"What is this place?"
Akamir wondered as he looked back only to find the exact same tree with bottles hanging on it behind him.
'Is it some sort of teleporting device?'
Despite his growing curiosity, Akamir focused on what was ahead.
The ancient palace was unlike anything Akamir had seen before.
The massive stone walls stretched high into the mist, worn down by time yet still standing proud.
Vines as thick as a man's arm wrapped around broken columns.
Ghostly blue light seeped out from the cracks in the structure, bathing everything in an eerie glow.
The air was thick with power — with something Akamir had only recently been facing.
...Mana.
Akamir placed the lamp back, while he took out his sword.
Slowly, he started to walk towards the door.
They were slightly ajar, as if waiting for him.
Creak...
He pushed them open wider, stepping inside.
The palace's interior was enormous — a vast hall supported by pillars that twisted up into the darkness.
Tattered banners hung from the ceiling, depicting strange symbols: butterflies with eyes, broken crowns, and thorny vines choking cities.
In the center of the hall, atop a dais, was a throne.
An empty old one made of swords melted together to form something resembling a throne.
He stopped a few meters away, keeping his sword loosely in hand.
The throne loomed before him — a grotesque thing, jagged and rusting, yet somehow still exuding authority.
Melted swords, broken hilts, twisted iron blended all together.
'Where the fuck am I?'
Akamir wondered, rubbing his chin.
This place didn't seem right, and in no way was Akamir supposed to be here.
As he examined the throne more closely, he noticed something strange.
At the base of it, carved into the stone in old, barely legible script, was a phrase:
"Only those abandoned by fate may claim the Hollow Crown."
'Hollow Crown...?'
Akamir was about to step closer when —
Click.
The faintest sound of shifting stone echoed from behind the throne.
A hidden mechanism had activated.
From the darkness behind the dais, a hidden passage began to open, revealing a spiral staircase leading downward.
'..Ah, maybe I should go back.'
For a moment, Akamir considered turning back.
But his curiosity got the better of him.
Gripping his sword tighter, he descended.
Step by cautious step, he made his way down the spiral staircase.
The deeper he went, the colder the air became.
The walls here were different — not the grand stonework of the palace above, but carved directly into the bedrock, rough and raw.
The walls also had engravings on them.
Winged figures, fairies, gods, monsters? hovered over kneeling humans, bestowing gifts... or curses.
At the bottom of the staircase, Akamir found himself in front of a large stone door.
On its surface was a carving of a woman with butterfly wings, her hand reaching out as if to welcome him.
Beneath her image, another line of ancient text:
"The faithful are devoured. The faithless are crowned."
Akamir exhaled slowly.
No way back now.
He placed his hand against the cold stone door.
At his touch, the carvings flared to life with a faint, sickly light.
With a low rumble, the door began to open inward.
Akamir raised his sword, ready for anything.
Beyond the door was a chamber vast and circular, with a raised platform in the center.
On the raised platform floated a crown.
It was simple, almost unremarkable at first glance a circlet of blackened metal, thin and jagged.
A whisper, soft and breathless, stirred the air:
"Claim the Hollow Crown... O abandoned one..."
"Hmm?"
Akamir looked around in confusion as he heard the voice.
But there was nothing.
Around him, the shadows began to stir more violently, taking vague shapes — figures with twisted limbs and hollow, watching eyes.
Guardians? Cursed souls?
Akamir didn't know, and he didn't plan on finding out the hard way.
He reached the base of the platform and stared up at the crown hovering just above it.
But...
A blink later.
The crown was gone.
A soft voice echoed within the place once again:
"Trial of the faithless has been initiated."
'Hmmm?'
Akamir looked up as he heard the voice from there.
The creaking voice of something opening up echoed within the palace.
"Survive the onslaught."
Just as the voice spoke —
SRCHHH!!!
A gruntal scream echoed within the entire palace.
It wasn't just one but the screams of hundreds of them blended together.
Akamir's grip tightened on his sword as the sound of hundreds of wailing voices clawed at the edges of his mind.
Taking in a deep breath, he made the decision—
"Shit."
To run away.
He burst towards the door as he moved up the spiral staircase until he reached the main hall of the palace.
BOOM!!!
Behind him, an explosive sound echoed but Akamir didn't look back.
The stone floor shook beneath Akamir's feet as he sprinted across the vast hall.
"Fuck," Akamir cursed under his breath, weaving between broken pillars and fallen debris.
He had no idea what he was running from, only that staying still would mean death.
Ahead, the giant doors he'd entered through earlier loomed open, inviting him back to the misty forest.
Almost there —
SHRAAAK!!!
A sharp, wet sound ripped the air as something massive slammed into the floor beside him, sending cracks spider-webbing across the stone.
Dust exploded upward.
Akamir shielded his face and stumbled, narrowly avoiding the blow.
He didn't even try to look at the being.
[Foxdrift.]
His body blurred as he moved out of the palace.
The enormous tree with a cave-like hole in it came into view.
Akamir quickly moved inside the hole.
Just as he was getting swallowed by it, he looked back at what was following him.
The last thing Akamir saw before the darkness swallowed him was a tidal wave of writhing shadows.
They were clawing and howling after him — hollow-eyed, screaming figures made of rage and despair.
Then...
A blink later, Akamir was at the other bottle tree far away from the last one.
He drew in a deep breath as he looked up.
The bottles collided with each other, making eerie sounds.
"It's already dark?"
Akamir wondered, looking around the place as night had already claimed the forest.
But before he could take a sigh of relief —
SRCHHH!!!
A scream echoed within the entire forest.
'No way.'
Akamir slowly started to move back as a thought crossed his mind.
'They're still following me.'
Clicking his tongue, he started to move once again.
[Foxdrift.]
Akamir darted through the darkened forest, the cries of the hollow beings chasing him like a storm at his heels.
[Progress: 18%]
Akamir shoved the notification aside as he looked around for the marking back to the town.
His body blurred between shadows, but even with the speed boost, he could feel them gaining on him.
As he vaulted over a fallen log, a sharp glint caught his eye.
Without thinking, Akamir veered toward it.
The ground sloped sharply downward, and he half-ran, half-slid into a clearing.
Here, the trees parted to reveal a marking on a tree he had placed.
Relief flooded Akamir's chest as he recognized the crude marking he'd carved earlier.
"I'm close," he muttered, ignoring the burning in his lungs.
Ahead, the trees began to thin.
He could see the faintest glow — the lights of the town's perimeter.
Just as he reached the city wall —
"Hupp."
Taking in a deep breath, he jumped up on the wall.
Using the slight gap in it, he pushed himself up before he reached the edge.
Akamir took his seat there as he looked down on the forest.
Not even a few seconds passed —
A guttural scream echoed within the forest.
...And hundreds of shadow-like beings came into Akamir's view.
"...."
Even though they all had different sizes — some as large as the wall itself —
Yet.
They all had one thing in common.
Their faces.
They all looked the same.
"....What the hell?"
And Akamir was thoroughly creeped out by it.
Because they all had his face.