With a low groan, Hunter opened his eyes and found himself in complete darkness. He closed his eyes then reopened them in the hope that it would make a difference but found that it did not. Trying to remain as still as possible, he slowly flexed his extremities. Starting with his toes, he worked his way up his legs then switched over to his fingers and arms. Confident that nothing was broken, Hunter slowly ran his hands over himself, searching for any signs of blood. Pain shot through him as his fingers contacted his ribcage. Pressing on through the pain, Hunter continued to search for any open wounds. Although he didn’t find any, he did find several places that stung when he touched them.
Hopefully only bruised, and not broken. Hunter said to himself. Right, time to get out of here.
As he shifted, he realized that he was lying on top of something large and furry. I guess I can’t say you’ve never done something for me. he addressed the diamond dog in his mind with a fair amount of sarcasm.
As he slowly got to his feet, Hunter kept one of his hands above his head in case the ceiling was lower than he was tall. Finding that he could stand at his full height without striking his head, Hunter carefully took a step forwards, then a second and a third. Feeling confident enough to travel forwards, he managed to make it another four steps before his foot caught on something causing the human to stumble and fall forwards.
Instead of striking the ground like he expected, Hunter found himself lying on top of something softer than the stone that made up the cave. Feeling around in the darkness it only took Hunter a moment to figure out what he was on top of; it was one of the diamond dogs that he had killed shortly before falling into the chasm.
Maybe, hopefully the thing still has something useful on it. Hunter thought as he began to search the diamond dog. After a quick search of the dog revealed nothing, Hunter moved on to the cave floor adjacent to the body. He let out a low sigh as he finished his search and came up empty. The human slowly stood and inched his way over until his left hand came in contact with a wall. Keeping his left hand on the wall and holding his right hand in front of himself, Hunter carefully started down the pitch black tunnel.
As Hunter made his way down the dark, seemingly endless tunnel, he could feel the fatigue building in his legs. The pain from his injuries began to grow and hunger and thirst began to set in. His steps became shorter and shorter as he tried to press on. He managed to make it another three steps before he felt his legs finally give out from under him; only to realize a moment later that it wasn’t his legs that gave out, it was the floor.
Falling down the dark hole that had appeared underneath him and desperate to stop himself, Hunter’s arms flailed about as he tried to grab hold of something. All the air was forced out of his lungs as he struck bottom, however this ordeal was not over yet. Instead of landing on a level surface, Hunter found himself on an incline, which he began to roll and slide down. Unable to see where he was going or what was ahead of him, Hunter couldn’t react in time to protect himself from the rocks and stalagmites he collided into.
Eventually the incline leveled out and Hunter rolled across the ground until he struck something very large and hard. Acting more on instinct than anything else, the human tried to push himself up on to his knees. The pain from his new injures paired with his old ones proved to be too much however, and he immediately collapsed. Blood from several now open wounds soaked the ground and began to pool around the large crystal. A dim light began to shine from the inside of the crystal as Hunter lost consciousness.
“Hey! Are you alright? You alive?” a female voice called out.
Hunter opened his eyes and found a woman with golden hair standing over him. With a small groan, Hunter tried to stand only to be held in place by the woman. “Try to remain still, let the healers do their work.” she told him.
Looking down, Hunter could see another pair of hands, these ones enveloped in a faint blue light, hovering above his chest. “What happened?” Hunter managed to say, his voice croaking under the stress.
“You don’t remember?” the woman asked. Hunter shook his head. “It was one of those demons.” she continued. “It managed to get a lucky shot in before the barriers could be erected. Took out the bridge you were standing on, you fell and now you’re here. At least it was your own roof that you broke.”
“I have a roof?” Hunter muttered.
“At least we know that his sense of humor is still intact.” the man who was tending to Hunter’s injuries said. The glow from his hand extended over Hunter, enveloping him. His fatigue faded and the pain disappeared as Hunter’s injuries quickly healed.
“Now that you’re all better, go grab your armour.” the woman told him.
“Armour?” Hunter asked as he got to his feet.
“Yeah, armour; you know, the stuff that keeps you protected from pointy things.” the woman teased. “The stuff that’s on the stand behind you.”
“Oh, right.”
“How hard did you hit your head? Seriously though, you got to hurry; we need to join the others at the mid-gate.”
As Hunter reached the armour rack a blinding light filled his vision. Squeezing his eyes shut, Hunter tried to clear his vision. Opening is eyes, Hunter found himself alone; the other two humans had disappeared. Furthermore, the building he was in was nothing more than an ancient ruin lit only by a small glowing crystal that sat in the corner; however the armour on the rack still looked pristine. Hunter looked at his tattered, torn and bloodstained clothing then at the armour. Might as well. He said to himself as he began to pull the armour off the rack.
As Hunter donned the armour, he was surprised at how natural it felt, almost as if he had done it a thousand times before. As he fastened the straps to the chest-piece, he found that it fit remarkably well, giving the illusion that it was made specifically for him. With quick and practiced hands, Hunter donned the remaining pieces of armour, the leggings and heavy boots with shin guards; pauldrons; arm guards and gauntlets. Pulling on the near ankle length coat, Hunter smirked. “I look more like I belong in an anime than a history book.” he thought aloud. “Then again, I am in a land of multi-coloured talking horses, so I guess it fits.”
He fastened the empty weapon belt and sheaths into place, Hunter then grabbed the small glowing gem and stepped out of the destroyed building. As he nearly lost his balance as his foot contacted something round and smooth, causing it to roll from under him. Holding his light source closer to the ground, his eyes went wide in shock when he saw what he was standing on. Bone, human bones, littered the entire street. Hunter struggled to fight off the sudden panic and revulsion that threatened to overpower him.
Taking deep slow breaths, Hunter steeled himself against what was laying around him. Taking care to not step on any more bones, the human pressed onwards through the ancient city. The remains of those that lay spread throughout the streets and buildings all appeared to have died in some kind of horrifyingly violent manner. Most appeared to have been cut down, or dismembered but several showed the tell tale signs of having been eaten, and others still just seemed to be missing pieces without any explanation.
Making his way down the once cobblestone street, Hunter came across a new group of bones. Trying to make his way around them, he noticed that this particular skeleton looked different from the others. Its arms and fingers bones seemed disproportionately long, while its legs looked stunted and ended in strange claw-like feet. Hunter turned the skull over revealing a mouth containing dozens of needle like teeth. “Should have seen that coming.” Hunter said as he let the skull slip out of his fingers and fall to the ground.
Moving deeper into the city, Hunter came across more and more of the demonic looking skeletons. This looks more and more like something out of a work of fiction. Hunter said to himself. Armour not from any historical culture, crazy looking skeletons; maybe I’m dreaming.
Taking a chance, Hunter called out. “Selene, are you there?” he shouted. “I know you can visit dreams, so if you’re out there I could really use the help!”
His voice echoed through the underground city several times until it faded away into nothing. As the city grew silent, Hunter hung his head. So much for that idea. he sighed, shook his head and pressed on.
As he entered into a large intersection, Hunter found himself standing in front of a large ring of bones. Human and demon remains piled one on top another, as if still locked in their bloody conflict. What drew his attention was what lay in the center of the ring; separate from the rest of the bodies lay a skeleton of a large pony, with wings and a horn.
“Whose side were you on, I wonder.” Hunter said aloud, looking over the dead alicorn. “Although you being here would explain why knowledge of alicorn origins was forbidden.”
Keeping his distance from the dead pony, Hunter finished crossing the intersection and continued down the street. As he went, a large half-destroyed gate house was illuminated by the small crystal Hunter was carrying. The gem suddenly pulsed and emitted a blinding flash; when Hunter’s eyes cleared he found himself standing over a giant freshly killed multi-armed demon.
“How did you know that would work?” a woman’s voice to his left asked over the sounds of battle that were now filling the air.
Hunter turned and saw the same golden haired woman from earlier standing there. Seeing that she was wearing the same style of armour that he was made Hunter feel slightly more comfortable, regardless of how out of place it seemed to him.
“I didn’t.” Hunter found himself saying. “I mean, it stood to reason that if it could cut through anything, it should be able to cut through the thing’s hide.”
A loud explosion shook the city, drawing Hunter’s attention towards the large castle that stood above them.
“The King!” the woman shouted as she turned to race down the street.
“Wait, just let me grab-”
“There’s no time! Come on!” she yelled and took off down the street.
Another flash filled his eyes, causing Hunter to stumble for a moment. When his vision cleared he found himself back in the dark, destroyed city. Taking a second to gather his bearings, Hunter found that he was still in front of the gatehouse, but now there was a skeleton of a giant demon laying there. Sticking out of the monster’s skull was a strangely pristine blade embedded into the bone. Walking over to it, Hunter placed a foot on the skull, gripped the hilt and wrenched it out of the bone. Hunter marveled at the craftsmanship of the dagger when he was struck by a strange notion. He carefully slid the dagger into a sheath that hung off his left side. Finding that the weapon fit the sheath perfectly, Hunter smiled. So that’s how it works. he said to himself. Collect the set to find out more. Find the whole set and get out of the crazy underground city.
Setting off down the dark city once more, feeling invigorated now that he had a definitive plan; a strange, long shot plan, but a plan none-the-less. He made his way through the ancient battle damaged streets, and up toward the semi-destroyed castle that hung over the now buried city.
Approaching the castle’s outer gate, Hunter found that the number of bodies was increasing, indicating that the battle escalated as it neared the large stone building. To his surprise, as Hunter made way to the portcullis, he found two more alicorn bodies mixed in with the human and demon remains. What happened here? Hunter asked himself. Why are there alicorns here? None of this makes any sense!
Shoving any questions he had out of his mind, Hunter carefully ducked under the bent portcullis and entered the castle’s courtyard. Looking around, he found even more devastation here than on the other side of the gates. A blinding light filled his eyes once again, and the sound of battle filled the air.
“Come on!” the golden haired woman yelled at Hunter as he tried to get his eyes to focus. “We need to get to the King!”
Hunter looked around him, the portcullis was still closed but was straining under the force that the demons were using against it. As it bent slightly upwards, several of the dog sized demons scurried underneath it and rushed forwards. Hunter threw the axe that was in his hand at one of the charging demons then turned to follow the golden haired woman into the castle proper when a bright light filled his vision. As it cleared, Hunter found himself back in the dark city, surrounded by the dead. Making his way over to where he remembered throwing the axe, Hunter searched the area and quickly found it. Like the dagger before, not only was this weapon still in pristine condition, Hunter found the loop on his belt where it hung from. One the axe was secure, Hunter move across the courtyard and to the large castle doors. With a long slow breath, he prepared himself for the inevitable scene of destruction that he knew would be on the other side, before pushing one of the doors open.
As the light from the small gem spilled into the hall, Hunter found it completely empty. There were no bodies, no skeletons, no indications that a battle took place at all. “Ok... this is new.” Hunter said as he entered the empty room.
After walking through the battle field of a city, the strangely bare room put Hunter on edge. Something about there not being any signs of what he saw outside was unnerving.
“Welcome.” a voice called out when Hunter reached the center of the room. Hunter turned on the spot as he scanned the room.
“Who’s there?” Hunter called out.
“The the person whose memories you’ve been watching.” a man said as he stepped into the light.
“Your memories?” Hunter asked, studying the human in front of him. “But you look...”
“Like you?” the other Hunter smiled. “It’s the problem with the spell; because you experience what I did, you see yourself in the role. So, when you see me, your brain sees you.”
“I guess that makes sense, but what happens now?”
“You ended up here sooner than your other half, so now we wait.”
“My other half?”
“The other being that shares your mind.”
“What other being?”
“He is referring to me.” a female voice said from the darkness.
Hunter turned to face the newcomer to find a black furred alicorn standing there. Hunter’s eyes went wide in surprise. “S...Selene?”