Crouching down, I inspected the damp powder.

"Gunpowder and booze."

If the bottle were filled to the brim with hard liquor, drinking more than half of it would have caused considerable damage. If it was laced with a significant amount of gunpowder...

It should have been a horrendous taste, yet she continued drinking until she couldn't. There was no one around to force her. That man knew the cause, and the bottle seemed to have been his.

"Poor thing."

Her sad eyes stared emptily.

Reaching out, closing them, I allowed her to rest in peace.

A familiar ungodly screech echoed above me. My hair stood on end as electricity filled the air.

My pursuer plummeted down my escape route with the force of a roaring dragon—a glistening entity made of prismatic crystals. The featureless, incomprehensible being didn't so much as descend as multiply endlessly like a kaleidoscope outgrowing its prison, infecting every molecule of available oxygen like an airborne virus.

I didn't have enough time to blink before refractive prisms impacted an invisible dome barrier and rolled across the surface like a tidal wave of terror. The tree that served as the unknown woman's headstone exuded a holistic power that repelled the horror.

"It isn't allowed down here."

Somehow, I managed to regain control of my body enough to look over my shoulder. The stranger was standing next to me, looking up with calm eyes.

"That thing killed everyone. You didn't see it. We're dead the moment that barrier breaks."

"It won't break. It isn't time."

I didn't understand where his confidence stemmed from. Did he not feel fear? Or was he already resigned to die?

Stolen story; please report.

Then I watched the calm fade from his face as it transformed into chilling alarm.

"Oh, you mother fucker."

[Local Announcement: A *redacted* Sponsor has paid to unleash the unique creature, Celestial Parasite, for 60 seconds. What did you do to piss them off?]

My mouth unhinged as my attention became fixated on the shaking barrier. The Celestial Parasite slammed into the shield again as the holy tree shook with the effort.

I didn't know what to do. What could I do? All I was armed with was a stick against a creature that devoured an army in seconds.

"Quick, cut your hand."

"What?"

"Cut your hand!"

In the absence of all reason, I followed the non-sensical order and cut open my palm with the pointy edge of the stick. The distinct pain focused my mind. In the meantime, my partner in death ran over to the dying holy tree and picked up the fallen woman in a fireman's carry.

"Run!"

I didn't bother looking back as the unnatural screeching grew louder. The ground under my feet trembled in fear.

"It'll catch up in no time."

I rounded a bend, hearing a voice keeping pace with me. We quickly reached a dead end.

"The Celestial Parasite feeds on life. Life is also it's weakness. That branch is holy. Covered in your blood, there is no better weapon."

"You really want me to hit it with a stick?"

"I need five seconds."

The sound of the barrier shattering echoed across the ravine walls.

"You got this."

"Screw you."

I could hear the panic in my voice as I gripped the stick like a sword. Memories of old swordsmanship classes sprung to life. The style I studied was designed to kill. At least that's what my master said.

"It was only a hobby!"

This was the warcry I used to meet the assaulting tide of glowing glass. My upward draw came into contact with the mysterious mass and persuaded it to reel backward. Continuing the motion, my legs brought me forward along with my downward swing. There was a warble that renewed my confidence and convinced me that this thing could feel pain.

I swung two, three more times. Pushing it back. And then it counter-attacked. The force of the blow was enough to expose throw my arms into the air. Before it killed me, I squeezed my hand and splattered blood through the air. The parasite seemed ravenous as it attacked the blood. The droplets floated as if in molasses before crystalizing and getting absorbed.

"Done! Get back."

I didn't need any more persuasion. The man came hurtling into view, seeming to be tackling the woman he was carrying. I heard him whisper something that I couldn't reconcile at the moment.

In a brief instant, the woman's body was flung into the parasite like a spoon inside jello. Then it floated there as if drifting through outer space.

A hand pulled me away and through a crack in the wall. I barely had time to see a layer of blood dissolve off her body before she too was eaten away.