Herald of death

The long stairs open onto a vast cavern lit by distant green flames. Dark clouds cover the ceiling, giving the impression that a sky lies behind them. Russ prances on the now flat ground, happy that the torturous descent is over.

Bones crack next to them, and they turn to see a dried corpse tearing itself out of black, withered vines. It stands, a rusted short sword in hand. It bears ragged armor that might have once been padded leather. An iron helmet rests on its head, with goat horns sprouting from the sides.

'A Draugr,' Ethan realizes as he recalls bedtime stories. His confusion about the labyrinth grows. 'A Nordic monster, in a place guarded by a Cerberus, under a Sumerian city. How many mythologies is this place inspired by?'

The monster lunges at Ethan with surprising technique, but it is slow. Ethan sidesteps the attack and beheads it as he summons Phantom Reaver. As he would for a skeleton, Ethan crushes the Draugr's withered head under his boot.

The body turns into a coal-like dust that seeps into the ground. Ethan thinks for a moment. 'What if I encounter creatures like Lucifer, or the Leviathan? They have to be stronger than the Bull of Heaven we saw in Uruk.'

Ethan glances in the distance, discerning the corners of a vast castle piercing the clouds. He ponders silently for a moment, wondering if this place's dangers outweigh his need to talk to Christopher Hayes. He shakes off the ridiculous concern. 'He stayed on Earth for a reason, and that reason may be to come here the moment it appeared. He could vanish to the other side once he's done here, and I'll lose him again.'

A figure appears in Ethan's predator's sight, far away in the heart of this strange land. He focuses on it, magnifying its presence until he discerns the shape of a man. His heart beats frenetically as the man walks hunched, grabbing a rocky façade with his left hand to stop himself from falling. His head twitches to watch behind him, and he shoots a handgun at the air, yelling, "Leave me alone!"

Ethan focuses on the man's surroundings but sees nothing and hears no sound. He guesses, 'He must be hallucinating. That'd make sense if he's as dehydrated as the ones above.'

Then, as suddenly as it appeared in Ethan's sight, the figure vanishes. 'Is he dead?' Ethan ponders, looking in his direction. He doesn't find him; worse, he doesn't find the wall of rocks he was leaning on.

'What a strange place,' Ethan thinks. He surprises himself with his lack of reaction. An entire spot vanishing without warning should be worrying, yet it doesn't faze him at all. 'I guess I'm already adapted to these strange situations.'

He walks to the edge of the small cliff they are on, finding a natural staircase. It descends into a valley of rocky paths covered in withered vines, holding sleeping Draugrs.

A few ruins stand in the distance—a Greek temple, a cemetery, a European church, and others farther away. Ethan chooses the temple as a landmark to gauge the distance he will travel.

Large, sharp rocks line the valley they tread, creating diverging pathways that open into clearings. Pools of water and faint streams appear here and there, but just as before, the water they hold won't leave them. Ethan tries to sample it with an empty bottle, but the water vanishes inexplicably as he lifts the bottle.

Braziers holding green flames illuminate the place. Their low altitude creates elongating shadows and dark corners. Death Ether feeds them, coming from underground and traveling through their stone bases.

Human sounds reach Ethan's ears as they walk. He perceives gunshots, both of low and high caliber, and clashes of medieval weapons. Cries and pleas for help mix with the fights, people living their last moments at the hands of Draugrs or other humans. 'I shouldn't make too much noise; I don't need to attract attention to us.'

The Draugrs seem to wake only if disturbed by touch or noise. With Russ being naturally stealthy, Ethan takes care not to step on vines, leaving most of the creatures where they slumber. The thought of killing them all to level up crosses his mind, but he'd rather spare his strength in this unknown place.

After hours of walking, Ethan doesn't feel any closer to the castle. Russ strolls behind him, following Ethan through smell as he sniffs everything around. Time after time, Russ suddenly looks up, glancing everywhere until he finds Ethan, as if he had lost his trail.

'That doesn't usually happen this often,' Ethan thinks. He looks around, confirming the positions of the landmarks he used since entering here. He has created a distance from the entrance stairs that corresponds to the hours he walked, and the Greek temple seems to be close enough too. 'If I can't get closer to the castle, I should at least explore that building.'

They make their way to the ruins. Its dark stone pillars are cracked in so many spots that they seem a whoosh away from crumbling. A paved space lies between them and the temple, with a stone coffin at its center, covered in Nordic runes.

They enter through the temple's large, open gates. Its statues, covered in withered vines, lurch above them. They represent a muscular man with prolific hair and beard, dressed in a toga. He carries a scepter crowned by two spikes. 'Hades,' Ethan remembers.

A cold fireplace lies before the main altar, surrounded by modern junk. Ethan scans the empty packets of chips and protein bars. He spots two sets of imprints in the dust, one belonging to an overweight individual and the other to a thinner one. Shifting his gaze to the side, he sees dry blood on the floor.

'Those drops come from someone who's been hit with a bludgeoning weapon, probably on the head,' Ethan thinks as he examines the blood. He traces it as its owner stumbled and then got carried to the altar. The altar itself doesn't hold any blood, but its dust reveals that something humanoid was dragged onto it. The way they were removed left no mark, making Ethan ponder if the person teleported away.

"Welcome, … welcome, … welcome," an ominous voice says in gradually silencing whispers. Each repetition seems to come from another corner of the temple. "Welcome to a house of the lord of the underworld."

Nothing appears in Predator's sight, nor in Prescience. Russ looks around, equally oblivious to the presence's location. "So, Hades is the lord of this place. It could have been Lucifer, Hel, Donn, Anubis, or even Mictlantecuhtli; why him?" Ethan's question isn't aimed at earning him a truthful answer, but to gauge the entity's knowledge.

"One and the same," it whispers. A wind whooshes across the temple. "I come bearing an offer. … Bring a human sacrifice to the altar, and you shall be granted access to the castle of the lord; they are waiting."

"You made the same offer to the one who was here before me," Ethan mutters. How desperate or mad were they to accept this bargain? Ethan focuses on the Ether, trying to sense any anomaly in it. Something flies fast, pushing away the threads in its path.

Ethan bursts forward, summoning Phantom Reaver at the end of his extended arm. It pierces flesh and then stone as Ethan pins what lies invisible to a wall. A scream, like that of damned souls, echoes in the temple, shaking the dust off its stones.

Silence follows, yet Ethan can sense it squirming on his blade. He unleashes a debilitating hex, and the pointless struggle of the creature ceases. "Now that we've established your ability to feel pain, I have questions for you."

"Intimidation leveled up," the system announces. Its voice is followed by the dry roars of Draugrs outside the temple.

"If I can't use you, I'll at least enjoy seeing you torn apart," the creature coughs. Black ooze forms along Phantom Reaver, dripping off it in dark drops.

'Insight,' Ethan thinks, sensing that the Draugrs are not at the doors yet. A window appears, showing nothing but a gray background. 'It must be using Anonymity.'

A first Draugr crosses the gates, throwing a spear at Ethan. He spins, grabbing it mid-flight while letting go of his blade, and throws it back at its owner. The projectile splits the air with a whistle and turns its ribcage to dust. Five others rush in, charging with their shields.

'Missile,' Ethan thinks. Russ jumps, growing mid-air, before slamming his paws onto the shield wall. The Draugrs clatter to the ground, unable to stand before Ethan covers them in fire. 'Heel.'

Russ rushes back to Ethan's side, growling at the creature still pinned to the wall. It tries to dislodge the blade now that Ethan has canceled his hex to cast Flame. It mutters, "You are tougher than you look. But I doubt you will send this one to the grave as easily as the others."

Ethan restores his hex, not wanting the creature to escape.

A Draugr clad in rusted laminar and mail armor steps inside. Its eyes glow with Ether from behind its helmet, and its presence makes itself known by shaking the threads. It hefts its two-handed axe, lunging at Ethan. The blade of its weapon covers itself in frost, chilling the air in the temple.

'Strengthening,' Ethan thinks. He bursts at the Draugr, placing himself behind its reach before it can swing. He punches the creature in the chest, collapsing the structure of its armor. It flies through the temple's front wall, its axe's head freezing the ground as it skids on it.

The Draugr stands, its left arm falling off its body. It drags its axe with its remaining hand, rushing at Ethan. Ethan summons Skysong and throws it at the creature, piercing the base of its neck. The metallic spear's weight and energy throw the Draugr on its back. Ethan steps on its chest, grabs its axe, and hurls it into the Draugr's skull.

"You leveled up. Melee Weapon (Long Sword) leveled up. Melee Weapon (Spear) leveled up (x3). Unarmed combat leveled up. Adding the Melee Weapon (Great axe) skill. Based on your previous experience a level of 21 has been applied," the system announces. The glowing eyes of the Draugr dim as its Ether escapes into the air. Its body turns to dust, leaving its armor and axe.

Ethan grabs the weapon, peering into its Ether. It seems of poor quality, damaged by time, and holds no noticeable Ether. 'The ice must have come from the Draugr.'

As the dust vanishes into the ground, some of it lingers, shaping itself into a bone ring mounted with a topaz. Ethan grabs it from the ground and identifies it.

Ancient ring of ice transmutation (D)

Pouring Ether into this ring will manifest ice Ether.

"That would be useful if it manifested light Ether," Ethan thinks. He slips on the ring and moves a sliver of Ether into it. A minuscule amount of cold blue Ether escapes the topaz, swirling into the air. "The conversion rate is awful. Too bad I don't have any spell for it; at least I could use it next time I'm in a desert."

"Useless, foolish man!" the creature curses. Its voice breaks, as if it were losing its mind. "The one before took it from me! You need to die! You must die, or I'll be stuck here forever! You selfish creature, die! Give me what is mine!"

Despite Ethan's hex, it wrenches the blade free, making it clatter to the ground. Ethan summons Dark Fate and throws it at the beast, hitting it as it flies away. It falls; its gasps for air mix with gurgles of blood.

Ethan approaches the beast. Its breaths grow shallow and fast; his dagger must have hit something important. Perhaps, in its last moments, it will prove itself useful. Ethan asks, "What is it you want? That thing that would have gotten you a way out?"

"I won't tell you, or you'll want it," the creature says between gulps of black blood. It crawls away, slowly and predictably, desperately trying to escape Ethan. It falls on its invisible face, the thud echoing on the walls. "I hope you thirst to death here, lose your mind, and rot among the other corpses."

It stops squirming. The coal-like dust appears where it was and seeps into the ground, leaving Ethan's dagger. He stores it and gives a final search of the temple, seeking any hidden passage or stash. He finds nothing and resigns himself to leave this place.

'Is this why people are killing each other here?' Ethan ponders as he aims for another building, a European church. Russ trails by his side, his head bouncing up and down in fatigue. Ethan realizes that he hasn't slept in days. 'He got some rest at the back of the car, but he might still be exhausted. Backpack.'

Russ jumps on Ethan's back, placing his front paws above his shoulders. Ethan supports his legs to help him stay secured, and Russ rests his head, closing his eyes.