Free Web NovelChapter 126: Into The Darkness (2)
Having grown strong, mirroring the power her parents once possessed, Kestrel came to understand that those voices and emotions weren’t external sensations but were imprints embedded deep within her psyche by her parents.
"If you can’t sense this or feel the way we did, then you must never reveal it. Hold onto this secret, nestled deep within you."
"Dearest Kestrel, we’re heartbroken that we can’t be there as you grow."
When she was younger, Kestrel couldn’t recall how her parents looked. Their faces were but blurs in her mind. Yet, these heartfelt sentences echoed clearly. freёweɓnovel.com
She kept this to herself, never sharing with anyone.
During tranquil nights, young Kestrel would let those words play on a loop in her mind. Through them, she could feel the essence of who her parents were and the depth of their love for her. Using these fragments, she built an imaginary world where she was a regular girl with doting parents. That was what drove her to gather every piece of information about the Mary’s wreck and eventually led her to the vital clue her parents had hidden in the depths of Polluted Zone Five.
Drawing nearer to the massive eye, its details became eerier. The blood-red tears flowing from it formed a waterfall that poured into a yawning crack in the ground.
This deep crevice split the land apart. Looking down, a maze of steel, staircases, and compact homes revealed itself. Human-made structures piled on top of each other, descending further and further until swallowed by the engulfing dark.
What lay before them was a vast subterranean city, deeply embedded in the shadows of the underworld. Maybe, once upon a time, this city thrived in splendor. But now, the encompassing darkness reigned supreme. The city was eerily silent, devoid of any light. The winds that swept through carried a sinister black hue, reminiscent of a ravenous abyss ready to engulf everything. Hidden within were both horrifying beasts and enticing treasures waiting to be discovered.
With determination, Kestrel and Ren started their descent. The way was treacherous. They navigated using moss-covered pipes, which were slippery underfoot. These pipes occasionally groaned and creaked under their weight, echoing the city’s age and fragility.
But they weren’t alone. Many adventurers, both alphas and regular folks, ventured into this dark abyss. Equipped with baskets and bags, they carefully navigated the hazardous pipes, all hoping to unearth resources from the forgotten city below.
"Be super careful and always keep an eye out, even if it’s just a tiny bit of Hades Stone you spot," a tired old man notified the young guy walking behind him. The skinny teen stepped carefully on the pipes, always on the lookout to help he old man if he stumbled.
"The Eyehole has loads of this Hades Stone, and trust me, it’s super precious. They use it to make fancy incense," Ren shared with Kestrel. "That’s why, even though it’s risky, loads of folks still risk it to come here."
He offered his hand, helping Kestrel as she made a leap from one super slippery pipe to another spot.
The moment Kestrel’s boots touched down, they hit a metal roof with a loud bang.
"Look, even these regular folks are taking the risk. It’s kinda scary," Kestrel observed.
"True, but most who come here don’t even find any Hades Stone. It’s buried super deep," Ren filled in. "For the regular folks and even many of the alphas, getting there is a big challenge."
Suddenly, from a distance, someone lost their balance and fell. The skinny figure smacked into a pipe below, bounced off, and like a snapped stick, kept falling into the endless void below.
Kestrel just stood still, shocked. She never heard the sound of the person reaching the bottom. The deep darkness just gobbled up that young soul, leaving no sound except some faint, heart-wrenching cries echoing in the shadows.
Staring into the deep, Kestrel asked Ren, "Why do they even want these incenses?" Her voice hinted at frustration. "Is it really worth people’s lives?"
Ren didn’t answer for a moment. The only real use of these incense was to make the rich folks in the Tower happier. But were they worth the dangers people faced for them?—Absolutely not.
It made no sense and seemed so wrong to Ren, but he knew that this world was messed up. A single person’s anger wasn’t going to fix that.
Looking upwards, Ren saw just a tiny strip of daylight from a crack way above them. The light here was getting dimmer, and the chilling winds sounded like a bunch of sad spirits crying out.
As they moved deeper, the little daylight they had vanished. Everything turned pitch black, making it super hard to see anything. freewebnøvel.coɱ
Ren switched on a tiny flashlight attached to his shoulder. It wasn’t super bright. They had to be careful with the battery since they might be down here for a while and didn’t have a super powerful light. The dim beam danced around, just lighting up the area near their feet.
Ren reached out, and Kestrel’s smaller, delicate hand grabbed his with surprising strength.
The underground was like an eternal night, a place where light seemed to just disappear. The feeble flashlight they had only lit up the crazy paths and twisty tunnels, casting spooky shadows that felt like monsters could jump out any second.
In this dim world, Kestrel could barely see a thing. But Ren, with his sharp eyes, could make out things even with just a bit of light.
Holding tight to Ren’s hand, Kestrel moved carefully through the super dark tunnel. Suddenly, she stopped and pulled on Ren’s arm. He looked where she was staring—
A pale, ghostly face showed up in the flashlight’s light, just hanging out on the ceiling. This weird creature, hidden in the dark above, showed off its creepy head. It sort of looked human but had no eyes—just smooth skin there. And its pointy ears made it look even weirder. Its skin, all white from being away from sunlight, was super creepy to look at.
The creature had eight arms, each with fingers that looked like human’s, letting it sneak around on the ceiling silently.
Even with Ren’s sharp hearing, he didn’t catch any sound from it. But Kestrel’s special abilities told her it was there, lurking in the shadows.
When the creature saw the flashlight’s light, it let out a freaky scream, showing off its mouth full of pointy teeth.
Like a flash, it jumped at them, moving so fast it was just a blur in the light.
Quick as a cat, Ren sliced at the monster, cutting it in half. But even with its guts spilling out, it wasn’t done. The top part of it tried to grab Ren’s leg, its mouth ready to chomp down.
But then Kestrel’s eyes glowed yellow, and she stared hard at the creature. It seemed to freeze for a second, like it was hypnotized or something.
Gunshots rang out in the darkness as Ren shot at the two twitching parts of the creature.
It was really hard to see what was happening with the fight. You could only see the gun’s flashes, the monster’s struggling body, and its wide-open, screaming mouth. It would pop in and out of the light as the gun fired. After a few tense moments, the loud noises and the creature’s gasping stopped, and everything went quiet again.
From the shadows, Ren’s gloved hand reached out and grabbed Kestrel’s again.
In this deep, dark world, all the mutant creatures didn’t have eyes. They lived in this forever night, having great hearing and moving without making a sound. They were tough, moved super fast, and really didn’t like any humans coming into their territory. They were the stuff of nightmares.
Ren and Kestrel kept going deeper into the abyss, making their way down cracked steps, scrambling over wobbly metal pipes, and figuring out their path through the maze-like underground city. Every now and then, strange and creepy-looking creatures would jump out of nowhere. Again and again, they had to fight off these mutants that tried to sneak up on them with snarling faces.
If it weren’t for the tough training they had gone through before they came, they would’ve had a really hard time making their way in this pitch-black world.
But right now, they had each other’s backs, their hands tightly gripped together.
The magical sword Ren held had done its job well; it hadn’t even fed on his blood yet.
Guided by the weak beam of their flashlight, with their hands securely held together, they trudged on. In this mysterious place, they depended on each other. They acted as each other’s guardians, seeing and hearing for one another, as they ventured further into the deep unknown below.
