“Fire!” he yelled. “Fire…fire shows that path!”
“Fire? Hm. I think your lying.” Vincent began to put pressure on the warden’s face. He could feel his skull starting to splinter.
“No! I swear! Fire shows the key to the prison. Just bring a torch. Please, please, don’t kill me.”
Vincent removed his boot from the warden’s face. “I believe you.” He said. “Unfortunately. I can’t very well have you telling people we are coming. It is a prison break, after all.”
“But you said——”
“I know what I said. And fear not. I’m gonna kill you. I’m just going to making it impossible for you to talk ever again.”
Vincent flipped the warden on his back and pressed his knee against his spine. He grabbed him by the neck and pulled back his head until he finally felt and heard…SNAP! The warden wasn’t dead. Although when he wakes up he might wish that. His eyes rolled back into his head and he was foaming at the mouth.
Vincent walked out of the room wiping his hands with a piece of cloth. They stared at him. Wanted to ask him what happened in there, but they kept their mouths shut. “Fire.” He said. “He said fire lights the way.”
“Fire?” Marisha repeated. “What the hell does that mean? Is he even telling the truth?”
“Probably is but if he is lying I can always interrogate him again. Besides, he’s not going anywhere.”
They all shivered when Vincent said, “interrogate.” They can only imagine what went on inside that house. His screams of torment and pain still rang is their ears. Vincent Valentine was not a man to be crossed. Some, unfortunately, have to find that out the hard way.
Chapter 19
“How the hell did I get here?” Vincent muttered to himself.
He was laying on his back in the middle of the snow. A vast mountain range in the distance. The snow around him stained with blood. His body aching. He turned his head, his vision was rather blurred at this point, but he saw a woman, standing barefoot in the snow, wearing nothing more than a long white shirt and holding a staff. Bodies were littered around her like trash. And Vincent could only vaguely tell that she had white hair. Similar to his.
They wasted no time going back to the entrance of the prison. Marisha had been curious for quite some time as to why Vincent wanted to go into the prison. So, she finally asked him. “Vincent, who’s inside the Bone Pit for you?”
“Someone with information I need. He’s apparently a combatant in the arena. He’s half-orc and half-giant.”
“You're talking about Curtis,” Mr.Pink said.
“You know him?”
“Who doesn’t know him? The guy is undefeated. He’s a sure bet at any fight. If you are looking for him then you’ll want to go down into the maximum security ward. That’s where all the fighters are housed. Won’t be easy, though. The ward is sealed off behind a massive reinforced steel wall.”
“I’ll think of something.”
They arrived at the entrance. Slayer walked inside with a lit torched in hand. Nothing changed besides the brightness of the room. “Nothing,” Slayer said. “There is nothing.”
They examined the room. At first, it would seem like the warden lied to Vincent, that was until he saw carvings on the wall that weren’t there before. He grabbed the torched from Slayer’s hand and illuminated the left side of the room. They were runes. Invisible scripts of words written in a dead language. Words can, in fact, be very powerful. Vincent placed his hand on the rune. It began to radiate a bluish glow. Suddenly——Click! As the floor began to descend.
“It’s an elevator!” Mr.Pink pointed out.
“So this is how it works. They used runes to raise and lower it. Impressive.” Marisha said.
“Stay focus. We are just getting started.”
It was a slow descent into the prison. They all soon found why it was named the Bone Pit. From the look of the cobblestone walls, it seemed as though the workers who worked in the pit were built into the foundation. Skeletal arms hung out of the wall and the empty eye sockets of the skulls looked as though they followed you around. It was eerie.
The elevator soon stopped one the first level. “This is where we get off,” Marisha said. “Who you’re looking for is on the bottom level. Stay safe, Vincent.”
“Same to you. Same to you all.”
Vincent pulled the lever on the elevator and it began to descend again. The slowness was killing him, but after awhile he started to see why it was beneficial. He was going deeper into the earth, which meant there was a change in air pressure. He started to notice it when the air became thinner and he came light headed. His vision started to become fuzzy. He had to take deep shallow breaths to keep himself from passing out.
He reached the second level. Molten hot magma was spewing out of nearly every direction. Above him were caged prisons. Nearly a hundred a row. They were being starved. What kind of crime could warrant such a harsh punishment? In reality, all them will die of dehydration long before starvation. It had to have been a thousand degrees on that level.
Getting to the final level felt as though it took an eon when in reality it probably took no more than a half an hour. Vincent was anxious. He was pacing back and forth so much a hole was bound to open up on the floor. It finally came to halt. It was dark…for a moment. There was a row of torches on each side of the wall that ignited all on their own. “That’s not ominous at all,” Vincent said.
He grabbed one of the torches and proceeded through the passage. It was too quite. All that could be heard were the sound of his footsteps, bats screeching overhead, and the sound of water dripping from above. Finally, the passage emptied out into a larger chamber. Mr.Pink wasn’t lying. The steel door was massive. It reached all the way to the top of the ceiling. The only saving grace was that Vincent couldn’t have to deal with guards. They probably figured the door would be enough to keep anyone out. Anyone normal that is.
Vincent approached the door. It was as solid as things get. He clenched his fist, reared his arm back, and with all his might delivered a punch that would splatter a man to paste. All Vincent managed to do was cause a dent. “Okay. This might take awhile.”
Meanwhile, Marisha, Mr.Pink, and Slayer were having a rough time.
“Ruuuuuun!”
They were bolting through the tunnels. Something big was chasing them. A loud hissing-like roar echoed behind them as the beast came into sight. Black scales, yellow eyes, and teeth as long as great swords. It drooled venom that burned a hole into the bedrock. It was a basilisk. Otherwise, know as the “King of Serpents.” With one look it can kill you.
It was like a maze down. Passageways, upon passageway. They must’ve carved out all these tunnels for the beast. Or perhaps the prison itself was built on top of the creatures home. Basilisks have been thought to have been eradicated during the age of the gods.
“This way!” Slayer yelled.
They dove through a narrow tunnel. Far too narrow for the basilisk to follow. It still tried to get through, however——as it slammed its massive head against the wall. Rocks began to fall down from the ceiling. Mr.Pink just managed to just narrowly avoid getting his skull crushed.
“Who…what…was that…?” Marisha was flustered. She could barely get a sentence out. “That thing was…shit!”
“I suppose that explains why there aren’t any guards down here. That beast is all the security they need down for this level.”
Marisha took point while Slayer took up the rear. Mr.Pink was in the middle of them. His teeth were chattering. “If that thing really is a basilisk then whatever you do don’t look it in the eye,” Marisha whispered.
“Yeah because its eyes are the first thing I’m to look at when face with a fifty-foot snake.” Mr.Pink sarcastically said. “Where are we going anyway? This isn’t some normal prison. I don’t see any cells.”
“Probably don’t need them,” Slayer added. “Think about it. You have a basilisk down here so the people are used for…”
“Slayer! Shut up!” Marisha yelled. Having run into that beast, Marisha began to wonder if her mother was even still alive. “If you two wanna turn back, then go ahead. I…I have to see this through.”
“We’re still here, aren’t we?” Mr.Pink added. “We would’ve when you said that you were going to break into the Bone Pit. We didn’t leave then and we aren’t leaving now, right Slayer?”
Slayer smirked to give her answer.
“We’re a crew. That means we stick together. So, what is your order, captain?”
Marisha couldn’t have wished for a better crew.
A loud roar ended the moment. Rocks began once again falling around them. “We have to move. That thing is probably sniffing us out as we speak.”
The further they went the darker it became. There were barrels of gunpowder which littered the landscape. Why was that? Perhaps these tunnels weren’t made by the beast, after all, Marisha thought. And if not, then why?
Having been passed a lit torch by Slayer, Marisha peered into one of the tunnels. It was a dead end. It became clear what the gunpowder was used for now. It was used to carve out spacious caverns as a dump off point. There were people inside. Dead? No. Frozen? Perhaps. They weren’t moving. They almost looked like life-like statues.
“Are they dead?” Mr.Pink asked as he walked through them.
“No. They’re…frozen,” Marisha added. “What is this? Magic?”
“I don’t think so. Magic where’s off after awhile. They look like they’ve been here for awhile. How long? I don’t know.”
They examined them. They all wore the same outfit of rags and scraps of leather strapped to their feet. They ranged anywhere from the elderly to children. All frozen. With fear written on their face.
“Smart,” Mr.Pink muttered. “I think the basilisk did this.”
“How so?” Slayer inquired.
“I read that a basilisk can kill you if you look directly in the eye, but if you just so happen to look at the basilisk indirectly, like for example if you catch its gaze through a mirror, you’ll instead become petrified. With them frozen like this they never have to worry about feeding them or feeding them. Smart, very smart. Marisha I…”
Marisha wasn’t listening. She was weeping, doubt that she even noticed, at the far end of the cavern. The woman she was looking at looked just like Marisha, a little older, but looked just like her. “I found her…guys, I found her!”
Just then the ground shook and the cavern echoed with a loud roar. The basilisk was coming.
Vincent had spent the last half an hour punching his way through reinforced steel. Even with his god-like strength, he was still having a hard time. But after nearly an hour he managed to punch through. His fist was killing him. If it was normal, all the bones would be most likely shattered.
Inside were a series of cells. Each filled with strong looking contenders all chained to walls. They eyed Vincent as he walked inside. It didn’t take him long to find Curtis. He was all the way at the end in the biggest cell. He stood a grand total of seven feet tall, had light green skin with two fangs sticking out of his mouth.
He glanced up at Vincent and asked. “Curtis fight now?”
“Not why I’m here. Curtis, my name is Vincent Valentine. I’m looking for my sisters, Cirilla and Evie. Do you know where they are?”
“You look for friends? Vincent? No. Vincent dead. Friends cry for Vincent. You no him! You liar!”
Vincent reached into his pocket and pulled out the bracelet. “They had something like this, right? They must’ve told you what it meant to them. What it meant to…us.”
“Friends show Curtis. Told Curtis what meant.” He glanced over at his arm where a bracelet similar to his was wrapped around his wrist. “They make for Curtis. Tell Curtis to be their friend. Curtis…happy.”
“Curtis, where did they go? What happened?”
“Illya attacked by bad people. People tell us to run out of the city. People attacked us, brought Curtis and friends here. Bad people try to hurt friends. Try to take friends clothes from them. Curtis get mad. Crush man skull with fist. Friends…scared. Curtis scared friends. Friends ran. Curtis know not where.”
“Which way did they run?”
“Curtis remember the sun…rising.”
“Rising? East. They ran east. Hang on, Curtis I’m gonna get you out.”
“No!” he yelled. “Curtis stay. Curtis fight.”
That’s when it dawn on Vincent. Curtis can leave anytime he wants. “You want to stay here, don’t you? You can leave anytime you want.”
“Curtis fight. Curtis good at fighting. Curtis have purpose.”
“Curtis, listen to me. No matter how much you fight, you’ll never find your purpose at the end of the sword. Trust me on that one. Thank you for helping my sisters. I hope next time I see you won’t be inside of a prison.”
Chapter 20
Upon arriving back at the elevator, Vincent was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. He didn’t show it but he was almost certain that his sisters died in Anders. He was happy to see he was wrong. Curtis, for as intimidating as he was, was actually a nice guy. Shame he’s wasting his life fighting an arena. However, Vincent wasn’t one to judge. He spent over a decade inside of a cell when he could’ve left at any time. He can’t help but see himself in Curtis.
Vincent began his ascent back to the surface. An explosion tore through the silent cavern like a cannonball. He arrived at the first level of the prison. He was half expecting to find them waiting for him. He heard screaming, explosion, and a loud roar. He was about to step off and run to see what was going on, but he stopped cold in his tracks. It wasn’t his problem and he was no hero. They were on their own. He pulled on the lever and make his way back to the surface.
It was morning. He found a wagon that was heading east. He had some gold left and gave it to the driver. He got some sleep. Hoping for a good night sleep.
Vincent was yet again standing in the middle of Avia’s castle. “Again?!” he yelled. “What is it this time?”
The Black Knight made himself known. “I’ve been wondering something.” He said. “When you do eventually find your sisters, what’s your plan?”
“My what?”
“Your plan. You must have some notion of what your gonna do. Do you intend to drag them back to Blackfire with you? It is quite possible that they have built a life somewhere and don’t wish to be bothered. Has that not crossed your mind? Has it even occurred to you that maybe that don’t wanna see you? That you being alive will dredge up old wounds that they have long since buried.”
“I don’t care,” Vincent muttered. “So long as I know they are safe. That’s all I care about.”
“My, my, my. Aren’t we the hero. Don’t be a hero, Vincent. You’ll never be one. All you’ll ever amount to is a man who lives by his own set of rules. ‘Get in my way and your head is coming off!’ What a creed to live by.”
“Shut up! I have had just about enough of you! Why are you even telling me this?”
“Curiosity mostly. Your reactions are priceless. There is a lot of primal rage within you. I wonder why that is. Regardless, soon you’ll have to harness that rage and direct it towards one of your greatest enemies.”
“And who might that be?”
“Your brother!” The Black Knight thunder clapped his ears. Vincent's eyes sprang open. A thunderstorm was roaring overhead. The carriage was stuck in the mud and the horses were spooked. They weren’t going anywhere. He would have to proceed on foot through the…jungle? When did he cross into a jungle? How long was he asleep? It didn’t matter. He just kept going east.
After sloshing through, god knows only what in that swamp, he finally came to a town. The houses themselves were built on top of the trees. He found it to be very innovative.
He went to the inn, sat at the bar. Asked the barkeep if he had seen two girls with scarlet red hair and green eyes. In truth he didn’t expect anything to come of it, but when he
said that he remembered them his heart became aflutter. Vincent was pointed to an old man who ran an orphanage. For that is where they lived. He wasted no time and searched for the old man.
The children were all out playing when Vincent walked up. They had never seen a man with such an intimidating face. They all scattered inside. Vincent walked in. He could feel a hundred eyes watching him as the children looked at him from the shadows. Just as he stepped inside, an elderly man made his way into the room. He looked at Vincent and smiled. “I’ve been expecting you. Please, come on it.”
They made their way to the backroom. He poured two cups of tea. “Vincent Valentine.” He said. “I’d wonder when I’d be seeing you.”
“You know me?”
“Why yes. Your wanted poster made it’s way here. The minute I saw your name I knew it was only a matter of time before I’d be seeing you. I also know why you are here. Sadly your sisters aren’t here.”
“Do you know where they are?”
“No, but I do know where they went.” So the old man told Vincent everything. Something was bothering Vincent. His story didn’t seem to be a lie but it almost seemed scripted.
“The dividing line…” Vincent muttered. “Why would they go there?”
“I cannot say for I do not know. They did, however, leave behind something.” He reached over and grabbed a strange looking stone with markings on it. “Give this back to them when you see them.”
Vincent reached over to grab it. Just then the Black Knight made himself known. “Vincent don’t its a…!”
To late. It was already in Vincent’s hand and with a blind flash of blue arcane energy he was gone.
Vincent could feel his body being split and reformed a hundred times over. Voice rang in his ear as he witnessed stars explodes, plants destroyed, as he sat on top of the moon just…just watching.
The Return of Constantine (The Blackest Knight Series, Book 2) Page 11