Under the Ice

I feel the cold burn my lungs as I take a deep breath before preparing to secure myself to the rope. I had no way to know how far it was to the bottom, just the vague idea of what lies below. I'd been doing my research on this place for a while now - a tomb frozen in time, lying deep below the icy tundra that was Sohliece. The climate here is hostile, making it a nearly uninhabited part of Ivahdra - meaning that it was far more likely that the expedition would yield the money that I was hoping for.

I take one last shaky breath before I secure myself to the rope and begin the descent. I'd watched all three of my partners descend minutes before, their shapes slowly disappearing into the darkness below until I'd lost visual on them. I reach down instinctually to the small blade kept at my waist as I go, as if something were going to apparate from the walls around me - nothing does, though that doesn't do much to appease my fears as the descent seems to continue endlessly.

After descending for a few hundred feet, I finally feel my feet find purchase on the frozen ground of this cavern. I detach myself from the rope and quickly go to light a torch. I take a moment to gather my surroundings, and see that the tunnel continues on forwards, presumably where the others had gone as I have yet to see any of them. I begin on my way and luckily it isn't long before I find myself in an opening where I see everyone sitting around talking amongst themselves as they await my arrival. As they see me they begin to stand as the feminine figure, Aella, hands me a flask.

Aella was the only one of the group that I knew well, as her and I had gone on countless expeditions before this one working as hired blades for rich assholes. This was the first expedition that the two of us had arranged when we'd heard tales about an ancient tomb filled with treasures that had been all but lost to time. Appearance wise, Aella was always the one to stand out in a crowd, she stood taller than most, with long auburn hair that she often wore tied back as to not get in the way if she needed to defend herself. Today her hair was held back in a tight braid, her pale skin seeming even paler from the slight blue tint from the reflection of the little light we had. She, like the others, had worn thick wool clothing in order to stay warm in the harsh climate, though she remains just as deadly with her two blades sheathed on her back despite the movement restricting clothing.

I take a quick drink from the flask and feel the bitter liquid begin to warm my body as I begin to look around. We stand at the entrance to a large cave, the ceiling here easily 100 feet up, everything around us perfectly smooth ice, never having melted due to the sub-zero temperature in the room. Ahead the tunnel narrows into a passage where I'm assuming our goal lies, though even with the light of our fire it's impossible to see what lies beyond due to the natural curvature of the tunnel.

"If we're ready the entrance should lie just ahead."

I look up and see that the youngest of the group, a man named Darcel is looking down towards the far end of the cave with an expression that reads as both nervous and excited. Darcel is almost the exact opposite of Aella, as he stands nearly a full head shorter than me with his unruly curly blond hair and tan skin. He's wearing similar thick woolen clothing like the rest of us, though his seem far nicer and expensive, if I had to guess they're probably warmer too. Darcel was the one that had informed me about this location, and when we agreed to go with him - as equals and not hired blades - we had done the research together, though those few months were as far back as out connection went.

Without giving any response, the fourth figure started heading down the path deeper into the tunnel. The last figure was a man named Oren, a hired blade who told us he was born in Sohleice and knew how to brave the threats that may loom, a rare feat given the nature of this environment. Oren is a slightly strange looking man with scars covering much of his older face as a testament of his ventures. His wide frame is covered by a thick cloak that seemed to help him almost disappear into the thick snowfall on the surface, though I wasn't sure how much good that would be doing him down here.

We all began to follow after Oren, the only sounds heard being the echoes of our footfalls in the large icy cavern.

The travel continued like that for a time, and only stopped when I heard Darcel take in a sharp sudden breath, instantly I turn, weapon already drawn, only to see him staring ahead, not in fear, but in awe. On the side of the tunnel lie an entire wall, a language that I did not understand carved into the white stone and ice. A language as ancient as the land itself, and for a moment I too was mesmerised. We had made it.

We continue onwards deeper into the cave with a newfound vigor, and after just a few more minutes we arrived at what I assumed to be the entrance. What was once icy natural formed cave, transitioned into a stairwell carved entirely of a white stone heading deep. Torches lined the stairs illuminating the whole way down even though they had to have been thousands of years old. More carvings in the strange language littered the walls at the entrance. Darcel began to pull a book from his bag as he spent a moment attempting to read the strange language.

"It's a warning." Darcel stated after a minute.

"Of course there's a warning, have you ever known a tomb not to be trapped." Aella spoke after a moment of silence.

Darcel hesitated a moment before continuing, "It's not a warning about any traps, it's a warning about what was buried here."

"Legends are just that, legends; they aren't true, it was just made up to scare away anyone who wanted to steal from the dead." Aella countered.

They both turned towards me as if expecting me to make a decision. "Aella's right, we didn't come all the way out here just to turn back after a sign tells us it's dangerous. We knew what we signed up for." I said as I began to descend the steps, down into whatever dangers await us below.

The instant I stepped through the door the air became impossibly colder. It began to become hard to breath, as the air felt frozen around me. I began coughing as my lungs burned and ached, a feeling almost like I was suffocating just from the air. I slumped against a nearby wall and waited for the pain to subside, it took a few minutes before I was able to steady myself and continue forwards.

At the end of the stairs the chamber opened up into a single hallway still illuminated by torches, as I continued down what I saw amazed me and made me stop in my tracks. The hallway lead back outside. We had gone hundreds of feet underground, and yet here we were, an exit on a cliff face onto a bridge made of a blackened ice that sprawled for hundreds of feet across the gap. I look below and see that the fall is at least 100 feet before it becomes too dark to see any further.

As we all stand there in shock at the fact that we seem to be outside, it's Darcel who speaks first.

"We're still inside, you can't see the sky."

I glance up and he's right, there is no sky, yet the entire chamber is bathed in a faint blue glow, as if illuminated by the moon, sourceless. The bridge is about 40 feet wide and has no railing on the edges. A fall from here would mean death to be sure, though the bridge itself seems sturdy as I take the first step.

"The legends were true." Oren suddenly says in an awed whisper.

"Legends?" I ask, I haven't heard Oren speak much since we hired him, so I eagerly accepted this chance to learn more about who I was travelling with.

"Yes, tales of a great city that lies beneath the ice." He continues, looking at me, his accent finally able to be heard as he begins to raise his voice to a normal volume.

I see him pointing ahead and see that opposite the side we're on lie stairs that descend down the mountains. Whatever this place is, it seems to only stretch onwards

"It is said that this is where all life in the cold stems from, whether the tales speak the truth I do not know." Oren informs me.

"Why does it seem so empty then?" I ponder aloud.

Oren doesn't respond to this, instead just staring over the ledge into the distance with a thoughtful expression on his face.

He then speaks once more. "It is said that this is where our creators lie; I would like to meet them."

Oren then begins making his way forward at a rapid pace, not waiting for anyone to catch up. He walks with a newfound determination, as if this place held answers that he'd been looking for. I follow, not wanting to seperate the group as Aella follows close behind me. I glance back and see Darcel continuing to inspect the area without making a move to join us.

"Darcel. Don't fall behind, we don't know what kind of danger lies ahead, it'd be best if we stayed together." Aella calls to him as we pause about 30 feet onto the bridge.

As we stand there, waiting for Darcel to begin making his way towards the group, I begin to hear the howling of a wind, for a moment I think it strange, but then again, this whole situation is strange - an impossible cavern that appears to be outdoors even though it lies hundreds of feet below the ice. That was when I started to hear the wind speaking to me; whispering. Whispering to jump. Whispering that safety lie at the bottom. Whispering that down is the only path ahead.

I hit the ground hard, Aella on top of me as I lie there in a daze, faintly hearing her voice yelling at me, slowly coming to my senses.

"What the hell was that! What the fuck were you thinking, do you know how high up we are. You nearly died."

I looked up at her confused at the fearful look upon her face before I realized just how close to the edge I had been. Just then a sickening thud fills the air of the cavern, echoing for a few seconds before the sound fades. It took me a minute before I was able to comprehend what I had just heard, then I looked around and saw that the bridge ahead of us lie empty, where Oren had been just moments prior.

Darcel who had just begun to join us on the bridge was frozen about 15 feet behind us, his face pale with fear as he spoke in just barely a whisper that seemed to echo through the chamber.

"Oren jumped."

And with those two words I realized just how dangerous this place could be. We hadn't been here but ten minutes and already the strongest of us had fallen.

I continue lying on the ground, Aella still half sitting on top of me after tackling me to the ground, not 5 feet from the edge of this bridge as the stunned silence fills the air.

"I heard a voice." I finally manage to say after a moment of collecting my thoughts.

"I didn't even realize that I was moving until Aella tackled me... I think he must have heard it too." I continued slowly.

Aella stands up without another word, pulling me to my feet before grabbing some rope out of a satchel and tying it around my waist. Just as I'm about to ask what she's doing she gives me a look which stops me from speaking. She walks over to Darcel and does the same to him before securing the rope around her waist as well.

"With the three of us tied together we should be safer." Aella says before she begins walking across the bridge once more, not bothering to wait for our consent.

As I shakily begin making my way forward, the black ice of the bridge, seemingly colder than normal if that we even possible, begins to burn my feet through my thick boots. The cold here is all enveloping, no clothing that we brought could ever be enough to stave it off, though it doesn't bother us. We are determined. After seeing how easy it is for one to fall here, there are bigger things to worry about than the cold.

We make it not 20 feet further before the wind picks up once more. The howling surrounding us as the whispers begin once more, I tune them out and see that Aella seems unaffected as well.

We continue on and just as we make it to the ledge without further issue, I go to look behind me just as I lose my footing on the ice from a sudden weight pulling me from behind. I glance up and see that darcel is nowhere to be seen, the rope simply hanging off the edge, the weight beginning to pull me towards it as well.

I feel Aella grab my arm and help me to my feet once more before we manage to pull Darcel back up, he doesn't react all the while, his pupils dilated as he just sits there motionless - until Aella punches him that is, she hits him hard, the sound from the blow ringing out around us and making me flinch; Darcel isn't much of a fighter, and I hate to see the kid get hurt. Though it does do the trick, as he blinks a few times before glancing around then reaching up to cup his cheek in pain. He spits out a bit of blood which freezes before it hits the floor as he looks around with a confused expression on his face.

Then he pales as he seems to realize what had happened. He stands once more before he makes a motion as if to apologize, but the look Aella gives him stops him from talking, seems that she has that effect on people a lot.

We make it to the other side of the bridge where it opens into a winding staircase down the side of a cliff before I collapse onto the cold stone. I sit there for a moment thinking. Oren was gone. Oren, the one who it felt like I had just met. We all knew that his main purpose was just to guide us on the surface, but that didn't mean that we didn't need him down here.

I hear Darcel crying softly behind me, I turn and see the tears frozen to his face. As he sees me look he turns away quickly, curled against the wall of the cliff shaking ever so slightly. It was clear that he could never be prepared for this. He has spent his whole life reading about legends and dangerous locations, never being the one to travel there himself.

As I watch him I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn and see Aella looking at me with a concerned look.

"We could still turn back." Aella says in a somewhat unconvinced tone.

"I refuse to let a life have been lost in vain." I say in a curt fashion.

Aella can tell from my tone that there's no further conversation to be had on the matter, as she instead gives my shoulder a slight squeeze before speaking once more.

"I'm glad you're okay, I can't lose you."

I reach up to my shoulder and give her hand a quick squeeze as I simply stare forward before responding. "Thank you for saving me, I didn't know what to expect... I hate to imagine what could have become of me had you not noticed."

Aella doesn't respond, and instead we just sit there for a moment, all mourning the loss of our companion, and vowing that his life will be the only one taken on this trek.

A few minutes later we all slowly gather our thoughts and belongings before we continue on our way.

The path here is steep, thin steps carved into a cliff face, slippery from the ice coating every surface. We carry on down these steps, into the darkness below as after a certain point the light no longer reaches down into the shadows that coat the icy interior.

After about half an hour of descending these stairs, we finally reach the ground. It's dark and the chill seems to reach even deeper, as if the heat were being sapped my body. I shiver as I see Aella light a torch, the area around us illuminated by the faint light it gives. I look forward and see that we now stand in a large opening, a strange obelisk made of the same dark ice of the bridge standing in the center of an icy field. The ice here is clear and as I glance down, I can see that it just descends for what seems like forever, as it is just ice until the light can't penetrate any further and then it is just darkness, a seemingly endless void trapped beneath the ice.

I stand mesmerised by the strange ice of the floor of the cave, and hesitantly step forward onto the ice, making my way forward into the circle towards the obelisk. The icey field had to be 100 feet in diameter, as the obelisk was just on the edge of the visual range provided by the torch, about 50 feet away. As I take one step onto the ice I hear the same whispers that I heard earlier on the bridge, now less intimidating and more curious, as they seem to ask me what my plan is here.

The others follow me as we approach the pillar, as we stand no more than 20 feet away, a shape on the edge of the light catches my eye. I walk forward to investigate and see a skeleton. A corpse that seems to have decomposed despite the cold temperature here that would likely prevent any such event from occuring. Stranger still is the dark black liquid trailing from the corpse to the obelisk.

That's when it hits me. The skeleton is wearing the same cloak that Oren had been. I freeze for a moment and wonder how this could be possible, as suddenly I hear a loud cracking noise all around me. My first instinct is to check the ice around me, and as I freeze to take it in, I see the ice unharmed. However all below me, spanning the entire hundred feet of this ice, appears to be the head of a creature.

It has large eyes that seem to shift in color as it looks at me, and suddenly the whispers that I'd been hearing have a home. This creature was unlike anything I had seen before, a large monstrosity of twisting tendrils and multiple eyes. The tendrils would wind together to create a form before writhing and reshaping in a constant dance. I stand there and stare at it as the single voice rings out in my head, all encompassing and impossible to ignore.

Free Me.

Touch the Pillar of Dark Stone.

Give Yourself to the Cold.

You will be Free.

As will I.

It was then that everything started to make sense. This place wasn't a tomb as I had thought, but a prison. A prison to trap this monster beneath the ice. I wanted to run. Everything I knew was telling me to get out of there. Yet I found myself unable to move on my own will.

I Require More.

The One was not Enough.

To be Free There is a Price.

Join me and you can Live on.

I suddenly hear a sickening gurgling behind me and for a second I break out of my trance. I see Aella standing there, a knife through her throat as Darcel withdraws the knife and looks at me, his eyes seemingly empty.

You will Join us.

This is what I needed, as I find myself finally able to break free, as I rush towards Darcel and tackle him, his senses seeming to come back to him as he screams. I run over to Aella and start to drag her off of the ice, but it was too late.

I watch as the blood pooling from Aella's neck begins pooling on the ice, before it seems to get pulled to the pillar. As the trail of blood touches the pillar, I watch a wave of sorts rush through it before her body in my hands begins to seemingly dissolve into the same black liquid.

Darcel cries out in pain, distracting me from my friend dying in my arms, as I look over and see that he had plunged the knife through his own chest. I feel heavy, everything is wrong. We came here for fame and money. We had found neither. I feel sick as I vomit onto the ice below me, my body trembling. I close my eyes and cover my ears, I don't want to be here. I shouldn't have come. this can't be real.

Do not Fear.

They are not Gone.

They Lie with me Now.

I grip by head tighter, covering my ears as much as I can in an attempt to drown out the voice. It does nothing to help.

Stand.

I feel my body comply without question. I begin to cry, the tears freezing immediately and burning my eyes as I find myself slowly walking forwards towards the obelisk.

Before I know what had happened I had taken off one of my gloves, and touched it. It was cold. Very cold. Extremely cold. It hurt, a black coloration began to spread up my hand, stopping midway up my forearm. I cried out in pain as I dropped to my knees. A whispering whirlwind beginning in my mind. I couldn't think. I didn't know who I was anymore. Everything I thought I had known felt like it was being sapped away.

Suddenly the whispers stopped. I opened my eyes and found myself still standing in the circle of ice. There was no voice, there was no creature. There were no bodies. It was just me. Standing here alone. The cold didn't seem to bother me anymore. I look down at my hand, black and seemingly ruined, ravaged by frostbite and corruption. I wasn't sure why, but I knew what I had to do.

I had to help free this creature. It was the only way that I could free... somebody. I wasn't sure why but it felt like I was forgetting something. I had come here alone hadn't I? I had come to worship the darkness under the ice. I shrug off this strange feeling as I make my way back from where I came. The cold and darkness not bothering me. With only one thought on my mind.

Freedom.