The Devil's Temptation!

216 The Owner Of The Coffin

Leading the way for Roshan, the guard who had ran to him earlier suddenly went through another different- darker tunnel that carried a bizarre dynamism, and Roshan followed after realizing he hasn’t scouted this area yet, quizzically wondering what lies at the end of this particular tunnel, and he hoped whatever his guard saw was going to be worth his time checking.

Luderick was nowhere to be seen in the empty building, and the glacier himself was already feeling eager that he would see his uncle face to face after a long time, and possibly finish the battle from where they started before it even got to this. But it still surprised Roshan that Luderick always manages to flee before he arrives, as though he was already aware that they’d come looking for him.

Roshan and his guards halted when they stood before a big wooden double door, but what lay inside wasn’t even one of their biggest problems. There was no door knob, or any door handle that would ease someone into opening the door, as though someone had gotten rid of it. And based on how tightly it was jammed, Roshan could easily conclude that the door was locked, his eyes observing it from top to bottom as he took a step back.

“Break it open.” He commanded.

Two of his guards stepped forward at his order and gave the door a powerful hard kick, leading the door to immediately jolt open, to the extent the hinges of the door broke due to the pressure applied to it. An eerie silence followed after the door was forced open, revealing the inside to everyone standing at the threshold.

Roshan quietly stepped in, and when his guards planned on following him in, he quickly raised his hand, making them stop in their tracks and they dutifully waited outside. There was something disturbing about this particular room he ventured into, so for everyone’s safety, it’d be wise enough if he took a look at it alone.

Stepping deeper into the empty room, Roshan’s gaze traveled up the walls that had the same blood splatters on them, except they had dried up with time, and it felt as though Roshan could hear the screams of those innocent people as Luderick drank them dry, he could sense the things that has happened here and they were unutterable.

The look on his face expressed his disgust as he averted his gaze from the bloodied wall.

“Your Highness, are you sure you don’t want us to come in?” Asked Enzo, who was more concerned with helping his Highness solve these puzzles, but Roshan shook his head before letting out a sigh.

.....

“No,” he articulated conscientiously, “if I need you I know when to call you in, keep on guard for anything outside and stay alert.”

“Yes, your Highness.”

Enzo and the rest of the guards remained where they were just like Roshan had ordered, and they made sure to stay at alert, their hands reaching for their sword, just in case, to be prepared for any unexpected surprises.

Roshan continued with his investigation, his eyes scrutinizing the room carefully, and when he turned to look at what lay in the middle of the dark foreboding room, he noticed a brown coffin, a coffin big enough to fit a human body inside of it resting there.

He stopped walking, as though the sight of a coffin lying in the middle of an empty room had thrown him off guard, and his eyes widened slightly. There was a graveyard at the back of the building, he saw it on his way into the building and that made his brows crease in cognition

Did Luderick stupidly decide to dig one out?

The coffin was closed, and there was this odd lingering presence that filled the entire room the moment his eyes landed on it. He didn’t understand the aura he felt in this place, and the presence he sensed wasn’t the type he’d sense when Luderick was nearby, which means someone else was here?

“But a coffin?”

Why would Luderick need a coffin??

Reaching for the middle of the room, Roshan wasted no time opening the strange coffin, but to his even greater shock, there was nothing inside of it. It appeared empty and neat like it had never been used before.

“Its empty?”

Roshan was more than confused at this point. He doesn’t know what he was expecting to find inside the coffin, but the emptiness had left him with many more questions. Driven by the will to get some answers, Roshan closed the coffin and looked at the coffin board, hoping to find any imprint of who the owner of the coffin belonged to, and what year the owner died, but to his disappointment, there was nothing written on it.

“Darn it!!!” He got to his feet and stepped out of the room. The seriousness in his expression had turned so cold that even his guards who were standing outside, shivered slightly when he walked by, and they could tell their Highness was not in a good mood at all, leaving them wondering what the situation might be.

They silently followed him out without uttering anything, afraid they might say something that would lead him into unleashing their anger on them.

“Enzo.” Roshan called his name, and the guard instantly rushed to his side, walking beside him and keeping to his pace.

“Yes, your Highness.”

“Bring the coffin to the palace, lock it somewhere in the dungeon and keep it under serious surveillance.”

Roshan wasn’t sure why, but he has a feeling that whoever owned that coffin would definitely want it back.

——-

Standing at the top of an abandoned tower that was half destroyed, a young lady peered out through the window, looking at the snow covered land and she inhaled deeply while closing her eyes, unsure of the last time she got to breathe and enjoy the cold air of nature.

Exhaling through the lips, her moment of reunion was interrupted by Luderick who stood behind her, watching the woman smile to herself while staring out the window. Her chocolate-brown eyes appeared empty with not a single emotion displaying in them, despite carrying an expressive smile on her lips.

“We still have unfinished business to deal with.” Luderick informed, reminding the lady that she was brought back to life for a reason and shouldn’t get swayed with reality already.

Turning around to look at Luderick, her eyes glinted sharply.

“I want my coffin back.”