Chapter 8: Strange thing
Yusciel held her breath, her body stiff as stone. Her lenses filled with nothing but green dots—as if they were malfunctioning. She desperately hoped that was the case. Swallowing hard, she tilted her head downward, wanting to check on Leo’s condition.
The green dots persisted, obscuring her vision. She clenched her hand, feeling something warm and trembling within her grasp. The air felt thick and strange. Yusciel mused, ‘Is that a monster? Or just some bizarre phenomenon?’
In the lowest possible whisper, she muttered, “Boy, hold on tight—I’m going to run.”
As if responding to her words, something tugged at her clothes, gripping tightly. Reassured by this confirmation, Yusciel prepared to sprint. However, she immediately halted as the tugging intensified, as though Leo were panicking.
Yusciel quickly turned her head down, clutching Leo closer. “Speak to me, boy,” she urged.
“Miss!” Leo’s voice quivered with panic. “There’s something strange! It feels like something is holding me! There are weird shadows crawling everywhere!”
‘Crawling shadows?’ Yusciel’s mind went blank momentarily, but she snapped back to alertness when a cold sensation crept up her arms, encircling her neck, and wrapping around her mouth. The sensation of long, icy tendrils tightened almost instantly, silencing her and forcing her to drop Leo from her arms.
‘Nyt-clads!’ Yusciel realized, struggling against the restraints. Summoning her strength, she yanked free from whatever was holding her. Her throat burned as the force continued to tighten around her neck, cutting her breath. With her flailing hands, Yusciel reached for the round object on her shoulder strap—the light bulb!
Pulling it off, Yusciel brought the light bulb closer to her neck. Instantly, she was released from the grip—falling to the ground with weakened knees, coughing from her aching throat. Her vision doubled, the lenses of her goggles still full of green dots, blurring everything.
Yusciel couldn’t afford the time to rest. Immediately, her grip on the light bulb tightened as she placed it closer to her air chamber of her mask, then to her left hand—the gripping feeling immediately vanished. Wheezing for air, Yusciel heard a loud thud in front of her. Alarmed, her hand reached to turn off the goggles’ shades.
Before the shades fully dissipated, Yusciel sprinted towards the source of the sound. There, she caught a glimpse of a horrifying sight—Leo’s small body was being raised into the air, his legs frantically kicking at nothing. Long tendrils of extremely dark, tentacle-like shadows were wrapping around him. Without hesitation, Yusciel thrust the light bulb close to his neck. The dark tendrils around his mouth and neck quickly dissipated into thin air.
Yusciel could barely see through the lenses filled with green dots, but she persisted. With one sweep of the light bulb across the child’s body, the dark tendrils instantly disappeared, Yusciel quickly caught his body before it hit the ground. Feeling something crawling around her leg, she swiftly pulled away, flashing the light towards the sensation to make it vanish.
There wasn’t a second to spare; Yusciel knew they had to escape before being overwhelmed by the Nyt-clads. Unconsciously gritting her teeth, she started to run, carrying Leo in her arms. She sprinted loudly, unconcerned about the noise—her vision still full of green dots, unable to see the traces of the surroundings.
When she felt something crawling, materializing as a thick, icy coldness on her skin, Yusciel immediately turned the light bulb on it—like a quick medicine—and the sensation vanished. She resumed her pace, pushing against the ground, everything in her vision bobbing. She glanced at Leo to see if he was being affected by the Nyt-clad’s grasp—black marks seemed to be moving from his hair to his face.
“Leo!” Yusciel called his name, but he didn’t respond—he was unconscious.
WIthout stopping, Yusciel transferred the light bulb to her other hand and held it close to Leo’s head, making the ever-growing black marks vanish almost instantly. She continued running, her breathing ragged as she slowed down to pull out her contilepass into view. The arrows were moving in one direction, clockwise, with one of the red constantly glowing and green blink every time it hit a certain direction.
‘Exit! I can’t outrun nyt-clads while carrying an unconscious body!’ Yusciel thought desperately, shifting her direction and pulling every ounce of strength from her body. She focused on her senses—feeling a strange that didn’t resemble the cold touch typically manifested by the nyt-clads. Yusciel’s eyes kept glancing at Leo's lifeless, unmoving form—she couldn’t afford the time to check his condition.
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Her gaze shifted to the contilepass, relying on its blinking light as the green dot filter obscured her vision. The device’s green beam pointed consistently ahead. Before she knew, Yusciel’s feet suddenly slipped on something, propelling her body forward as she fell into an opening crack.
‘Shit!’
Suddenly, Yusciel’s sense of gravity shifted as she plummeted downward. She quickly reacted, pulling Leo closer to her by the head, while preparing to flick her fingers to activate her grappling gear. However, before she could, her gravity shifted again—throwing her sidewards. Shoulder first—she hit the ground hard, her body skipping before rolling to a stop.
Yusciel’s body aches all over, her ears ringing and heart thudding like a constant drum. She gritted her teeth, opening her eyes to find her vision doubling and blurring. Coughing uncontrollably, she gasped for air inside her air chamber as she forced herself to move—pushing against the cold, rough ground strewn with small rocks.
Her eyes twitched, and she shook her head as if trying to dispel the bothersome headache, but to no avail. Cursing internally, she looked back—trying to understand what happened. A green beam fell on her lenses, printing the contours of the narrow crack filled with numerous dots—nyt-clads.
‘We fell through an entrance?’ Yusciel realizes, her mind sluggishly processing the information.
Tracing her fingers along her goggles, she turned off the scanner. As she did so, she caught sight of a light bulb on the ground, still functioning. Its glow illuminated the gravel scattered above the smooth, gray stone floor. Further ahead, where they had exited the dark passage entrance was visible, its cracks adorned with tangled roots.
Yusciel gulped, a sudden realization hitting her. ‘I survived… Wait, no… Leo… Where’s Leo!?’
Hurriedly, Yusciel crawled to retrieve the nearby light bulb, wincing as tiny rocks pricked her skin. The gravel shifted with each movement, a soft scraping sound accompanying her progress. Standing up, she carefully braced herself against the wall, holding the light bulb high with one trembling hand. Her eyes, still adjusting, scanned the area through a slightly blurry haze. Noticing dark specks obstructing her vision below, she realized her lenses were dirty.
Irritated, Yusciel quickly wiped the grit away. As her vision cleared, her heart lurched—a small, motionless figure lay on the ground nearby. Her eyes widened, and instinctively recoiled. Then recognition hit: it was Leo.
She scrambled forward, gravel crunching beneath her as she hurried to kneel beside him. Without hesitation, she gently repositioned Leo’s body, ensuring his comfort. In one swift motion, she removed his mask and cradled his head, tilting it slightly forward.
Yusicel took her mask off as well. Leaning in close, her chin hovering near Leo’s face as her hand rested lightly on his chest. She held her breath, focusing intently—there it was, the faint rise and fall. He was breathing. He was alive.
Relief crashed over her like a wave, sapping what little strength remained in her body. Sinking back onto her heels, Yusciel carefully placed the mask beneath Leo’s head. Only then did she allow herself to relax, her shoulders sagging as the adrenaline began to ebb.
Yusciel turned, surveying her surroundings. A wooden door stood further ahead, its surface adorned with intricate carvings. ‘The dark passage must be inside a building—perhaps a ruin?’ she mused.
Glancing down, she noticed a faint sheen of the contilepass. A sudden realization made her breath catch. ‘Now that I think about it—the contilepass led us here, where we fell… How odd.’
‘I need to check if someone’s else’s contilepass is nearby,’ Yusciel thought, turning towards the entrance of the dark passage. ‘Did someone really die just before they made it here? Right at the entrance? I have to find out.’
She swallowed hard and dropped her bag with a loud thud. Quickly untying the strings of the main compartment, she retrieved another light bulb and a thick robe. Gently, she covered Leo’s body, ensuring he could breathe, and placed the old light bulb near him. She attached the extra light bulb to her shoulder strap, activating it with a click. Finally, she re-equipped her mask, tightening the rubber straps around her head.
'Should I bring my bag? Or leave it here?' Yusciel pondered, glancing at Leo's peaceful form. 'I'll leave it. I can survive without it—and what am I, a clueless pathfinder?' she chided herself internally. Rising, she turned to face the entrance of the dark passage.
“Just a short while,” Yusciel murmured, approaching the threshold. Aware of the impending gravity shift, she treaded carefully, stopping just before the veil of pure darkness. She kicked some gravel inside, watching as it immediately returned to her feet, as if ‘falling down’ towards her.
Taking a deep breath, Yusciel stepped back several paces. Then, with steely determination, she leaped into the dark passage. Gravity shifted almost instantly—her body pulled sideways, her feet sliding on what was now the ground. Cold sensations crawled over her skin, prompting Yusciel to thrust the light bulb ahead.
Yusciel scanned the area, searching for the passage they had come through. She spotted a large crack in the ground, a faint light emanating from it. Then, her eyes locked onto something beside the crack—a bag similar to her own.