The Cabin

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window.

The young man made his way through the dense woods carefully. There were the rumors of course, somewhere out here were the remains of some cult that could give him all the answers that he wanted. At the very least, that was assuming that he could find one of the cultists. But as Alyx wandered alone having long since been abandoned by his friends who thought him too obsessed; too crazed with the idea that there was some other being besides Christ or God that could give him the answers he sought, he saw it. There in the small clearing was the standing remains of an abandoned cabin. Someone used to live there but I don't remember who. Maybe in there, I can get some answers that was the only thing that Alyx could recall as he stepped forwards towards the small source of safety. It was dark out here and the chill in the autumn air made its way through every layer of clothing that he wore, almost as though the very wind itself was determined to freeze his blood solid. There was no where else for Alyx to go, at the very least the inside of some cabin was better than the unforgiving cold of night. But there was something about the cabin in the woods that put the young man on edge. His eyes made their way up and around the structure and in the window at the top most floor he saw it; it’s light like a beacon.

A single candle burned in the window.

Come here something seemed to say on the breeze and as though summoned he found his legs making their way towards the ominous cabin. It was made of wooden logs and as Alyx opened the door he was immediately surprised by how warm it was. There was a massive fireplace in the front of the living room and although it was not lit it felt as though warmth emanated from the hearth. He closed the door gently behind him and at the very least thankful that he was not in the cold, he made his way to sit on the couch.

The room was lightly furnished, only a couch there in the living room and the dining room table was surrounded by more chairs. There were stairs to his left and as Alyx looked at them he could simply recall the candle that burned in the window. No one was supposed to be living here, at the very least not in the last few years there hadn’t been. Alyx felt his heart quicken its pace within his chest as he took a deep breath and stood from the place that he was sitting carefully.

“Is anyone else here?” he called out into the house and he made his way towards the staircase. As he made his ascent he reached into the front pocket of his jeans and grabbed the folding knife that he always carried. His phone died a while ago, it would serve him no use here.

At the top of the stairs, Alyx could see that there were two doors there and he made his way to one of the doors on the right.

This way something seemed to whisper and Alyx spun on his heel quickly; sweat breaking out over his face. It sounded as though it came from the door immediately behind him and he reached towards the door moved by some morbid sensation of curiosity. The pocket knife was in his right hand now, the blade released and his grip white knuckled on the handle. With a shaking hand, he placed his hand on the door and flung it open quickly; ready to defend himself should someone attack.

Instead the bedroom was empty.

The single white wax candle still burned on the window sill and as he stepped further into the room he looked around. There were papers and drawings strewn about the room haphazardly, as though whoever had made them threw them to the ground in a manic fit of rage. He was curious about it now and he stepped over towards the dresser and knelt down. Alyx took the first few papers that he could see on the ground and lifted them. They were thick sheets of tan paper, it reminded him of papyrus and across the surfaces in thick black ink were archaic symbols and lines. It wasn’t any language that he could recognize. But still, looking at the symbols made him feel strange. Alyx laid down the few sheets and grabbed the remaining four that were still on the ground.

More of those insane symbols were scrawled onto the pages and as he examined the pages, Alyx realized that the black ink was not ink at all but rather… dried blood.

His grip on the sheets threatened to loosen until the thought occurred to him. The Cult of Regis Coccinea, they were reported to be around here weren't they? Could this be... but he allowed his thoughts to trail off as he glanced down at the paper. The dry blood, which once must have belonged to a cultist etched it with what must have been the arcane symbols. If Regis Coccinea required blood, then?

Your blood something answered his silent question in the back of his mind and like a man possessed Alyx reached out and stabbed the tip of his finger with the knife that he was carrying. The pain was brief and the crimson orb pooled on the tip of his finger and before Alyx could bring himself to stop it, he brought down his index finger and smeared his blood across the archaic symbols.

In a searing flash of light Alyx was no longer in the cabin.

His eyes opened slowly and he looked around to try to make some sense of where he was. There were no trees, this was no longer the cabin that he arrived in, but rather this was an entirely new world. The sky was burning, red like the very blood that coursed through his veins. The architecture around him was sharply angled, massive hexagonal spires reaching what seemed to be into the very sky itself. But he could also tell that these spires were only the remains of something. Some ancient city perhaps stood here and all that remained were nine spires. Sweat poured from every orifice across Alyx’s skin as he found that he could barely make his legs move.

Then the sky screamed.

Bathed in red light, Alyx felt the unnatural draw of something that was made of power and he looked up carefully. In the empty spaces behind the massive spires covered in those same archaic symbols that were on the pages of the cabin floor was some sort of being. This creature was massive, Alyx could almost feel his human brain struggling to condense its form into a way that he could understand. Its face lacked facial features save for the massive horns that curled up from its head almost like a crown. The monster had six limbs, and tried to make its way through the pillars walking quadrupedally. Across its back were massive red wings that made the monster seem as though it wore a cloak of blood and there were claws on the ends of those wings as well, akin to a set of hands. The creature rose onto its hind legs and seemed to shift and it became bipedal as it looked down at Alyx. It was enormous it dwarfed him, it could have simply reached out and crushed him with its hands like a bug beneath its hands. Alyx fell back onto his haunches as with wide eyes the realization of what this creature was dawned on him, like the sun over the earth on a new day. This must had been Regis Coccinea. The being worshipped by the Cult of the Blood King.

It was the single most terrifying thing that Alyx had ever laid eyes upon.

“Free me!” the being ordered and Alyx fell to his knees as images and pain flashed through his mind.

He saw as the creature destroyed worlds and murdered trillions of souls and he saw as the creature only did so because it wanted to do so. But connected to its unfathomable mind as he was, he could also see things that were as beautiful as they were terrible. The answers to some of the oldest questions of the universe. He could see the truth. Staring at this being of blood, sinew and fire, Alyx came to realize that he was nothing to it.

He was a petulant child trying desperately to steer a ship. He was a fool. He was a bug. He was nothing.

“FREE ME!!!!” the being bellowed and as quickly as he arrived in this strange world he was back in the cabin. The page that he had pressed his finger to was smoldered and ash but yet it was all there. For a brief second, Alyx had seen everything. For the faintest of moments gotten all of the knowledge that he desired. For a heartbeat he possessed a mind as massive and boundless as the God creature that he had seen. But it was torn away from him. The glorious mind, the answers that he sought, all of it ripped away as his mind had once more been made small. Been made mortal. Alyx was of course thankful. Thankful that he had seen the King with his own eyes, known that he was not crazy for trying to find the answers but as he looked at his hands and could nearly feel the knowledge bleeding from his head he knew it as surely as one knew that they would one day die.

That fleeting glimpse was not enough.

"NO!!!" he shouted as he reached for the paper and once more cut another finger and smeared more of his lifeblood onto the paper but he was not brought back to that other world. Alyx needed to see it again. He needed to see the Regis Coccinea once more, needed to be bound to its immeasurable mind and use the knowledge for himself. I cannot! Cannot let the knowledge slip away!

He stood carefully as he looked down at the papers that littered the ground. If his blood would not suffice, he knew what he had to do. But silently Alyx vowed that he would see it again. He would do whatever it took in order to return to that other domain. The domain of the Blood King.

---

Part of him did not enjoy what he was doing now.

Did not enjoy the way that his friends eyes would go wide within their skulls as he would lure them here to talk or to hang out. Did not enjoy that at the end of the night they would all be dead.

But that small part of him was little compared to the one that knew the truth.

"Alyx?! What are you--" Jonathan's voice was cut short into a gurgling cry as the knife slashed across his throat. Blood sprayed and coated Alyx's right hand and filled his nose with the beautiful copper scent of blood. The King would surely be happy with this.

His friend’s blood spilled and painted the archaic symbols that Alyx had scrawled into the very wood of the cabin with his knife. He could see them react with light and incomprehensible power. More! More! MORE!!!! Regis Coccinea requires more!! It is not enough! Do you see my King? The blood I spill for you? I will set you free. He told himself silently as he watched the waning light from the symbols on the ground and the symbols returned as they were. A manic grin made its way across his face as he laughed; he knew that what he did pleased his God. The same candle that started this all still burned in the window sill and as Alyx looked at it he grinned.

For it would burn until he freed his God.