A Mystery in Siberia
In the Siberian wilderness, a small village lay cloaked in a perpetual blanket of snow, the wooden cottages exuded a warmth against the chilled air, they nestled between the towering pines and the formidable mountains.
Long-practised tales of frostbitten faeries and ancient spirits ignited the imaginations of the inhabitants, though they now have found themselves faced with a new terror, one they had previously been unaware of due to their remoteness in the Siberian wilderness; the Imperium had come to their small village; news of a discovery attracting their attention from the heart of the Tsar’s power in Saint Petersburg.
Khariton, a war-weary woodworker had retreated from his home city in Moscow to the wilderness, stumbling upon the small village just shortly after the Imperium had taken interest in the village and its recent findings; Khariton had come this far out into the wilderness in a desperate escape from his service within the Tsar’s army, their defeat against Japan had humiliated the Empire, and Khariton just couldn’t find it within himself to live amongst people that seemed to despise him, somehow blamed him for what happened, he was only a soldier, he had no control over what was happening, the Tsar though; he certainly did have control, it was the Tsar that took the Russian Empire to war against a perceived weaker nation, only to be defeated and humiliated.
The day Khariton arrived, he exchanged weary greetings with his new neighbours, their faces shared a similar shared anguish that he didn’t quite understand, it wasn’t until he learned of their son dying that he understood; as he began to settle into his small cottage, he went over some letters he had exchanged with a girl he had grown close too before he went off to fight against the Japanese Empire; memories washed over him, the laughter and happiness that he had felt, his return back to Moscow initially he had made attempts to find her, but she was nowhere to be found; another of the reason’s for his decision to leave.
As days turned to weeks; Khariton settled into a rather monotonous routine, he paid little attention to the goings-on around the village, that was until he saw a confrontation between two hooded men and an older gentleman, they were clearly threatening him; quickly he rushed over, snapping angrily at them to move away, he indicated towards the pistol held in its holster on the front of his waist by lifting his shirt up a little; pointing at them to direct them away.
The two hooded men however simply looked at Khariton with a confused expression, the very idea that he interfered in their actions clearly confusing them, they were not use to anyone daring to stand up to them out here.
“Move!” he snapped; wrapping his fingers around the pistol, he threatened to draw it as he eyed them carefully
For now, the two decided to back off, instead of reacting, they instead decided they would report back to their bureau; to inform the leader of the encounter, and decide on the next action from there; Khariton, shakes his head as he observes the two walking away; the elder he had just intervened for however told him that he should have kept himself clear of the situation, that he may of just made himself a target for the Imperium; confused, Khariton decided to simply return back to his cottage.
An ex-priest by the name of father Dimitry, who had been observing, decides to follow Khariton, keen to ask if he knows what he may have just stepped into; during a conversation with Khariton, Dimitry learns that he has no knowledge of anything called he Imperium, that the elder he helped was the first person he had ever heard of the name from; sitting quietly for a moment, Dimitry began explaining what he learned about them following their arrival to the village, blaming the discovery of a strange crypt of ancient origins for their sudden arrival.
Tapping his finger against his chin for a moment, Khariton looks at Dimitry with some curiosity “A Crypt?” he queries “Why would they be interested in are they not found beneath churches?” he asked, a puzzled expression present
“Normally; Yes” he answered “This place however is different; it may not have been called a crypt by whoever built it; but there isn’t really any other way to describe this place we discovered” he explains “When news of its discovery came out; the Imperium arrived”
“But why?” Khariton said, a crease of confusion forming between his brows as he maintained his puzzled expression, but there was not just bewilderment, but a curiosity lurking behind his eyes, leaning forward a little, as if he was hoping the shift in his posture would somehow help him grasp what he was being told
“There are things down there that they have taken interest” he tells Khariton, gesturing a moment out of the nearby window and in the direction of another cottage “Poor Vladmir murdered…, well.., executed rather, for trying to stand up to them; no one has since done such a thing” he tells Khariton “You have just presented yourself as a challenge to them”
Exhaling through his nose, a sly smirk curved his mouth as he looked at Dimitry “I have faced cannon and rifle fire; almost drowned at sea; a few zealots aren’t going to frighten me”
“There influence runs much deeper than here Khariton” he warns “They seem to hold the reigns of power over even the Tsar; to control Empire’s not only here, but Empire’s of distant lands; Britain, Germany, America; these places are under their influence it would seem”
Khariton simply waves Dimitry off, uninterested in the apparent control over an Empire; he was however more curious to find out what interest these people had for an ancient crypt.
After a few days of inactivity around the village, Khariton, still curious about the Cultists and what he had learnt about their interests regarding an ancient crypt, decided he would go out in search of the location; to see what the Cultists of the Imperium were doing there.
As bitter winds howled, Khariton set off into the wilderness, carrying with him a rifle, a pistol and a bag containing a few other tools that may come in handy; wearing a heavy winter great coat, something he had modified to add a hood; he walked slowly while adjusting a scarf around his face, pulling it up to cover above his nose, and with his hood pulled up, his face was mostly hidden, only his eyes were visible as he began journeying from the village in search of the crypt.
Having only a rough idea of where to begin his search, he was walking for some time, the further he got from the village, the more treacherous the landscape became; as the sky grew darker and darker; he finally heard something, voices carried within the wind, shifting his attention, Khariton glances ahead, he could see some light illuminating in the distance, it wasn’t very bright, but it was enough for him to know were to go.
With an encampment coming into view, Khariton kneels down, he was still far enough away that it would be difficult for anyone to spot him in the darkness, but the wind carried the echoing voices, he could just about work out how many of them were at the encampment; the glow of the fire, illuminated the entrance leading down into an underground crypt, upon spotting it, he knew he needed to get access, he wanted to investigate what was inside, what it was that drew these men to this place and why they were so keen in it.
Remaining low, he decides to move closer, wanting to get close enough that he could at least listen in on their conversations while also trying to devise a plan to get into the crypt.
With some careful manuevering, Khariton got as close as he dared, laying down to make himself even less noticeable, listening in on a conversation between two men.
“The man at the village; the scum dared to threaten us” the first voice said, an irritation present in their tone “Why have we not gone kicking down his door to make an example of him?”
There is a moment of silence as the one he is sat with muses over what was just said, his eyes were fixed onto the fire, listening to it crackling as the flames danced “You heard Alexei” he finally said “For now our task is to find the artefact, Ivan” he adds, his tone hinting at some kind of frustration
“It isn’t even here Andrey” Ivan growls, gesturing angrily towards the crypt
“It isn’t exactly small” Andrey looks to Ivan with a raised eyebrow “How can you declare that it is not here, you spent most of your time searching the main chamber, you have not gone deeper, explored some of its deepest sections” he shakes his head “Our investigation will not end until the entire Crypt has been searched”
Ivan lets out a deep, frustrated groan, his annoyance palpable in the air around him; he had grown tired of being out here in the wilderness, he wanted to return back to the cities in the west, not out in Siberia’s remote wilderness.
Emerging from the depths of the crypt, a gaunt figure came out into the lightness of the crackling fire, his movements where deliberately eerie, it was as if he was a harbinger of something ark, foreboding; the air around him crackled with an aura of malevolence that seemed to warp shadows, he created an unsettling atmosphere that sent a chill down the spine of anyone who looked his way; his piercing eyes were cold and unyielding, gleaming with an unnatural intensity, as if they could see into the souls of those who crossed his path.
“Return to your search” he said, when he spoke, his voice slithered into the air, sinister and unsettling, resonating with an undercurrent of malice, it was low and gravelly, but yet there was a piercing quality that seemed to cut through the silence with razor-like clarity, it left an unsettling echo that lingered
Andrey and Ivan glanced to once another for a moment before getting up and following Alexei down back into the Crypt; to resume the search for an artefact that so far has been impossible to find; taking this chance, Khariton decides to move into the encampment now that it had been left unguarded; entering into the tents to begin searching them, to see if there was anything that could help him with understanding what it is these Cultists were searching for and why.
Searching through various letters and notes he finds, Khariton raise’s his eyebrow, there is a look of confusion as he reads what is clearly updates on other Cultist activity, the progress being made in various place, he notes a letter that seems to indicate a failure in the Himalayan Mountains, the name ‘Cathryn’ written that has clearly been underlined, shifting his attention to another letter he reads about activities of Cultists active in the Balkans, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, the Ottoman Empire; what he was told by the ex-priest returning to his thoughts about the influence the imperium seems to have in the most powerful Empires across the globe “Huh” he mumbles, reading a letter of something about Britain and America, he feels a growing sense of concern rising
Turning his attention away from the letters, he kneels down to begin checking something beneath the table he’d just read the letters from; finding various different, but rather useless, objects that seemed to be more of a sentimental use rather than anything of great importance; a signet ring however catches his attention; turning it between his fingers, a symbol adorning it depicting a Sword that had been crossed over with a Scythe creating an ‘X’ with a Rose centred between them; returning it back, he decides to leave the tent, to try finding out what was within the crypt, being only aware of three from the encampment he had seen, he knew there would be at least two others if those threatening the elder at the village was with them; the size of the tents and the amount pitched around the entrance of the crypt though suggested to him, there would be more than five individuals he could potentially encounter.
As Khariton stepped into the foreboding shadows of the ancient crypt; he could feel a shiver rush down his spine, the air was thick with a musty scent of damp stone and decay; flickering lights from the lanterns that had been set up cast eerie shadows along crumbling walls.
Each step seemed to echo within an ominously oppressive silence, he could feel a build-up of anxiety the further he went.
Acutely aware of the dangers that lurked in the darkness, his instincts were honed for this sort of thing, his service in the Tsar’s army, he was trained, even if it was something he had never encountered before, he had no doubts about his ability, that he can easily transfer his skill to deal with any Cultist that was to challenge him.
As he progressed deeper, he could see signs of their activity, the signs of their activity and clear obsession with whatever dark and powerful artefact they were searching for.
Scanning his surroundings for any sign of them, he kept moving with caution, knowing they would be somewhere searching around the various chambers that would beckon them.
Pausing for a moment, he heard some movement ahead of him, slipping into an empty chamber, he knelt down in the darkness, listening intently as he heard two men coming in his direction; he made sure to make himself as unnoticeable as possible, watching as they passed by him without even glancing in his direction.
Once it was safe, he moved out of the chamber he had just hidden within, glancing t make sure the two that just passed him had disappeared down the hallway; glancing the direction the two had just come from, he made his slow movement in that very direction, carefully eyeing his surroundings, paying attention to possible movements; the further he progressed, the more noises he heard, the more talking; the sounds of arguments and shouting; spotting a doorway leading into a much larger chamber, he made his way quickly towards it, slipping in unnoticed and hiding behind something that seemed almost too perfectly placed, but, it kept him out of sight, that was all he cared about.
As he observed, he realised not everyone that was down in this crypt was a Cultists; there were captives down here as well, watching as Alexei pulls someone across the ground, he had to stop himself from making an attempt to intervene, grinding his teeth in frustration as he watched what was happening.
“Were did you acquire this one” Alexei said, he looked towards Ivan, the look present in Alexei’s eyes didn’t seem to change from what Khariton had observed earlier; they maintained a piercing stare; they were cold, unyielding
Shrugging his shoulders “How would I know, I have brought many from various settlements nearby” he glanced around, then looked to another direction, Khariton raised his eyebrow, then shifted his position wanting to see what Ivan was looking towards, but his vantage offered very little room to see the direction Ivan had looked towards
Forced to reposition himself when the opportunity presents itself, he finally catches a glimpse; bodies were piled up, some had signs of torture even from the distance that Khariton was at; he could see it “I need workers that aren’t weak” Alexei states, pulling the young woman up from the ground and pushing her forwards into Ivan, she let out a scream as she fell into Ivan
At the first sign of a knife being drawn, a glint of steel catching the light as Alexei brandished it with menace; Khariton felt a rush of adrenaline surge; the young woman, her eyes wide with fear was steadied by Ivan, he knew what Alexei was going to do, and simply made it easier for him to do so; as Alexei readied to strike, Khariton knew time was running out very fast, he couldn’t remain a passive observer in this precarious situation.
With swift urgency, Khariton reached around to pull the rifle he had kept slung over his shoulder by its leather strap; the familiar weight of the weapon felt reassuring in his hands as the tension within the air grew thick.
He raised the rifle with precision, feeling the smoothness of the frame, the coldness of the trigger against his finger; in that moment, everything seemed to slow right down, the threat to the vulnerable young woman; he had made his decision.
As he pulled the trigger, the gunshot rang out deafeningly, a sharp crack echoing in the stillness of the moment, the sound reverberated in his ears, drowning all other noises, there was no turning back now; the bullet flew through the air, its trajectory aimed with intent; it turned the tension volatile within the blink of an eye.
He felt the searing pain as the bullet tore through his throat; a violent intrusion that left him momentarily stunned, within those fleeting seconds as the world around him began to blur he caught a glimpse of Khariton, his eyes were wide with shock and disbelief; he recognised him, he slumped downwards, collapsing to the ground as the warmth of his blood spilled from his open wound, pooling beneath him.
Within that moment the entire atmosphere shifted dramatically, a wave of panic surged through the chamber, it spread like wildfire; the Cultists that were typically so disciplined and composed; they usually relished chaos and death were thrown into disarray, their leader had just been assassinated directly in front of them; at the heart of their encampment; and by only a single Tsarist soldier that had somehow managed to sneak his way directly into the Crypt;the resolve of the Cultists splintered.
Though it wasn’t just the Cultists that felt the chaotic tremors of fear and confusion; the captives that had once been subdued and powerless, they saw the glimmer of hope amid the turmoil; they watched wide-eyed and breathless as the desperation took hold of their captors; it provided them with a fleeting opportunity, within the confusion of the moment that they had been waiting for, seized the moment.
As the chaos unfolded, the Captives made a mad dash to escape, hearts pounding with adrenaline and driven by a primal instinct to survive; as people seized on the moment to escape, Khariton raced over to the young woman who was frozen in shock, grabbing her by the arm and looking at her “Come on!” he snapped, pulling her with him to get her moving; following the panicking captives as they fled through the Crypt, all racing for the way out, while the Cultists too had fled either to escape, or deeper into the Crypt itself.
Once out from the Crypt, Khariton and the young woman he helped stop running; turning to face Khariton the young woman eyed him with a curious expression, questioning who he is “Just a soldier” he said, a slight smile present on his face
Written By: Westley H.
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