Pain of Discovery

Overshadowed by a sense of curiosity, Mathew paused mid-stride.

"What do you mean, you've seen depictions of it?" 

Relieved that he had stopped to listen, the woman stepped closer. But though his interest was sparked, there was still an air of apathy floating between them. The woman hesitated, her gaze drifting to the darkened hallway behind them, then back to Mathew.

"Come on talk. I don't have all day."

The woman sighed, then with a resentful expression continued.

"It means exactly what I said."

Mathew turned to face her.

"Where? And how do you know the ones you saw are related to these inscriptions?"

"I have a good memory don't worry."

"I can try, but it's not going to be easy.

He asked, looking at her with a hint of excitement brimming in his eyes.

"Where was it you saw them then?"

"I saw the damn things on a wall. They were was carved into a stone arch along its surface."

The young cynic thought to himself. 'Carved into a wall?' then raised the lantern in his hand, pointed to the symbols inscribed on its metal frame, and asked.

"And you're sure they looked like these?"

"Exactly like those."

"And where was this wall?"

The woman stood silently for a few moments then turned, and pointed towards the sea of darkness ahead. Her expression shifted grimly, then she said in a flat tone.

"There."

Mathew raised a brow.

"What were you doing there?"

She shrugged.

"Well, it's the only place those damned beasts wouldn't dear approach."

"And you didn't think there was a good reason for that?"

"Stop questioning me already. Ask what you need to and let's be done with this conversation."

"...Alright. What else do you know about the runes? Apart from their meaning of course."

"The organization that studied these inscriptions is called the Order of the Forgotten. They dedicated years to uncovering the secrets of this ancient civilization, but their findings never fully scratched the surface of the millennia of history. "

"Well, that's a dam shame."

"Yes, it is. But although they never ventured into the depths of its history, they were able to discover one thing."

"What's that?"

"The name of the language. The runes engraved on that lantern of yours, are the characters of an old forgotten language. The language of..."

Before she could finish, a sudden, inexplicable hum filled the air, drowning out her voice. Mathew winced and gritted his teeth, instinctively covering his ears as the sound surged. It was a dissonant wave, almost like a cacophony of static reverberated through his every bone.

The sound penetrated deeper and deeper, vibrating in his skull, making his clenched teeth rattle, and grind against each other.

"Stop," Mathew said, his voice barely above a whisper.

But the woman didn't hear and continued to speak. The sound only grew louder with every syllable spoken till she reached a crescendo. The one word she had spoken made him writhe in excruciating pain. His eyes felt like they were on the verge of popping out of his exploding skull.

"Stop," he said, louder this time, but the woman had turned away and was too engrossed in her explanation to notice his pain.

Mathew dropped to his knees, his initial curiosity vanished and was replaced by a desperate plea.

"Stop," he said louder.

"Stop," he said louder again.

It felt like his ear drums were on the verge of bursting open and desperation clawed at him. But there was no respite. The hum only got louder, and louder, and louder. The whites in his eyes were replaced by crimson, and his mouth quickly filled with blood. If seen on the streets of the real world, one would think was overdosing on some drug. But that was too far from the truth.

He was going mad with pain. 

Just as the sound reached a deafening peak, so did his resilience. He slumped to the ground motionless and stared at the roof above. Now only moments away from death, and with all the strength he could muster, he yelled at the top of his voice.

"I said, MAKE! IT! STOP!"

The silence that instantly filled the room was loud and welcome. The cacophony of noise that echoed in his mind halted. And as if the universe itself paused to acknowledge his plea, silence dominated.

Mathew strained to catch his breath. Minutes passed and although his ears still rang, he could finally muster the strength to think again.

'What the hell was that? Where did that noise come from?'

Was it the codex? Or was it that strange entity that he had felt since the beginning of his trial? He couldn't think straight right now so for a while, he decided to push the investigation to the side. Whatever it was, he didn't want to experience that sensation ever again. The pressure in his ears finally eased, and the crimson haze that clouded his vision dissipated.

The woman stared at him. Confusion flickered in her eyes. She was blissfully unaware of the pain he had faced. And he thought it was better that way. Turning to the relic that lay at his side, Mathew scrutinized the markings on the lantern of avarice. Almost hoping they would willingly explain their meaning to him. But achieved nothing but feeling like a fool for hoping words would talk before dismissing it.

The woman still stared at Mathew with an astounded expression.

"What's wrong with you?"

The young cynic's gaze darted to the woman.

Finally regaining his composure, he contemplated the next steps to take

He sat there for a while, perplexed by what was the correct direction to take. Should he go and find the wall the woman spoke of? Or does he ignore the distraction, and find a way out of this maze? He only had two options now. But like when he was drawn to the wall earlier, he felt a strange feeling towards the former.

He re-summoned his beautiful relic and carefully inspected it again. He glanced at the woman and then back to the relic.

His task from the codex was to survive and that was likely related to the void-born roaming the halls, but this problem with the runes and that strange interference felt like something different.

'A lantern tied to god knows what? Sure, why not? That makes about as much sense as everything else here.'

But he came from a world where humans have obtained the ability to fly and lift boulders the size of cars so he wasn't one to talk about sense. A few moments later, he looked at the beautiful woman and said

"We won't figure out what this is while sitting here so we might as well see where this rabbit hole goes."