Bonds of the Fallen
Chapter 40

Val’s senses were flooded with darkness as he opened his eyes, a thick blanket of cool, damp air wrapping around him. The distant sounds of shuffling and eerie whispers teased at his ears, their volume amplifying until they buzzed around him like an agitated swarm of wasps. Desperately, Val strained his eyes, attempting to penetrate the ink-black void that surrounded him, but to no avail. A suffocating wave of panic rose in his chest as he futilely tried to move his limbs, his body heavy and unyielding.

A child’s voice, small and fragile, cut through the darkness like a shard of glass. “Are you the king they sent to rule us?”

In response, Val fumbled in his pocket, his fingers closing around a small orb. He withdrew it, and a soft blue light bathed the hollow space around him. Slowly, the shadows retreated to reveal a threadbare group of figures standing nearby. Their clothing was ragged, dirt-streaked rags that hung off their malnourished frames. Val’s pulse thrummed in his ears as he took in the hollow cheeks and wild, desperate sparkle in their eyes, their gazes pinning him in place. Clutching the orb tighter, its blue luminescence cast strange, shifting shadows against the cavern walls.

A woman, her face drawn with worry and framed by unkempt hair, hesitantly stepped forward. “The goddess Hel once presided over this realm, but another struck her down.”

Val’s eyes swept over the crowd, their haunted faces twisted in the cold, unforgiving darkness of the cavern. “I wish I could help you,” he murmured, his voice thick with regret.

A man slowly emerged from the group, the orb’s blue light casting a haunting glow over his angular face. “You bear a resemblance to her.”

Val frowned, confusion knitting his brow. “Vampir?”

The man’s head tilted in a slow shake. “No, sir. I meant your face and your hand.” His gaze dropped pointedly downward.

A chill crept up Val’s spine as he raised his left hand to the light. Where there had once been flesh, only bone remained. Stiffening, he lifted his skeletal hand to his face, the harsh scrape of bone against bone echoing in the cavernous space. A fleeting moment of horror flashed across his face before he mastered his emotions, his jaw setting in a grim line.

“Would you be willing to show me your home?” Val’s voice was soft and inviting as he extended a bony hand towards the child. Bending down to her level, a gentle smile played on his lips, softening the harsh angles of his face. The girl hesitated momentarily before her tiny hand reached out to meet his. Her smile was bright and innocent as she skipped forward, her little fingers curling around his skeletal ones.

As they moved together, the crowd of people pressed in closer, their footsteps echoing against the cavern walls in a symphony of shuffles and soft murmurs. Val could feel the intensity of their gazes burning into his back with every step he took.

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