The lake sprawled out before us. A behemoth of nature. A thick slab of ice entombed its icy depths from the world above like the stone lid of a sarcophagus hidden away for an eternity. Its distant shoreline faded into the bleak horizon, and beyond that, a jagged mountain range rose, scarring the skies. Snow lay in heavy drifts around the lake, suffocating the earth beneath. The landscape was barren; a wasteland where only the hardiest of nature survived. The scene was both beautiful and terrifying.
Out here, far beyond the frontier, you were truly alone. In this frigid section of the world, you found out just how insignificant you were, and how cruel nature could be.
A cold, biting gale howled across the icy expanse, whipping the snow into a flurry.
“Are you sure they even made it this far?” Somebody asked.
I tore my gaze from the vast lake—breaking its mesmerising hold on me—and turned to face those gathered around me.
“This is where the tracker claimed their tracks ended,” I said.
“And you believe him?”
I shrugged. “I see no reason not to. His people have been nothing but helpful, Renn.”
Some of the crew nodded in agreement.
“Then why, in the gods’ names, did none of his people accompany us?” Renn said.
“You know damn well why, Renn. They’re superstitious people, and this here lake plays some sort of role in their cultural beliefs. It was hard enough convincing them for directions.”
“Bunch of savages, the lot of them,” he said and spat in the snow. “It ain’t right, is what it is, not believing in the Ten.”
I sighed and turned back to the lake. I was not about to get roped into another one of these religious rants again. We needed to move fast if we were to stand any chance of finding the excavation team. Their last message had left me with a feeling of dread. I couldn’t seem to shake. I readjusted my pack and turned to my companions.
“Let’s be off.”
We spread out, keeping a safe distance from each other, and journeyed out onto the lake. I glanced down at the ice. It was black; a good sign that it would hold. I pushed forward.
We had travelled a considerable distance when the blizzard struck. It appeared out of nowhere like a howling, shrieking beast built for a single purpose; destruction. It threw the lake into a maddening, swirling fury of snow and wind. It obscured my vision and tore the words from my lips as I called out to the others. Muffled, disjointed screams and shouts punched through the wind’s fury, but from what direction I could not tell. The expedition had turned into an absolute disaster. We were going to die out here in this frozen hellscape.
I stumbled forward. There was nothing more I could do. This far out on the vast frozen lake, there was little hope of finding shelter. All my concentration went to putting one foot in front of the other, as ice and snow pelted me and the screaming winds bit at exposed flesh.
Time seemed to stretch on into oblivion. Each fleeting moment, a fight for survival. The cold seeped into my bones and I found it hard to concentrate. I kept walking because there was nothing else for me to do, and I refused to give up and die, despite my body screaming to stop and rest, if just for a moment. I knew if I did, I would never rise again.
And then it appeared. The silhouette of something big looming amongst the billowing snow.
Shelter.
I did not question the thought. I embraced the absurd idea that a structure had appeared out of thin air. It was a blessing I dared not reject.
As I drew closer, the silhouette took shape and before me, a ziggurat rose. It appeared to be constructed of stone hewn from the darkest depths of the deepest pits and had a blackish green glint to it, like black jadeite. I crawled up the carved stone steps with what little strength remained, my mind teetering on the brink of consciousness. I crawled like a pilgrim beseeching the grace of their god after committing an unforgivable sin.
At its pinnacle, a dark portal yawned. I hesitated before the entrance. Fear clawed up from the depths of my psyche. It screamed that something was wrong, that I should not enter that black void. Every fibre of my being went against it, but my survival depended on it. Self-preservation won out in the end, and summoning a last burst of strength, I dragged myself into its black depths.
The blizzard’s onslaught ceased, and I shivered in relief. I lay sprawled on the cold hard stone, unable to move an inch more. My breath came in painful ragged heaves. Each gulp of air felt like a thousand glass shards tearing at my throat and lungs. My eyelids felt like lead weights and I struggled to keep my eyes open. A deep, pervasive exhaustion took root within me and I gave in to a dreamless slumber.
I do not know how long I slept, floating in an endless sea of perpetual black. When I woke, darkness met me. The entrance I’d crawled through was now solid stone. Fear coiled around my neck like a noose strangling me.
No… No, this can not be!
I scratched and pushed at the stone slab until my nails were bloody and torn. It remained immovable. Panic induced claustrophobia clawed at me as my mind fought with the concept that I’d never see the outside world again. I heard the faintest whisper call out to me. I spun around to face what I believed to be my end.
“Who’s there?”
Only deafening silence greeted me.
It was then that I noticed a soft pinprick of light ahead in the perpetual gloom. Perhaps there was a way out of this forsaken tomb. I stumbled towards the light and discovered the wane flickering of an ancient archaic lantern hanging from the ceiling. The meek glow cast ominous shadows along the chamber's black jadeite walls, accentuating their depictions of unholy eldritch rites, which my mind struggled to comprehend, and yet they seemed familiar too, like something out of a dream.
The chamber appeared to be fashioned into a vestibule of some sort, with another entrance leading deeper into the stygian blackness beyond. From that darkness, the whispers called to me again, compelling me to seek them out. I stepped up to the entranceway. The air around it felt tangible, like a veil waiting to be drawn aside. With a trembling hand held out before me, I stepped through the portal.
A sickening green light assaulted my eyes as lanterns flared to life all around me, bathing the cavernous chamber in their garish colour. A glossy black pool of water—its waters still—claimed an enormous chunk of the chamber.
I’ve been here before…
My skin crawled as the thought rippled through my mind.
How is this possible?
As if summoned by my thoughts, the shimmering black pool boiled and frothed, and from its depths, an immense horrifying being rose. It peered down at me from a dizzying height with a single bulbous eye the size of a boulder as its thoughts breached the sanctity of my mind.
AT LAST, YOU HAVE COME.
A serpentine tongue slipped from its maw and tasted the stale air.
I’VE WAITED AEONS FOR YOU FROM ACROSS THE OCEAN OF TIME AND SPACE, AND NOW YOU STAND WITHIN MY DOMAIN.
The being’s entrancing gaze held me frozen in place as thick tentacles slithered out of the pool and wrapped tightly around my body.
YOU SHOULD FEEL HONOURED, MORTAL, KNOWING THAT IN YOUR DEATH, YOU SHALL TRANSCEND BEYOND YOUR MEANINGLESS AMBITIONS AND COME TO UNDERSTAND THE TRUE PURPOSE OF YOUR BIRTH!
It laughed uncontrollably as it dragged me down into long-forgotten icy depths, sealing my fate.