Seraphil

I clawed my way through the dozens of body parts, a small pit opening up within the pile. The ashy scales of each corpse pricked my fingers as I pulled them out, and the dried rot of flesh covered my palms. I wiped my hands against my cloak after each hull I pulled out, trying not to think about what defilement I was committing. After several minutes of yanking limbs from the pile, the small tunnel I made gave way and the bodies collapsed on themselves. When the dust settled, I laid my eyes upon the thing these people were after. A faint light at the end of a stretching tunnel glared back at me, gnawing at my vision. I walked down the newly formed slope and into the start of the tunnel, corpses tumbling in my wake. I landed on a solid stone foundation, fragile wood snapping under my feet. I looked down to see a long spear crushed under my foot. The spear had a dull blade with a small gray ribbon wrapped at its base. Accompanying the spear was a corpse, this one fully intact and with worn armor on. The armor was a dull bronze and had a stained gray cape attached at the shoulder plates. The helmet was cylindrical with stained horns at its peak, stretching out, resembling a crown. I moved the cape out of the way with my foot, revealing an intricate pattern engraved into the backside of the armor. The dull surface depicted the head of a dragon being skewered by a sword, with wings unfolding on either side. The engravings were filled with dirt and mold, darkening the depiction. I looked up and a few more of these dead knights with spears laid close.

I lifted my foot from the ground and walked forward, the dim light at the end tempting me. I did not have a single thought about what was just behind me other than wishing I had not seen any of it. The tunnel was long and damp, with the scent of mold festering throughout. It was dizzying how potent the odor was. Corpses of the scaled people lied lifeless throughout the tunnel, with blackened stab wounds covering their chests and torsos. As the narrow walls and ceiling passed me by, I noticed its peculiarly rough appearance, as if it was build haphazardly, or maybe this tunnel was not here during the creation of this rampart. As I neared the light at the end, the scent of rotting death slowly began to fade. Finally, my feet met the edge of the tunnel and I stared ahead at the world within these walls, its former glory present, but rotted away with time and ash. Within the ramparts, this kingdom rested upon a giant hill, and I stood at the very bottom. My mind began to race, crumbling at the enormous weight of the place before me. Atop the hill I saw lines of small dark walls and towers, and in the midst of all those, a tall castle stood at the very center. It had a rectangular base that supported a larger stone brick rectangular structure on top of it. Each corner of the upper building was decorated with cylindrical towers embedded into the dark gray stone. Each tower was sharp at their peaks, boasting tall, cone shaped roofs. The roof of the main structure was taller than all the towers with a triangular roof that reached the heavens.

The shade upon my vision that this castle cast was imposing to say the least. It was overbearing, so much so that I had not even bothered to realize the horrors at my eye level until after a moment. A couple feet ahead, a town laid in ruin, roofs shattered and walls crumbled. The remnants of this district looked to be in poor condition, not just now, but maybe even before the so called calamity. The skeletons of grimy stone walls and destroyed wooden roofs did not exhibit even a hint of something that could have once been royalty. These were most likely the slums of this once grand metropolis. However, what was between these buildings was what terrified me. Piles of gray corpses, identical to the ones I passed, were abundant within the town. The bodies of the bronze knights were also scattered about, though much fewer and not in piles. 

I averted my gaze to the left, trying to avoid the grotesque sight ahead of me, only to notice something off in the distance. Far away, to the left of where I stood, the curving rampart remained, its shadow cloaked in a dusty fog. Yet, in one instance of the rampart, there was nothing there. A large V shaped hole within the high wall was present, its base covered by the buildings just in front of me, but I was certain the crack reached the ground. The top of the crack had to have been a few miles long, its distance slowly shortening as it funneled down. Whatever had broken through that part of the high wall had to have been something massive.

My legs shook and my teeth chattered, fearful of the what I might become while I am here. Was this truly the kingdom Mendaciu spoke of, the one titled "the sanctum of angels?" Nothing about the atmosphere of this place displayed something heavenly or angelic. It was everything far from ethereal, like an eternal darkness had swept over this forsaken place, hiding it from anything holy. I looked up to the sky above the far castle, for what reasons I do not know. Maybe I was looking for angel amongst the dark clouds, or just any sign that this place had something to look forward to. In the end, I could not find it, and the darkness of the sky enveloped my eyes.

I began my walk of fear toward the gigantic crack in the high wall, its display tempting me to find its story. The ash was light inside the rampart and little wind blew through. The air was a bit more comforting here, but this comfort would dissipate as my stomach began to growl, and I responded how any human would. I opened my bag to pull out some more dried meat, only find that I was down to my last two.