Metro: Retribution

by RF and AG

Chapter 28: That Which was Lost - Part 3

        I simply stood in place for a few moments, my breath haggard from the experience. Yet I was still alive, and that was at least something to be proud of considering everything that happened outside of the church. Of course I was hardly one to take credit for everything; that admittedly had to go my white pony friend.

Speaking of said pony, Shining was currently laying on his side, his eyes closed and his chest slowly moving up and down. It was safe to say that Shining had passed out from everything, which I wouldn’t bug him about in the future. I knew the stress that one's body can take has a limit; mine was only so high from being pushed beyond what I thought was capable.

The only problem with the current situation was that he would possibly be needed and even if I could get away without him, there was a chance that something could harm him if I went forward without him. I had to come up with some sort of plan, as there was no way I could carry him.

I hummed to myself as I took in the surroundings of the church. It truly was what the outline of the building suggested. Rows upon rows of what looked like stone pews sat in front of me, all leading up to what had to be this place’s version of an altar. It was simplistic with its design, from what I could see, but the lack of light was also obscuring any true details. From there I glanced around at the walls, noticing that there were numerous stained glass windows that were nothing more than colourful designs.

The first thought into my mind was that the swarm could probably easily break in through them, but something in the back of my mind told me that if it had wanted to, it would have done so already. I only hoped that I was correct in assuming that.

Finally I glanced to my immediate sides, and caught note of multiple small side rooms, broom closets if anything; at least on one side. The other looked to hold a set of stairs behind it, possibly leading up to the second floor and maybe to the steeple. It was tough to tell from my position, but at the very least I knew there was a second floor since I was standing under it.

I mulled over my options for a little bit, before deciding that Shining would be best left in the broom closet if he didn’t awake.

So I moved to pick him up, despite my own tiredness. It was a hell of a lift for that moment but I was able to do it without my legs giving out. Yet it seemed the movement woke the tired pony up from his impromptu nap.

“Wha- … what’s going on?” he muttered out as he struggled to wake up properly.

“Moving you to room out of main way,” I replied back. “You need to take it easy. I can handle from here.”

It took him just long enough to process that, that I was able to set him down in the room and make my way back to grab his Kalash. As I returned, I smirked at him trying to stand on his shaky legs but barely managing to get two of them firmly planted under him, let alone all four. I shook my head.

“Stay and rest. You will only be dead weight to me,” I told him, which sparked a momentary flicker of defiance, but it swiftly burned out as he came to realise that what I was telling him was true. There was no chance for him to be able to follow me if he could barely stand. Of course, I wasn’t about to let him know that I was hardly better off than he was.

“Fine,” was all he said before he laid back down. “What is your plan then? Turn the entire building over until you find something?”

I looked out over the main room of the church, contemplating that exact line of thought as well. Chances are that doing that would net me nothing, but there was one spot that every good Stalker knew where to go.

“The tombs is best chance,” I replied simply, knowing full well that a church of this size would no doubt have a tomb under it. And even if that wasn’t true, this place seemed to want me to find something, in a roundabout way. No doubt it would make a tomb for me to find something in.

I looked back at Shining who was trying his best to avoid eye contact; typical soldier trying to not show any weakness. “I will be back soon. Stay safe here.”

I didn’t bother to see his response, instead moving forward with purpose as I unslung my Saiga from my shoulder and turned on my light. I needed to mentally prepare myself for whatever I would find down there. Without Shining with me I would need to keep my mind sharp in case I ran into another one of those damn tricks this place liked to play.

At a brisk pace I made my way down the main aisle of the church, keeping my head on a swivel just in case. My eyes glossed over the easier to see intricacies of the church, many a carved statue that sat on plinths that had been made from the stone walls themselves. Said statues ranging from ponies to gryphons, and even a dragon. Yet there were a few plinths that were empty, not even a hint of what should have been there. An odd sight to say the least, but at this point it was becoming more of the norm.

My eyes were drawn away from the odd statues to the altar itself which was oddly enough nothing more than a plain wooden podium of sorts. It looked completely out of place for the entirety of the building, with that lack of flourish, not to mention it wasn’t stone. Perhaps it was a temporary replacement long ago … I could only imagine what the reason for it was.

Behind the altar was a simple table that was covered in a sheet that might as well have been made entirely out of dust. Even from a distance I could see that it had originally been white but was by now looking more like a pale brown. The fact it still existed after however long it had been down here was a miracle in itself. Though that got me thinking as I scanned around the platform the table and altar was on.

How long had this place been like this? Sure I had speculated a little before but with each additional piece of information, I could only imagine. The most I knew was that it was an ancient city, but the whole setting as well as the clues left here suggested that it wasn’t that old. Though on the flipside of that, the magic that seemed to permeate the place was unnatural according to Shining, so for all I knew, this place was truly ancient and the magic here was keeping it from decaying.

If the latter was the case then there was a reason for this place to be like this, to be guarded by these strange forces and creatures. I almost didn’t want to know what the reason was.

Almost.

I paused on the platform and looked upwards to see nothing special, not even a hint of a second story, instead just a small dome that held a few support beams. Truly whoever made this church made it simplistic, unlike some of the ruins of Moscow. I can still remember the churches that still stood intact despite everything. Multiple dull, yet still colourful spires sprouting up from a single building.

My attention focused back on what was at hand as I turned to my left and slowly walked to the only door on that side. I had no clue if this place would even have catacombs or a tombs underneath but it wouldn’t take me long to verify if it did.

I moved through the door with my Saiga raised up, not wanting to be taken by surprise. Immediately the hallway split into two paths, one continuing on to what looked like an open room with a partially open door, while the other took a right turn into darkness.

Of course I had to take that right turn, but that didn’t mean I had to enjoy it. So with a small mutter of how much this place hated me I rounded the corner, my light managing to pierce the blackness and show me an empty hallway that went on for a small bit before taking a right turn. No doors along the way, no decorations of any sort, just complete emptiness.

The amount of hoops I had to jump through to find a way home was staggering but I was slowly starting to see the end goal in sight. Well, at least a flickering glimpse, if those visions were anything. Whatever had once been here, the beings that I had been watching them through, knew of a way to leave this world. If there was even a slim chance it would take me back to the Metro and Anna then I would take it in a heartbeat.

As I rounded the corner, I smirked under my mask, another instance of good luck winning out. Ahead of me was a small flight of stairs that descended down to another level. If there wasn’t a tomb down here, at the very least there might be a storage room that could contain my answer.

While confident thanks to my guess being correct, I still descended down the stairs with hesitation. I was alone in this part of my quest and I had to make sure that I didn’t do something stupid that could only be fixed with the help of another. At the very least I was glad that the building and the cave had its own air flow so I didn’t need my mask.

The moment I set foot on the stairs, I noticed a small flickering of light from the floor I was headed to. Shivers ran up my spine as it became apparent that there were torches or something akin still alight and waiting to be used. At this point I wholeheartedly agreed with Shining’s assessment of Alfasia. It wasn’t natural.

That wasn’t where the odd things about this floor ended, for it had something different than every other room we had entered so far. That difference was that it had decorations on the wall. These were much unlike the carvings that sat in the main hall, these were tapestries. Woven meticulously into patterns that seemed to tell a tale of sorts. From top to bottom it showed actions of a pony or another species. Usually in vague ways but for the most part it was easy to read.

One seemed to tell the tale of a pony climbing a mountain to find a loved one. Another had what looked like a dragon going from a beggar to that of a priest. A third had a bull standing on two legs fighting off an entire army by itself.

While beautiful in their design, they were all marred with what looked like burnt sections. It was as if someone had specifically set certain portions of the tale aflame in order to hide something, a controlled burn at its best.

I took my eyes away from the tapestries and looked at my next route; a large double door made of stone loomed in in the center of the right wall, a single iron latch bound across it. Whoever put it in place, either meant to innocently keep the doors from swinging open … or meant to keep something bound within.

Tentatively I lifted the iron latch up, letting it fall off to the side as I kept my Saiga raised in case my hunch was right and I was about to face down something nasty. Yet when nothing charged, I slowly made to pull the one of the doors open.

As the door opened I was greeted with more magically burning torches all along a slow descent via stairs. The walls that lined it were not of the same stone design and looked much rougher than the rest. Without a doubt I was looking at this place’s tomb and hopefully one of the last hurdles to be overcome in my journey home.

Each step I took down the rough cut stairs was deliberate, making sure that I didn’t miss a step or possible place my foot on a booby trap. A single trip wire, even if it wasn’t rigged up to anything, could end my life right then and there. So it was an agonizingly long descent down for what it felt like.

When I began to near the bottom, I noticed that the light behind me was dimming, as though the torches were being put out by something. Quickly side-stepping and turning around, I meant to shoot down whatever had followed me; yet nothing was there. The torches were indeed extinguished but it looked more like they had done it themselves.

“Это место может катиться в пизду!” I hissed harshly as I turned around and continued down to the final platform at the bottom.

Once my feet touched the solid ground of the tomb’s floor, the remaining torches behind me were snuffed out instantly, not even a fading of the light. I couldn’t help but mutter obscenities as I flicked my own light on. Of course I had to give a few pumps to my charger, refreshing the batteries on it, and giving me a much stronger beam.

Keeping my Saiga up at my shoulder I moved forward slowly, shining my flashlight on each inch of the tomb’s corridor. What it showed was what I expected; nothing like the tomb from back in Moscow.

Along the sides of the corridor were slots that were at least three meters long that held stone caskets. Two rows of caskets on both sides to be precise. This place looked to be the major burial place of the city, and a good chance that I’d find most of its former citizens buried down here.

Now, unlike the one in Moscow, there were no wooden support beams to keep the ceiling up, instead it seemed to be held up through unknown means, looming above me like a natural cave. Whether that was a good thing or not remained to be seen, since that meant it would either collapse on me any second, or I would not have an iota of chance to collapse.

As my light moved from side to side, I caught fleeting glimpses of more tapestries, specifically ones that were draped over the casket itself. These ones depicting what looked like the last moments before the death of whoever laid in the casket. It was an odd thought considering the inevitable fate of the city, but whatever civilization that had lived here seemed to have had more than its fair share of death rituals.

I halted in my steps as I glanced at one of the tapestries; there was a burn mark. Tempted by the idea that part of the story was missing, I walked over and examined the sole tapestry, finding that the burn mark was part of the last line of the story. I could have passed it off as just a coincidence but the exact size of the burn mark suggested another controlled fire. With my morbid curiosity piqued once more, I moved over to another casket and found the exact same thing. The last line was very much the same as the previous one, with a few characters being different in styles, but that sole burned out patch was there again.

“Эти следы здесь не просто так,” I muttered out loud as if hoping that it would help kickstart some sort of revelation. All I did instead was sigh as I stood back up and continued to move down the corridor.

Eventually the single corridor ended, instead branching off to my left and right before once more cutting back in the same direction I was originally headed. I just shook my head as I debated which way to take. The makers of this place had made this all far too complicated for what it should have been. So with a weary exhale I chose to go to my right, hoping I wouldn’t have to double back because this place just wanted to screw with me.

My pace kept steady as I rounded the corner and was met by another corridor, but this one a bit smaller before taking an angled turn to the left. No doubt it was leading up to a large room, which was per the typical hellish nightmare mazes I found myself in.

That got me thinking as I kept my eyes peeled for anything that could possibly threaten me. The entire design to this place felt somewhat familiar, as though it was designed from my idea of what the tomb should be. Was it possible for the fucking city itself to somehow morph itself to my preconceptions of what I’d find?

I shook my head quickly before tapping the side of my helmet and shouting out in anger, “Это место сводит меня с ума!”

Now wanting to get the hell out of the catacombs, I picked up my pace to a jog as I moved down the angled hallway, which ended in another wooden door with a latch on it, just bolstering my confidence in this place not having a monster for me to fight behind the door.

Quickly tossing the latch off the door, I was more than eager to pull it open and get the fight over and done with.

Yet there was nothing there.

An entire large chamber with nothing but more caskets along the walls, an empty floor space, and at the very end was a larger casket that had a single stone pillar sitting on top of it. That was all there was.

And I wasn’t buying it.

Slowly I moved around the outer rim of the room, keeping myself as close to the walls as possible while also making sure that each step didn’t land on something that might possibly trigger a trap. It was a slow and deliberate move towards the large casket but I’d rather take that then possibly being jumped by something.

Yet I kept moving without a single issue, not a single enemy popping out from nowhere or dropping down from someplace I couldn’t see. And when I reached the casket at the end, there was nothing waiting to surprise me. I wanted to say something, just a simple mutter of how lucky I was to get this far without any problem, yet I kept my trap shut and just focused on what I was standing in front of.

A single, large casket, and now that I was in front of it, I just realised how large it really was. The entire stone tomb had to be at least five meters long and half of that wide and one meter tall. At first this just made me question what the hell would fit inside this casket, but then a rather recent memory came to mind. That dragon that I had seen. Recalling just how I had seen her, she was probably just about the right dimensions to fit into the thing.

So I was staring at a stone box holding a dead dragon, and to top it off, it seemed to have a rather small pillar of stone just sitting on top of it as though someone had placed it there for unknown reasons. I couldn’t help but think and puzzle over what the point of this place was, or why it would lead me in such a way that I was sure I would find answers, yet all I had was more questions.

I sighed deeply as I turned around to gaze out across the room, to see if there was anything I was missing. I took my time to peer at everything, to see if there was some sort of puzzle or something that I was missing, yet the room itself was bare.

I rubbed the back of my neck before looking at the dragon sized casket and stone pillar again. Oh how much I wanted to lash out and destroy something for this wasted time, but I didn’t. Even in the face of overwhelming odds back in the Metro, I kept my calm and pushed on through adversity. I wouldn’t give up and blow that in this place; I refused to break for this world.

Slowly I placed my hands on the casket, using it to prop myself up slightly as I ran over the options in my head.

There was still the church steeple that I had yet to check out, perhaps there was something there … though that would risk going out against the swarm. Also there was that room that I had skipped over before heading into the catacombs. So perhaps I could find something there.

I hated doubling black, but it looked like that would be my only option. I took a couple of deep breaths to calm my nerves before swiping at some of the dust around the stone pillar, just a little motion to clear my head of some stress.

Yet when the dust settled, I noticed the strangest thing about the pillar itself. At the base of it, was a circular ridge that rose from the casket, as though it had been made to hold the pillar itself. My first thought was to brush it off as nothing more than a simple quirk of whoever had designed this place, but there was no way I could deny that there was an air around that pillar. One that made it feel like this was part of the key to my puzzle.

I ran my fingers along the raised ridge, noticing that there were grooves in it that felt all too familiar in shape and design.

Cyrillic.

I shook my head, refusing to believe that there had been someone who had carved my very language into a stone circle, in a lost city on another fucking planet. There was no way that was possible.

I could get over the disappearing words as some sort of magic trying to play tricks on me, but this … this was something different. They were carved into the very stone! It had to be a trick, like before … it had to.

I closed my eyes and turned my head away, retracting my hand as I did before turning back and brushing over the circular ridge once more. They were still there … it had worked before, why hadn’t they disappeared like the other words! I slammed my left hand down on the casket, the sound of brittle stone breaking under my swing, the casket taking the brunt of the force and showing that it was hardly as strong as it looked.

“Это неправильно! Всё это место неправильно! Почему, почему, почему?” I all but shouted as I paced back and forth in front of the casket. “Как это связано со мной?!”

I wanted to destroy this entire place, shatter the casket in front of me with round after round of my Saiga, and even drop a grenade into it. Thankfully my cooler side won out, reminding me that I only had so much ammo, and not a single grenade. So instead I opted to sigh and glare daggers at the stone pillar.

For a few moments I waited there, just staring at it, not moving before eventually I relented and reached forward, grabbing the pillar and pulling it from its little circle. What could I lose from taking it? Perhaps it might be of value.

Yet the moment it left its little plinth, a feeling came over me. This little pillar was what this place had been designed for.

That’s when the entire room began shaking.

I broke into a run as fast as I could, stumbling as I moved forward amongst the shaking of the chamber. I barely got halfway across the room when a massive chunk of the ceiling smashed into the ground. I only barely avoided being crushed by it, managing to halt my steps and scramble to my left.

Another chunk landed behind me, knocking me forward enough to lose my balance, forcing me to use my free left hand to crawl forward enough to prop my legs underneath me. It was my hurried scramble forward that saved me from being crushed by another piece of stone that had fallen from the roof.

As soon as my legs were once again under me I put them to good use, ensuring that I would not end my journey in this place all too soon. My legs burned as I pushed them harder then I rightfully should have, but there was no way in hell I was gonna be a bug squashed by this place!

My feet carried me at my frantic pace as stone piece after stone piece crashed down behind me. I didn’t bother to look back because I didn’t have the time to envision what could be my fate.

Coming around the small bend before the intersection ahead, I happened to swivel my gaze enough to peer at the wall beside me. It was fortunate that I did, for it gave me the split second decisions to lunge forward, ducking a falling sarcophagus along with the wall itself.

Not even bothering to think or ponder what I just did, I once again scrambled back up to my feet in panic, just barely cutting the corner back to the original set of stairs. At that point I was pretty sure there wasn’t a thought in my mind aside from ‘survive.’ One thing that I was damn lucky at.

The cacophony of stone smashing into stone behind me just made my legs propel me further in a frantic bid to avoid the wall of falling death behind me. Even when it came back to my nemesis stairs, despite the nearly pitch black conditions, I somehow managed to will myself to take two stairs at a time in order to ascend quicker than before.

Whether it was by instinct or luck, I did not trip in my hasty climb to the top. Perhaps it was the motivation of death that allowed me to find purchase at each footfall, or there was a chance my seemingly endless pool of luck was once more flowing into my actions. Either way, I managed to reach the top and raced through the door, not bothering to close it behind me.

At first I moved to race back up the second set of stairs to my right, expecting this section to fall on top of me. Yet for some odd reason, much like a creeping suspicion crawling up my spine, I hesitated and held my ground.

With a thundering smash, the stone ceiling that had been chasing me through the catacombs came slamming down onto the last step before the door. In a finale of dust and debris the collapse of the wretched place had finished, unfortunately sealing off that which lied beneath.

I was unable to get a glimpse of the final collapse as I instinctively covered my face with my arm to prevent dust and small pieces of stone from blinding me, even though I was a wearing a mask. A natural instinct that still hadn’t gone away despite all the years using a mask to protect myself from the dead city of Moscow.

When the dust finally settled and I could once again look up at that which I had escaped, my eyes bulged with incredulity, my mouth opening and closing like a man gasping for clean air. I truly could not believe that the entire collapsed tunnel … just ceased to exist.

I walked in a semi-numb state -my legs having lost almost all their feeling- towards the blank wall that now stood in front of me. As I stood in front of the smooth stone wall, I ran a gloved hand over it as though I was testing its existence. Once again I was left with no indication that it had once been there, like the words earlier but in such a larger scope.

Finally my legs collapsed out from under me, the physical exhaustion hardly having the same impact as its mental counterpart. So I stared blankly at the wall, my gaze refusing to budge from the very real stone that had once been a doorway and a recently collapse tunnel beyond it.

Yet as I sat there, the idol still gripped in my clammy hand, I started to laugh. Truly it started a small chuckle, eventually turning into a full blown cackle as the situation of this place fell upon me for the first time. The reality of what I was living out, from the ponies to the magic, gryphons to Korbut … all collectively coming to a conjoined head at this very door.

Perhaps I had snapped finally, the thought not beyond possibility as my whole life had been built upon situations that could break any normal man. But as my laughter died down I casually dismissed the thought, along with my perceived exhaustion. So I stood while still lightly chuckling.

"Just a test,” I muttered in English. “Just a stupid test.”

Giving one last glance at the blank wall that stood in front of me, I turned on my heel and walked up the same flight of stairs that I had came down earlier. If anything, this little trickery told me one thing about this church and solving its mystery … the formless statue was part of the key.

While all the puzzle pieces had yet to fully fall into place, I was starting to see the general shape of things, and my place in the grand scheme. Just like back in the Metro, whatever was happening here, I was at the center of it all. Inadvertently or not, my role in this adventure was crucial to whatever was being led up to.

When I finally reached the main room again, I noticed that Shining was sitting on one of the pews. Being hesitant of any tricks, I slowly approached as I kept one hand closer to my holstered pistol. I didn’t know what to expect, but this place was turning almost everything against me, so I wouldn’t have been surprised if this Scowly was not the real one.

Yet when his head snapped towards me before he hopped off the pew, I relaxed my hand. The Kalash was wrapped around his body in an odd but not unnatural way, and his face was as stern as ever. “So, what did you find?”

“Don’t know. Just a statue,” I replied before letting his magic pull it from my hand. As he inspected it in his typical floating way, I managed to crack a few sore joints to relieve some of the tension in my body.

“That’s it? Just an untouched piece of stone?” he bluntly asked, the way he spoke making it sound like he expected more out of me or something.

“Ну, меня чуть нахер не придавило когда я её взял, но это фигня,” I tersely replied before giving out a sigh. Eventually I proceeded to point to one of the empty plinths that lined the wall of the church. “I think it goes there. Another on the other one … possibly a puzzle.”

Shining followed my pointing before looking in the opposite direction at the other empty plinth. I think he was starting to connect the dots as well as he slowly started to nod his head. At first, small movements until it became a full nod as if he was trying to coax himself into accepting at the same time.

“Right, let’s assume that this is indeed a puzzle and that placing the other statue up there will lead us forward. The next question to ask now is where is the other statue?” While it was obvious that he accepted my idea, he was still skeptical of the whole place. I could hear it in the question he asked … and it is exactly what I would be thinking if I had been told the same thing.

“Two places,” I replied, holding up two fingers. “Either in side rooms but doubtful. Or in tower.”

“My bits are on the tower,” he said as he placed the statue down with his magic. He started trotting towards the stairway -that looked like it would lead up to the steeple- but I grabbed his tail and yanked him backwards. Only a surprised yelp came out of him in response.

“I will go alone, you protect statue,” I said while looking down at him. He made to speak as his eyes shot throwing knives at me, but I silenced him by clamping his muzzle shut with a hand. I knew he could have easily broken free with his magic but I was counting on him trusting me enough to not. “Place is testing me … only you can stop the weird magics and keep statue safe. So I hunt, you protect. Okay?”

I waited a moment, his only response was a mumbled reply before he relented and nodded his head in acceptance. Of course, I let go of his muzzle instantly before marching off to the stairwell I had first seen when we entered the building. I’m pretty sure Scowly was doing his usual shtick and muttering pony swears at me.

My pace turned from a walk to a small jog -my legs feeling oddly rejuvenated- towards the stair set. I was all too eager to finish up whatever task it was that I needed to accomplish here.

Bounding up the set of stairs led me to the second floor of the church, which was little more than a place for extra seats it seemed. Yet it gave me a rather nice view of the place, one which I decided to take in for a moment before continuing my methodical search of the area. From where I stood I could see every aspect of the church, and one thing I noticed that I had somehow missed was that there looked to be odd carvings in the ground by the altar at the front. I wanted to jump ahead and assume that it had something to do with this whole place but I fought back that urge. I’d rather be proven right despite being skeptical, than proven wrong when I was sure of something.

The rows of pews on the second level were devoid of anything that could even be mistaken as a clue; truly not a trace of anything but stone. So I moved back towards the little stairwell that had brought me to the second floor in the first place. A casual glance up told me that this church actually held a third floor, yet there was not a single other indicator of such a floor existing. I could see the roof of the church from the second level!

Of course I let out another large sigh as I came to realise I was being toyed with once more. Perhaps the stone itself was on the third floor, and it would collapse out from under me the moment I grabbed it?

I was tempting fate as it was, why not go all the way and just yell it out at the top of my lungs? While a very promising prospect, I decided against such a thing, instead deciding to trudge up the stairs once more. The burst of energy I originally had was long gone with the realisation of another trap.

When I managed to drag myself to the top, I was greeted with a very different sight than what I had expected. Spanning what looked like the entire length of the church was a very open and empty floor. A very eerie type of empty that screamed shit was going to happen if I tried to cross it.

I swung my VSV off my shoulder and peered down the scope to the other end of the empty floor, just in case that the stone pillar was situated on this floor, but my search came up empty as it truly was an open space of nothingness that somehow was disguised from below. I got to release a sigh of relief. The only downside was the stairwell that lead up to the church steeple was not back in the same stairwell.

Instead, I would have to hug the wall of the front of the church and cross halfway to enter a single open doorway.

Pacing my breathing I crossed along the disturbingly empty floor towards the door, each step being careful of some hidden trap or possibly finding nothing but empty air. Yet when I managed to cross the floor to the stairwell, I was overwhelmed by a sense of what was quite possibly disappointment. I didn’t exactly understand why but it seemed like after everything I had been through, I was almost wanting to take part in another test of sorts.

I shook my head quickly before pushing my legs up another set of stairs, one that was much larger in scope than the previous ones. To say I was absolutely thrilled for such a thing would be an outright lie. Stairs were the bane of my existence since landing in this weird land, and I will continue to dread them until I reach my grave.

What was even worse was that I was starting to once more feel the physical exhaustion that my legs had warned me about earlier. So each step taken was turning into a slow dredge forwards much like when I had to move through that swamp … I still feel dirty from falling into that water.

After spending more willpower than I was ready to use, I finally found myself nearing the top of the stairs. Silently, I was thanking whatever I could for the fact that I wasn’t stuck in some weird illusion once more that made the trek seem endless.

I collapsed to my hands and knees at the top of the stairs, my body feeling even more drained than before despite the walk up the stairs being hardly what it should have been. So it was rather easy to come to the realization that I was being affected by some sort of magic, making everything I do feel all that much more stressful on my body.

Yet still I pushed myself up to my feet, my balance wobbling as I raised my head to actually see what my new surroundings were. Doing so, I almost fell backward but managed to get a foot behind me to balance myself.

In the open steeple hung a simple bell, with a formless stone statue on the floor underneath it, yet those were hardly paid attention to at first for my eye was drawn to everything else. When I meant an ‘open steeple’ I truly meant that I could easily tumble over the small railing to my doom.

The sight I was treated to was fantastic and breathtaking for it gave me just the sheer scope of the place that had been buried. All mentions of Alfasia being a town must have been doctored or something for the view I was treated to was nothing short of expansive.

For what must have been a couple of kilometers the city stretched on, houses upon houses stood while pockets of surprisingly large towers jutted up as well. It looked more akin to the Moscow horizon than a ‘town.’ It gave off a very eerie feel as I could now put a picture to the feeling of emptiness that this place had given me when we first entered. In all essence it was a mirror image of Moscow; another dead city yet somehow it managed to stay intact almost completely.

        This alone eclipsed the feeling Moscow gave me. At least in the ruins of the city above my home I could tell what it’s fate was. Alfasia … it was a whole different situation.

I pushed a hand against one of the stone support beams as I gazed out among the city. Yet my grip tightened as I noticed something in the distance. What must have been a kilometer away was the massive black swarm that we had encountered outside the church. My whole body tensed up in preparation for darting down the stairs.

Though slowly it began to relax as I noticed the path of said swarm and its general speed. Wherever it was going, it was not towards the church so there was a good chance that this church was indeed a safe place.

Finally getting enough of the vast expanse that was the cavern, I turned around and weakly knelt by the bell and the statue under it. I had to steel myself for whatever I was gonna encounter next, that empty room below me just screaming ‘trap.’ But I had to go through with it … for Anna and for myself.

So I grabbed the stone pillar and pulled it from its little altar piece. Now was the tough part … or at least I thought it was going to be, but somehow this place managed to surprise me even further.

Instead of having to walk down the stairs once more then deal with that mysterious third floor, I found myself standing on the ground floor. Just like that. Not a single feeling of being pulled in a different direction or torn apart, or any proposed symptoms of teleportation. Instead, I was simply standing just inside the doors of the church, as though the entirety of the steeple seemed to disappear from existence.

Could the building be playing some sort of illusionary trick on me once more? Was this perhaps some altered reality? I couldn’t honestly tell at first but once I managed to step into the main room, I was treated to exactly what I didn’t expect. There was Shining, pacing back and forth at the front, the first stone ‘carving’ floating in his magical grip.

His head spun to me as he heard my footsteps echo. He trotted swiftly over to me, his face lit up in his own unique way of expressing glee or relief. “Were you successful? Was it up there?”

I wordlessly handed him the stone pillar that I was holding in my left hand, his eyes lighting up before he floated the pieces ahead of him, trotting to the empty plinth on the right wall. I stood there numbly before managing to choke out some words. “I just … appeared here …”

His ears flicked in my direction before he immediately stopped floating the stone pillar up to its spot. He carefully set them down before trotting back over to me. His horn flared briefly before a surprisingly calming feeling spread over me for a brief moment then disappeared like a warm blanket in the cold.

“Hmm, there is a faint magical aura around you … though from the remnants of the spell it was a simple teleportation spell,” Shining murmured before he finally met my gaze. “Hey, just because I was a guard, doesn’t mean I don’t know a thing or two about magic.”

He didn’t realise that I was giving him a look of relief since I was more than willing to trust his judgement when it came to magic. If all that happened was that I was teleported, then I was more than willing to just forget anything ever happened.

“Right,” I said, my voice growing in confidence, having been shaken naturally for the first time in a long time. “Let see what statues do.”

With a nod, Shining returned to floating one of the pillars up to the right plinth. Ensuring that all fell into place, he softly set the stone down, a faint click being heard after it settled against the stone. I could only hope that that was a good sign.

Without hesitation, Shining trotted to the other side and placed the other pillar in place -another faint click coming the plinth- before backing away to the middle aisle. A few moments of silence followed, nothing but dead silence as we waited for something to happen.

“Well that was a-” I cut Shining off from speaking by holding his muzzle shut, earning a very pointed look from him, but a finger that I pressed to where my helmet -where my lips would be- kept him from trying anything more.

In the background you could hear the faintest of clicking, like gears that had long since been used finally gaining life once more and moving with newly found energy. Eventually the soft clicking grew in sound, moving a small rumble, and eventually settling on the same sound one would make if they were dragging a massive stone brick along a stone floor.

I glanced over to the pillars we had placed, my eyes expanding as I saw the stone get stripped piece by piece, the stone being carved through some invisible force until what was left looked like an exact copy of me on one side, and Shining on the other. To say I was shocked would have been drastically undershooting my true reaction.

Yet before I could show Shining, the final stage of whatever was happening came to a close abruptly as silence once more returned to the church. Carefully, I unwrapped my hand from Shining’s muzzle before creeping forward, a sneaking suspicion from before returning to my mind. If what I had seen on the second floor was indeed correct …

“It seems we have new path,” I said as I gazed down at the floor in front of the altar at the end of the hall.

Shining trotted up beside me, looking down as well. “Hmm, it seems you were correct about those stone carvings. They were indeed keys to our goal.”

I didn’t mention their new shapes to him.

As for our new path, a circular opening in the floor had been created from placing those pillars there. It revealed what looked like a stairway that seemed as though it had been carved the day prior proceeded to lead us into the depths of whatever was under the church.

Another dungeon.

Yay.