Entrance Hall

Kael ducked quickly. He had ducked so fast that it hurt, and his knees were begging him not to stand in the position he was in now. But Kael didn't care.

All the creatures in his field of vision had turned toward him, all of them, without exception! Was he going to care what position he was in, that he was hurting? Of course not!

He crawled across the floor to the other side of the window, then jumped to his feet and started walking away from it. He didn't even look outside, he was just trying to get away from the window. Even if the creatures were coming here, he would have already gone somewhere else. Still, he was careful not to make a sound so as not to attract the creatures inside the palace. At the same time, he was thinking.

'These creatures... they can tell when they are being watched.'

It was like this every time. Whenever he looked at a creature and was sure it couldn't see him, it would instantly turn towards him. The most logical conclusion he could reach was that the creatures could sense that they were being watched. Not only that, they could pinpoint where they were being watched.

'In how many seconds? I didn't look out the window for very long, seven or eight seconds at most. Then I have to look at each creature for a maximum of two seconds, three if I need to examine something. More than that is dangerous.'

He paused with these thoughts. His eyes squinted slightly, slowly focusing in front of him.

For a brief moment, silence surrounded him. There was nothing, just... nothing.

In his left hand, he gripped the knife tightly. Meanwhile, his right hand was ready to pull a bowl of narcotics from his bag.

He took a slow step, then another. All his senses were alert, at least as alert as a slave's can be.

Soon, he found the cause of what was bothering him.

'The smell of blood is getting stronger.'

He was not sensitive to the smell of blood, but even a normal child could detect the intensity of the metallic scent wafting through the corridors.

If he continued on the path he was on now, he was in for a very unpleasant sight.

He looked around, trying to find a room, but there was not a single one. The corridor only stretched forward. But it curved in a strange arc, so he had to move forward to see beyond a certain distance.

'I can't turn around. I already came here running from a creature...'

But he was also afraid to move forward. The smell of blood was so disturbing that he would not be surprised to find an army of creatures ahead.

'Still, I have no choice...'

So he kept on stepping. He was praying to find a room. He didn't want to go any further in these corridors.

But his prayers were not answered. Instead... the corridor continued to move forward and the smell of blood intensified.

After a short while, the curve of the corridor finally began to lessen. After a few more steps, Kael would finally either come to a straight corridor, come to the end of it, or come out into a large hall or clearing.

He glued himself to the wall on his left. Up to now, he had been going on the right side of the corridor so that he could see directly where he could not see because of the curvature of the corridor, but this time, he was not sure what to expect. So he kept moving forward.

When the curve of the corridor finally disappeared... he found the third of the three possibilities he had just thought of.

Yes, it was indeed a big room. But it was not just a 'big room'. This was... the entrance hall of the palace.

*******

Kael looked around the hall, trying hard not to hold his nose.

The spectacle before him made the massacre in the garden seem like a mere trifle. There was such a pool of blood on the floor that he couldn't see what the floor was made of. There were dozens of bodies, perhaps more than a hundred. Nobles, soldiers, servants, creatures... There was even a corpse that looked like one of the three creatures he had seen in the garden.

But... 'corpses' were not the only things in the hall.

There were four creatures walking around. With slow, heavy steps, just like before. The red of their eyes glowed as bright as ever.

Kael soon stopped looking at the hall and stepped back. He had only looked inside for three seconds, following his self-imposed rule as closely as possible. While he followed it, he also managed to quickly examine everything in the hall.

'Now... what can I do?'

Turning back was not an option. It was also too dangerous to hide where he was now. If one of the creatures in the hall started moving towards where he was, he would be finished.

For a moment, he thought he could go to the corridor directly across the hall. But one of the creatures was right at the foot of that corridor and facing that way. So he would probably start moving down that corridor after a short time.

So... if he didn't want to stay where he was, there was only one place he could go. That is, up the stairs to the second floor.

'Hahaha... look what I have to do. Is it better if I just die painlessly so that these creatures... don't eat me while I'm still alive?'

Killing himself was an option, of course. In fact... it was a rather sweet option, actually.

He thought for a while. Even if he was short on time, he thought. But then... he clenched his fist and his teeth.

'No, I'll survive, at least I'll try my best to try.'

He held his breath, he had made up his mind. He moved forward again and leaned at an angle where he could see the hall.

Just as he had predicted, one of the creatures was moving towards the corridor opposite. It had its back to him. So, there would soon be only three creatures to deal with.

And these three creatures... were not in positions that would overly impede his ascent upstairs.

One was in front of the entrance door to the palace, not looking towards the stairs. The second was busy eating a corpse, and it didn't look like it would be finished any time soon. In fact, he had only just started. The third one... was in the middle of the hall. He was staring at a spot between the creature that would soon leave the hall and the massive staircase leading upstairs.

Kael stepped back again as his mental count reached three. He took a deep, really deep breath.

'Well, I don't have to worry about my smell. It's impossible for anyone here to smell anything but blood anyway... I don't know how developed their senses are, or if they are, but I'm sure if I take off my shoes, I can move without making a sound. I just... have to stay out of their line of sight, that's all.'

And there were places in the hall where he could do that. First of all, there were a lot of wide pillars, and he could hide behind them. Apart from that... he could use the corpses, although he was sure it wouldn't be a very pleasant experience. He wasn't going to resort to that option unless he really had to.

'Well... I'll wait for that creature to move into the hallway.'

He looked around the hall again. None of the creatures were looking in his direction, a good sign.

Quickly, he looked for a path to the stairs. There were almost seven meters between him and the stairs, and within those seven meters were two huge pillars.

If he could get behind the first pillar, he would be out of sight of all the creatures. But the problem was the second pillar. Once there, there was no way to avoid the creature gnawing at the corpse. If it raised its head, it could see him. Even if he moved out of his line of sight, using the pillar, then there was a chance that the creature in the center of the hall would see him.

So... what if he crawled slowly between the corpses, while the creatures were not looking at him? He was pretty sure he wouldn't be noticed in a place where the smell of blood was so strong. The only problem was... He wasn't sure of the creatures' level of intelligence and perception abilities.

Would they be able to recognize that a body that appeared out of nowhere had not been here before? Or was there a way for them to detect that Kael was alive, regardless of the scent?

He sighed slightly. He wasn't really sure what he should do.

But... just then, something caught his attention. A faint sound suddenly entered his ears, an... echo. An echo coming from behind him.

His eyes widened. He quickly turned around and focused.

A second passed, then two seconds... and then... the sound of a footstep.

A slow, slow yet heavy step. One he was unfortunately getting used to hearing... and the harbinger of very bad news.