’Crap!’
I cursed under my breath, instinct taking over.
In a split second, I threw a fast and ruthless kick towards Aezel. His face paled as he crashed into the distance, stopping just behind a towering rock. Afterwards, I threw the crimson shells towards him and lunged at him.
Just as I did, Aezel, albeit still confused, managed to catch the crimson shells, just as I rolled to a stop beside him, my breath hitching in my throat.
"What the!-"
I hurriedly gestured for him to keep quiet, my face paling in sheer fear and terror.
Aezel seed to be bristling with anger, his teeth gritted together as his fists clenched at his side. However, the look of dread and terror on my face seed to be enough to stall his fury. If only barely.
It was also then that I cautiously peered through the edge of the rock. And there- I saw it!
The instant my eyes fell on the monstrosity, my breath hitched in my throat as panic surged through .
The creature was horrifying, a nightmarish aberration that defied all sense of reason. Its towering, nacing form was reminiscent of a demogorgon, but grotesquely amplified. Its thick hides were bright crimson, as though it had, at so point in the distant past, bathed in the blood of a thousand warriors.
Its pair of hideous faces were mashed and mangled together, and its claws were dark crimson as though forged within the depths of hell, with the sole aim of sowing discord and terror on the land above.
On all fours, it stood tall and gargantuan, a nightmarish monstrosity crafted out of one’s worst nightmare.
...Or perhaps, sothing far worse.
As my gaze lingered on it, my heart drumd against my chest, and the sound echoed through the suffocating silence.
Ba- dump! Ba- dump!
It was deafening in the silence that had taken over the lightless world.
Beside , Aezel frowned, noting the suffocating presence that drew closer. At that mont, he finally satiated his curiosity and glimpsed.
What he saw...
"....!"
Froze him in place, his lips shivering as he stuttered.
"...A-awakened evil."
His eyes widened at the sight, a solemn sense of terror rising from the depths of his heart.
My brows tightened at his words.
’An awakened creature of tier four?!’
The realization sent a chill through . I was confused as to why a being with such a level of Bloodline was roaming about wantonly. But with the monstrosity prowling around, I knew now wasn’t the ti for questions.
And so, left with no other choice, I could only keep my thoughts to myself, and most importantly, keep quiet.
Step! Step--!
Each step it took echoed through the silence, intensifying the hamring of my heart.
I gripped the azure dagger tighter, my trembling hands betraying the solemn resolve within . I didn’t need divine intervention to know luck was never on my side.
...And with my bad luck, hoping for the best was a fool’s errand. Hence,
Twitch--!
I tensed my hands around the dagger, just in case things went south like I expected them to spiral to...
’That was just how bad my luck was.’
And as if to make matters worse, the nightmarish aberration was scanning the surroundings, its hollow-like slits radiating a piercing malice. It moved with precision and deadly grace, its every step an on of destruction.
"May the gods protect us," Aezel muttered under his breath, his voice a tremor in the oppressive silence.
Glancing at him with a grim expression, I echoed the sentint inwardly, though I doubted prayers held any weight in this cursed land.
Step! Step--!
As it neared us, the trembling of my hands increased, and so did the difficulty in breathing.
Drip! Drip--!
Sweat was pouring down the side of my face and I was finding it hard to maintain my calm. However, just inches away from us, the creature suddenly made a turn and walked into an erging path, slowly retreating into the shadows.
As we watched the nightmarish horror vanish into the endless darkness, we both let out a deep exhalation.
I grimaced at its fading, hulking silhouette.
’Yes! Go away bastard!’
My lips curled into a dark grin, though my skin still bore the pallor of terror.
"Huff," Aezel wiped the sweat from his face. "That was honestly too close for comfort."
"Yeah. Tell more about it."
"..."
"..."
’Now is not the ti to laugh.’
’But-’
"We have to leave."
I glared at him as I said those words. The thought of the monstrosity prowling nearby sent trembling in fear. Even if my mind protested against such strain of thought, fear soon took over as I walked in hurried steps towards the towering dune structure.
"Hey!" Aezel called out to . "Wait for ."
However, I didn’t stop. If anything, I only ran even faster.
As we ran towards the dune structure, my eyes slowly ca to rest on the weird statue.
It was also then that I noticed that... it seed to be gazing at so distant part of the shattered dinsion.
As for where that was? I could be less bothered about it.
Infact, I had a feeling I didn’t want to know.
Though, I could be sure that it was facing west. However, sothing about its line of sight just didn’t sit well with , in ways I couldn’t really quite place my hands on.
Step! Step--!
With a dark expression marring my features, I decided not to think about it. It had nothing to do with anyway.
...As we ran further, we made sure to avoid as many nightmarish creatures as possible. With the heavy loads and burden on us, we weren’t really in the best of states to engage in any sort of skirmish.
Be it small or terrifyingly large. Hence, each ti we encountered a horde of nightmarish aberrations, whether big or small, we turned around them. Although that was bound to waste a lot of ti. Fortunately, ti was sothing we had.
With my strange familiarity with the shadows, I could ascertain the "clock" in so sort of way. So I knew we still had quite an ample amount of ti before the endless darkness cast upon the land, its endless shadows.
’...How great does that feel.’
I smirked, enjoying the precious and joyous monts while it still lasted.
***
A while later, just before sunset, we made it to the dune structure.
Together, I and Aezel began the cautious ascent. With slow deliberate movents, and eyes scanning the nightmarish landscape beneath us, we ascended the ancient structure. Every creak of the structure sent our nerves on edge, the endless darkness pressing in from all sides.
The pain of scaling the dune structure was enough to drown us in hellish agony, however, the thought of garnering the attention of a horde of nightmarish creatures was even more pressing.
The thought sent us trembling in fear as we pushed ourselves beyond our limits.
Clang! Clang--!
We climbed even faster, each push and pull a battle against the darkness pressing in on us from all sides. It was also then that the azure constellation bled into existence, and with its harrowing presence... ca the... dark mist.
Reviews
All reviews (0)