The figures didn't move immediately.
They remained kneeling with their heads twisted unnaturally toward the reflection, their bodies rigid and unmoving. The ice continued to pour from their hollow eye socket, but their chanting had stopped.
An eerie, deafening silence followed, pressing down on the air like a heavy weight. It was as if the entire world had gone still and was waiting for something to happen.
Chael's grip on the spear tightened and his pulse was steady but alert. He could feel Echidna tensing beside him, her breathing shallow and every muscle in her body coiling like a spring. They were still concealed behind the pillar with the cold stone pressing into their backs, but the illusion of safety was rapidly fading.
Then, one of the taller figures in purple robes slowly lifted a skeletal hand.
Its bony finger which was long and gnarled, extended outward and pointed directly at the pillar they were hiding behind. The movement was deliberate and excruciatingly slow, as if the creature was savoring the moment. Its hooded head did not turn and its body did not shift. It simply pointed without uttering as much as a single word.
One by one, the rest of the cultists began to rise. Their movements were perfectly synchronized, each one standing without so much as a whisper of sound. Their robes glided over the stone, the fabric never touching the ground, moving as if they were floating rather than walking.
About now, they were facing the duo all at once. Their hollow sockets of ice stared out from beneath the shadow of their hoods, their eyeless faces locked onto the pillar as if they could see straight through it. The temperature plummeted as cold air pressed against Chael's skin as they moved forward.
It was their silence that was most unnerving.
There wasn't a single footstep nor was there a single rustle of fabric. Just the eerie, deathly quiet as they glided closer with their heads tilting at odd angles and their empty sockets fixated on the intruders.
A shiver ran down Echidna's spine. Her body pressed closer to the stone, her fingers twitching over the handle of her blade. She leaned closer to Chael and said with her voice low and urgent.
"We need to get out of here. Now."
Before Chael could respond, her breath hitched. Her eyes widened in horror, her face going pale as she stared past him.
Chael's body went rigid. He followed her gaze and his blood ran cold.
One of the creatures was fading into existence.
It was barely ten paces away, right behind them. Its body shimmered like a mirage and the air around it rippled as it slowly phased in and out of reality. First, its head appeared , it's hollow eyes pouring ice and twisted mouth frozen in a silent scream. Then the rest of it's body materialised until it was fully present.
It didn't make a sound nor did it even move. It was there, yet it hadn't been mere seconds ago.
Echidna's face contorted with fear. "What… what the hell…?"
The shadows shifted.
Chael's head snapped to the left. Another figure was emerging, fading into existence the same way, its body flowing out of the fog like a wraith. Then another. This one stepped out of the shadows beneath the archway.
One by one, they materialized from the mist as they faded in and out before solidifying completely. There were too many of them. Chael's spearhead reflected their shapes, the blurry images revealing at least a dozen and all surrounding them.
A cold knot formed in Chael's stomach. They were surrounded before they even had the chance to run.
The air grew colder.
Chael's grip tightened around the broken spear and his fingers trembled as the temperature dropped even lower. The mist around them swirled unnaturally.
They were surrounded.
Chael's mind raced as he calculated distances, escape routes and numbers. But no matter which direction he turned, the figures were there, silent and unmoving.
One of them stepped forward with its unnaturally smooth movements.
It opened its mouth.
A thin, black mist seeped out and swirled around its face before drifting toward him. It was colder than anything he had ever felt. The air around him grew heavy with a thick and unnatural chill.
His body reacted on instinct. Chael's arm shot out and the spearhead sliced through the air in a swift, brutal motion. The sharpened edge tore through the creature's neck and cut through its rotted flesh like paper.
The head jerked to the side and hung limply, the black mist spilling out in waves.
Then, it screamed.
It was a hollow, shrill screech that pierced the air and vibrated through his bones. The sound was wrong and not human. Not even an animal or a beast. It was something else entirely. It echoed across the colonnade and rattled the stone pillars, the creature's body trembling violently as it began to fade.
Despite its head hanging on the side, it didn't fall or bleed. It simply shimmered with its form rippling like water, and it faded out of existence.
Chael exhaled sharply. His heart was pounding and his blood rushed through his veins, but he didn't let himself pause.
Another figure lunged from the left, its skeletal arms reaching for him and it's fingers crooked like talons. Chael turned sharply, his broken arm searing with pain as he pivoted on his heel. He swung the spear in a wide arc and cut through its torso.
The creature shuddered and let out another hollow scream before fading away, its body rippling out of existence.
But the moment it disappeared, two more took its place.
They came from every direction, fading in and out of the mist, moving without sound, their hollow sockets locked onto him. They didn't hesitate and they didn't falter. They just kept coming.
Chael's body moved on instinct.
Slash. Stab. Turn. Slash again.
His dominant arm hung uselessly at his side, the bones still broken and the fingers shatterered. Though they were starting to heal up well now that he was a harbinger, making strenuous combat movements hurt him like hell.
He fought with his non-dominant arm, the spear shaft in his grasp and his movements awkward and unbalanced. Every motion sent a new wave of pain through his body.
Chael's breath came out in harsh gasps and his broken ribs ached but the creatures didn't stop.
They continued lunging, shrieking and fading out of existence with each blow, only for more to appear.
Echidna was beside him, her blade flashing as she cut through the creatures with brutal precision. Her movements were swift and calculated with every strike aimed for a weak point. Since she was still an Unveiled, she was getting fatigued and overwhelmed a lot more quicker than him.
"This isn't working!" she shouted, her voice raw with panic. "They just keep coming!"
She was right.
No matter how many he cut down, more kept materializing and appearing from the shadows.
The only saving grace was that they were weak. They moved slowly and predictably with their clumsiness and straightforwardness. The issue was their sheer and overwhelming numbers.
Chael's arm was burning, the pain in his broken limbs intensifying with every movement. The creatures were pressing closer. He turned and stabbed the spearhead into another hollow skull and watched as it shimmered and faded.
And then he saw them.
The taller figures in purple.
They stood at the base of the statue, watching. Their faces were hidden beneath their hoods, but their eyeless sockets glowed faintly, an icy blue light flickering within.
They weren't moving. They weren't joining the fight.
They were controlling them.