It lifts its gaze to meet mine from underneath that hateful visage. Two violet embers that pierce right through my soul. They look upon me with hatred and contempt. With a promise of an excruciatingly painful death.

The darkness inside its stare swirls around like a whirlpool — drawing everything into it. Inescapable... Infinite... A void which knows no beginning or end. In its depths there is nothing but insatiable hunger waiting patiently to swallow me whole for daring to defy it so brazenly. Even now, when victory hangs so tantalizingly close before us... When freedom beckons me to grab onto its offered hand and break free from this nightmare once and for all... Despite having come so far already, my body refuses to budge.

My limbs are paralyzed. Unable to so much as twitch in response when I command them to move forward and strike down this fiend. As if bound by invisible shackles made of pure dread itself. As if held down by all my failures and regrets, compounded into one giant weight pinning me into place. My heart races frantically, while tears stream freely down my cheeks. Even my mind refuses to cooperate as fragments of past visions flash through my brain, assailing me with images of my grisly demise at its hand time and time again.

Just as I am about to succumb — surrender myself wholly into the embrace of sweet oblivion awaiting me in this monster’s gaze — it breaks away from our eye contact abruptly. Its head snaps towards Kuleigh, approaching it from behind at full speed with his sword drawn.

A voice rings out from within the pit, its tone dripping with malice and spitefulness. “Hunt! Are you truly content to end this in such a manner?!” it roars. “I ask for one final boon — A true reckoning for those who dare defy You!”

As these words escape from beneath the wooden viper mask adorning its face, everything around us grows still. Kuleigh’s sword freezes mid-swing, mere inches away from striking at the monster’s neck. The world itself lies in wait as It turns Its attention towards this desolate corner of Its realm. At this moment, there is nothing else besides It and Its will.

And then It is gone. Just like that. Not deigning to answer Its petitioner with so much as a word. After all this time spent fighting tooth and nail against Its sentence, we have earned nothing more than complete indifference. As if all that happened until now was merely an insignificant trifle to be forgotten about swiftly and without a second thought. All of our suffering, the eradication of our tribe and everything we hold dear... And It didn’t even see fit to finish us off in the end!

The monster’s eyes mirror my disbelief before panic replaces it as Kuleigh’s sword resumes its descent. In a desperate bid at survival, it drops to the ground, narrowly avoiding decapitation, but not escaping unscathed. The blade bites deep into its shoulder instead and tears a long gash across its body down to its chest, spilling crimson onto the ground below while eliciting a blood-curdling screech from its throat.

With a kick of its leg, the creature sends Kuleigh flying back onto the sand behind it. Then it staggers to its feet — swaying unsteadily under its own weight — before collapsing in a heap again when the wound proves too grievous. For a moment it lays motionless in a pool of blood spreading slowly from beneath its prone form, as if dead already. A heartbeat later though, it stirs once more and lifts its gaze toward the sky above, seeking guidance or strength maybe — who knows what goes through an abomination’s mind at the time of its death?

With trembling arms and legs, I heave myself up from where I lay on my back on cold stones and stagger towards the pit. Each step forward requires every bit of power left within me as my whole body screams at me for overexertion and stressing my battered form any further. Leaning heavily on my spear for support, I advance cautiously until only a few steps separate me from my target. There it lies, broken and bleeding profusely from the wounds inflicted upon it in our struggle.

As it watches my approach, hatred burning brightly within its violet eyes turns into madness-fueled determination. It raises its head high and cries out one final time with a voice that echoes inside my mind as if projected right into my soul itself, “Hunt! Honor the covenant! I demand another chance!“

Once again, the world grinds to a halt. However, unlike previously — when It abandoned us without so much as a care — this time the response comes almost instantly. Familiar crimson letters bleed into being like fresh wounds carved deep into reality itself. They manifest around us in an unreadable script that is both ancient and ever-changing, before finally settling into a single phrase.

<< Do you accept the price? >>

A hint of hesitation flashes across those violet embers before insanity consumes them entirely. But as the last drops of strength drain from its body alongside copious amounts of lifeblood into the ground beneath it, it bellows out in defiance one final time: “I do!”

----------------------------------------

As soon as my feet hit the bottom of the steep slope leading down into the river valley below, they turn into lead weights, dragging behind me instead of propelling me forward like before. Finally, I reach the edge of the bank, where water splashes onto dry land in gentle waves. After gently placing Lucienne down onto the soft sand, I—

What just happened?!

I barely balance myself before falling face-first onto the ground beneath me and end up crouching instead, grasping desperately at my throbbing temples with shaking hands. Everything around me blurs together as memories clash against one another inside my mind, forming a chaotic jumble that is impossible to discern any sense from.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Was that real? Or just hallucination conjured by my tortured psyche? But it felt so vivid — far too genuine to be a mere product of my imagination running wild! What about the others?!

I get my answers before I even finish turning around. Two clear voices reach out directly to my soul, bypassing the broken membranes of my ears and resonating within my very core. They carry hope and courage. They bring relief from fear and doubt.

Aria kneels in the sand, her whole body trembling while clutching at her head as if trying to keep it from splitting apart. Eumelia sits right beside her, stroking her twin sister’s back with gentle movements to calm her down and ease her suffering from whatever torment she is experiencing. In front of the two Muses, Enril stands guard with his spear held tightly in shaking hands as he scans our surroundings for signs of the approaching beast.

Despite how horrible that sounds, seeing their distress brings solace to my mind. If they too experienced it as vividly as I did and remember everything, then that means this whole situation wasn’t a mere hallucination after all! Although how that’s better, I’m not sure yet...

But there is no time for pondering or worrying about these things right now. If my memories are to be trusted, we have but a few seconds left before the monster arrives. Weapon! I need a weapon!

Before I can finish processing this revelation, though, a small object flies straight at my face from somewhere off to my side. Only pure instinct saves me from getting hit square in the forehead with it. When my gaze focuses on whatever was hurled at me just now, it’s revealed to be a little glass flask filled with some murky brown liquid. My eyes dart upwards immediately to find its thrower staring at me.

“Fur. Prey. Scent.” Nael signs frantically, pointing at the bottle clutched tightly between my fingers with urgency before indicating the unconscious girl still lying on the sandy shore beside me. Then, without wasting another second, he returns to digging through his backpack hurriedly — no doubt searching for more objects that might prove useful during this upcoming fight.

The meaning behind those few simple gestures becomes painfully obvious the moment I remove the stopper from the vial’s mouth. The foul, acrid stench wafting out of its neck instantly makes me gag hard enough to almost throw up what little contents my stomach holds onto. But even with tears welling up in both eyes and snot running freely down my face because of exposure to this horrific odor, there is no denying its effectiveness.

As soon as I wave it beneath Lucienne’s nose — holding my breath the entire time — her body shudders violently once before she coughs weakly several times while gasping for air between fits of hacking spasms wracking her torso. I would probably feel bad about causing her so much distress if we weren’t moments away from an impending battle for our lives. And if I didn’t experience exactly the same thing at her hands earlier on our journey.

Once her fit passes, her eyelids crack open and reveal glazed over irises gazing out unfocused at the surrounding world beyond their boundaries. After a moment goes by with no sign of comprehension coming forth from those crimson orbs, though, I wave the offending container again below her nostrils. But despite suffering another coughing fit from inhaling more of the putrid vapors, her stare remains glassy and distant. Even when I slap her across her cheek hard enough for the system to scream at me for harming a party member, there’s not even a flicker of awareness showing on her face.

Fuck! Great fucking plan, Nael! Now what?! Because I highly doubt the beast will give us a couple minutes to deal with our insensate comrade in a peaceful manner while waiting patiently for its turn to rip us apart! And I missed my chance to find a damn weapon too! At least we will have a witness to our deaths since she’ll get to watch from her front-row seat while we get devoured!

As if summoned by that thought, an earth-shattering roar cuts through the still morning air, reverberating through my ribcage and resonating within my very bones until they shake within their sockets painfully enough that it threatens to tear them straight out of my flesh itself. Immediately thereafter comes the familiar flood of emotions — terror, desperation, fury, hunger, despair — threatening to drown me alive within its current. This time though... It feels diminished somehow. Having beaten back the beast once already, prepared for what’s coming and bolstered by the twins’ song, the torrential onslaught cannot find purchase in my mind.

Now that I know what to expect and am able to brace myself against it somewhat, my eyes turn toward where the noise originated from — just in time to witness a massive, swirling vortex of darkness appearing before us, its shadowy tendrils twisting in a chaotic maelstrom of pure hatred. Within seconds it coalesces into a familiar shape — jet black furred body, a long reptilian tail ending in a bone spike, four pairs of bat-like wings stretching out above the entire frame — before I blink and it shifts once again, refusing to settle on any single form for any more than an instant. In one heartbeat, it covers the distance separating us, looming over our group like an executioner’s ax poised above our heads, ready to swing down and deliver the sentence.

Aria’s rhythm falters as she loses composure and falls to the ground, clutching her head tightly with both hands while writhing on the sand beneath her. But even as she writhes around in pain, she manages to keep humming her melody just barely enough to maintain the effect of her skill. Next to her, Enril is also down on one knee, spear held before himself defensively with trembling arms while sweat pours down his face. Thankfully though, Kuleigh is there to pick up the slack and Alder is already nocking an arrow onto his bowstring with practiced ease.

With no weapon of my own, all I can do is shield Lucienne‘s prone form with my body while bracing for impact. But as I stand tall in front of my fallen companion and await the death incarnate to descend upon us once more — instead of diving right at us like previously — it hesitates for some reason. No, wait! Not hesitates!

The monster unfurls a pair of wings from its side before retracting them together as if folding them into itself, while drawing in a deep breath at the same time. One by one, it pulls them in until only a single pair remains to keep itself aloft. Within the span of a few heartbeats, the beast shrinks dramatically to less than half its previous size and shape — even smaller than when I joined the fight against it previously. My hopes of it being a positive development vanish almost immediately though as soon as it opens its maw wide.

Drops of black ichor drip from between rows of jagged fangs, burning through the ground beneath like acid while filling the surrounding air with wisps of acrid smoke rising from them. But what’s far more horrifying than the corrupted blood leaking from its throat is the source of those self-inflicted wounds. In gaps between the sharp teeth, I spot countless writhing shapes squirming within its jaws — struggling desperately against whatever holds them in place there. They thrash around wildly, tearing gashes into each other or slicing long cuts along the monster’s gums. Despite that, though, their efforts are futile and soon they are forced to coalesce into a single point.

And then, in a blink of an eye, the orb of shadow and flesh appears before us. It hovers motionless for but a moment before cracks begin forming across its surface. The last thing I register before everything goes dark is Kuleigh rushing forward to shield Aria and Eumelia with his body. And Nael. Throwing himself. Right in front of me...