The door opens, the creaking of the hinges drowned out by the singing. The sudden increase of volume is almost startling.
Sučana crept forward into the room.
The walls were buttressed with deep arches, providing plenty of shadow for her to hide in. Five statues, twice the height of a man, in gleaming blue marble adorn the centre of the room, facing towards Sučana. Each holds a brazier sculpted like a huge torch, providing the light. A pile of broken barrels, holed and rotten, adorns the corner to Sučana's left, while a table with a leather bag on it is shoved in the far corner to her right.
In each recess, racks of skulls gaze blindly out. Perhaps this is an ossuary?
In the walls, in each of the cardinal directions, there is a door, similar to the one she entered through.
Less pleasant are the monks nailed to the statues. Pearly white spikes have been forced brutally forced through limbs into the statues, pinning the men off the ground. Dull crimson blood has oozed from the wounds, discolouring the statues. Flies buzz around the impaled monks. Despite that, the eight men nailed to the statues are a source of some of the voices, loudly singing.
Praise be to the King,
Our noble lord and saviour!
Praise be to the King,
To Daemons us he fed,
We facing cruellest torture!Three more stand in front of the statues, their brown robes rotting and stained. Their forearms look grossly elongated - their hands, the fingers twisted and broken, hang at their knees. Fortunately, they're facing away.
With a second of carelessness, Sučana's foot kicks a skull that had fallen from the racks. It skitters across the tiles, and the monks notice. With jerky, painful movements, they twist round and look into the shadows. Their faces are ripped and bloody, but not bleeding like one would expect from such wounds. Sučana freezes.
With awkward steps, they begin apporaching the open doorway. It seems their vision isn't too sharp. They'd spot movement, however, if Sučana went back for her sword...
"Is someone there?" one of them calls, the voice hideously untouched - a smooth baritone that has no mark of the damage the man carries.
Author
Topic: ARCHESTONE - 4/4 - The Despoiled Temple (Read 14538 times)