Leaving the princess, I headed to the stables. By the night, I would reach the eastern gates, and if there was no way to get through them, I'd turn to the Vanderhofs. There surely would be a couple of secret paths leading to the valley in their lands.
In the isolated chamber cut off from the outside world, all senses gradually die away. First vision, then hearing and smell, until the person loses all connection with reality.
The wounded girl had been sitting in the special cell for several hours. It seemed she was completely isolated from the rest of the prison. Kurone tried to feel the walls, but each time she wandered around the spacious room, encountering no obstacles. She couldn't even estimate the size of this place; it seemed to stretch on endlessly.
"It seems there's no way out of here," the girl helplessly sat down on the stone floor, burying her face in her knees. As long as she could feel her body, it was her last connection to reality.
Here, everyone remains forever.
"I wonder, if I hadn't told the inquisitor, would they keep their promise, or were they never planning to make a deal with Katrina from the beginning," the girl touched her injured hands. The cuts from which the executioners took blood were throbbing with pain.
This place is for those who are too dangerous to release.
"If Katrina fails, Krito will surely come up with something. Hehe," a faint smile appeared on her tired face. "Why am I so sure he'll come to my rescue? After all, I barely know him."
Here, it's impossible to get in; everyone inside is doomed.
"I spent the whole year watching the guild members, but I couldn't get inside his head. Why do I still believe that he'll come to help me?"
Hope, the last thing prisoners of darkness hold on to.
"Either I'm hallucinating from hunger and weakness, or someone is talking to me."
Everyone who disappears into darkness remains here forever.
"Who's there?"
All who fell victim to the power of the Church.
For a moment, the darkness parted, and on the floor, thousands of skeletons were visible, covering the entire room, and in the next moment, the darkness concealed everything again.
"What is this place?" Panic began to engulf the sorceress.
This is the heart of the fortress; it feeds on lost souls and never releases its victims.
"It seems this place is sealed by some magic; if only someone from the outside could break the protection."
It's futile; anyone who enters the room becomes trapped and can no longer find a way out.
"Krito will come up with something; he loves uncovering secrets like these."
You're doing well, resisting for so long, but there's no way out of here.
"There's no way out because no one tried; I'm sure there's always a way. And anyone who comes to help you will end up in this trap as well and rot here with you."
"Shut up! You can't scare me!"
Resist as much as you want; you're here forever.
...
However, I can offer you a choice.
"Who are you? You're not those feeble voices from the beginning, who are you?"
I am the heart of this place, you could say the jailer. But I can't leave it either until I have a strong enough body. If you give me yours, I can offer you... let's say revenge on those who imprisoned you.
"Don't even dream about it! Who would agree to that?"
Hm, not interested? What about the lives of your comrades who will come to help you? They don't know the secret of this room, and once inside, they won't be able to escape.
...
Why are you so silent? What about him, Krito? He'll be the first to join you.
"Well, here's another victim for the fortress."
Two inquisitors calmly guarded the entrance to the lower chamber.
"Why bother guarding her? No one will escape from there anyway."
"Why don't you ask the authorities, if you're not afraid to go after her."
"Brr, no, I won't. I just don't understand why this girl gave in; they used to feed only powerful mages to the tower."
"I heard she was rude to William."
"Ugh, what a wrong decision. But still strange that he didn't kill her himself."
"He made some joke about exchanging her for certain conditions."
"Well, yeah, if there's something to exchange."
Knock-knock
"That's if there's something to exchange."
Knock-knock
"Did you hear that?"
"What?"
"Well, that's you knocking, right?"
Knock-knock
The sound came from behind the massive steel door, the only entrance to the dome-shaped chamber.
"We should report this to the authorities," one of the guards rushed towards the exit.
"Hey, wait!"
The heavy steel door flew off its hinges and, soaring down the corridor, crushed the fleeing guard against the wall. In the gaping opening, only impenetrable darkness was visible, but gradually, something else began to emerge from it.
"No, this is not for me," the second guard also tried to escape, but he was engulfed in flames bursting out of the dungeon.
It was deep into the night when I reached the eastern gates. Massive stone walls and iron doors capable of holding any army. I never understood their purpose, as the Church placed itself beyond the state's jurisdiction, and until now, no one had even attempted to storm their citadel. However, besides the natural landscape, they were also surrounded by such protection, just in case. It made me think that they still planned for possible attacks in the future.
"Crossing the wall unnoticed won't be that easy..."
For several hundred meters in front of the wall, there was an open glade without a single bush. The guards would easily spot me, and the sheer cliffs on the sides would prevent me from bypassing this barrier.
"It seems the only way to get to the valley is to descend from Renerim. Hopefully, Leira's family knows some secret mountain trails, or my journey might drag on."
I was about to leave, but something didn't sit right with me. It was too quiet, and throughout the entire time, I hadn't seen a single guard at the gates.
"There should be at least some sentinels on the towers."
Approaching directly would be risky, so I walked along the edge of the forest, trying to get a better view of the gates; surely, the gatekeeper should have been there, but a completely different sight awaited me.
Instead of guards on the ground and walls, there were bloody streaks, and the steel door itself was twisted in an unnatural way. It seemed like someone had forcibly broken out from the inside. I could understand if it was an attack from the outside, but it appeared that someone had escaped from the inquisitors' prison, not the other way around.
After some hesitation, I decided to check if there were any survivors. The blood was still fresh, and only a few hours had passed since the attack. Beyond the gates, the scene was even worse.
Inquisitors and priests had been swept away by someone possessing inhuman strength. On the road leading from the fortress, there were numerous deep footprints trampled into the dry soil. There were several attackers, and they showed no mercy to anyone.
Most of the guards had been cut down with blades, at least the size of a person, judging by the depth of the wounds, but some were simply torn apart. It seemed that whoever passed through this camp didn't even bother to finish off their victims. They simply walked along the central road and struck those who came close enough. The wounds were deep, but not everyone died immediately; some were still trying to crawl away from the attacker. However, all wounds, no matter how deep, proved to be fatal.
"What could this have been..." I checked if there were any survivors, but it seemed they had all bled out. However, a bloody trail led away from the gate, and I checked what was there. A young inquisitor, clutching a gaping wound in his side, lay against the wall. He couldn't be seen from the road; apparently, he had hoped to survive by hiding from the attacker, but the wound was too serious. "This was the last chance to find out who did this."
...
"Haaah," did it seem to me, or did he really just sigh.
"Hey, are you still alive?" I tried to bring him to his senses. Though his body had cooled considerably from the blood loss, he was still breathing. "Can you tell me what happened here?"
"That witch... we didn't expect the attack, and she just started tearing us apart."
"A witch?"
"One of the prisoners, they brought her recently; I saw when they brought her in."
"How did she manage to take down all of you alone?"
"She wasn't alone. She commanded those demons; they tore through the armor of the priests like paper, and our magic bounced off them, doing no harm. She didn't even lift a finger; they surrounded her and protected her from all our attacks. They mercilessly killed anyone who tried to attack her."
"And they didn't send reinforcements for you?"
"She caused a massacre in the main fortress too. They're probably assembling a group to capture her, but she might already be far away."
"I don't want to rejoice in others' deaths, but for me, this is a chance to quietly infiltrate the castle."
"Where did she go?"
"East, it seems she wants to go back."
"No, no, no, Kurone..." Finally, a foreboding took shape. I sat down on the ground helplessly, not knowing what to do next. "Hey, are you..."
The inquisitor could no longer help me. I closed his eyes and headed towards the gates. There was no longer any point in breaking into the fortress; I had to stop Kurone. The only thing she could be thinking about now was revenge against those who imprisoned her.