78 Finally out of reach

Surgit was still not out of danger. He just took a break from it. He went down to the floor where he fought the bigger beast in order to make sure that he didn't miss anything of value. The lower floor didn't contain anything of great value, just some old trinkets that showed that the place was actually a pub.

What he found on the second floor though was more interesting. On an old dusty table, there was a note, engraved on the wood. It read: "The red moon hangs low, and the beasts rule the streets. Are we left no other choice, than burn it all to cinders?" The beasts seemed to rule the streets at that point, but there was no moon yet. The sun had just set and its rays still brushed against the sky and the remaining clouds. He couldn't help but think of the originator of that note.

On closer inspection of the place, Surgit noticed something else, a corpse. It was a dead hunter, Surgit could tell from his attire. Most hunters used a similar style when it came to their garb: long leather coats, and hats similar to those of pirates. What confirmed his theory was the weapon the latter was holding. Surgit took it and inspected it. It was a short spear which had a strange handle. The handle was made of wood and under the tip of the spear laid the barrel of a gun. He inspected the barrel but he couldn't find a way to insert bullets in it. The main hilt of the spear was made of two wooden parts, elegantly stuck together using a metallic sphere.

When he looked at the spear's handle though, he saw that under the main hilt, a type of extension was attached. The extension could be pulled towards his body and as he did so, the sphere holding the two wooden parts of the main hilt opened and extended them, making space for the extension to be added. It was a sophisticated piece of weaponry as not only did the spear extended and allowed for more range, the extension also had a gun trigger and a chamber in which the user could reload bullets. It was a spear and a gun at the same time: a rifle spear. He stored it on the sheath on his back and moved on.

'I wonder what happened to the axe I lost before… Next time I'm in the dream, I must pay a visit to the messengers.' He thought, remembering how some messengers appeared out of nowhere and snatched his weapon. That reminded him of Karla as well and he wondered if she was waiting for him at the chapel. He had no time to think of her at that moment, he had a Gatling gun, ready to pierce his body as soon as he was out in the open.

At the top floor, Surgit saw another dead hunter. His garb looked burned and charred and he was tied to a chair. It was as if he was tortured by someone. Perhaps it was the man atop the clock tower's doing. He feared being caught by him. Dying to his flurry of bullets was one thing, but being tortured by him may lead him to lose his mind, thus losing his connection to the dream and end up like those two hunters he had just found.

It was still unclear to him how some hunters died and never came back to the dream. He wanted to know what made them lose that contact and how it could eventually happen to him. Too many questions were left unanswered and it annoyed him even more than the impending doom that was waiting for him outside.

If the hunters were in fact tortured by that Gatling man, he must know where Surgit would come out of and would be ready to fire at him as soon as he appeared out of his hole. After all, he protected the beasts of this city. He should be familiar with its ins and outs.In retrospect, it seemed to him that he was led to jump down that platform and be trapped by the beasts in the old pub.

There was a window from which he could jump and get outside. He kept reminding himself to check for ambushes and to plan his way ahead. He didn't want to fall for another trap as he was pretty sure that the Gatling gun was aimed his way, ready for to spot and fire at him. He observed the area outside carefully. The window led down to a small terrace. Stairs led upwards and when he looked at the destination they took to, he saw the plaza where he was trapped earlier by the hunter.

He was close to the clock tower, speed and the element of surprise may come in handy for him at this point. Despite his doubt regarding a possible ambush, he decided to jump down and run as fast as he could before the shots could be fired at him. The faster he ran, the more time he would buy for himself. And so he ran, up the stairs and into the open plaza where the other hunter stood guard right beside the clock tower. The latter saw him first then bullets started raining down on him.

This time, the beast patients were pretty far away and their reaction time would buy him some time to dance around the hunter and run for safety, away from the bullets' reach. The hunter attacked him with a weapon similar to his saw cleaver. Surgit dodged the attack and kept running towards the big Cathedral. As soon as he reached the foot of the tower, shots stopped being fired and he slowed down, coming to a complete halt a few paces away from the plaza. He was standing near the entrance the cathedral's entrance. He saw a door that led inside but he decided not to go there right away.

He had a score to settle. He had been running away ever since he arrived to Old Yharnam. It was high time he stood his ground and fought back. He turned towards the hunter that was running his way. He knew that fighting the hunter would be harder. He had that experience with Gascoigne before and knew the risks of taking on a hunter head on. But if he ever wanted to become stronger, he would have to fight dangerous foes. This one didn't seem to be the talkative type, he just wanted to fight and kill.