Chapter 65: The Altar
The seconds of silence were torturous. Gabriel slowly smoothed his hair.
His fingers brushed aside the wet strands that fell over his forehead while he tried to organize his thoughts.
The wrinkles between his eyebrows remained deeply marked.
A Tyrant. A real Tyrant.
Those words displaced everything else. At that very moment everything was relegated to the background.
His eyes remained narrowed.
"Where did you hear that? It should be global news," he finally asked.
Bella remained silent for a few seconds. Then she smiled with a certain bitterness.
"You will never hear the real news," she murmured softly.
"What do you mean?"
"Out there... you must access the right circles."
Those words were like a bucket of ice water. It was a reality with which he had lived and he understood how true it was.
"Are you someone out there?"
Bella lowered her gaze for an instant.
"I’m no one... yet."
She added nothing more. Gabriel respected her silence, allowing her space for her own secrets.
Finally both directed their gaze toward the back of the room. There rested a gigantic stone door. The engravings that decorated it remained illegible due to the passage of time.
But even deteriorated, it retained part of an ancient majesty.
Bella smiled slightly.
"Giant doors are a classic."
Gabriel did not share that humor. He continued thinking about something else.
"Tyrants... What are they really like? I have only faced Pseudo-Tyrants." His voice had adopted a graver tone than he desired.
"I would love to say I know a lot... But I only know that they are more intelligent, stronger, more chaotic."
Finally she raised her gaze.
"And... more human."
Gabriel immediately remembered the defective Tyrant.
Chained, consumed by inhuman suffering. That monster had expressed and spoken, even accepting its own death.
"More human?"
Bella nodded.
"Just a little."
"That makes it even more dangerous," added Gabriel in a pessimistic tone.
There was no need to add more.
***
Silence accompanied them while they recovered their breath. Their breathing began to stabilize slowly.
The pain was still present, with the wounds not healing.
But both understood that remaining there too long was useless.
They crossed the room again. The bodies of the undead remained motionless around the pool and, finally, none rose again.
Gabriel barely absorbed a few small strands of essence before continuing. It was a disappointing amount.
His attention remained concentrated on the huge door. When they arrived in front of it he spoke again.
"Do you have more potions left?"
"Now you accept them?"
"We will probably need them."
She smiled.
"I’m always prepared."
She opened her inventory.
One after another small flasks began to appear. There were green liquids, with others reddish and orange.
She handed them over while explaining each one.
"This one slightly accelerates recovery."
"This one reduces pain for a few minutes."
"And this one..."
She lifted a small bluish vial.
"Only use it if you are really going to die."
Gabriel stored them all carefully, nodding.
He appreciated Bella’s preparation. And her willingness to share.
***
He quickly prepared to continue, placing both hands on the gigantic door. He breathed deeply and pushed with force.
The stone began to move slowly.
A grave rumble traveled through the entire dungeon, with dust falling from the ceiling.
Finally a huge completely dark passageway appeared.
In its extension there was no light or sounds. It was an uncomfortable void. Only their footsteps were audible.
Gabriel took the lead for precaution, with Bella following astutely behind him.
They had never allowed their hands to leave the coldness of their weapons. Their alertness seemed to amplify within the silence of the tunnel.
He took advantage of his advantages so that his eyes adapted to the darkness. But they still hurt from the consecutive use of Bloody Blur, which had caused him constant discomfort.
But his precaution never disappeared. Ambushes were the worst possible scenario.
He waited for some roar or movement, but nothing happened. That managed to unsettle him even more.
"The tunnel seems endless," murmured Bella.
"All tunnels have an end."
"I’ll end up sleeping with the light on."
No one laughed.
Their walk continued, until it finally ended in a huge room.
Its dimensions were immense, very different from the previous scenarios. Its construction seemed impossible.
He stopped, perceiving a strange aroma in the environment. Colorless, but present.
With flavors of incense and aromatic wood. An elaborate and very strange perfume.
Too pleasant for a dungeon.
Bella also perceived it.
"What kind of place do you think this is?"
Gabriel slowly observed the place.
"We can only discover it. But at no moment lower your guard." His hands gripped the daggers tighter.
The flames began to ignite suddenly. With a bluish glow, their outline was rhythmic. They adorned the entire extension of the room in a row.
They managed to illuminate the whole room with a faint spectral light. Their silhouettes were represented as small giants on the ground.
Neither of them allowed themselves to relax, understanding that there was no turning back.
Then the chant began.
A small grave voice, which was then accompanied by several.
It was a slow chorus lost in time. Its notes were beautiful and conveyed a sacred feeling.
As if ancient priestesses intoned a very old prayer.
Bella felt a shiver.
"Gabriel... What do you think is happening?" Her voice was barely a whisper.
Gabriel did not allow his guard to be affected. He observed attentively for any foreseeable danger.
"Don’t move away from me. This... can be dangerous." His expression hardened.
Bella began to breathe faster. Her pupils began to dilate in incomprehensible terror.
"But we must move!"
Gabriel did not understand her sudden change.
"Why?"
Bella, against all logic, seemed to hear something he could not hear. Remaining alert to that invisible danger.
Her face paled.
"He will find us!"
He grabbed her by the shoulders, to try to calm her.
"Him?"
A roar shook the entire room.
It was deep and ominous.
Like the growl of an uncontainable monster with blood thirst.
Then the footsteps arrived. They were slow and heavy, threatening like a prehistoric terror.
The ground beneath them vibrated.
Gabriel felt his heart pounding in his chest.
For the first time... He felt a deep fear that took root in his chest.
Bella desperately pointed to the back of the room. Her body trembled uncontrollably.
Where she pointed rose a huge stone altar. It was profoundly beautiful and immaculate.
"To the altar! We must reach the altar!" Her voice almost broke.
Without waiting for a response she grabbed Gabriel’s hand.
She began to run, guiding Gabriel. Who followed without objections.
The footsteps continued approaching and the chant increased in intensity.
It was a cursed chant that revealed a bad omen.
The entire room seemed to wrap itself in a growing madness. Both ran clumsily between the columns.
The blue flames illuminated the path, with each roar sounding even closer.
Then... Gabriel stopped.
Bella pulled his arm.
"Come on! Quick! It’s urgent!"
But he remained immobile, offering resistance.
His mind began to work. The pieces did not fit.
His breathing became irregular when an idea slowly appeared in his head.
My name... What is my name?
He looked at Bella. She continued trying to pull him desperately.
"Gabriel! He’s coming!"
She kept pulling him.
Gabriel felt a shiver. His expression changed completely at that moment.
I... Never told her my name.
He grabbed her by the wrist. Bella tried to continue advancing.
"Come on!"
But Gabriel did not move, observing her fixedly.
"My name... How do you know my name?" His voice was barely a whisper.
Everything stopped.
The roars disappeared, the heavy footsteps ceased and even the chant ended.
The room remained completely still.
Bella stopped pulling him. Observing him carefully and finally smiling.
It was an unnatural smile, too big to belong to Bella.
"I am Bella... You are Gabriel." Her voice sounded different, with an empty sweetness.
He slowly denied.
"No... You are not Bella." He took a step back.
The smile continued growing. It never stopped.
Her lips seemed to open in impossible folds.
"Why can’t you smile, Gabriel?"
He opened his eyes suddenly.
His breathing was desperate. His chest rose and fell violently.
His entire body was covered in cold sweat. The darkness surrounded him, still being in the room.
For a few seconds he could not understand what had happened.
Had it been a dream? An illusion? A skill?
His head throbbed strongly. Then he saw the light.
A silver glow shone softly at the other end of the room.
He raised his gaze.
Bella walked slowly toward a huge destroyed altar. Her steps were slow, with a hypnotic pace. Her figure gradually faded.
"Bella..." He tried to get up.
His legs did not respond. He immediately fell to his knees.
His entire body was terribly weakened, as if he had fought for days.
He tried to stand up again, but failed again.
He placed both hands on the ground and began to drag himself.
Every movement was unbearably heavy.
Bella continued advancing. She did not seem to hear him at any moment.
The silver glow slowly illuminated her silhouette. She was getting closer and closer to the altar.
He forced his arms to keep advancing.
But he barely managed to cover a few meters.
He understood that he could not reach her.
"Bella!"
She did not respond. She slowly climbed the steps of the altar.
She extended a hand, with the glow trembling slightly.
Gabriel felt an unknown desperation.
"No! Bella, stop!" He tried to get up one last time.
The strength completely abandoned his body. His scream echoed throughout the room.
She disappeared behind the altar. Gabriel uselessly extended a hand toward her.
After that... Everything turned black.
His body fell unconscious on the cold stone of the dungeon.