A ferocious snarl, unbecoming of any woman, rippled across Nyx's face as she walked out into the dimly lit corridor. Her dark blue eyes tracked the figure of her hatred as he disappeared from sight around the bend in the passage.
As if they were afraid, the torches that had been giving off a warm, consistent light began to tremble.
Nyx briefly looked behind her, finding a dead end, but it didn't mean much. The mentality that had been engrained into her soul revealed itself. She had unfinished business, and so her direction was already set.
Nyx had declared that only one of them would leave that room alive, and while she had failed, she could still ensure the final outcome was the same.
Suddenly, Nyx staggered a couple of steps, spitting out a mouthful of blood before weakly wiping her mouth with her left hand.
While her condition initially looked better than the man when he escaped the room, it wasn't by much.
Her dark brown, almost black, hair was a complete mess, seemingly competing with the tattered rob that looked like it was about to fall apart, and now her face was smeared with blood.
However, Nyx's appearance was the least of her concerns.
After letting the gruesome remains of the man's eye drop to the floor, Nyx slowly moved her left hand to the top of her right arm.
Wincing in pain, Nyx felt the sharp edge of bone protruding through her skin and couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air.
A small, yet constant trickle of blood flowed down Nyx's arm, on to her fingers and then rhythmically dripped onto the floor, mixing with the blood already there.
A feminine growl rumbled from her throat as Nyx's eyes turned even colder.
After trying to take a deep breath, only to find that a few of her ribs were cracked, Nyx coaxed what was left of her dark essence towards her broken humerus while her left hand gripped her right wrist tightly.
While Nyx had many experiences administering first aid to herself, the soul binding backlashing if she didn't try everything within her power to complete the mission given to her, Nyx only knew how to patch herself up. A tempory measure that would keep her body operational for now.
She knew that if she didn't find medical aid soon, then she might be in some serious trouble.
Horrific scenes of the torture she wished to inflict upon the man raced through Nyx's mind as the energy wrapped around the humerus, creating guidelines for where she wanted it to go and gently nudging the blood vessels out of the way.
A couple of seconds passed as Nyx mentally prepared herself, the only sound the sputtering flames from the torches.
A loud snap was quickly followed by Nyx's agonised scream as she rapidly pulled her arm downwards, using her impressive control of energy to push the bones back into alignment before wrapping essence around them to temporarily hold them in place.
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"I'M.GOING.TO.KILL.YOU," roared Nyx, resisting the urge to faint due to the extreme pain. "I'M.GOING.TO.FUCKING.KILL.YOU,"
Nyx's already white skin was almost transparent due to the loss of blood and pain she was suffering, giving her a ghostly, haunting aura. In combination with this, the look on her face was the most terrifying she had ever revealed in his body.
If anyone were to see her right now, they would believe a reverent had returned from the grave to exact its revenge upon the living.
A light pat echoed off the walls, followed by another as Nyx's small, bare feet started moving, slightly splashing in the blood.
She was furious with herself for allowing the man to escape, yet at the same time, she believed that with his injuries he couldn't get far. The only problem would be if he ran into anyone before she could get to him.
While Nyx wanted to escape, without the fear of death, she was quite content to settle with taking the man's life.
Following the trail of blood, not even bothering to try the multiple doors on each side, Nyx cradled her injured arm as she strode forward with grim determination.
The adrenaline from the fight was already leaving her body causing the already excruciating pain to get worse, making her mood deteriorate at an unbelievable rate.
At this moment in time, the bloodlust that emanated from Nyx's body even caused the few insects living in small holes in the wall and floor, to cower in fear.
At the end of the corridor, sitting on the floor next to a metal ladder that disappeared into a dark hole the ceiling, was the man.
He was panting in exhaustion, having lost too much blood and, combined with the fact that he could only use one arm, was unable to climb the time-worn rungs of the ladder.
Not that he hadn't tried.
The wound on his side, even though it had been hastily bandaged with his shirt, was still bleeding profusely.
Blood covered the ladder and floor around him, the handprints along the wall and floor showing where he had
fallen.
Despair was etched on the man's face, and he couldn't help but lightly hit the back of his head on the stone wall as he let out a defeated mutter. "Is this it? Is this how I die?"
Moments later, his head snapped back toward the passage.
First, he thought his mind might be playing tricks on him in his terrified state, but as the sound grew, so did his horror.
The wet sounding, soft pat of feet on stone reached his ears, causing his blood to turn cold.
Then two shadows, caused by the torches on opposite sides of the wall, slowly started to spread out, running up the wall and revealing that a figure was gradually approaching the bend in the corridor.
"Nyx," whispered the man, as his heart violently trembled. There was no longer any doubt in his mind about who the princess was.
With a surge of strength only the threat of death can provide, the man quickly stood and started climbing the ladder, wrapping his working arm in the rungs to ensure he wouldn't fall.
He had initially thought that as Nyx hadn't immediately come after him, she was severely hurt as well, however, now he could only believe that she was in no rush to end the game.
"One~ Two~ The darkness is coming for you~." Nyx's voice, calm and sweet, resonated in the man's ears, causing him to almost slip. He didn't even dare turn around to see how close she was as he hurried his steps, imagining that they were about to be grasped and he would be dragged back at any moment.
However, Nyx had only just come around the bend and was still around twenty meters away.
Having lost a lot of blood, as well as exhausting her internal energy and enduring agonising pain, Nyx was unable to push her body any harder and could only manage a steady pace.
As she couldn't stop him from escaping physically, she was determined to pressure him enough to make a mistake. It didn't matter if a fall or Nyx broke his neck, as long as he died, she would be happy.
However, she could only watch uselessly as the man disappeared upwards, the image of his bare arse, as if it were taunting her, burned into her mind making her want to scream in frustration.
To her, it felt as if he had done it on purpose, especially that wiggle when his hand slipped.
Releasing a string of curses, Nyx finally reached the ladder, and like a machine, she started to slowly and methodically climb.
The man was nowhere in sight, just the square opening of light high above her.
She was well aware that the man could be waiting to ambush her at the top of the ladder but, what choice did she have. To stay down below would be waiting for death.