Was this even a choice? Would anybody want to be in the services of the Lord of the Underworld? I didn't! Definitely not! But since Coven died, anything but finding his murderer seemed pointless. And my only chance was to speak with the merchant and get the robe as evidence to find more clues leading to the culprit. So, regardless of the consequences, I wanted to make those who killed Coven even more miserable than the corpse in front of me. One day ago, I would endure the imprisonment and never let myself be seen in the black market again.
[!!!]
[From here on, very disturbing content follows. Who cannot handle gore, please skip this part.]
[!!!]
But at this moment, I just stepped forward until my hands touched the corpse and I closed the tube and took out the needles. The corpse was larger than me, and although the organs were missing, still very heavy. Before I could drag the corpse over the ground, one of the guards who led me to the torture chamber assisted me in lifting the dead body.
"Show me the way to the cooling chamber," I said to the other guard. The man complied and I followed out without looking back. I wouldn't show the Lord of the Underworld how much disgust I felt or how much I would've liked to give him a few slaps.
But I couldn't. I was a subordinate of the ruler of the black market now.
Rows upon rows upon rows. A room too large for me to grasp what was going on. My eyes went from left to right, up and down. The cooling chamber was an ice-cold room, three stories high, separated by huge gates with smaller doors which could be opened to enter, too. I was led to the lowest chamber and froze after I went inside. Dozends, maybe even hundreds of corpses dangling from the ceiling, blood drops hanging frozen in the motion of falling down from the bodies. Ankles bound by chains to the ceiling, arms motionless stretched away from the body by gravity. All of them had empty eye sockets, their brain missing and empty chests. I shuddered and tried to avoid their sight. With the guards I carried the new corpse to an empty chain and dragged the corpse in the line with others.
I was relieved after I left the cooling chamber and was escorted to the torture chambers again. Only to watch as another man was bound to the torture chair which was still slick with blood from the former body.
"Your excellency," I bowed my head, not because of reverence but to hide my contempt for the man who seemingly gutted people as his hobby.
"Bring her to an enclosed chamber. Starting tomorrow you will do missions for me, - everything I ask you to do." As if bored, he waved his hand dismissively and the guards took me outside again. Then they brought me to a room.
This room was more spacious than my cell and had a small wardrobe and a narrow cot, but there was no window and only a vat filled with water and a cloth to wash myself.
Lighting was provided by an enchanted lantern. The door behind me was already closed and locked, so I went to the basin, took the cloth and started wiping my face. After I made sure I had not a single drop of blood on my face, I cleaned my arms and hands. But the feeling of the dead body in my hands didn't leave. I swallowed, urging down my nausea (preventing a vomit) and went to the cot. After I sat down, shadows painted strange mirages against the walls. The artificial light shouldn't flicker, but maybe the high concentration of magic made the spell unstable. Or maybe the things I saw and heard throughout a single day in real life shocked me far too much. I knew I shouldn't log out, especially now, but I needed a few minutes, what am I thinking, - even a few days wouldn't be enough to stomach what happened in this game in less than a whole in-game day. Coven's death. A possible murderer happily going around. A murdering psychopath who decided my fate now. A chamber of corpses. The betrayal of the magical tower.
Familiar swirls of color brought me back to the reality which never felt as plain before. It also never felt this strange to wake up to it. Before it was a shackle, an addition that was unneeded in my colorful in-game-life. As it was now, I had no real home anymore. The only sanctuary I had left burned down.
The clock showed me that I had to get ready for work soon.
"To hell with it…" I mumbled after thinking for a while, taking my laptop and hastily tipping an email and sending it to my workplace.
I still had some vacation left and needed enough time to find the killer. So I stocked up my nutrient solvent, filled the water tank and made myself a fast snack. Barely half an hour passed and I was back in the game. A short while later, guards came to escort me to my work: I had to carry the dead body of the man who was bound there yesterday during my third encounter with the Lord of the Underworld. It did not go well for the man. After placing him in the cooling chamber, I was given tools to clean. My new mission was to clean the torture chamber. I complied and started cleaning, washing the blankets and other tools either by hand or supported by magic.
Eventually, days had passed in-game and I still was just cleaning the torture chamber, carrying corpses and sometimes helping out cleaning dishes. After some time I just wanted to run from this hellhole and enjoy myself again (or at least find the merchant for a questioning). But in here, it was an unattainable feat to leave the castle while under the careful watch of the guards and servants serving in the Castle.
After a full week of this work, I finally got another mission: I was tasked to hunt 10 smaller prey and 20 larger game. They could be animals or monsters. The two guards who always hovered in my proximity while I did my tasks made me wear a piece of cloth and a sack over my head and then led me through the tunnels under Daystrak, upwards.
After over one week in the unnatural light in the realm of the Lord of the Underworld, the sun of Falan was so bright it blinded me. The guards led me to the exit of the black market. I couldn't wander the black market to find the merchant. Yet. I planned to hunt as fast as possible and a bit more and then pretend to want to sell the stuff. Smiling, I chose the map I wanted to hunt on. It was time I would find out who sold the red cloak to the merchant!