Page 7 of Gilded Curses

“Are we going in there?” Elsa inquired.

“Do you have any other suggestions?” Orin asked.

When Elsa glanced over her shoulder, Sahira could tell she was contemplating returning, but there was nothing there for them. In all the other towns they traveled through, the trapdoor in the pub had emerged into the lot behind the building.

In Belda’s town, that pub and the surrounding land were enough to keep them alive. In the pub that led them here, there was nothing to help them survive.

They were nearly out of food and barely had enough water for another day. While they were immortal and wouldn’t die from it, their starvation, dehydration, and resulting weakness would make them easy prey in a realm full of nightmare creatures.

They couldn’t go back but couldn’t stay here, and she’d prefer not to go forward. A tunnel of skulls leading straight into a bright light was exactly the sort of thing everyone should avoid walking into.

“Do you think we’re already dead?” she whispered.

She had no idea where the idea came from, but once it took root, it festered like a splinter that went too deep.

“What do you mean?” Pip asked.

“Maybe we didn’t survive the geyser field, spiders, or sand monsters. Maybe we didn’t survive opening a portal into this realm. Maybe, the second we stepped into the Cursed Realm, we died, and everything that’s followed has been some sick, twisted Purgatory. Maybe, if we walk into that light, we’ll finally be free.”

No one said anything for a minute, and then, as she knew he would, Orin gave a derisive snort. “I’m still very much alive. This realm hasn’t taken me out, and it isn’t going to. Besides, we’d recall if one of us died.”

“Would we remember if we died when we stepped out of the portal that brought us here and into Purgatory?” Elsa asked.

“Can you fuck in Purgatory?” Orin demanded.

Elsa blinked at him. “I… I have no idea.”

“Well, I don’t think you can, and I’ve done a lot of fucking here.”

He shot a pointed look at Sahira, who scowled at him.

“I don’t think you can get drunk either, bleed, or be battered against rocks by giant spiders,” he continued. “We’re not in Purgatory. We’re in Hell, and it’s time to get out.”

“If this is Purgatory,” Zeth said, “then we’re already dead, and it doesn’t matter. Walking into the light is our way out. So, we can stay and keep running in circles or move forward and see what awaits us.”

“Let’s go then,” Sahira said.

She wasn’t ready for an end to any existence, Purgatory or not, but if that light was an escape from this realm, she’d take it. Without looking back, she entered the tunnel with the others.

Once inside, she realized the jagged rocks protruding from the walls weren’t all stone. They were more skulls.

She couldn’t tell if someone had carved them into the walls or if they were actual heads, and she refused to examine them more closely. When a giggle sounded behind them, she glanced back and spotted a handful of children at the entrance.

When the kids crept into the tunnel behind them, Orin muttered a curse under his breath. Adrenaline coursed through Sahira’s body, but the children didn’t attack as they remained at least fifty feet behind them.

The endless skulls with their mouths slightly parted in what could be laughter or a scream surrounded them. They were most likely shrieking, but maniacal laughter sounded in her head as those empty eye sockets followed them through the tunnel.

As they progressed, the glow at the end grew brighter. Nothing good could come from the end of a tunnel of skulls, but none of them stopped.

When they emerged from the shadows and into the brilliant radiance of the world beyond, unable to see, Sahira shaded her eyes against the glow.

Sahira blinked as she tried to take in their new surroundings, but her blindness made her feel incredibly vulnerable as she kept her spear thrust out in preparation for an attack she’d never see coming. While waiting for her eyes to adjust, cheers and applause erupted from some unseen entity.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Orin blinked rapidly as he tried to bring all the noise into focus. He didn’t know what to make of the cheers and applause; they didn’t lead him to believe they were in imminent danger, but not being able to see was pissing him off.

Whatever this was, it was done to further mess with their heads and disorient them. Pip gripped the collar of his shirt as a small hiss issued from her.