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White. Still. Silent.
Neck hair stood on end. Goosebumps—a reaction to the abnormal presence behind him.
Hands slick with sweat, staff becoming harder to grasp.
Strangely enough, it was the lack of movement in the reflection that nearly gave him a heart attack. Only the wisp of a cold draft brushing his damp skin could be felt and heard.
Nothing else within dared to move.
The statue stood some metres behind. Luckily frozen by the reflection's lucky catch, otherwise he'd never have known of its silent approach.
They had him ambushed.
Classic predatory behaviour.
They, of course, didn't want their prey to leave so soon.
The moaning of the temple continued in their muted standoff.
One female statue stood beside a plinth, a stretched out black maw ready to swallow its prey. Another now loomed behind him, conveniently blocking the only exit.
Gripping his staff, Arion kept it at the exact angle, terrified of losing the tiny glint of light bouncing off the metal fitting.
But he knew too well it was unreliable. Light here flickered, unstable. The Luminary shard overhead fluttered like a dying basement bulb.
Damn shard needs changing…
He gritted his teeth.
How many of these bloody statues does it take to change a damn lightbulb!?
He needed a solution that let him keep both in sight.
Right on time, the shard flickered.
Light dissipated.
Reflection dimmed.
Scrape…
Stone groaned.
His heart dropped.
Without the reflection, the statue could do anything. But then — a flash — the shard flared bright again. Arion clenched; the lighting might as well be his god by this point.
Something had moved.
Just a second of lost reflection, but now what filled it was pure white.
It took him a moment to realise why.
Pale stone.
It wasn't some metres, no, now it stood some paces beside him.
He had a sliver of time. He forced his only idea into action.
His Vitalis resisted the pull — circuits burnt, nerves screamed — but he forced the reaction anyway.
Without hesitation:
"Frost Snap."
His breath crystalised even as sweat slicked his palms; cold and heat wrestled along his skin.
The floor in front of him pulsated with Luminary essence, radiating through its surface—ripping its heat away.
A sheet of ice crawled forward, halted, then webbed up through the air.
Hundreds of snow flakes birthed and joined together, super cooling the air.
A standing slate of ice—reflective enough to mirror the horror beside him, but just enough allowing his central vision to be free.
It was only then he had the not so great opportunity to see the statue:
Hunched, even then taller than him.
Its skin—if it could be called that—stretched marble thin and pale over ropes of muscle that twitched even in stillness.
Veins crawled beneath its surface like faint silver threads, pulsing with dim light that wasn't life but residue—something borrowed.
Its limbs were long, too long, fingers tapering into talons, covering its face like it was hiding its worst feature.
He swore he heard a few quiet sobs.
Now finally able to see the new statue, he continued backwards towards the dark corridor—a stark contrast to the lit sanctum filled with horror.
The newest arrival was annoyingly out of view, enough that he couldn't look at both; he'd have to continue to rely on the mirror until he got distance.
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…
Tap.
A bead of sweat slid down his cheek.
Step.
Pain surged up his side, sharp enough to make his pulse stutter.
Badump.
A single, awkward heartbeat — too loud in the silence.
Badump.
Badump.
Badump.
His heartbeat peaked. Arion saw something terrifying.
Blip… Blop... Drip.
Water droplets.
The ice was melting—too fast.
Why?
"Fuck it!"
Low on Vitalis, He had no way to restore the ice mirror. And now with no more time, he had to move quickly, nearly tripping a few times. He felt more breeze gliding on the back of his neck, he was close.
Within a few seconds he had reached the corridor, darkness consumed him and by this point he was missing his little flame.
Still backpedalling, he continued further down the corridor.
Blip…. Blop….
Then—
Silence.
Only to hear what he could only imagine as claws scraping along stone—ear-piercing, unseen, fast—until he saw something twitch in his peripheral vision.
Contrasted by the darkness, a horrifying pale face peeked out from the light and into the darkness. Its body was hidden, but it almost looked like it was standing at an unnatural height off the stone floor.
A vertical split of jagged teeth, drawn wide as though frozen in the act of screaming.
Shallow dents in the sockets of its face, small barely seen eyes—yet he felt its gaze all the same, pressing against his being.
A grotesque echo of hunger sculpted into marble.
For a second he was taken aback, stumbling his rhythm and falling backwards.
Natural mechanics kicked in, the brain made him shield his eyes as he fell, but only for a second.
Frozen in pure dread and panic, It didn't take long, his eyes darted down the corridor.
Silence cracked.
KRRRHHHKK-CRKK-CRRK. CRKK. CRK—CRRRK!
Pure nightmare inducing stone on stone fracturing came rushing down the corridor straight at him.
He ripped his gaze upward—
It's on the ceiling…
It was barely visible, only for the slight illumination contouring its demented unnatural limbs, outstretched in a demonic, exaggerated crawling posture. Head cocked to the side with a row of teeth visible along an elongated jaw.
Lingering just above the space he occupied.
Realisation hit.
"Fuck!"
More manic scraping echoed.
He snapped his head to the direction of the sound, keeping the crawling stone demon just in his peripheral.
The previously silent and frozen female statue was now creeping along the wall of the corridor, light barely making her visible. Now low to the ground, as close to the wall as possible—almost like it was trying to blend in with the surrounding Stone.
Crawl… just crawl.
He grabbed his staff and turned it back into a shard.
Click — tissss.
Cloth scraping against stone, he began to crawl backwards.
Just… get to the staircase.
He released a shaky breath.
Then you're out of this nightmare.
…
The further he got, the harder it was to track exactly where the statues stood frozen, waiting.
Watching.
He widened his vision to the whole corridor, relying on peripheral flickers.
—— ❖ —— —— ❖ —— —— ❖ ——
Tap.
His hand hit the cold stone, the first step of the spiral. He knew this would be even more tricky, but he had no choice.
Arion picked himself up, finally wincing from the sudden pain pulsating from his side.
He quickly darted backwards, landing a few paces up the stairs.
The climb began.
Again, the same horrible scraping and fracturing of stone followed him.
Once on the stairs his sight was obscured by the wall, so dashing back gave him enough time to get distance.
When he did land, he suddenly saw two disturbing heads peeking out towards him, just barely illuminated by the carved lines of light running through the wall.
This is going to be one hell of a jumpscare fest…
Arion began his ascent.
When he stepped around half of the staircase, he'd, of course, lose sight.
Then followed by two stalking shadows always just a few steps behind him, ready for him to make a mistake.
The stone stalkers shifted again, limbs twisting, bending the wrong way, trying to mimic a human form but failing the moment they were seen.
Static pallor crawled through the dark, bleeding across the corner, wall, and ceiling— near instantaneous movement without motion.
CRKKK—CRK-CRKK.
Fractures spread through the staircase, the noise crawling faster than the shapes themselves.
This continued on, cat and mouse, the whole way up, the most painful and awkward climb he'd ever had.
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