The war of the long night

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You were introduced to the palace as a servant, to serve the king and queen at their request. Being an outcast from your village has however, not made your life easy. Angered by their arguments, you are told to take a day off to do whatever pleases you.

You decide to take the day off and go to the place where you were conflicted: Spire

The journey to the base of Spire is filled with vivid scenery. The ashen sky is littered with stars, with the occasional track of fallen meteorites. The toll of the war simply does not exist here, as if the plane itself refuses to acknowledge it.

For a person living in a time like this, where chaos rules supreme, the silence and the lack of any danger can be unnerving. You feel like you are being watched, as you press onwards, but every time you look around, you see nothing but forest. What is this feeling?

There is no time to think about it however, as you soon encounter the entrance to Spire. A single door of massive size, flanked by two statues of warriors that stand frozen, covered in moss.

You carefully try to enter, wary of the fact that this place was designed to contain something. You ask yourself why you are even doing this.

After fumbling for many minutes, the door gives way without a single sound, as if the lock was to slow. You gasp quietly, unsure whether you should be afraid or not. Before your eyes seems to melt away the door, to reveal an elevator. You decline to pose on the elevator with a new key. You are sure that even if you take the news back to the king and queen, they would get angry with you for not coming back.

As you approach to the entrance to the Spire, you can already hear it. A dull, but recognizable sound. It is the sound of metal. Pressure builds up as you are about to enter. The sound is somewhat familiar, but it is also very distorted. It seems very distant, like it is in another world, far away from you. You eventually enter. Between the giant doors, massive in size but only a pair of them, you can see a small space to walk through. You are only a few meters into the Spire, but it feels like another dimension, so hostile, so foreign. The sound is louder now. It is still a metallic sound, but more clear now. It is the sound of swords sliding against each other.

A dim light gives you your next clue. It is a light dot in the distance, far away. As you creep closer, you encounter a niche hidden in the wall. Inside is a lever. You activate it. The light fades in the distance, and you are in complete darkness. As you enter the niche, you hear the sound of metal. The sound of swords. You scramble out of the niche, and see a small room ahead. The sound is much louder here, so you go in. There are two men standing there. They are covered in blood, which drips from their clothes to the floor. Each of them have a short sword in their hands, and each of them have hunched over slightly, and they are not moving. As they try to move a little, they simply collapse to the floor. You are not sure what happened, but you are sure that you need to run.

Although you do not know who these men are, you have decided to take the first door that you find. Once you enter, you are instantly interested by another lever. It is not dark in here, but it still reminds you of the dark room that took you to the Spire. You walk toward it, but you see the figures of yet another pair of men. The light stops at their feet, revealing the sight of you. They are kneeling. You ask yourself whether this is a trap.

You walk over to them and check on them. One of them asks you to pray with him. Without hesitating, you join him in prayer. You then decide that you need to exit the dark room.

You find another niche in the wall and you activate the lever. You are filled with ambient light, and you reveal a small cavern. As you walk inside, you hear a heavy sound. It is a squelching sound. The water is loud, and there is no motion. You walk over to another lever. Your uncertainty leaves you, and you activate it. The sound stops. You then see a large pool. You walk forward. You see two men in the pool, engulfed in flames. They are not moving.

As you approach them, a man wearing red robes appears in your peripheral vision. He has a grim expression.

“Aton,” you acknowledge him.

He walks toward you, and you quickly back away, unsure.

“Aton.” You repeat, trying to get his attention. He steadily walks toward you, and once he reaches you, he holds his hands out in a ‘stop’ gesture.

“Aton.” You say, not knowing what is going on.

“Let us have the exchange gift,” Aton tells you in a very flat voice.

You are shocked by that. You feel something on the ground. You kneel down and grab it quizzically. It is a letter. You give it to Aton, and he glances at it briefly. Although it was dark, you read the letter. It is a letter of introduction, as many of these are.

“Aton, I have found an important message.” You tell him.

Aton glances at the letter and then turns to you.

“I will have the gift,” he tells you.

You are utterly confused by this turn of events.

“What do you mean?” you browse.

“No!” Aton says, managing to look threatening.

“Please,” He tells you. “I need the gift.”

“I will come with,” you tell Aton.

He looks at you.

“…Yes,” Aton manages to say.

You look at Aton, as does he. You both walk out of the cavern, and in the distance, you hear a loud noise. A voice.

“No no no no no no no no.”

The voice is real. You recognize the voice. Blurry, distorted, but very real.

“You are not following your orders.” Aton tells you.

Your vision blurs, and you fall to the ground.