A ring of blood
It was the fifth day of the journey.
Judging by the map, it would take Ryan only half of the day until he reached the City of Lights. At this point, he was pretty far away from the Tree, so the chances of encountering monsters grew dramatically. Still, it was something he had to do. He was traversing the ruins of a city. Judging by their architecture, this place came from the 20th, maybe 21st century. Most of the streets were clogged with the buildings that fell down during some cataclysm and the rubble from them. So he mostly had to squeeze through the narrow clearances, climb over the buildings or use the sewers. Exiting one of them, he entered a place that was once a square surrounded by four blocks of flats. The area was covered in various junk, forming the labyrinth. On his way forward, he came across an unusual structure. Two traffic sign rods were bent into a near-perfect circle. He went through it and continued his journey. There was a weird smell in the air. It was metallic, way stronger than the smell of the scrap surrounding Ryan, but there was something else in it. Something damp, and sour, similar to the smell of a wet dog.
Ryan unholstered his gun.
With every step, the smell was getting stronger and stronger. And then he heard humming.
More than one being hummed in front of him. He was certain they weren't humans. They didn't sound like humans. But they hummed a happy song. Could those be The Tree Spirits? But what would they do in a place like this? The hope that those sounds could be made by the Tree Spirits, a good omen here in The Pit has been lost the moment the road took a sharp turn to the right. As he passed the corner, he could see a horrifying sight. A ring of dried up blood was smeared around the remains of a once-living being. And next to it, a group of small creatures played around. There were seven of them, but Ryan knew that more are probably still somewhere in the area.
Their skin was snowy white, and it seemed to glisten in the light. They had big round eyes and smiles on their equally big heads. And each one of them had a white hat. Redcaps. Right now, they were dancing and humming along, but Ryan didn't want to wait until they got hungry. He looked around. The only way forward led through a very narrow clearance in a mountain of metal junk. He had to take this chance.
The creatures didn't pay any attention to him when he sneaked near their last meal. Ryan had to squeeze himself sideways to fit into the tunnel. It was so tight, he could only take small steps. Still, every step moved him farther away from those little monsters. He was nearing the end of the tunnel when he heard a sound of tearing material below him and felt a small prickle. A loose wire cut through his pants and dug into his leg, leaving a cut. He easily freed himself from the thing that hurt him, but the wound was bleeding slightly. That's when the humming stopped. Ryan looked to the side he entered the passage. Redcaps started sniffing in the air, and all got closer and closer towards the tunnel. Once they saw him inside of it, their faces got warped, showing twisted grins filled with hunger. They started squeezing into the narrow path. Ryan moved as quickly as he could. It didn't matter if something cut his arms, legs or face. If those creatures caught him, he would be dead. 2 meters, 1 meter...
When he left the tunnel, the squawking and croaking of monsters came from behind him. He quickly looked around and despair filled his body. There was nowhere to run to. The tunnel marked the end of the ruins and before him was only a wasteland. No place to hide, no place to use as a defense. Nothing. Just a dried up soil. Still, he ran. A few seconds later, redcaps also crossed the passage. There were fifteen of them. Ryan started shooting, hoping that they would run away once he killed a few of them. He shot two of them. The next few shots missed. He shot another two. Once he hit the third one, the handgun made a clicking sound. There was no ammo left. The redcaps were still moving closer. As Ryan ran, his leg burrowed into the dry ground. He fell. He tried to get up, but the pain stopped him. His ankle was sprained. In the meantime, the redcaps caught up to him and formed a circle around him.
The ring started enclosing.
That's when he heard a gunshot...
Judging by the map, it would take Ryan only half of the day until he reached the City of Lights. At this point, he was pretty far away from the Tree, so the chances of encountering monsters grew dramatically. Still, it was something he had to do. He was traversing the ruins of a city. Judging by their architecture, this place came from the 20th, maybe 21st century. Most of the streets were clogged with the buildings that fell down during some cataclysm and the rubble from them. So he mostly had to squeeze through the narrow clearances, climb over the buildings or use the sewers. Exiting one of them, he entered a place that was once a square surrounded by four blocks of flats. The area was covered in various junk, forming the labyrinth. On his way forward, he came across an unusual structure. Two traffic sign rods were bent into a near-perfect circle. He went through it and continued his journey. There was a weird smell in the air. It was metallic, way stronger than the smell of the scrap surrounding Ryan, but there was something else in it. Something damp, and sour, similar to the smell of a wet dog.
Ryan unholstered his gun.
With every step, the smell was getting stronger and stronger. And then he heard humming.
More than one being hummed in front of him. He was certain they weren't humans. They didn't sound like humans. But they hummed a happy song. Could those be The Tree Spirits? But what would they do in a place like this? The hope that those sounds could be made by the Tree Spirits, a good omen here in The Pit has been lost the moment the road took a sharp turn to the right. As he passed the corner, he could see a horrifying sight. A ring of dried up blood was smeared around the remains of a once-living being. And next to it, a group of small creatures played around. There were seven of them, but Ryan knew that more are probably still somewhere in the area.
Their skin was snowy white, and it seemed to glisten in the light. They had big round eyes and smiles on their equally big heads. And each one of them had a white hat. Redcaps. Right now, they were dancing and humming along, but Ryan didn't want to wait until they got hungry. He looked around. The only way forward led through a very narrow clearance in a mountain of metal junk. He had to take this chance.
The creatures didn't pay any attention to him when he sneaked near their last meal. Ryan had to squeeze himself sideways to fit into the tunnel. It was so tight, he could only take small steps. Still, every step moved him farther away from those little monsters. He was nearing the end of the tunnel when he heard a sound of tearing material below him and felt a small prickle. A loose wire cut through his pants and dug into his leg, leaving a cut. He easily freed himself from the thing that hurt him, but the wound was bleeding slightly. That's when the humming stopped. Ryan looked to the side he entered the passage. Redcaps started sniffing in the air, and all got closer and closer towards the tunnel. Once they saw him inside of it, their faces got warped, showing twisted grins filled with hunger. They started squeezing into the narrow path. Ryan moved as quickly as he could. It didn't matter if something cut his arms, legs or face. If those creatures caught him, he would be dead. 2 meters, 1 meter...
When he left the tunnel, the squawking and croaking of monsters came from behind him. He quickly looked around and despair filled his body. There was nowhere to run to. The tunnel marked the end of the ruins and before him was only a wasteland. No place to hide, no place to use as a defense. Nothing. Just a dried up soil. Still, he ran. A few seconds later, redcaps also crossed the passage. There were fifteen of them. Ryan started shooting, hoping that they would run away once he killed a few of them. He shot two of them. The next few shots missed. He shot another two. Once he hit the third one, the handgun made a clicking sound. There was no ammo left. The redcaps were still moving closer. As Ryan ran, his leg burrowed into the dry ground. He fell. He tried to get up, but the pain stopped him. His ankle was sprained. In the meantime, the redcaps caught up to him and formed a circle around him.
The ring started enclosing.
That's when he heard a gunshot...
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