Chapter 6: First Nightmare (5)
It was a long venture down the staircase. For a while the walls and floors were just layers of dirt that enclosed around them. But once they reached the bottom of the stairs, they saw a large stone archway overhead and a ground paved in small round ashen cobblestone that led in three different directions. The width of each pathway would be able to fit three people if they walked side by side.
When Hope walked onto the path, he paused as the stones slightly rattled beneath his foot.
He looked down and stared at what was supposed to be cobblestone. Instead in truth they were skulls. He looked around and noticed there were numerous skulls compacted together throughout the floor making each pathway. There must have been hundreds. Thousands. Maybe millions considering how the routes were drawn like a maze on the map.
'That's...I'm not going to question it...' Hope blinked at the sight.
Although he couldn't help but create a couple questions that came to mind: What other secrets did this church have that they hid all of this underground? It couldn't have just been the sacred water, but what of its history as well?
Hope slightly frowned. More reluctant than he was before, Hope stood in the crossing where the paths converged and tried to reimagine the map in his head.
Apparently, there were sigils along the walls that would lead them to their destination. On the map, they were also drawn the exact same shape as the tracing he felt back in the cathedral: A teardrop with a flower at its center. Of course, they were spread quite a distance from each other, one still needed a map to direct themselves through the maze.
Suddenly, the supernatural wind came back. Only this time its aura felt slightly more suffocating, and the faint screams started to reverberate more in his mind rather than through the tunnels themselves.
A cold sweat started to form on his face. Hope clenched his left hand so tightly till he felt his nails digging into his skin. His hand began to feel hot and stinging with pain.
He wiped the side of his cheek then turned towards the elder.
"I think holding my own torch would be useful."