(Ursa) In the Fortress of Forever ~ Part 01

Ursa discovered all to soon that the fortress of Grey Haven that was found in the Endless Dark was an unending maze of twisting and turning corridors coupled with a countless assortment of rooms and chambers which extended outwards until oddly enough they somehow always seemed to lead one back to the main feast hall and the culinary horrors to be found there.

Even time itself proved to be meaningless it seemed. Ursa couldn’t say how many days… weeks…months...or even years she had spent wandering the endless corridors and chambers having lost count of how many times she had returned to the main feast hall to start the whole process over again.

If there was one blessing to be had it was that hunger at least wasn’t an issue. Or at least it didn’t seem to be given that she was never hungry nor had any real desire to eat beyond the want for something sweet now and again or a simple desire to wet her lips.

Thus beyond the endless assortment of undead who roamed the corridors with her there was little else to mark the passage of time though there were, from time to time, other beings and assorted creatures who crossed her path who much like herself had somehow found themselves trapped here for unexplained reasons.

Thus far the encounters had been thankfully few a pair of Hell Hounds, a Pseudo-dragon, and an assorted collection of Imps and demi-humanoids sneaking about the shadows no doubt about some assigned task or other for some unknown Lord or Master.

There were also others like herself wandering the maze as well.

Most appeared to have found themselves in more or less in the same situation as herself; it became clear to her that few, if any, could be trusted. Some in fact had clearly gone mad while others gave her a bad feeling and were best avoided in her opinion.

At some point she had even picked up a shadow who had been mirroring her every step now for the better part of the day. Only brief glimpses of or the brief hint of movement in the shadows now and again but it had become clear to her that she was being stalked and that her stalker, whoever it was, did not have her wellbeing in mind.

She had been weighing the pros and cons of turning to face her lurking shadow and demand to know what they wanted when she turned yet another blind corner coming face to face with a rather large and impressive set of decorative stone doors held closed by heavy chains and bearing an ancient seal of some kind.

“Shit… “ Was all she could think to say in that instant given her current situation. A backwards step and a quick glance down the corridor she had just come catching the briefest hints of movement in the shadows.

Her attention turned to the stone doors again, her gaze fixing on the heavy chains that secured the doors and the ancient seal trying to work out its meaning from the markings cut into the strange disk's metal surface.

“ deprehendere.” Ursa whispered under breath sharply. The disk glowing briefly a soft blue before the light quickly faded.

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