Where is she? Did I miss a body among the others? Not good. Not good at all. Now is not the time for delays! But... I can’t just leave her behind! As soon as that thought forms in my mind, it solidifies into conviction. If she is alive, then it is up to me to rescue her. And if she is dead... Then I am soon to follow her, anyway. My eyes dart around, seeking a glimpse of white amidst the chaos of bloodshed and overturned earth. Come on now, you bunny-brained weirdo! Where did you get yourself to?
A firm hand grabs my shoulder and spins me around mid-stride, causing my world to whirl in a swirl of nauseating colors as my balance comes crashing down. The moment the dizziness subsides, my brother’s amber eyes pierce through me as he glares at me in disapproval, with arms crossed over his chest. His lips move and although the sounds he is making don’t reach my ears, there is no mistaking their meaning. “What the hell are you doing, you dumbass?”
The annoyance radiating off him is almost palpable as he motions with his hands to the side and starts pulling on my arm, intent on getting me to follow him. I shake my head, refusing his insistent efforts to lead me away from the scene of battle while I keep trying to explain why I am delaying our escape further. He looks to be in no mood for any of this and lets me know that much by raising his fist to prepare for a swift application of nonverbal communication means.
However, before he has the chance to knock some sense into me, another figure pushes us apart. In between us appears Kuleigh‘s towering form, placing a hand on each of our shoulders in an attempt at placation. With a few quick gestures of his own and an expression of disbelief mixed with incredulity, he demands an explanation for this pointless posturing in the middle of a battlefield while our friends are waiting to be evacuated.
I raise both my palms up next to my temples, mimicking long rabbit ears, before pointing at the bodies on the ground all around us. However, neither of my companions responds to my obvious explanation and instead, they exchange a series of gesticulations accompanied by glances my way and back at each other. Their hands move too fast for me to follow along with their argument as I am left to stand idle, unable to participate.
Within seconds, they seem to have reached a consensus, but before either of them can share their verdict with me, the ground rumbles under our feet. An ear-splitting sound pierces through the night like a spear thrown by a godly champion, forcing all of us to clasp our palms over our ears in pain, breaking even through our temporary deafness.
As the shockwave travels through my body and rolls past me, I glance back toward the site of combat and freeze in disbelief as my eyes take in the horrifying vision. The world itself is being torn apart and rearranged at the whims of the creature waging battle against our guardians. The very essence of space and time bends to its will as it twists and warps in grotesque ways around us as if a giant had plucked reality up like a loose strand of yarn from a ball of wool and was pulling on it in different directions until it frayed and came undone.
It isn’t something I can put into words, but there is a tangible sense of wrongness about this distortion. As if this isn’t how the world should be at all, as if there is something fundamentally incompatible with our existence about the rippling that tears through space and time alike. As if our mere presence here in the face of this primordial force is a sin. A heresy that needs to be purged at once!
And it shall be done, for we are not deserving of life! The God has spoken! And we are unworthy! Forgive us! Forgive us! Forgive—
My head snaps backward as a hard slap connects with my cheek, knocking the silly notions out of me before they have a chance to become overwhelming. A stinging sensation spreads through the site of impact as my senses return to me, reminding me that the pain-killing paste is wearing off.
As soon as I regain control over myself and force my eyes off the chaotic spectacle in front of me, the pressure of the eldritch presence is gone without a trace. Don’t look at what you can’t comprehend... Even now, my thoughts threaten to slip back into the depths of madness as my brain attempts to rationalize what it witnessed. It isn’t meant for mortals! Do not let yourself get pulled under or you will lose all sense of reason and go insane!
A firm squeeze of my hand brings me back from the edge as I look up into Nael’s concerned face. Despite all the damage done to it, a reassuring smile breaks through the grime and filth covering his features as his lips form a simple question: “Now can we go?”
Reluctantly, I shake my head at him and point back at the battlefield while mouthing Lucienne’s name at him. My brother rolls his eyes in annoyance, before dragging one hand through his hair and letting out a sigh of defeat. After exchanging another series of gestures with Kuleigh, who also appears frustrated by my actions, he finally reaches into his satchel and produces another glob of the anesthetic slime. He shoves it into my palm and ruffles my hair roughly.
“Be safe. Now hurry up already.” His words aren’t audible to me, but his message couldn’t be clearer if he shouted it out for the entire forest to hear. And with that, he turns away to join the others, awaiting further orders from him. I swallow my tears at the sight of their departing backs, and set out in search of my fluffy companion.
In my heart, I pray this isn’t our last goodbye as I stumble toward the grotesque pile of gore and blood that was once a proud mount of our tribe. Even from afar, its monstrous stench assaults my nostrils with the full force — a nauseating combination of copper, decaying meat, and rotting vegetation so strong and overwhelming that my eyes tear up on their own. I have to suppress my gag reflex for a moment as bile crawls its way up my throat before the urge passes and I am able to continue my approach.
How did this even happen? It has been barely a few minutes since we crashed, yet somehow the corpse looks like it has been laying here for at least a week. Its innards spill out from a large gash in the abdomen while the rib cage is broken open and bent outward as if the beast had exploded from inside. What kind of force would be required to cause this much devastation in such a short amount of time? No, think about that later, Alice. There is work to be done now.
But alas, all my efforts to find her prove fruitless. After searching every corner of the clearing, I come up empty-handed. No white fur, no long ears sticking out of the brush, no signs of Lucienne whatsoever. Where is she? Please don’t be dead. You are not allowed to be dead. Not today. Not because of me... Not when we already lost so many..
I turn toward the site of combat with my gaze downcast, avoiding looking at the casualties of this tragedy as if that will make them less real somehow. Despite my best efforts to keep it locked in its cage, hopelessness starts to crawl out of the pit of my stomach where I pushed it earlier — a dark, twisted creature feeding on my mind until nothing but emptiness remains.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
But for some inexplicable reason, I feel certain that she is not dead yet. Despite all logic and common sense telling me otherwise, there is no doubt in my heart that Luci is still alive and waiting for my help. As if something is pulling on a rope attached to my core, urging me forward — to find her before it’s too late. As if we are sharing some mysterious conn—
Have I already established how stupid I can be? Because I sure do feel like a moron right now... “System,” I think, and the interface appears in front of me at once, waiting for further instructions. “Locate party member: Lucienne!”
In an instant, a novel feeling spreads through me, different from all the others I’ve experienced before. It’s not a tangible sensation or even an emotion for that matter, but a sort of inner knowledge — like intuition, yet more logical — that she is that way. And so, without any further hesitation, I set out in the direction indicated by this strange new ability of mine.
I run! And the pain returns! The breath gets caught in my throat while the muscles of my legs feel like they are going to burst as fire courses through them from overexertion. Blood drips down from the numerous scrapes littering my skin, staining it in crimson patterns of suffering as my lungs burn with every ragged breath I draw in.
After barely making it halfway across the clearing, my legs collapse under me and send me crashing to the ground while my chest heaves in an attempt to suck in as much oxygen as possible to fuel my exhausted body. With the pain intensifying by the moment, I waste no time in shoving a part of the disgusting goo down my throat, careful to leave a portion big enough to administer it to Luci once I find her, and nearly vomit it back up when the revolting taste assaults my tongue.
After forcing myself to swallow the sludge and keep it inside, I allow the numbing effect of the medicine to spread throughout my body before following the tug in my heart. Once again, I run toward the center of the field where Luci must be, but at least now my legs are no longer on the verge of tearing apart like autumn leaves in the gale. Or at the very least, I don’t feel it as much anymore...
As soon as I approach the source of this ethereal pull, I realize why I wasn’t able to spot my fluffy companion before: she is buried under the bloated carcass of our mount and hidden from view by the muck and gore dripping out of its various wounds. Even standing right next to it, I can’t make out any traces of her either. Especially with the stench of the corpse reaching further into my being than before, causing me to tear up from the acrid smell while my stomach threatens to empty itself on the ground before me.
With only one path remaining before me, I lower myself to my knees and start digging into the foul-smelling pile of flesh, trying to uncover the whereabouts of my friend while ignoring the filth staining my palms as my fingers sink into its warm and slippery mass with disgusting ease. As my efforts grow more desperate, I resort to groping around in blind hope of locating her somewhere beneath this monstrosity. And at last, after what feels like an eternity of searching, my hand brushes against something hard and unyielding — a piece of armor.
With renewed vigor, I throw handfuls of entrails left and right, not caring where they land as long as they are out of my way. Inch by inch, the armor reveals itself before me until I find the outline of an arm clad in leather padding and a pair of metal vambraces strapped over it.
I pull on the limb as hard as I can, attempting to drag it out from under the oppressive weight, crushing it into the ground. However, my efforts prove futile when the thing doesn’t even budge a single bit at my best attempt to free it. Gritting my teeth, I lean into the carcass again in a renewed attempt at freeing Lucienne from the disgusting prison. All my muscles strain under the pressure as I push into the corpse with all my might before a sudden impact sends me headfirst into the putrid mess while a spray of gore splatters me in its wake.
As the rotten juices drip down my face from where they splashed all over it, I shake my head violently while wiping them off with my already filthy hands, which only smears them further. But there is no time to worry about such trivialities, as I realize that the reason for the disturbance is still ongoing. The battle raging behind my back is approaching with frightening speed, bringing its participants closer to me with every second that passes by.
The shockwaves produced by their exchange rattle through my very bones as the earth shakes under me like an earthquake has struck, while the wind whips at my hair mercilessly. And even with the painkiller dulling most of my senses and keeping me upright, it’s getting increasingly difficult to stay in place while trying not to fall over amid this chaotic storm of raw energy unleashed by the combatants.
Frantically, I claw at the corpse as if possessed by some unearthly force, while blood flies all around me as I dig into the carcass like a frenzied animal attempting to consume its prey. Not fast enough! Too slow! It isn’t moving! Damn you! Why are you so stubborn?! Move already! And with each new failure that arises to frustrate me, a fresh wave of fury rises inside me and fuels me onward. Even when my fingernails tear and split from the effort of ripping at the tough hide of the beast, I do not falter in my task.
Suddenly, a flash of silver streaks past me in a blur and embeds itself in the corpse right in front of my face. An inch to the left and I would have lost an ear! Even as I complain in my thoughts, my hands have already reached out for the long knife now stuck into the flesh of our former mount and used it to cut apart the tangle of entrails obstructing my path.
In seconds, the hole is twice as large as before and I can get a good grip on her armor once again. With this, her body starts to slide out from under the crushing weight while I drag her toward freedom little by little. The tremors actually prove helpful for once as they aid me by vibrating the remains of the dead beast enough to help wiggle Lucienne free from the prison of flesh.
But it isn’t just a blessing in disguise as every time one of those earth-shattering shocks passes through me, the air is forced out of my lungs while my organs threaten to spill out of my mouth. And every time it happens, it grows stronger compared to its predecessor, forcing my whole body to quiver uncontrollably before receding, only to reappear shortly after in a new, more vicious form.
A pair of hands joins my desperate struggle, grabbing at Luci’s leg and pulling alongside me. And as I turn, a familiar face comes into view as well. With a grim determination written all over his features, Nael works beside me without uttering a single word, occasionally glancing backward in worry with his amber eyes widened with fear.
The ground rumbles beneath our feet as another wave rushes toward us and this time there is no mistaking what it really is — a howl from an ancient entity of madness and carnage seeking to tear reality asunder. A primordial roar erupting from the bowels of creation itself as it challenges all that stands against it before bringing the world crashing down around us in a cascade of death and destruction.
Behind us, a wall of roots and vines rises once again between the battle and us, shielding us from whatever horrors await us on that side. But as soon as it comes into being, a black claw rips through its center like butter, as if the defenses were never even there to begin with, scattering splinters all around us like shrapnel. Yet, it has bought enough time for our mother to reach our position and send the massive corpse flying into the woods with a single well-placed kick to its side.
The relief lasts only for a second before dread spreads through me when I realize we are now in the direct line of attack of that dark abomination. In a blink of an eye, Mother grabs me by the shoulder and pulls me while Nael scoops up Luci’s limp form and dashes away at full speed.
She says something to me, her lips moving slowly, clearly forming words I can’t comprehend, before I’m thrown into the air like a stone fired from a sling. The world spins around me in a chaotic swirl of colors, sounds, and smells that assault my senses relentlessly as I lose all sense of balance. Then, everything comes to an abrupt halt as my back crashes into the soft and squishy pile of rotten meat that used to be our ride not too long ago.
I tumble down onto the ground, smearing myself in its foul-smelling juices from head to toe in the process, and feel my stomach churning at the thought of how filthy I am at this point. But I don’t care about any of that. There is only one thought occupying my mind. My mother’s words are still echoing in my head: “Trust the Hunt!”