Chapter 193: AoA Chapter 004 – Landing IV

Kik’s ‘home’ was not exactly as awful as Simone was imagining. They made their way down the passage that opened up past the room they had met in. The hall extending for at least a few hundred more feet before they came upon a doorway opening to the left. She almost didn’t recognize it as a door until Kik pointed out the small opening beneath the slab of stone that filled the gap. It scurried inside and she was half-ready to wait for it to get its affairs in order when abruptly the stone slid upward and into the siding with a low, rumbling groan. She had to squint a little as proper lighting assailed her eyes for the first time since she’d awakened down here.

The space was small, barely larger than a cheap studio apartment in New York. The space was framed with all manner of knick-knacks and items that the tiny creature had acquired over the years. Everything was neat and organized, with a sort of obsessive sensibility around it. One side of the room was clearly some kind of kitchen, a small pit had been built of broken stones and a red-hot crystal of some kind was glowing brightly at the center. The breastplate of a piece of armor had been shaped with what looked like a rock into a bowl-like shape and set on top of the crystal for cooking. There were several pouches in a neat row next to it including a jar filled with water that had odd symbolic carvings written around the outside.

To her right, there was a sleeping area, cloaks, clothing, skins, and other items had been bound together with some kind of thread into a neat mattress. It was the rear of the room that held her gaze, though. From wall to wall and floor to ceiling, dozens of shelves made of pieces of wood and stone had been lodged into the wall or secured one way or another. On each shelf there had to be at lest ten or fifteen little strange stones. Each was a different color or shape, some moved, some were cloudy and some crystal clear. Kik hustled from where they had come in and grabbed a stool, carrying it over to the shelves and climbing up until it could barely reach its target. It slipped the new addition onto the shelf and stepped back to admire its collection.

“This is a nice place,” Simone admitted, “No offense but I was kind of expecting more mess.”

“Kik’s kin are messy,” Kik said with a low growl, “Disgusting, eat fishbones, blech!” It hopped off the stool and went over to its kitchen. “I have magic water, never runs out! I have dust to make food taste good, I have cheese!” It said delightedly, opening up one crate that wafted with cold air. “Kik find things here, abandoned, left behind. Some come from above, starve or get dead. Kik takes what’s left.”

“You don’t kill any of them, do you?” Simone asked warily.

“Does Kik look like Kik could kill a big people like you?” It asked incredulously, “Kik tiny!”

She rubbed her eyebrow, “Point, so what kills them?”

“The big lizards,” It said, counting on its wrinkled fingers, “The spiders, the munchers, and…” it shuddered, “The statue of death.”

“The statue of death,” She repeated, “Like a statue without a face?”

Its eyes bulged, “There’s one without a face?” It squeaked.

Catching herself she cleared her throat, “No! No! Not anymore, it died when I fell on it.”

The little creature let out a sigh of relief and sat down, “Don’t scare Kik like that! One is bad enough!”

“So the one you know has a face?” She asked, crouching down a bit to listen to it.

“Yes, eyes and a mouth, a sad face of moaning. It comes through the halls, walking, no words, then light,” Kik grunted, “I’ve seen it, the light, it eats people. They’re there, then flash! Nothing but clothes and stuff, no bodies. Gone. Everything is cold after that, frost on the walls.”

“That sounds way worse than my statue, mine just had pointy arms,” Simone said, “How do you know it’s coming?”

“It knows no fear, it walks with noisy steps,” Kik said, “They echo in the halls.”

Simone swallowed, clearing her throat a little before looking over her shoulder, she needed to get out of here, fast. Kik could get by because it was small and quiet but she was easy enough to see walking through the halls. If this thing was really that dangerous she wanted no part in meeting it. She got to her feet and stretched her arms, “Let’s get going then, the sooner I’m out of here the sooner you can get back to your cushy life and neither of us have to deal with your death statue.”

“Smart lady!” It nodded, “What is your name, lady?”

Simone hesitated, the woman that was Simone Balfrey was dead, she was living a new life now. She could pick a name for herself if she wanted. She scratched her head and let out a breath, “I don’t have one.”

“Don’t have a name!” Kik balked, “You need to figure that out!”

She laughed, “I suppose I do,” She said, “Come on, we can talk about it on the way?”

“Kik must lock up, see you outside!” It said, shooing her out the door and into the dim hallway. Soon she was bathed in darkness again, the door sliding shut and the tiny creature hustling its way out of the space. It had strapped a belt around its waist that was dangling with tools, a sack hung from its back and it wore a cloak wrapped around its shoulders. “Kik ready!”

“Is it a long trip?” She asked.

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“You will see.”

She nodded dubiously and fell into pace with the creature, sticking close and darting into the shadows when it instructed her to do so. As dim as the place was she couldn’t see many of the hiding places that Kik found almost offhandedly. Now and then creatures would pass them, paying them no mind as they continued on their way. There was an enormous salamander looking-thing with six legs and rows of teeth. Then there was the room full of spiders that Kik carefully moved her around, so long as they didn’t go near the door itself, they were safe. It was about an hour into their walk when she heard the sound of metal on marble clacking with a slow rhythm down the hall.

“Bad luck!” Kik hissed, “Hide now! Must hide now!” 

It reached up and grabbed her by the hand, rushing towards the nearest doorway and hurrying inside, the small dark space was crammed with old clay pots and barrels that had worn down over how many years this place had existed. The two of them scuttled behind a tall set of barrels and hid. She turned to him and opened her mouth to ask a question but he held his finger to his lips, his eyes wide with fright. She closed her mouth and listened as the clacking sound drew closer and closer. A low mechanical whine rose in pitch as it passed them, the temperature of the room dropping to the point that Simone began to shiver. Fear came next, an instinctual reaction to the presence of death, she clung to her knees and buried her face in them, holding her breath until the sound faded and the temperature returned to normal.

She looked at an equally terrified Kik, the creature’s big eyes staring into hers, “The Statue of Death, we go, quickly now that it is past us!”

She scrambled to her feet, the chill still working on her skin as she tried to shake off the terror. She hadn’t even seen the thing and she could feel her end radiating off of it. It was like nothing she’d ever experienced. Her fingers felt numb around the hilt of her sword as she passed into the hallway and turned to look in the direction the statue had gone. Far in the distance, a vaguely humanoid shape was shrinking out of her range of vision. It moved with slow, deliberate steps.

Before it got too far away she concentrated on it, seeing if she could at least get some details.

 

[Royal Tomb Guardian]  - Hostile - Level 10 < Boss > HP: 100% MP: 100% SP: 100%

 

“This is a tomb?” She breathed, looking down at Kik who shrugged. She closed her eyes and shook off the last remnants of the fear the thing put out and nodded to him. “Let's get out of here.”

The two of them ran, darting down the hall and avoiding what few dangers Kik could point out before they finally came to a stop at a large pair of doors. The structure was ornate, with the black marble carved in such a way to accentuate the gold veins inside. There were words carved into the door as well, embossed with gold paint that hadn’t faded in all this time. She squinted at them and felt an odd tingling in her head that set her teeth on edge. She quickly looked away from the text and down at Kik who smiled at her, “The words get in your head, don’t read them.”

“Did you?” She asked.

“Yes, before Kik was exiled,” Kik said, “I saw things, heard things, learned things, it made me think. I scared the others of my kin,” Kik deflated a little, “The words on these walls are dangerous.”

“Thinking scared them?” She pressed, suddenly feeling bad for the little thing. 

He nodded, “Simple people, too simple, new things scare them,” It cut the conversation there, going to the door and finding what looked like a latch at the bottom. He pulled on it and the doors groaned before sliding up towards the ceiling. Light poured into the dim space and Simone had to guard her eyes otherwise she’d be blinded. As the sensation faded she lowered her hand and took in the grandeur of it all. 

She stepped out slowly onto what looked like an entry platform, two sets of stairs stretching down left and right into the biggest courtyard she’d ever seen. Trees and grass grew as if the sun was still shining above them, streams of water crisscrossed in carefully built canals, delivering refreshment to the subterranean environment. Beyond the trees, though, was the palace. A ziggurat framed by four towers dominated the enormous cavern. She swallowed and looked up at the ceiling, there, one of the towers connected to the world above.

“That’s our way out?”

“Yes, Kik has been up there once, nothing lives inside the big place. Only the prisoner who never moves,” Kik said quietly.

“Prisoner?” She was about to ask him to elaborate when the sound of clacking metal on marble reached her ears. She looked down at Kik who had gone even paler than usual. He looked up at her and then at the door, scrambling to find the lever to shut it.

“Run! We must run! To the big place! Hurry!”

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