For a moment, Dom couldn’t move. Her mind raced, struggling to process what she was seeing. It wasn’t human - couldn’t be. But what was it? And what did it want?
The creature rose slowly, its movements deliberate and alien, and Dom took an involuntary step back. The stick trembled in her hands, but she held onto it like a lifeline.
“Stay back,” she said, her voice shaking despite her best efforts to sound firm. “I mean it.”
The thing didn’t stop. It tilted its head, a grotesque mockery of curiosity, before taking another step forward. Its mandibles opened wide, revealing rows of needle-like teeth, and it let out a low, chittering hiss that sent chills down Dom’s spine.
Her heart pounded as adrenaline surged through her veins. She tightened her grip on the stick, her mind screaming for her to run, to scream for help, to do something.
But the creature moved faster than she could react, its claws scraping against the ground as it lunged toward her.
***
Her eyes opened wide in shock as the monstrous form darted forward, the firelight casting it into sharp, terrifying relief.
The creature’s chitinous limbs gleamed as its clawed arms reached for her. Its speed was blinding -its grotesque body like a nightmarish fusion of man and insect -its glowing, multifaceted eyes reflecting the flames as it attacked.
Dom recoiled in horror, her instincts taking over as her knees bent, dropping her into a low crouch. Guarding with the stick in her off-hand, her mom’s knife flicked up into her main hand, and with it came a dark, shadowy tendril that extended the blade’s length into something far deadlier.
The blade met the creature’s raptorial forelegs with a sickening scrape, the chitinous limbs shuddering under the force of her deflection. Dom shuffled backward, her feet digging into the soft earth, creating distance between herself and the monstrosity.
Time seemed to slow as adrenaline surged through Dom’s veins.
Her eyes locked onto the creature’s face - or what passed for one. Its multi-faceted eyes gleamed, its head tilting in an almost curious manner. Black ichor dripped from a gash on its forearm, the wound glistening in the firelight where her blade had struck. It stood eerily still, its breath shallow and calculated, as though reassessing its prey.
Dom’s gaze flicked toward the trees behind it, catching a blur of movement. Her heart skipped - a momentary fear that the creature wasn’t alone. But as her focus sharpened, her lips curved into a grim, determined smile. No, she thought. It’s screwed. It just doesn’t know it yet.
She shifted into a deceptive back stance, her blade angled behind her while her other hand hovered defensively in front. A strange hunger clawed at her consciousness - a bloodthirsty, shadowy presence that whispered promises of power if she would only let it in. For a moment, she hesitated, the darkness within her welling up, threatening to consume her.
But the stalemate broke as another figure exploded into the firelight.
Peanut tore through the night in a blur of snarling fur and fang, his ferocious bark followed by a rumbling growl like thunder, far larger than his smaller size should warrant -was a fierce declaration of war- as he bore down viciously on the creature that threatened Dom.
The dog’s sudden arrival shattering the trance that had threatened to take her over. The gathering darkness within her evaporating like a breath of steam in the cold night air, the dark blade dissipating like smoke on the wind in its wake.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
The creature flinched, momentarily stunned by Peanut’s ferocity. The hound dog didn’t hesitate, lunging at the monster with all the courage of a wolf protecting its pack. The creature hissed, a grating, chittering sound, and stumbled backward, momentarily thrown off by the sudden assault.
The creature used the momentary disorientation this caused in her to attack. And this time she barely avoided death, for she scarcely retained the good sense to jump aside as the thing made a last ditched effort, and lunged at her, it’s motions too fast to follow with the naked eye. How she had managed to evade it the first time it struck, she wasn’t sure, but this time it almost had her.
Dom threw herself to the side, rolling across the damp ground as the thing’s claws raked through the space she had occupied a moment earlier. Her breath came in short gasps as she scrambled to her feet, her grip tightening on the hilt of her knife. How am I supposed to fight this thing? she thought, adrenaline flooding her veins.
But before the creature could press its advantage, it faltered. Its glowing eyes flicked between the woods where the dog had emerged, Dom, and then to Peanut, the latter now circling with a low, rumbling growl. The hound’s presence seemed to unnerve it, and with a guttural screech, it turned and bolted into the trees, its limbs jerking in an unnatural, insect-like gait.
Peanut barked furiously and made to pursue, intent on running off into the woods after the swiftly retreating creature whose hunt had just been spoiled by the dog’s arrival. But Dom lunged forward, grabbing his collar. “Hey, boy! Peanut, calm down!” she gasped, holding the wriggling dog back with both hands. “It’s gone! You did good, boy. You did good.”
She kept her eyes on the forest, her chest rising and falling with ragged breaths. Through the trees, she caught a fleeting glimpse of the creature, its inhuman speed carrying it away with terrifying efficiency. Its glowing eyes flashed, a final warning or perhaps a promise, before it vanished completely into the shadows.
Dom’s hands trembled as she pulled Peanut closer, burying her fingers in his fur as though anchoring herself. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears, the memory of the creature’s attack still vivid in her mind.
System Notification: Quest Update!
New Quest: Eyes on the Nightmare (Active)
Status: Survived the encounter with the creature of shadows.
Congratulations! You have successfully resisted the encroaching influence of the Abyssal Hunger placed upon you by the Dark Lord in your nightmare.
Rewards:
* Shadow Affinity +2
* Resilience +1
* Insight +1
Bonus Reward: The Shadow Within temporarily suppressed (Duration: 24 hours).
Dom blinked as the translucent text flickered into her vision. The Shadow Within. She remembered it now - how the dark figure in her nightmare had whispered “Welcome to my world…” As he twisted her essence into something unrecognizable, filling her with shadow and hunger. She shook her head sharply, clearing the thought.
Peanut growled low in his throat, his body tense as he scanned the shadows for any sign of the intruder. Dom shushed him softly, running her hand along his back in slow, calming strokes. “It’s okay, boy. Whatever that thing was, it’s gone now boy. Relax. It’s over now. Good boy. Good boy.”
But Peanut refused to settle, his ears perked and his nose twitching as if expecting the creature to return. Dom let out a shaky laugh, her voice barely audible over the crackle of the fire. “You’re my big furry protector, huh? Who’s my brave boy?”
Peanut let out a short bark, his tail wagging hesitantly as he finally began to relax. Dom exhaled deeply, letting the tension drain from her shoulders. Her hand lingered on his collar, her gaze fixed on the spot where the creature had disappeared.
“What the hell was that thing,” she muttered, her voice steady despite the lingering fear in her chest, “thanks to you, it won’t be coming back anytime soon.”
As if understanding her words, Peanut whuffed disdainfully in the direction that the strange man-bug-thing went. Then like a light switch, he switched his attention fully to Dom and proceeded to smother her in typical enthusiastic-puppy-excitement for having found and protected her. Dom couldn’t help crying out in laughter as Peanut tackled her to the ground and started licking her face.
“And since you’re here,” Dom laughed, scratching behind Peanut’s ears as his tail wagged furiously, “that means Nile must be close behind. Let’s just keep what happened between the two of us, yeah? No need to get him worried. Besides, he probably wouldn’t believe us anyway. Would he? I wouldn’t.”
Peanut tilted his head slightly, as if weighing her words, before letting out a short, approving woof. Dom chuckled softly. “I’ll take that as agreement.”
***
As he drew closer, he finally caught sight of her -a familiar figure silhouetted against the dancing flames. Her laughter rang out, bright and unmistakable, cutting through the chaos like a beacon.
Nile couldn’t help but smile. Despite everything -the storm, the traffic, the missing cat- it was good to see her.