Deep Sea Embers

Heidi experienced a wave of dizziness accompanied by a slight discomfort as she approached the final intersection on her way home. Stopping in confusion, she looked back over the path she had just traversed.

The street was enshrouded in a light mist, with low clouds masking the rooftops and dim streetlights casting an eerie glow. Shadows shifted ambiguously within the fog, occasionally producing faint, unsettling noises. Despite this, the scene appeared typical.

Heidi frowned as she noticed some text scribbled on a nearby wall. The crudely drawn symbols were difficult to discern and strained her eyes.

A robust woman standing in a nearby doorway seemed to notice Heidi’s puzzled pause in the middle of the street. She addressed Heidi with a look of concern, “Good evening, do you need help?”

“…No,” Heidi hesitated before responding, “I’m fine, just a bit dizzy.”

“Do take care of yourself. Dizziness is no trivial matter,” the woman replied, her smile warm. “If you’re feeling unwell, you’re welcome to come in for some hot tea.”

Heidi appreciated the offer and smiled but politely declined, “Thank you for your kindness, but I feel much better now.”

“Is that so? It seems a bit of fresh air really does help. It’s a pleasant day today…”

After nodding and expressing her gratitude, Heidi turned away and then noticed a man in a blue coat emerging from the fog. He walked briskly, carrying a heavy parcel, his eyes filled with panic as if fleeing from some unseen terror within the fog. He looked around anxiously, cautious not to make any sudden movements, as if fearing to disturb something hidden in the mist.

The man in the blue coat, surprised, stopped and stared at Heidi. He opened his mouth as if to speak, then, sensing something unsettling about her, tensed up and waved his hand dismissively before turning and disappearing into the mist without a word.

Confused, Heidi frowned and glanced down at herself, wondering what might have caused such a reaction from the stranger.

The dizziness and unease returned with greater intensity.

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A heightened sense of alertness overtook Heidi, her dormant spiritual senses awakening. Although the streets seemed normal, she now sensed an underlying threat and chill.

Something was clearly amiss, evident right before her eyes, yet she had overlooked it—the discordant elements around her…

Heidi cautiously moved to the roadside, observing her surroundings while silently invoking the name of Lahem. A sharp golden spike silently appeared in her hand.

However, she was still unsure of the “enemy” for which this golden spike was intended—was there truly an enemy present?

The pendant on her chest warmed slightly, as if reminding her of something important.

Once again, her attention was drawn to the so-called “graffiti” on the wall. The wavy lines shook and shifted, forming readable phrases: “Waves, death, the warmth of fire…”

Heidi stood frozen, engulfed in shock.

The cries of reason and memory surged through her mind like relentless waves, lost yet as persistent as death itself. She began to comprehend the profound changes that had engulfed the world and felt a deep panic rising within her. However, her extensive mental training allowed her to regain her composure more quickly than most, prompting her to survey her environment urgently.

Dark red shadows, reminiscent of flesh, crept across the night, covering walls and rooftops. The heavy clouds softened the eerie glow of the World’s Creation into strange, trembling shadows that seemed to slither and float across the city’s skyline, animating it unnaturally. On the mist-soaked street, shambling figures emitted deep murmurs and soft whimpers.

A man dressed in a gray coat wandered by, clutching a decaying, dubious substance which he consumed while muttering to himself.

An abandoned bicycle moved slowly down the street, its deteriorated wheels and chain squeaking. A twisting shadow, roughly the size of a human head, sat on the seat.

From a nearby building, a monstrous limb adorned with hundreds of blinking eyes stretched into the mist. This grotesque arm twisted around, its numerous eyes scanning the chilly night, and from it emerged a voice, eerily human:

“Good evening… It’s a nice day today…”

Heidi shuddered as a cold chill pierced through her heart and lungs.

Memories flooded back—vivid images of street graffiti and engravings she had often noticed, the unsettling discord that had always unnerved her, and the figure of a man dressed in a blue coat, who had appeared rushed and fearful.

Suddenly, she remembered that she had left her mother at home!

Taking a deep breath, Heidi spun around and dashed back along the fog-enshrouded street as fast as her legs would carry her—

Amid the fog, a startled gasp echoed, and voices weakly called out her name. The dark red shadows along the roadside trembled and gathered together. Gunshots rang out from a nearby street, sparked by some panic-driven commotion, while a mechanical spider walker, adorned with numerous eyes and mouths, stumbled forward from the opposite direction, its pressure pipes bursting open and releasing a strange, monotonous tune.

Yet Heidi seemed oblivious to these disturbances; she blocked out all distractions and sprinted straight down the street—through the fog, eventually glimpsing the lights of her home.

Grasping her skirt, she ran awkwardly for the last few meters, pausing just before she reached the front door. She hesitated, transferred the sharp “golden spike” to her left hand, and calmed her breath before cautiously taking out her key, unlocking the door, and turning the knob.

The door swung open to reveal the cold, bright light of the living room. Inside, everything looked normal, although writhing shadows still lingered in the corners, offering a stark contrast to the turmoil outside.

Her mother sat by the fireplace at the far end of the room, deeply engrossed in a newspaper that had been delivered at some unknown time.

Upon hearing the door, the elderly woman looked up with a gentle smile and said, “Heidi, you’re back—was the visit to the clinic successful?”

Heidi’s mother appeared unchanged, her usual self, much to Heidi’s relief who had been worried that unwanted visitors might be lurking in the room.

With a quiet sigh of relief, Heidi put away the golden spike she had been clutching and walked calmly toward the fireplace. “There’s no time to explain, Mother, you must come with me now. This neighborhood is no longer safe—there’s something sinister lurking outside…”

Mid-sentence, Heidi stopped speaking abruptly.

Her mother’s face remained serene, her gentle smile unchanging, showing no sign of surprise or doubt. After a short pause, the older woman nodded affirmatively, then stood and walked across the room to the staircase by the fireplace.

From beneath the stairs, she retrieved two suitcases.

“Everything necessary is present. The shelter is well-equipped with basic amenities, and the supplies remain abundant— Governor Dante always ensured that. Your ‘medical box’ has been packed and is waiting on the table in your room. Please, fetch it yourself; they’ll be needing those supplies at the shelter. And don’t forget your revolver, take several boxes of bullets with you—try to avoid using them, but if necessary, aiming for those fleshy, crawling creatures one bullet at a time continues to be effective.”

As she detailed these preparations, she walked back to the fireplace, stretched slightly to reach the old rifle that hung from a brass hook, and took it down.

Click-click, she skillfully manipulated the rifle’s mechanism, loaded bullets into the chamber, and practiced ejecting and reloading them with ease.

“I’ll stick with this one; it’s the same rifle your father and I used on our excursions. This old companion has always been reliable—one shot, one cultist.”

Heidi watched, utterly astonished, and slowly came to a realization. Incredulously, she addressed her mother, “Mother, do you mean to say… you’ve been prepared all this time?”

“I was ready the moment they posted flyers on the telephone poles. After that, it was just a matter of waiting for you to ‘wake up,'” the old woman explained, looking intently at Heidi. “Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait too long.”

Overwhelmed and speechless, Heidi remained silent for a long while until her mother’s urging snapped her back to reality. She quickly ascended the stairs to her room where she found the small suitcase her mother had packed for her, along with several cardboard boxes on the table.

Upon opening the boxes, she discovered shiny, golden bullets, each engraved with the sacred words of Lahem, the god of wisdom: “Let knowledge enter the mind.”

Heidi gazed at the golden bullets, gathered her resolve, secreted some in her clothing, and meticulously packed the remainder into the medical box.

After completing her preparations, she dashed down the stairs.

“Mother, I’m ready, we should—” Suddenly, Heidi halted on the staircase.

The front door stood open, and a familiar figure was framed in the doorway. Dressed in an old but neatly maintained woolen coat, sporting a monocle, and puffing on a pipe.

Her father had returned home.