He Who Fights with Monsters, #1
He Who Fights with Monsters
by Shirtaloon
Contents
10. The Evil Pit of Evil
Overview
Jason is hauled to a vast ritual chamber dominated by a roiling blood pit. Faced with imminent sacrifice, he uses a gold spirit coin to shatter his cage and accidentally kills two cultists. Exhausted, he escapes by gliding to the doors with his cloak and hides, while his fellow prisoners remain in peril.
Summary
Jason awakens violently ill and disoriented, caged and being rolled along rail tracks by red-robed, masked cultists toward a blood-red light. A quest update declares his previous escape failed and introduces The Blood Feast, confirming he and other prisoners, including Rufus and the lion-man, are slated for sacrifice.
The procession enters a colossal cylindrical chamber dominated by a churning, luminous pool of blood. Cultists haul the heavy cages up steep stone steps to wall-set platforms. Under the direction of a commanding woman Jason recognizes from the cellar, they stage the big cages on lower platforms to spare effort, with Dougall among the escort.
Examining reinforced bars with newfound ritual knowledge, Jason concludes a silver coin won’t free him and gambles on a powerful gold spirit coin. The surge lets him kick the door off its hinges, killing one cultist instantly and fatally punching through another before the coin’s strength ebbs, leaving him drained.
Hearing more cultists converging, Jason invokes his starlight cloak, leaps from the platform, and uses its lightness to glide over the blood pit, landing by the massive doors. Torn between fleeing and aiding the others, he hides behind a half-open door as pursuing cultists rush past into the tunnel, leaving his companions still captive above the pit.
Who Appears
- JasonProtagonist; captured for sacrifice, uses a gold spirit coin to escape his cage, kills two cultists, glides to the door, and hides.
- RufusFellow prisoner; recognizes the danger in the ritual chamber and remains caged on a lower platform.
- Lion-manLarge beastkin prisoner; sarcastic defiance toward cultists, left on the first platform in a heavy cage.
- DougallCultist laborer and enforcer; helps haul cages and guards platforms per the lady’s instructions.
- Commanding woman (milady)Authoritative cultist; directs where to stage the heavy cages, prioritizing efficiency over vengeance.
- Blood cultistsRed-robed masked acolytes; transport prisoners, two die during Jason’s escape, others pursue him.