The Chamber of Sins

Sputtered sounds surrounded him, and Robert opened his eyes. The scenery had changed. The red turbid liquid was covering the whole bottom, alive branches knitting intricate nests into the depths. Thousands of them were in the enormous chamber, standing up like breakfast egg-holders.

Some other branches would go up the wall and protrude into the stone. The red liquid seemed to come from inside those holes through the branches, making them throb and twist under its pressure. In the centre, an enormous nest was pulsing in the same rhythm as the vines. It was appropriate for a king or a queen.

The boy hovered over it, squinting his eyes.

The liquid inside was bubbling. Something was lurking under, and the boy retreated by the wall, his heart drumming in his ears.

“That would be a big fish,” Robert said out loud. A sharp sensation traversed his back. He scratched the place nervously as his eyes were peeking at the boiling liquid.

Another sharp sensation and a trickle of liquid slid down his jacket and branched off like a spider’s web in his torso. The liquid passed through the leather material, and the boy felt a burning sensation.

He muffled a swear as the intruder snuck under his clothes, brushing his skin. He felt it slipping towards the pendant, and with an extraordinary force, it dug into his skin. Robert roared, the room echoing back his cry. The bottom was simmering, the liquid level increasing with a high velocity. The vines were still holding him captive and were hungrily digging into the flesh around the pendant. He wished he had been wearing the protection vest Lionette had chosen for him.

Robert tried unsuccessfully to activate the pendant. Something was stopping it, and Robert panicked. I will die down here, he thought.

His hatchet was suspended at his hip, utterly useless in this situation. His flash was regenerating, but not as fast as the enemy was carving into his body. So instead, he focused on trying to overcome the pain. He writhed, his muscles throbbing painfully.

He reached out, hoping to touch his weapon, but the strong ties were holding him tight. The fierce liquid continued to splash and soak the walls as if preparing for the unexpected dinner.

I have to get rid of these bloody attackers, the boy thought as spreading his wings. The obsidian wings cut the threads that had been keeping him prisoner. He detached from the wall and tried to flee back, but a strong cord caught his wing, destabilising him. He plunged into the red liquid, getting lost among the horrifying nests. The taste of blood inundated his mouth.

The liquid reached over his head, but Robert wasn’t worried. What made him freak out was that he was swimming in human blood. Hopefully, it is animal blood. The boy was a talented swimmer and could hold his breath underwater for a minimum of four minutes. He let his body sink and tried to sense the surroundings. His heart beatings overlapped the liquid pulsation. It was alive, pulsing and breathing, just like a being. Robert kept falling and realised that the pool was too deep and had to rich the surface as soon as possible. His legs were tired, and his wings were pulling him down with incredible force. With a super effort, he struggled and broke the surface, gulping for air.

But the liquid had its own plan - to hold him captive, possess his body and feed on his strength.

Robert sank again, and this time he couldn’t hold his breath as long as before. The mad blood rushed inside his nostrils. Soon, the oxygen deprivation took away his senses, and the boy realised he had minimal survival chances. With the last drop of energy, he grabbed the closest thing. As a vine was pulsing inside one of his fists, Robert seized the hatchet with his other hand, and he struck the enemy.

The liquid vibrated and moaned. Finally, it spat the boy out and carried him away on one of his tributaries. The corridor was tight, and the liquid was filling the passage almost to the ceiling. The boy had the time to notice small crevices in the walls.

The crevices looked like a hive, carved in hexagonal shapes, perfectly distributed along the walls. An almost-transparent jelly ball was filling some of them, but the light radiating from behind the round shapes was the one that drew the boy’s attention. He attempted to jump inside one of them, but the liquid forced him away. Then Robert threw himself against the wall, clinging desperately to one edge, his fingers biting into the gnawed stone. Finally, the boy pulled himself up with his last bit of strength and squatted inside the hole, snivelling. He stood there covered in blood and jelly, trying to rest his tired body.

His chest was spasming, but he avoided checking his wound. The pendant was still there, yet too weak to give him the so much-needed help. Robert stung the jelly and deepened his hand inside it, feeling the matter throbbing and resisting his pressure. Tired, the boy cut his way through it. A jelly-like liquid spread inside the small rock carving, and the content of it - an embryo - wriggled on the floor. Robert pushed away the deformed mass of crimson colour. Disgusted, he found himself on the other side, some diffuse light coming through a small slit in the ceiling.

Robert’s eyes couldn’t reach the edges of the enormous hall. Instead, his eyes followed the walls, trying to survey the bottom. What he saw scared him to death. The whole pit was an incubator, a demon incubator. It wasn’t Hell but the origin of an incommensurable army. A well-groomed secret army. They were feeding on blood, preparing to go after all humans.

Robert was too tired to fight an army and lacked the strength. He needed a hot bath and a hot meal. He flew to the ceiling hole and snicked out, terrified to look back.