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Step by step Charles walked down the stairs into the basement of the tavern. The smell that had greeted him was not dissipating in the slightest. If anything, the stomach-turning stench was getting stronger with each step that he took. It became so bad that he had to cover his nose and mouth with his hand. It was the only way that he could block the smell and prevent himself from throwing up.

The smell that Charles was encountering was one that he had experienced in the past. It was the smell of rotting flesh and he this would happen if a freshly killed animal such as a cow was left to rot where it was. It was certainly something that was hard for him to forget and he simply kept going down.

Darkness mostly greeted him as he walked down the stairs but he began to see a light as he approached the bottom. This was something that he was going to have to take great care with. There was a good chance that he would be spotted and there was practically nothing that he could do to prevent this from happening. If he went back up it was likely that he would be spotted by the two men who had been bringing the unconscious patrons downstairs. If he kept going down, he would likely be spotted by whoever was down in the basement. With both options being undesirable he was forced to make what to him was the most logical decision. This was to make his way back up the stairs.

Unfortunately for Charles before he could make it back to the top, he could hear the men coming back. The only way for him to make sure that he wasn't caught by them was to quickly make his way down the stairs and into the basement itself. It was the most dangerous place in the entire tavern in his mind but it was the only place where he was likely not to get immediately caught.

More or less as soon as he reached the basement, he dived behind a couple of barrels that were on the ground just a couple of metres away. He didn't even give himself an opportunity to see the basement itself as he knew that he needed to hide. Quickly ducking down it was very difficult to see him in his hiding spot.

As soon as Charles reached his place of relative safety, he felt something on the ground. It had brushed against his foot and at first, he thought that it was simply a box or something. However, much to his horror he saw that it was a human hand, as he looked, he could see that the arm was still attached to it but that was all. There was also the fact that it was a dark brown colour with black splodges all over it. This indicated that the limb was in an advancing state of decomposition.

Charles wanted to do nothing more than to scream in horror but he continued to cover his mouth in order to prevent himself from screaming. If he had done this then he would most likely would have been caught and given the same fate as the unfortunate soul that the arm had belonged to.

It was only then that he began to look at the wall that was just behind him. On the ground were many more discarded body parts in various stages of decomposition. The horror that he was witnessing was more than he could imagine and he was almost too afraid to look over the barrels and see what was taking place. From the sheer number of parts that he was seeing he knew that there were many, many people down there.

Before he could even decide what to do next Charles heard the two men walking down the stairs and they were both carrying more unconscious patrons. This was a dozen that they had brought down now. He couldn't see what was going on but he definitely knew that something very macabre was taking place here.

"Is that all of them?" asked a voice. Charles recognised it as the Tavern Keeper who had served them a short time before.

"Upstairs there is the big one," replied another voice. This time it belonged to the tall man that he had seen before. "Me and Phil tried to bring her down here but she was just too bloody heavy."

"No matter, we can bring her down here. For now, we're with what we have. Is everything else ready?"

"Yes, shall we begin?"

"Of course, we can't keep our lord waiting, bring the first lamb here."

Charles remained where he was and he couldn't help but pop his head up from his hiding spot in order to try and see what was taking place. The first thing that he noticed that there were half a dozen people standing there. For of them he had seen before as they were the Tavern Keeper, the young woman who had brought him his food and the two men that he had seen bringing the taverns down into the basement. The other two people he had not seen before, both of them were women. The first stood right next to the Tavern Keeper and seemed to be close to the same age. If Charles had to guess he would have thought that she was the Tavern Keeper's wife. The other woman was much older, she had to be in her sixties or seventies, she probably a parent of either the husband or wife. From the looks of it this seemed to be a family affair.

Something else that he noticed was the fact that they were all wearing robes. The robes were white in colour with a yellow like symbol on the back. For the moment he couldn't make out exactly what the symbol was but as he focused on it, he could see what it is. It seemed to be some kind of sun symbol. It was not one that he particularly recognised but the entire situation did send a shiver down his spine.

This wasn't the only thing that he noticed as he could see the same symbol on a large piece of cloth that was draped over a nearby wall. The six people were standing before it and there seemed to be a table of some kind on it. The table was made out of wood like any other but there was something odd about it. This was the fact that it was mostly red in colour but it was not paint that had given it it's colour. Instead it was something much more sinister.

Sitting on the table was also a human skull along with several candles that surrounded it. It looked like some kind of religious altar and Charles could piece together what its purpose actually was.

Just then the Tavern Keeper began to speak but the language that he used was one that Charles didn't recognise, nor understand. He had heard a few languages from religion and from around the world but this one was not familiar to him. Instead all he could do was pay attention and see what happened.

For the next few minutes the Tavern Keeper continued to speak in this strange language and every now and again the others would repeat something in that same language. But soon enough they did more than merely mutter. One of the patrons that they had brought down there was suddenly placed on the altar. That was when the Tavern Keeper took out a dagger of some kind.

This didn't seem to be a normal dagger though, its golden hilt gleamed in the candlelight and Charles could see the reflection of the gems that were encrusted on it. It was not a dagger that was meant to be used for combat but instead for ceremonies or show of someone's wealth.

The Tavern Keeper continued to speak in the strange language as the others began to remove the clothing on the patron's upper body. In a few moments his chest was bare but it was around this time that his eyes began to open. The sedatives that he had taken were not substantial enough to keep him out for too long. In his new awoken state, he was at first confused.

"W-Where am I?" asked the Patron. "What's going on?" This was something that the others had not been expecting but it was not an event that was unfamiliar to them. Almost instinctively they began to hold down his arms and legs so that he couldn't move. The unluck Patron tried to force his way out but with his limbs being held down there was nothing that he could do to free himself. He was beginning to panic and this began to peak when he saw the dagger in the hand of the Tavern Keeper. "N-No please! If it's money that you want take everything I have!" His voice was filled with absolute desperation as he knew that he was going to die at any moment. "I'll do anything you want! Please, just don't kill me."

His words were simply ignored as the Tavern Keeper spoke a few more words in the strange language before plunging the dagger right into the heart of the patron. He screamed in pain and agony as blood began to pour out of the wound. These screams were heard by Charles who could do nothing but duck down and turn away from what he had just seen. Although he couldn't see what was happening, he could still hear it.

The Patron's screams of agony lasted for a few moments before he fell silent, never to be heard again. With his death the others continued their chants while Charles remained where he was in absolute fear. Without a shadow of a doubt now he knew that if he was found out that he too would be sacrificed. The fact that he had not been discovered already was a small miracle, if he survived to see another sunrise, he would deem himself to be fortunate.

This was not the only thing on his mind as he could still hear the screams of the patron in his mind. It was a sound that he would never forget for the rest of his days, even after the images of his mother's face had faded away, he would still remember the scream. The horror that he was experiencing was almost more than his mind could process.

Rather than trying to stop what was happening or even trying to escape Charles found himself just sitting behind these barrels and simply waiting. He was too scared to even move as he thought that he would be spotted. Without Maxine to protect him he would stand little chance against the group and he imagined himself being the one sacrificed. It was unlikely that anyone would know what happened to him and his name would fade away from history without much of a presence.

Over the next few minutes each patron was placed on the altar and then ritually sacrificed. None of them woke up during the ritual and thus there were no screams of agony, no resistance and no realisation to what was going on. Instead to them it was simply like they had fallen asleep and were to never wake up.

All this time Charles remained where he was. Even though he was afraid he knew that he had to do something to save his own skin and the life of Maxine. He felt ashamed over the fact that he had let the other patrons die while he had sat there and done nothing. But the truth was that there was nothing that he could have done. If he attempted anything, he would have suffered the same fate. He was currently unarmed and he didn't have a nine-foot woman protecting him.

There was even a small thought in his head about simply fleeing this place and leaving Maxine to her fate. However, the more that he thought about it the more that he realised that he couldn't do that. She would risk her own life to save his and if he wasn't willing to do the same, he couldn't call himself her squire or even her friend.

With all this death surrounding him he knew that he couldn't remain where he was, he needed to make his way back upstairs and to Maxine. She was likely still asleep but he still thought that she was his best chance of survival. He wasn't sure how but he knew that he needed to somehow wake her up.

In his mind he imagined her being able to defeat the group with only her bare hands. However, this was only a fantasy as he was also using it to try and distract himself from the horror that he had seen and what was going on around him. There was even the slightest hope that everything that he was experiencing was simply a bad dream and that he was moments away from waking up.

No matter how much he wished this to happen he knew that this was all real and no amount of wishful thinking would make the situation any better. He knew that he had to make his way back to Maxine. But at this moment in time he couldn't see an opportunity to do so. All he could see was horror and it shook him to his very core.

"Is that the last of them?" asked the Old Woman. By then they had sacrificed the last of the victims that had been taken.

"No," replied the Tavern Keeper. "That giant woman is still upstairs; we need to bring her down here so that she can be freed of her vessel." The way that he said this made Charles's blood run cold. He knew exactly who they were taking about and he knew that she was defenceless.

"Wait father," stated the Younger Woman. "There is another as well, remember she had someone else with her."

"That's right." He scratched his chin for a moment as he couldn't believe that he had forgotten someone. "She had someone else with her as well." He then looked over to the taller man who had been brought the patrons down. "Lenny, did you see a young man with the giant woman?"

"No," replied Lenny. He was in a small state of panic as he realised what this could mean. "She was alone up there, no one else was in the room."

"Then find him before he escapes! If he alerts anyone then we'll all be swinging before long. You made sure that doors were locked, didn't you?"

"Yes, they're all locked up."

"Then he couldn't have gotten out. We need to find him now!"

All five of them knew what it would mean if word had gotten out about what they were doing. In their minds their actions had been completely justified and should go unpunished. However, they knew that the wider population didn't see this and that they would be executed for the countless sacrifices that they had made. Because of this they needed to find Charles as soon as they could.

They didn't realise that he was actually closer than they realised as he was still hiding away in the basement. His heart rate had increased when he realised that they were now looking for him. This would make things more difficult but he knew that he had to do something. From the sounds of it he was unfortunately trapped inside the tavern so he wouldn't be able to escape.

One by one he saw the group leaving the basement. They had all been assigned different parts of the tavern to search. None of them had considered that he was inside of the basement, although he just wanted to get out of there. No sooner had they all gone he quickly made his way up the stairs again.

This went quite well as there was nothing opposing him. But as soon as he reached the tavern itself, he quickly ducked underneath a table as he saw someone approaching. They had not spotted him but he watched as their feet walked by him. He was sure not to make a single sound as anything like that could give away his location. Instead he remained where he was for as long as he could until he thought that it was safe to move on.

This took a few minutes as he could see the person walking around. They were looking around a lot and it was obvious that he would eventually look underneath the table and spot Charles. Because of this he knew that he needed to move, but there was another problem that he was facing.

Even if he tried to move away, he knew that he would eventually get spotted. There was no choice in the matter, he needed to incapacitate whoever it was that was trying to find him. Unfortunately, he possessed no weapons and didn't have the strength or skill to take down anyone with his bare hands. He needed a weapon of some kind and when he looked over to his left, he noticed something that he thought would be helpful.

Just a short distance away was a stool that had been used earlier by a now deceased patron. In his mind he knew what he needed to do but there was much doubt that overtook him. Never had he forcefully tried to harm someone in such a way but in this situation, it was either that or be killed himself. A great sense of self-preservation overtook him as he looked over to the person that was trying to find him.

When Charles was able to take a good look, he could spot the shorter man that had carried the patrons down to the basement a short while ago. For the moment he had his back to where Charles was hiding. Quickly he got out of his hiding spot and picked up the stool that was sitting close by. With haste he darted towards the man and before he even had a chance to turn around and see what was happening, he was struck on the head with enough force to send him down to the ground.

Charles stood there for a moment as he couldn't believe what he had just done. The short man was lying on the ground and wasn't moving. Blood began to spill onto the ground and he wasn't sure whether the man was still alive or dead. One thing that he was sure about was the fact that the man was seriously injured and he was the one who was responsible for this.

Before he could consider more about what had happened, he heard a small commotion as it seemed that the sound of his attack had been heard. Because of this Charles knew that he needed to make himself scarce. Without too much of a thought he quickly darted up the second set of stairs that led up to where the guest rooms were and where Maxine was most likely still asleep.

Through some luck he didn't run into anybody who was trying to pursue him. However, one thing that he kept in mind was that his adversaries had dwindled. Before he had to worry about five of them, now there were only four. One of them included an old woman that he didn't think would be too great of a threat.

It only took him a few moments to find the room that he and Maxine had been sharing and without much surprise he found the giant woman still sleeping in the bed. One thing that had changed was the fact that the quilt that had been covering most of her body had been removed. Charles figured that this was when their hosts had tried to move her but failed. A small part of him did want to try and wake her once again but he knew that this wouldn't work. Instead all he could do put the quilt on her so that at least she wasn't cold while she was sleeping.

Charles did look over to Maxine's sword and once again he thought that it would be ideal as an offensive weapon. He knew just how sharp it as and how easily it could cut through a person, however the same problem remained. This was the fact that it was much too heavy for him to wield and it was longer than he was tall.

This seemed like a problem that he simply couldn't overcome but as he looked over to her armour, he noticed something. There was a second blade attached to it and quickly Charles moved over to it. He grabbed onto it and took it out of its holder, as he looked at it, he could see that there was some dried blood on the blade.

It took him a moment to realise that this was Maxine's hunting knife. Rather than using this blade as a weapon it had been instead used to skin animals that she had killed before she had cooked them. The blade itself was relatively large in comparison to Charles but it was still small enough for him to wield. It was also sharp enough to cause problems to anyone who found themselves on the wrong end of it. He realised that he had found the perfect weapon to protect himself until Maxine finally woke up. Unfortunately, in her current state it was unlikely that she would be waking up any time soon.

Just as Charles was thinking that things were going his way, he suddenly heard something that caused him to quickly pause. There were the sound of footsteps in the corridor just on the other side of the door. He had ensured not to make a sound but he knew that this was an obvious place for his pursuers to look.

The footsteps were coming closer towards the door and panic began to overtake him. The blade was still in his hand and he was shaking with fear. Eventually he heard the footsteps suddenly stop right in front of the door. The handle began to turn and Charles knew what he had to do.

With his eyes closed he began to run towards whoever was opening the door. He gave a shout as he ran and within moments, he felt the knife break its way through bone and into the flesh that it was protecting. This was around the time that he opened his eyes and he saw the old woman who he had seen down in the basement.

Her face was that of terror as she felt the blood pouring out of her wound and she fell to the ground. Charles could only look on in horror over what he had done, never in his wildest dreams did he ever think that he was going to take another life. However, it was happening right now and the knowledge of what he had done was almost too much for his mind to take. He backed away as the Old Woman continued to bleed out until finally her life had disappeared from her body.

In his mind Charles was trying to come to terms with what he had done. He kept trying to convince himself that he did the right thing. If she had spotted him and alerted the others he would be taken down to the basement and sacrificed just like their other victims. There was no doubt in his mind that she was responsible for the deaths of many people.

Despite these thoughts Charles felt nothing but pity for her and sorrow over what he had done. Her blood was still on his hands when he looked down on them and this only made him realise that there was no turning back from what had happened. Now he was a killer and it was something that would last with him for the rest of his life.

Even as he looked down at the now lifeless body of the old woman, he knew that he still needed the knife in order to defend himself. With a small amount of haste, he grabbed onto the knife and pulled it from the wound that had ultimately killed his enemy. The odds were still stacked against him, but whether he survived or not there was one thing that was certain, he would never be the same again.

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