or offspring form human like creatures that were known to this world.
There were so many, however, they must have had a higher porous than to just look pretty. Nobody would have been able to see them down here anyways.

Would your blood activate those statures too?

Was there a mechanism that would give them life?

Deep down inside, you wanted to try. But the illusion was constantly moving and did not let you out of sight. As soon as you stopped, it stopped too and gifted you an impatient gaze that was demanding to keep on moving. There was no time to waste. At least not in its opinion.

So you walked on. Ever though your legs were beginning to get tired.

After what had felt like an eternity the illusion suddenly stopped, turned and looked at you, filled with expectation.
Confused, you tilted your head while raising and eyebrow.
There was a giant stone gate right in front of you.

To be fair, it was more of an arc than a proper gate. Its inside was hollow, allowing whoever wanted to pass, to step to the other side. But on the other side there was nothing waiting. Not even solid ground. The only thing that was a few steps away from where you standing war the edge of a cliff.

Thick, white fog evaporated from its depths, making it look like the gate to hell itself.

"Is the way blocked?", you asked, while looking over the edge of the cliff.

It was impossible to see through all of this white, even though your eyes were as sharp as a vampires. Your eyes were useless now, but your nose made up for it.

Surprisingly, you picked up a scent of raw flesh and dried blood. It wasn't strong but the sweetness and metallic smell was unmistakable.

Was somebody down there?

Slowly, the urge to jump rose inside you but the illusion held you back.

"You need to feed the portal.", it said.

Confused, you turned to face it.

"Feed the portal?", you repeated.

"The arc. It's the portal. You must feed it with something to activate the magic. It has not been used for a long time so it can't be activated right away."

"Alright, seems reasonable. What ones it need?"

"Flesh. Your flesh preferably."