The darkness was absolute.
Ezra's breath came in sharp, controlled gasps as his muscles tensed, his mind racing to process what had just happened. The lanterns, which had been the only source of light, had flickered out as though something had devoured them. The crypt's damp, rotting air thickened around him, pressing against his skin like unseen hands.
And that thing the floating figure with a shifting face had spoken to him.
"You were not meant to awaken, Forsaken One."
The words echoed in his mind, carrying an eerie weight. He didn't know what it meant, but something deep inside him something primal told him that this was knowledge he was never supposed to have.
And then there was the voice, the whisper in his mind that was not his own.
"Run."
Ezra moved.
With practiced speed, he pressed himself to the damp floor and rolled to the side, just as a ghastly, clawed hand slammed into the spot where his head had been.
A guttural screech tore through the crypt.
Ezra barely had time to react before his instincts screamed again another attack was coming. He couldn't see it, but he felt it.
Blindly, he reached out, his hands grasping at something cold and metallic his lamp.
He gritted his teeth, lifting it and shaking it violently, hoping to ignite whatever weak embers remained inside.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then
FWOOSH!
A dim, bluish flame flickered to life inside the lamp, casting pale, eerie light across the crypt. Shadows slithered back as the ghastly figure recoiled, letting out a rasping snarl.
Ezra's heart pounded as he finally got a clear look at the creature.
It was wrong.
Its body was humanoid but fragmented, as if it had been put together from pieces that didn't belong. Its fingers were too long, too jagged, and its face or what remained of it was a swirl of shifting darkness, never settling into a recognizable form.
But worst of all it was looking at him.
Not with eyes. But it was aware of him.
And then, in a rasping voice that seemed to come from inside his skull, it spoke again.
"You... do not belong."
A surge of icy dread coursed through Ezra's veins.
This thing knew what he was. It knew he was not from this world.
But there was no time to process that now.
The creature lunged forward.
Ezra reacted on instinct.
He swung the lantern, using the only thing in his possession that could repel the darkness. The bluish flame flared, licking the air as it struck the entity.
A shrill, ear-piercing screech tore through the crypt as the creature reeled back, its fragmented form convulsing violently.
Ezra didn't hesitate.
Ignoring the throbbing pain in his body, he bolted toward the iron bars of his cell, his mind working at full speed. There had to be a way out.
His fingers grasped the rusted bars, and he pulled locked.
His eyes darted across the cell, searching there!
A pile of bones in the corner. Among them, something glinted faintly in the lantern light a key.
But as soon as he moved toward it, he felt it a shift in the air behind him.
The creature had recovered.
And this time, it wasn't going to miss.
"MOVE!"
The whisper in his mind urged him forward.
Ezra lunged, barely snatching the key from the pile as he heard the howl of the entity surging toward him.
With shaking hands, he jammed the key into the lock, twisting desperately.
The creature was right behind him now.
The lock clicked.
Ezra threw himself forward, tumbling out of the cell just as clawed hands raked through the space where he had been.
He hit the stone floor, rolling to his feet instantly, gripping the lantern with white-knuckled intensity.
He turned back.
The creature hovered just beyond the bars now, its shifting, faceless form pressed against the iron, its hands twitching but unable to pass through.
It couldn't leave the cell.
Ezra's breathing was ragged as he slowly straightened. He didn't take his eyes off the thing, watching as it seethed silently, as though waiting for something.
Then, with a final rasping whisper, it spoke again.
"You were not meant to walk the Forsaken Path."
Ezra froze.
But before he could ask, before he could process what the hell that meant
The lantern flame flickered.
And the creature vanished.