73 The valley hamlet, home to beasts and abominations (1/2)
After reading the note on the door, Surgit pondered for a moment then decided to go back for the extinguished lamp. He wanted to try something he had in mind for some time. He looked at the lamp and closed his eyes. With his insight he started seeing the shape of the lamp, as it were a distant thing in a dark field. He touched it and a blue flame appeared. It was the only thing he could see and upon opening his eyes, he was still in the building. He knew that there was a way to light it without automatically getting transported back to the dream all the time.
He went back to the closed door and stopped in front of it. He had no other place to go to and this seemed like the most likely place that would lead him to the hamlet Gehrman had spoken about. He opened the big door, pushing with both his arms as hard as he could. Dust filled the place as if the door hadn't been touched in a very long time. It creaked and resisted Surgit's push but in the end it let the faint remaining sun rays penetrate the previously dark lit room.
Surgit found himself standing in the middle of a large plaza. The sun had set and only its faint rays remained in the sky. He looked above him and saw the great city of Yharnam high up. He managed somehow to get deeper into the valley on top of which the city was built. He could see on his upper left, Central Yharnam and on the right, the Cathedral Ward. The great bridge that connected between the two sides of the city cast its large shadow upon the valley underneath. The air was damp in the area and Surgit felt heat building up on his body.
Upon looking around him, he was reminded by how horrific this place was. The plaza was circular and on one end, there was a small bridge that connected to the other side of town. In the place where he was standing, crucifixes were scattered all around. He could count at least twelve, all of them containing humanoid beasts which were on fire.
The fire seemed to be burning constantly and the beasts appeared to have been dead for a long time. All of them had heads slightly bigger than a human's. The heads were hairy and their open mouths showed canine teeth. Their bodies were charred and what remained of them showed traces of burnt hair and scars all over the body. Their hands had claws on them and their feet were as small as a human's. Surgit had seen the same crucifixes in the serpentine street leading from Iosefka's clinic towards the large fountain plaza in Central Yharnam.
He wondered at the nature of these beasts as they seemed less dangerous to him than the ones he had encountered so far. What drove people to put them on these crucifixes and burn them?
As he moved towards the bridge, he heard a movement from the other side. He stopped and clenched his weapon. Smoke was hindering his eyesight so he waited for the thing that was moving behind the smokescreen to move forward. To his surprise, it looked like one of those creatures that were crucified. As soon as it saw Surgit, it ran towards him and slashed at him with its claws. Surgit avoided the attack and kicked the creature in the stomach, sending it flying backwards.
It rolled on the ground and held its belly in pain. It laid down on the floor whimpering and covering its face, in fear of its assailant. ”You shouldn't have attacked me my friend” said Surgit as he drove his saw deep within the creature's chest, aiming for its heart.
Suddenly, he heard a deep ringing voice in the distance. It felt like it came from everywhere around him. ”You there! Hunter! Didn't you see the warning? Turn back at once. Old Yharnam, burned and abandoned by men, is now home only to beasts. They are of no harm to those above. Turn back… Or the hunter will face the hunt.” The man stopped talking and silence settled back in the area.
'So this is Old Yharnam after all. I'm sorry old man but I'm not willing to back down.' He thought to himself as he crossed the bridge. He started getting used to facing unknown enemies and that fact didn't unsettle him anymore. After all, he was immune to death and he could come back and hunt whoever tried to kill him before. It didn't matter how many tries it would take him, he vowed to clear the place of all danger. Moreover, he had to find the chalice hidden in Old Yharnam. That was his objective at that moment. He had to have something to strive for in order to forget the little orphan's incident.
As he crossed the bridge three beasts came rushing at him. Surgit elongated his cleaver and, putting some distance between him and the three in order to anticipate their jumping attacks, cut them open in three quick strikes. Their hide was tougher than expected and two of them still came at him despite the injuries they suffered. He shot one of them in the head, staggering it and finished the other. He then retracted his weapon to its original form and attacked the remaining foe with all his strength, cutting it deep enough to cause it to stumble to the ground, gasping for air.
He looked around him again and inspected the town. He had a clearer view over Old Yharnam and the first thing he noticed was the difference in architecture. The buildings in the new part of Yharnam had a gothic architecture while the ones in the old part of the city had square roofs and smaller buildings.
He was at the uppermost part of the old town. He could see the city extending downwards, full of open areas and larger streets. The city had more squares and the only two tall buildings were a clock tower in the distance and a large cathedral behind it. He decided to aim for the cathedral as it was more likely the place to host the hidden chalice. The streets were still filled with crucifixes and the never fading flames filled the place with smoke.