CYCLEBREAKER

Siff and Ryn set off toward the fortress in order to find something—anything—that could maybe help them stop the catastrophe and end this neverending cycle once and for all.

"The fortress isn't too far. Maybe about a two-hour walk," said Ryn while picking up her bag.

During their journey, Siff and Ryn didn't talk much, mostly small talk about the plants and the weather here and there. Siff was still a little confused about everything that had happened, but this unexpected girl he came across seemed friendly and genuine, so he followed. Siff could feel a kind of connection to her, like a small shard of his soul was resonating with hers.

"Do you think we'll find something useful in there?" asked Siff.

"Hopefully! But you need to be ready. There might also be monsters or more of those hooded red creatures down there!"

Siff gulped silently and continued walking beside Ryn.

Closing in on the fortress, Siff noticed that it was made of grey stone, different from anything else around here, which was either white or pale green. The fort was small, maybe only twice the size of a shed. It was also in bad condition, holes penetrating the rock at various points and moss enveloping the outside walls. There was a small entrance in the front but no windows or any sign of previous activity around it.

Upon arriving at the fortress, Ryn placed her hand on Siff's shoulder. "Go look around it!"

He slowly walked around the right side, starting to feel an unknown gripping sensation in his chest.

"Is... this fear?" The sensation popped into his mind. Something he had never felt before but could still recall from somewhere, like he had always had it.

Looking at the back of the fortress, he saw a hole in the roof and signs of great damage on the back wall. Still no windows or other entrances. He circled around and went back to Ryn, who was sitting on the grass waiting for him.

"There's nothing in the back!"

Ryn stood up. "Good. Then we should head inside."

Both kind of frightened, they peeked through the entrance into the dark and gloomy fort. It was a big empty room with a broken staircase leading up to the roof.

"There's nothing here. Only some cloth, pieces of wood, and an old rug. We can't even go up because the stairs are broken after the fifth step," added Siff whilst looking around.

Ryn glanced around in confusion. "There must be something else here. I swear I heard weird, creepy noises from here."

Snooping around, Siff sensed something—the cracking of the dusty wooden floor felt different in the middle of the room above the old rug and near the staircase.

"This doesn't feel right!" said Siff while stomping repeatedly on the rug.

He removed the rug and saw a small trapdoor with a broken-off padlock. Ryn rushed to him in excitement. They were both a bit hesitant, but Siff caved in and opened the door, prepared for whatever was to come.

There was only a stairway leading down, with some lanterns illuminating the darkness.

"Y-you first!" said Ryn while nudging Siff.

"Why should I be the first one to go in? This was your idea!"

"Well, someone needs to watch our backs if we get attacked from behind. And also, you are the one who found this trapdoor in the first place. So logically, you should have the honor of going in first," said Ryn with a big smile on her face while slowly pulling herself back behind Siff.

Siff sighed and rolled his eyes, slowly stepping down into the unknown. Ryn followed closely.

They treaded the dark stairway for some time before coming to a big room filled with low, glowing lanterns on its walls. There was a shallow pattern on the floor resembling a circle with strange lines inside of it. They were all connected, and it looked like something was supposed to flow through them. The room was small, with nothing else in it except the engraving on the floor and a stone board on one of its walls.

"First of three revelations!?" said Ryn while trying to decipher the board.

"What does that mean? First of three... Is this like a test or a requirement?" asked Siff while studying the floor engravings.

There was a shallow circle on the floor and strange lines going through it, almost like an offering altar that needed to be filled with something.

"There's some more text on the bottom as well. 'The crimson piece of thyself shall fill the dry corridors and satisfy the gods.' Hmm... Crimson piece of thyself?"

Siff rubbed his chin for a while before coming to a conclusion. "Does it mean blood? Crimson piece? The only thing about us that's crimson and can fill up these engravings onthe floor is blood."

Ryn looked back at Siff slowly. "That's also the only thing I can think of as well, but that would need a lot of blood to fill up. I have an old knife on me. We could do it, but..."

Siff glanced at Ryn and sighed. "It's okay, give it to me."

Ryn carefully handed the knife to Siff. He stood in the middle of the circle, right above a small bowl-shaped engraving that branched out to all the others. He sliced his palm in a fast swoop and held it above the ring. Pain and discomfort slowly filled his body. At last, he endured, and the ring was fully filled with his blood. Siff gave the bloody knife back to Ryn, and she wrapped an old piece of cloth around his hand.

A big part of the rocks opposite the stairs moved, revealing a new stairway going even deeper into a thicker darkness.

Going down, a weird smell of rust and oil started filling up the surroundings.

At the bottom of the stairway was a long, gloomy hallway filled with darkness, occasionally broken up by a low-hanging lantern. There was yet another stone board on the left wall.

"Second of three revelations: 'Thy strides shall determine thy fate.' So do we have to be careful where we step?" Ryn asked Siff while giving him a smirky look.

Siff took a small rock that was lying beneath his feet and threw it about two meters in front of him. A blade shot down from the ceiling, scraping the ground before retreating up.

"Wow. So I don't wanna be impaled by that!" said Ryn with a shocked expression on her face.

Taking a good look at the floor, although it was very dark, Siff noticed that the floor was made of a bunch of repeating stones. The hallway was two stones wide, and they went all the way to the end.

"It repeats about ten times. So that means that each time, one of these stones is safe and one is not," said Siff while crouching down to the ground to inspect the stones closer.

There was no difference between the stones—completely the same. There were also no rocks around for Siff to throw. Yet even if the stones were the same and no other text was written on the board to help, Siff felt something, something inside his chest connecting itself to every piece of the hallway and pulling him forward.

"The left stone is safe!" said Siff with full confidence in his chest.

"Wait, how do you know!? There are no clues or anything here!"

Siff took a step on the left stone... Nothing happened. "Don't you feel it? Are you not also being pulled by that strange feeling in your chest?"

"Now that you mention it, I do feel a strange connection with this place. It feels like something from the other side of this hallway is calling for us!" Ryn's face brightened up before passing Siff and stepping on the left stone in front of him.

Eight steps left.

Both of them could feel a strong calling from the end of the hallway. Each step felt like they were getting closer to the source. Slowly the conquered the steps and found themselves at the very end.

Last step.

"Hey Siff!"

"Yeah... I feel that too. That feeling in my chest... it's not telling me which stone to step on."

Quickly panicked, both of them started looking around for anything that could help.

"There must be a reason why this is happening!" said Siff while constantly scanning every corner of the hallway.

"Aha!" shouted Ryn. "Here, on the ceiling right above us! 'The final stride shall be done in an all-trusting leap. Without full commitment, there shall be no salvation.' What does that mean?"

Siff mumbled some thoughts through his mind, trying to find an answer...

"Ryn!"

"What is it?"

"You have to trust me on this! We have to jump on them at the same time. I'll take the right one, and you jump on the left. Okay?"

Ryn looked at him with a terrified expression. "Are—are you sure?"

"Yeah. You have to trust me, okay?"

Ryn took Siff's hand and closed her eyes.

"Three, two, ONE!"

They both jumped.

They both jumped, landing on the stones at the same time. Their eyes stayed shut for a brief moment, almost as if bracing for the worst. But... nothing happened.

Slowly, they opened their eyes, exchanging glances of both relief and disbelief.

"We did it," Ryn whispered.

Siff exhaled deeply. "Yeah... I guess trust really was the key."

They stepped forward together as a pile of rocks at the end of the hallway shifted, grinding loudly as they slid apart, revealing yet another stairway leading even deeper into the unknown.

A heavy, damp breeze flowed up from below, carrying with it a stronger stench of rust and oil mixed with something else—something ancient and foul.

Without a word, they both glanced at each other and descended...