And as if on cue, there was a shift - not in the ground but in the air itself, a prickling sensation just out of reach. I stretched a hand forward, feeling the space around me, an invisible boundary closing in. And then, a voice - low, mocking, decidedly female, and edged with a dark, playful note - curled out from the darkness.
“Well, if it isn’t the corpse who wouldn’t quit. Making a habit of resurrection, aren’t you, Declan?”
I froze, fists clenching reflexively as a thousand thoughts raced through my mind. Someone knew me. And more to the point, someone was amused by my apparently uncanny resistance to staying dead.
“Who’s there?” I kept my tone steady, reaching for a detached coolness that wasn’t quite there. Because what better way to greet mysterious strangers than deadpan?
“Aw, don’t play coy. It’s me - the one that kept you from becoming permanent fertilizer, or a mindless slave.”
I scoffed, rolling my shoulders to hide the tension tightening every muscle. “Should I be thanking you, then? Maybe buy you a beer?”
A sigh. “Sweetheart, you’re not out of the woods yet.”
Ah, the vague threat and pet name combo - never a good sign. But I kept my voice calm, even if I couldn’t shake the feeling that running wasn’t an option. “Well, since you’re feeling chatty, mind pointing me toward the nearest exit? Preferably one that doesn’t involve a return trip to this lovely mass grave.”
A soft chuckle echoed, carrying an undercurrent of menace. “Oh, I could show you the way out. But it’ll cost you.”
I bristled, resisting the urge to snap back. I was done paying for things with my own blood, dignity, and, apparently, mortality. But was pride worth getting lost in this hellscape with death’s specter still looming over me? “Alright, name your price. But if it’s another round with the undead blade down there, I’m out.”
“Relax, Mr. Mor. You just have to listen carefully.” The stranger’s tone was lilting, teasing. “Some secrets aren’t for the dead to keep. Lucky for you, you’re somewhere in between.”
I rolled my shoulders, feeling that iron tension loosening - just barely. “So, I’m on the clock?”
The voice hummed, rich and rolling like thunder on the horizon. “Tick tock, Declan. Tick tock. Find the key. Or this limbo? It could be yours forever.” I’d thought she was gone, but a moment later she chimed in again, this time in my ear as if she were looking for a hook-up.
“We have high hopes for you. Don’t disappoint me.” And with a bite on my ear that was hard enough I knew it drew blood, she was gone.
I didn’t need to be told twice. Turning, I forced myself to move forward even if “forward” was a shot in the dark at best. My instincts screamed for me to run, but I held my pace steady, knowing that panicking would only land me back in that pit. “Blind, directionless, and talking to disembodied voices. Super professional,” I muttered.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Another message flickered in my mind, the sarcastic tone of the System seemingly matching my own.
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: New Quest Available
Quest: Echoes in the Dark
Objective: Escape the graveyard of shadows.
Reward: +1000 XP, Unlock “Blood Sense” skill.
“Blood sense, huh? How generous,” I muttered. “No map included, I assume?”
If I was going to get anywhere, I’d have to lean into whatever powers this whole resurrection package had included. I took a breath, pressing into my senses, letting sound and the faintest impressions of movement guide me - the crunch of my boots against grit, the faint shush of wind scraping over gravel. Somewhere up ahead, I sensed a pulse, a vibration running just below the ground, steady and insistent.
With each step, I felt that pulse grow stronger, my own heartbeat syncing with it in a strange, reverberating rhythm. I barely realized I’d stopped breathing, every inch of focus now on this new power, this sense beyond the normal five.
Another chime. A final message.
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: Skill Unlocked – Spatial Awareness
You are now adept at sensing obstacles and entities within a radius around you, modified by your primary attributes. Close your eyes - feel the world, taste the rainbow.
I smirked. “Finally, a cheat code I can get behind.”
Drawing a deep breath, I closed my eyes out of habit and let my newfound ability bloom, the world around me painting itself in impressions and scents - the soft scrape of stone, the hiss of wind, even the distant -faint- almost silent shuffling of feet not my own. Perfect.
A faint rumbling in the distance broke the desert silence. It was low at first, almost a whisper against the night, like the hum of an engine idling somewhere out in the vastness. But as I stood there, the sound grew, thrumming through the ground beneath my feet. Something was coming - something big - and if the pulsing dread building in my gut was any indication, it was coming straight for me.
The wind shifted, carrying with it a smell unlike anything I’d encountered. It was earthy and ancient, thick with the scent of dry bones and burnt sage, as if someone had unearthed an old tomb and set it ablaze. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled. Whatever was out there wasn’t a friendly night jogger or some run-of-the-mill desert coyote. This felt… older. Hungrier.
Then I heard it more clearly - a scraping, dragging sound, like metal scraping across stone, or maybe claws. Massive, bone-shredding claws. I turned my head, instinctively bracing myself, though the darkness was impenetrable. While I couldn't see it, I could still feel it -drawing closer- filling the air with a growing tension, like the quiet before a storm.
A deep, guttural growl rumbled through the night, so low and primal that it felt like it was resonating inside my own chest. And then, somehow, I heard it breathe. Slow, deliberate, the kind of heavy breathing that belongs to something that knows exactly where you are. I swallowed hard, steadying myself, forcing the unfamiliar muscles in this reborn body to keep me still, calm.
The rumbling stopped. The night went silent, as if every living thing nearby had sensed the same danger and gone into hiding. I flexed my fingers, the new strength pulsing through them, a power I was still not comfortable with. I felt like an awkward teenager that suddenly gained 8 inches in height and the mass to go with it.
And then, without warning, I felt it - a blast of hot, stale air against my face, so close it was like whatever this was had just leaned in, nose-to-nose, breathing me in.
“Well, hello there -Meat,” a voice hissed from the darkness. It was deep, gravelly, like gravel churning through a meat grinder. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had such a fresh kill to welcome. You’ll make a fine trophy for the hunt.”