Chapter 5: Ash and Clash
Heat rushed over Dolin the moment he stepped out. The castle corridors were filled with a thick, heavy smoke that smelled of ash, blood, and burning wood.
Flames crawled along shattered beams and broken furniture. A torn tapestry sporting an embroidered crest was burning slowly into blackened threads.
Dolin moved quietly forward, alert for any beasts that might come his way.
Several corpses lay strewn across the hallway.
He could see jaw marks on some of the corpses, while others were completely torn to bits.
The sounds of battle were everywhere now.
Dolin followed the noise carefully, leading him to a balcony steeped in shattered glass.
He could now see the mayhem that was happening outside.
The courtyard had become a battlefield.
Knights fought in scattered groups between the burning towers of the castle.
Their armor flashed in the fire as they clashed with hordes of nightmare creatures pouring through smashed gates.
Damn. I would get pulverized.
He had had some thoughts about running outside of the castle to get away from the creatures lurking inside, yet it was even worse outside. Besides, the objective of the nightmare was probably inside the castle and he would not be able to leave without fulfilling whatever it was.
Some of the monsters were roughly the size of a human, while others were much worse.
One towering beast smashed through a line of knights at the center of the courtyard. It was huge, sporting thick armored plates that deflected the knights' blows.
A spear struck its chest, not even causing it to blink.
With one swing of its limb two knights were tossed through the air like ragdolls.
Dolin grimaced, stepping away from the balcony.
Yeah. They can handle that.
He had no intention of joining that fight.
For now, he was just going to focus on finding out what the goal of the nightmare was.
The castle was far bigger than the prison below it, but the corridors were just as dangerous.
Dolin moved slowly and quietly.
Dolin passed several chambers.
A storage room, an armory that had sadly already been looted, and what seemed to be a kitchen full of what seemed to be the corpses of servants.
The further he went, the more bodies he found. Servants.
Guards.
He eventually even came upon a knight, making him pause.
The man lay slumped against the wall, sporting a couple of wounds here and there. His sword was nowhere to be seen, yet he was alive.
Barely.
The knight's chest rose and fell in shallow breaths.
"...water…" the knight rasped weakly.
Dolin could not fulfill the man's request. He couldn't waste any of the supplies he had from the kitchen on an apparition of the spell.
"What happened here?" he asked quietly.
The knight's eyes shakily shifted toward the hallway.
"They… they broke through…"
His voice trembled.
"Too many… there were too many…"
His eyes darted around the hallway as if seeing something Dolin couldn't.
"No…"
His voice dropped in a murmur.
"No… no… no…"
Dolin frowned.
This man is going insane.
The man's hands began to tremble.
"I shouldn't be here…"
"We're all going to die…"
His voice grew louder, more frantic.
"We are powerless… we can't stop them…"
The knight grabbed his own head with both hands, his eyes beginning to dart around the room more frantically.
"I should have run… I should have—"
He stopped. The panic vanished from his face.
Slowly, the knight lifted himself off the floor. His movements were stiff.
His eyes, now empty and devoid of emotion, settled on Dolin. Dolin took a step backward.
"Shit… that isn't normal," he muttered.
Dolin drew his sword, ready for the knight in front of him to attack.
Instead the knight simply turned and walked down the corridor.
His steps were slow and unnatural, as if being puppeteered by invisible strings.
Dolin could not follow as the sound of heavy footsteps came crashing from the corridor ahead.
Something large was coming. At first he saw a claw. It slammed through a wall down the hall, shattering its charred wooden frame into splinters.
It was easily twice Dolin's height, its body thick with jagged bones and rippling muscles. Its head resembled a mix between a lizard and hound, rows of hooked teeth in its open maw.
The creature sniffed before snapping its head toward Dolin.
Dolin turned and was already running.
He wasn't a powerful awakened with supernatural abilities. This beast was thrice the size of the one in the dungeon below, and he was not taking his chances.
Shit. Somebody else can deal with that thing.
Behind him, the creature roared.
His boots, ones he had picked up earlier from a dead corpse, pounded against the stone floor as he sprinted down the corridor.
The sound of its footsteps shook the hall as it gave chase.
Dolin cut down the first side passage, nearly slipping as he forced himself into a more narrow corridor.
Good. Maybe it won't fit.
The creature smashed its massive body, splintering the small hall to pieces as it continued its chase.
Smoke burned his lungs, yet he ran even faster than before.
Dolin came upon a stairwell at the end of the corridor. Not wasting any time, he lunged down it completely rather than taking his time on the steps.
The monster could not follow, and for now he was safe.
His chest and legs burned.
"Shit… this castle is messed up."
He pushed himself away from the wall and looked forward.
The castle was covered with smoke now and he could not see clearly.
The sounds of battle still echoed faintly. Somewhere in the castle, monsters rampaged.
Dolin thought back to his weird encounter with the knight.
It was as if he had been enthralled.
He began making his way through the smoke, making sure to be observant of his surroundings.
He had a feeling that it was only going to get worse.