Now only the magical lights were guiding him. And luring him into a trap. No matter how hard he tried to move aside, he could not. He landed on an unknown surface in the darkness and continued walking along it.
From somewhere within the impenetrable depths came a powerful, all-consuming male voice:
"Lie down, traveler. Rest here forever. Do not worry about anything. Your journey is over."
He saw a large red bed. It stood in the darkness, surrounded by unreachable mystical magical lights drifting through the darkness. It was as though an alien mind was watching him.
He could not resist this sorcery. He lay down on the red bed and closed his eyes. The sinister darkness leaned over him. Numerous black claws reached toward his flesh.
At that moment, sinister inscriptions flared up across his face. The Mark of the Curse. Then the darkness screamed. And retreated.
He found himself in a room without windows or doors. With a mysterious tall figure standing with its back to him. Wearing a robe and a hood pulled over its head.
"You are the Cursed. Your path is ordained. And it is not my right to interfere with it. I would already have torn anyone else apart."
"Who are you to speak of the Cursed's path?"
"I am a demon."
Sinister silence hung between them for some time.
"And I am ready to lead you to the Chamber of Black Visions. But you must make the choice yourself."
The walls of the room began to crumble. Holes appeared in them, which numerous servants of the Cult of the Moon-Devouring One were gnawing through with their fangs. Their terrifying faces appeared in the breaches.
"There is little time. Decide."
"What will happen if I refuse?"
"You can continue fighting against an entire city and kill the Magister yourself. But alone, your chances are far too small."
"Who is the Magister?"
"If you had survived here for at least three nights, you would already know. He is the one who lured you and us here. He commands the Cult of the Moon-Devouring One. He is one of the Elders of the Cult. So ancient that time itself bends in his presence."
"What is the Chamber of Black Visions?"
"The only safe place in this city. But it demands its price. You will see everything yourself when you get there."
If it had been a trap and the demon had wanted to kill him, it would already have done so. It had had more than enough opportunities when the Cursed had been lying on the red bed.
"Show me the way."
They were walking through the corridor of the house. The hooded, robed figure was moving ahead of the Cursed. Ahead, a pair of double doors swung open, and numerous cultists poured out from beyond them.
The guide raised a hand, and the first half of the cultists slammed into the right wall of the corridor with terrible force. Blood and entrails sprayed in all directions.
The guide moved his hand to the left, and the second half of the cultists slammed into the wall on the left. Some of them smashed through the windows and tumbled outside.
Beyond the double doors, they found themselves in another corridor, where strange masses were hanging on the walls. They were bubbling, and bubbles were drifting across their surfaces. They were covering the walls along the entire length of the corridor. Streams of green slime shot out from the first masses. They did not reach the guide and the Cursed. An invisible shield caught them and stopped them. They hissed and evaporated from its surface. From the next masses, long tentacles shot out and hurled themselves at those passing by. The guide swept his hand through the air, and the tentacles on one side fell away and collapsed onto the floor. The same happened to the tentacles on the left.
The hooded figure remotely opened the door at the end of the corridor, and they found themselves on a nighttime city street.