Well that left me feeling refreshed. I got up from my crouching position and stretched. I looked down at the large sack deposited in the middle of the pool of blood that had managed to accumulate as I worked. Luckily for me, it didn’t really look like blood in the dim lighting of the cave, so when Hina wakes up she probably wouldn’t notice it.

I walked over to the sack that gave off slight moans and shuffling, reaching down and grabbing it by the handle. Picking it up, I was pleasantly surprised by the weight, or more like lack of it. This must be what, 30kg? Elves sure are light, but then again, how else would they pull off all those jumps and flips they always do? I think even Hina could carry this, which is good, since I need to be able to react to any dangerous situations. In reality, the only way for Hina to be helpful at this point is to carry the sack full of elf.

The dwarf still lay in the corner, his head twisted at an odd angle. Can’t have him here when Hina wakes up! I quickly made my way over to his corpse and proceeded to drag him away from where the sack and Hina lay. Once we got relatively far away, I found a nice little cranny to stuff his corpse into. Before I did though, I had a quick check through his pockets. You never know if he’ll have anything useful on him. It was a good thing I checked too. Out of the dwarf’s pocket I pulled an aged strip of paper, with what appeared to be the layout of the dungeon plastered across it with a particular area highlighted. The text on the map wasn’t in the common human language however, so I was a tad troubled; I still didn’t know what to expect down here.

What’s with all these curvy lines? Does this even count as a language? It looks more like a child’s scribbling; probably ancient elvish or something of the like. Obsolete languages like those were pretty much gotten rid of ages ago (well at least in the kingdom of Sol) and the human language was established as the norm. Preventing others from speaking their native language and forcing them to learn the human one; I can’t help but admire the church for that one. Now people can connect more easily, and conflicts can be resolved with words. Sure the few who were against it were enslaved or killed, but it was for a good cause.

I stuffed the map into my pocket and then crammed the dwarf’s corpse into the cranny I’d found. After a few snapped bones and some scraped skin, the contorted body of the dwarf was neatly packed into the small little opening. It’ll do. I looked up in surprise at a sudden familiar weight on my shoulder and was pleasantly surprised to see that Serenity had once again perched herself there, although she wasn’t saying anything. Well, if she doesn’t feel up to chatting, I won’t force it, since I’m a nice guy.

As I returned to the previous area, I found that Hina had managed to get out of her unconscious state, and was looking around confused. She seemed to notice all the scrapes on her arms, and a nasty one on her face and started tearing up.

“Owowowowowow” she started whining.

Hmm? I get that she’s hurt, but isn’t that a bit dramatic. Seriously, for the love of Sol, everything she does seems to annoy me these days. Oh well, I’ve just got to cope with it. I made my footsteps a bit more emphasized as I walked towards her. She looked up, relief flooding her gaze when she saw me. I smiled, and quickly cast some healing magic to heal the scrapes. She noticed the faint glow and the recession of pain, looking towards me gratefully before getting to her feet.

“Cyne… What happened?” she asked.

“… Unfortunately, those two from before weren’t as friendly as they first appeared. The first knocked you out and then attacked me.” I said, getting straight to (inaccurate) point.

“WHAT?! Where are they now?!” she shouted angrily. Calm down already, it’s not like you’d be able to even lay a finger on them considering how useless you are.

“Don’t worry, I fought them off. I captured the elf, but the dwarf escaped.” I explained indicating the large sack as I did so. Best make her aware of the elf, although the elf’s stated didn’t need to be expanded upon. That was just one of those insignificant details anyway.

“I see, but why did they do that?” she asked, slightly suspicious, perhaps due to the lack of detail in my explanation. Why can’t she just accept things as they are? I’m her companion, so she should just trust me.

“It’s happened in the past; some cults either kill, or kidnap in this case, the heroes when they’re still weak. Sometimes it’s because they worship shadows, other times it’s because they want to use the heroes’ powers.” I explained. I decided to stick with a relatively believable story.

Hina seemed to buy it. She initially seemed a bit suspicious of me, but it looked as though what I’d said before made sense to her. Why is this one always so on edge? I mean, I’m literally blasting her with sincerity at the moment, through the use of my smile of course.

“They weren’t down here for only us either. It seemed as though they were looking for something. As a member of the church, it’s my duty to investigate anything to do with cults, and the likes. What they were looking for down here could create problems in the future. So we should proceed.” I said.

Hina nodded in agreement, a burning determination blazing in her eyes. It looked like that tale I’d told had resonated with her sense of justice, or whatever that peculiar trait that all heroes seemed to hold is. Hmm, it looked like the word cult had done it. I guess cults and such aren’t viewed in a good light by the heroes? Ok! From now on all heretics are ‘cultists’, at least in the heroes’ presences.

“You aren’t very experienced in battle yet so it would be best to leave everything to me. If you could carry the elf I captured, that would be helpful enough” I said.

She was rather put out after I said that, but grudgingly accepted it while muttering something under her breath. She’d only get in the way. As much as I’d love for her to actually be useful, that most likely wouldn’t be happening anytime soon. At least she can act a distraction or bait should things get desperate. Regardless of whether she’s a hero or not, I need to get out of this alive.

Well, with everything sorted out, Hina picked up the large sack, and even made a surprised comment on how light it was. It was at this point that I noticed that the sack wasn’t waterproof and some suspicious liquid was dripping out of it. Damn, should have cauterised the severed limbs as well. Oh well, let’s hope she just doesn’t notice it. I was actually sort of surprised that Hina didn’t comment about my stuffing the elf into a sack… Well, I guess Hina believes these guys were trying to kidnap her, so maybe she doesn’t care. What a spiteful woman, where did all of your justice or whatever it is go?

I’m not exactly sure how the heroes would react to seeing the elf in such a state, so it’s probably best to not let them see it. Not that I have any intention of not burning the elf in a public display… I’ll figure it out later. Hina and I began to continue walking onwards, in accordance to the directions on the map. Hina looked a bit sour at being a pack mule, but really what else could she do?

We continued walking for a few hours, the darkness getting deeper and the chill getting colder. The large, cavernous area was slowly decreasing in size, the path getting narrower. As the walls started to get closer I noticed inscriptions snaking their way in a disorderly manner across said walls. They weren’t ones I was familiar with and reminded me of the ones that appeared on the heroes’ chalices during the revealing, but for some reason they gave off a different vibe. They were different but the same? Best not to think about too deeply. At least from these incomprehensible inscriptions, whatever’s ahead is probably valuable.

All of a sudden the air got colder and our footsteps weren’t the only thing making sounds in the darkness. I cautiously drew my blade, readying for whatever was approaching from further ahead. My action alerted the pack mule whereupon she took the initiative to get back.

Out of the darkness walked a hazy human figure. It dragged its feet as it clumsily made its way towards us. I didn’t know what the heck it was; No matter how I tried, I couldn’t make out its details. The face was a haze, its proportions every changing. Its colour was a varying shade of grey, constantly changing and helping it meld with the darkness in the surrounding area.

I couldn’t help but ask myself if it would even get hurt if I stabbed it with a physical object. At least it was slow. It walked at a leisurely pace, taking its time to regain its balance after each step. I wasn’t completely sure on what to do. I kind of wished I’d learned elvish to read that damn map now; it may have had some details on what this thing is. Hina behind me was just staring blankly at the grey humanoid. It didn’t really give off an intimidating atmosphere, but it was strange. Of course, I remained cautious; better safe than sorry.

It had gotten within 6 metres distance when it opened its mouth, releasing what sounded like someone’s dying gasps. Trust me, it sounded like that, I know. It raised its arms in my direction, and continued to walk whilst grabbing at the air with its spindly fingers. As it did so, out of the darkness more of those creatures began to appear. Umm… Serenity?

I don’t know.

You don’t know?

Yes.

Any ideas?

They look empty. They almost don’t seem real. I suggest avoiding any physical contact.

How exactly are we supposed to get through then? So many problems popping up now. I sighed but the quickly turned back to the owl on my shoulder. Can you read elvish?

…Yes, a few hundred years ago there were some elves in the fore-

I don’t need your life story (I could only assume it would take a while), just wait a moment. I quickly took out the map and just held it out in front of her. The owl’s eyes flicked over the text and soon Serenity’s voice resounded in my mind again, this time a bit irritated. I couldn’t help but wonder why, but it was good that she was herself again.

The text is mostly just directions. There’s only a brief note at the end about these creatures. It says they’re some sort of undead creature created using one’s memories and emotions as fuel.

Great… So best not let them touch me. But how do I get around this obstruction? As I started to move backwards, I noticed that they’d begun to follow my movements. Looks like they follow whatever’s closest to them… Should’ve kept that dwarf as bait. What a situation. Can’t afford for Hina to die, don’t want the heretic to die yet, and me being bait is out of the question of course.

WAIT! Could this be why that elf was so open hearted earlier? Thinking back, she was probably going to use the dumb-looking dwarf as bait , but with two extra options, I’m sure she just couldn’t give up the opportunity and was maliciously planning our demises for her own gain (probably). But then again, what can you expect from a heretic? I did a good deed.

Well let’s try smothering my presence with darkness. Oh, that worked? Should have tried that first; sometimes the simplest answer is the correct answer. The grey things stopped moving. It’s like they were frozen in time. After a few moments, all their heads turned to Hina who had a surprised expression at my sudden disappearance. They slowly began making their way towards her.

She began to panic and started to run away. Seriously? You don’t know if I’m alright yet! Of course, I’d do the same in her position, but this is this and that is that; she’s a hero, so she’s supposed to be worried about things like these. I reluctantly chased after her, and smothered her in the same darkness. All the grey things became inanimate again. I can’t keep this up forever, so best to travel fast.

I grabbed Hina by her collar and dragged her along as I ran and darted through the masses of creepy undead memory-emotion monster things. I ignored her sequentially surprised and then annoyed expressions. She can’t move fast enough, what exactly does she expect? Also after basically showing all indications of abandoning me, I’m not going to be as considerate as I usually am. She only took a few hours to revert to her normal self after being scared stiff that one time. The sack was also getting dragged along on the floor, letting out pained groans as it experienced the rough ride.