Chapter 47 - 46

Running inside after the cold-eyed man and not being stealthy at all with my stooping feet cracking the pieces of nails that cover the cave's floor I soon catch up with him, having to slow down a little so I wouldn't brush my shoulder on the unstable walls by mistake, aiming at the shining bean of light coming from the lantern on his shoulder as he, too, starts slowing down, more aware of what it is before us now that we have entered such strange construction, if you can even call this tomb-like thingy that.

Ready to reach out and grab him I soon realize that I'm not in a favorable position to act, this huge body a nuisance in such a small crumbling place that any sudden movement makes dust fall over my head and make me rethink my actions.

He looks back only enough to let me know that he is well aware of that fact, which makes me growl, but low because of the state this cave is in.

Was up with trying to burying me alive today? Is the second time already, not a big fan you know!

As we leave the only other source of light behind my comparison with a tomb before could not have been more spot-on; the stale air, the complete silence, and the total darkness surrounding us are surely dreading and offbeat as such. 

Not a problem for me, however, but for most humans it would be a very scary place to be in, especially with only one source of light..

And yet I'm lucky enough to have one of the few humans at my side who would not even flinch at the scene before him as, with steady steps, we advance deeper into the tunnel.

Only my steps and our breathing resonate, walking deeper and lower into the earth by the second, reaching even a place where the floor seems to me damp with water from underground, splashing and dirtying our feet as we keep moving forward.

With no wind and a stale air like this the sounds of the creatures in front reach me before their smells, low grunts hidden in the darkness below.

I look at the cold-eyed man as we approach, watching for his reaction when we reach a human level of hearing point, but the only response he has is to put the gun away and hold the sword on the side, aware that he could not blast this place up or else we might as well have caved our tombs ourselves.

What? No shocking surprise? No screaming in terror back to safety? Really now, what a troublesome guy, I think as we approach the source of the sound, low grunts sounding like ghosts passing along these walls.

As we reach the source of it, ready to battle in such unfavorable conditions, we are left to stare at the once enemies ghouls before us, and I stare until I manage to understand what I'm seeing, and understand why is it like that.

For the ghouls are no threat to us… because they are bound to these walls.

And not simply locked, no, they are almost part of it, somehow melted together, only part of their bodies and the faces left outside towards the cave, curving so both ghouls on each side would make an arch over the tunnel.

And when I look past these two, thin skinny starving ghouls, I can see that there are far, far more of them before us in the same condition that these two, all grunting with their last breaths.

It is strange though… because they are somewhat trapped in the soil, but it should have been easy for them to escape, after all they are experts in digging and there are no chains visible so to speak, and yet I can see in their faces just how long they must have been there, the first two on the line being the most skinny and lifeless of the bunch, cheeks curved to the inside almost enough so to draw the skull beneath with the tip of the finger, the skin cracked like old paper and threatening to give in at the smallest of touches.

And yet… none forced their way out, and something in their eyes whispers why; on how their eyes lacked life, on how they just stared, wide open, towards the same spot, as if there was nothing inside anymore, just the flesh and bones left behind to raspy their final breaths.

…Love the decoration, what she has done to the place, lovely, lovely, could not be more morbid than this, especially while they are still alive to chore their last song together.

With this damp soil and unstable structure I can figure out that they are been used as pillars, supports, so the tunnel won't cave in, but still why not simply use wood or anything beyond these creatures? She wouldn't go as far as to use them to simply give this place a scary aura to it.

"Clever, leaves no trace behind, no trees cut, harder to notice." The cold-eyed man says, giving a glance at the ghouls only for long enough to be sure that they are no threat, resuming his walk. I follow behind, staring at each dying face, still confused, but shrugging when I could not find the answer.

No point in dwelling on that, especially when we are still in a dangerous situation where getting distracted by such things could be very deadly.

The cold man at the front starts walking as if he is not surrounded by death, and I could almost picture him having a stroll in the park with that attitude.

Wait up there, wasn't I supposed to be the cold-blooded monster here? So why am I caring about this more than the human around? And why was I caring about it at all?

The howling hall of pain soon comes to an end when the tunnel starts going up once more, leaving the very unstable and murky soil behind.

I sneer lowly at the wind now coming from up above, and the smells and noise brought by it only makes me dread and anticipate where this tunnel has ended up at.

I frown, my snout wrinkling on top, unsatisfied with the outcome.

How, of all things, have we ended up going back to the city?!