Descent Into Pain

"Welcome, m'lady Exotica." the eccentric mage enunciated quickly. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

Looking at Arahim's eyes - like still motionless pools of blue-green liquid - Exotica felt for a moment confused and overwhelmed. Why would he even believe her? Strange stories circulated about Arahim - that he was born of a witch-girl and a bull-demon, or that he had once killed a frog with a leaf and defeated a Shaolin monk in a duel.

"Just now, in my room." Exotica said breathlessly. "A man... no, a demon appeared. His eyes... were ungentle, menacing even. I was scared. Then I spoke a word - lynati - and he vanished. Lord Arahim, does this make any sense to you?"

"Vanished, you say?" Arahim said excitedly, burrowing through his surroundings to stand in front of Exotica. "Not killed? And how did - how do you know the old power words of light magic? Not even I..."

A shiver ran down Exotica's spine as she heard a scream behind her in the hallway - a pained, hysterical shriek of torment. Turning away from Arahim, she ran to the door and looked outside.

What she saw made her shudder in disbelief. The hallway had changed. The first, overwhelming awareness that flooded Exotica's senses was the smell - a grotesque melange of sweat, human waste and decay, laced with the rich coppery odor of blood. Second - and she had to blink several times before she could believe it - was that the ceiling, walls and floor were completely covered, smeared in a red substance that could either be blood or rust or both. Red droplets fell from the ceiling, splattering on the crimson-stained floor.

Exotica let loose a semi-squeal/yelp and slammed the door of Arahim's chamber shut, pressing her body tight against the hard wood of the doorframe. There was no sight of the court mage. This room had changed as well - as if it aged a thousand years in one instant. The books and artefacts mouldered and crumbled into dust, and everything was covered in dry blood.

"Arahim! Where are you?!" Exotica asked. "What... what's going on? Is this all an illusion? It has to be!"

Then like a torrent of boiling excrement surging through her brain came the voice of the Shoggoth. "Come. Come to the throne room, little princess. Come, you who would've conquered me. Come... and face your death!!"

Screaming, Exotica covered her ears until the sound went away. As she stood up, resolve hardened in her mind. So, the demon was responsible for all of this!

"If it's a confrontation he wants, it's a confrontation he'll get." Exotica said aloud. "Throne room... oh, Father! I'm coming! I'll save you from this evil!"

Quickly searching the room, Exotica found two items of use - a lit torch she took down off the wall and a bag of medicinal weed. Then, breathing in deeply, she pulled open the door and stepped into the hallway outside.

Everything was still in the same horrible shape. The floor was wet and sticky beneath Exotica's thin castle slippers. She noticed that the hallway had altered as well - whereas before it had turned, now it continued in both directions into an indefinite darkness.

As Exotica struggled to get her bearings, she heard a loud panting and scraping on her right. To her horror, something came crawling out of the shadows. It looked like one of the castle chambermaids - but altered and mutated into a grotesque parody of her former self. The miserable creature wept blood through sightless eyes as its disfigured limbs scrabbled along the floor.

1. Exotica runs to the left to escape from the creature.
2. Exotica confronts the creature and attempts to use her light magic.
3. Exotica tries to run past the creature down the corridor to the right.

Add New Option

Go Back

View Forward Story Tree
View Back Story Tree