The Smith and the Knight

The Lower Sector

Eloise composed herself and staggered to her feet. The incredible strength behind Arden's blow still held her like an abusive lover.

Voices from the stairwell shouted, the sound of their armor echoing into the hallway. They all exchanged glances and steeled themselves.

"I know of an entrance into a place they will not go." Eloise said as she struggled to support herself against the wall. "It is a place where all vampires take refuge. There we will be safe for a time."

"Vampires? We will be attacked on sight." Gelehrter shook his head. "We will die."

"What other choice do we have?!" Eloise argued.

"If we do not escape, we will die." Rena pointed out and then nodded to Eloise. "If it will allow us to reach the Citadel with Accalia, I will go wherever you wish."

"You would not think of abandoning the mission at a time like this?" Arden growled.

"Accalia returning with us is part of the mission. Ovelia would want her to report on Thalanil's practices and we could have her answer for other things she had done too." She replied and looked to Eloise. "Lead the way."

The vampire reached for her spear and spoke a few words. They were slow, deliberately so. The knights had reached the top of the stairwell and moved to apprehend them.

A door hinge materialized from out of nowhere. Within a few moments the entrance itself, carved with several runes, slowly took shape.

Arden cut down several of them. Her weapon glistened for an instant as they fell to her, the opalescent tip pointed to her next opponent.

In the confusion, it seemed the Justicar were overwhelmed, but they worked ruthlessly.

Rena and Gelehrter lobbed off several limbs together and they fell dead.

An overwhelming dread filled them as the door solidified. Their opponents seemed to dissipate into nothingness as the flames from Arden's weapon finished with them. Rena and Gelehrter's foes remained dead on the ground.

Without a wall to support it, the threshold beckoned to them. Its dark will reached for them with spindly black fingers and without warning it lashed out to the torch sconces. Flames were extinguished, save for Arden's sword, and the light was swallowed by an invisible force. A sinister grin appeared on Eloise's visage for an instant before the door swung open of its own accord.

Immense gusts of wind pulled them into the entrance from both ends. As they neared it, they were swallowed into the abyss.

***

Gelehrter screamed in agony as the darkness enveloped him. His body had lost all feeling, the feeling of warmth. The feeling of hope. Claustrophobia thrashed his entire frame as he struggled to contain his identity.

And without warning, he felt the cold chill of death release him from its grasp. The air he inhaled caused him to cough and he reached under the collar of his Blessed Star. A black mask was pulled over his nose and he drew in a few breaths. His eyes struggled to find any source of light. Silence tolled in his ears as they searched for any noise other than his own breathing.

He stood upright. Torch sconces illuminated a corridor which seemed to lead to nowhere. His legs felt the tinge of fear grip them with its icy grasp.

The atmosphere was warm. Needing to keep himself free from the cold didn't matter any more. However, he needed to escape. He turned all about, searching for any signs of his friends.

"Should just head this way...I do not know where I am, nor where I am going." Gelehrter mumbled to himself. The only sound penetrating the ever present silence was his footsteps. He ventured on into the darkness, his body moving almost like a robot.