1. In_Darkness_Dwells


    Date: 3/11/2024, Categories: Fiction Horror, Non-Erotic, Author: Sage_of_the_Forlorn_Path

    ... crossfire. But right now, I’m not staring down the barrel of a gun held by someone as scared as I am. I’m not at risk of losing a stretch of land. I can feel evil itself breathing down my neck, and the world has never felt so small, so fragile, so precarious. How did it happen? How did the weight of everything fall on us?”
    
    Before anyone could answer, the sun slipped behind the mountains, and the ground began to shake. Demons swarmed out of the cave like a pack of wild dogs, as well as other tunnels all throughout the region. Hundreds of them spread across the landscape in search of lives to end and bodies to collect. The trio watched from their hiding place, feeling their insides twist into knots. They waited patiently, giving every demon time to get outside. They didn’t want to encounter any stragglers in the dark.
    
    Finally, when all was quiet, they abandoned their hiding place and moved down to the cave entrance. They lit torches and lanterns, though the fact that each of them was carrying a crate of dynamite and a can of lamp oil made them nervous. Before embarking, they all exchanged silent glances. This was it; they were in the endgame. If they failed here, this evil would consume the world. On the plus side, the sight of candy bowls on their heads helped ease the tension.
    
    There was nothing left to say, so Sam took the first step into the cave, and Sorine and Volker followed him. The darkness enveloped them like a tar pit, and the light of their torches and ...
    ... lamps felt like a bubble of air threatening to pop at any moment. They walked down steps carved into the stone, by walls decorated with countless skeletons, raised reliefs of devils, and passages and prayers written in blood.
    
    As they descended deeper beneath the mountain, Sam, Sorine, and Volker could all sense a presence weighing down on them, but dared not speak of it. This tunnel was as close to Hell as they ever wanted to get, and they could feel the evil in the air like a noxious fume. The aura of dread they felt outside was nothing compared to the miasmic malice all around them.
    
    They eventually entered a large chamber with a stairway winding around the edge and a chandelier of stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Upon their arrival, they heard movement, followed by a familiar screech. One of the demons landed before them, spreading its mandibles wide and ready to feed. Sam swung with his axe, but the demon grabbed the handle and knocked him aside, leaving several claw marks on his face. Sorine stabbed it in the chest with her pitchfork, and the beast howled in agony with smoke wafting from the wound.
    
    “Sorine, get down!” Volker shouted.
    
    She dropped to the floor, and Volker raised his shotgun, blasting the demon in the face with a silver-imbued shell. Here in the confined space of the cavern, the thunderclap of the gun was amplified, leaving everyone with their ears ringing. The silver shredded the demon’s flesh and brain, and it fell on its back, utterly still, ...
«12...414243...56»