Mevi again waited for the horror to pass from the hallway’s dim illumination into the far darkness. Once the creature seemed to stop moving, as evident from Mevi’s strangely heightened sense of hearing, she enacted her plan. First she needed to test the monster’s responses, before fully fleeing from her hideaway. Mevi willed the strange device to darken and mute the area directly around her. After feeling the shift in the air around her, that made even her own breathing sound inaudible without concentrated listening, Mevi slowly approached the exit. Limping from her safe haven, Mevi exited into the hallway fully. The area around her was completely darkened, the absorbing element reaching less than a meter in diameter focused on the gemstone device. Mevi prepared herself and began breathing normally, then she moved from side to side in silent motions by the entrance of her hideaway. The creature had no reactions, she could somehow hear what might be considered breathing from down the hallway. A billowing gust of air going in and out with a steady rhythm. But no abnormal or enraged response, the horror seemed docile despite Mevi standing in full view under the orb of light. Her next test required some risk, she needed to know how loud she could be while her presence was masked in this way.
Mevi worked up her courage and decided to speak. A small whisper, “Hello?”, and there was nothing. Her normal register, “Hello?”, a slight stir in the creature’s breathing as if disturbed. Yet the thing didn’t seem to move or notice beyond potentially moving what qualified as its head, causing a brief scraping noise against the tile from some hanging limb. Mevi didn’t need to test louder than her normal voice, if her natural quiet could alert the creature she needed to be careful. Her final test of sound, and her most risky. She held her bone staff and lightly tapped it against the ground, and there was no response. In her shuffling around the hallway up until now she had been doing small, quiet, hops to move around, but now she walked with her staff assisting her. For safety’s sake she walked no further than a meter from her hideaway’s entrance while using her staff as she leaned heavily against it. The tap was muted, and didn’t seem to echo, but the creature snorted as if alerted to something. Mevi paused all movement and waited for the horror to become idle again. Once it seemed to resume its normal breathing, Mevi leaned a little less on the staff and was more monitored in how hard she had it tap against the hard floor. The sound was almost unnoticeable to her, and the creature seemed to agree. Her final test was about to begin.
Mevi needed to know how long she could manage to use the device before becoming dizzy. Since the start of her testing a minute might have passed, possibly two. So Mevi looked at her arm, and there were no signs of the black veins. She admitted to herself it was difficult to tell due to the monochrome darkness that seemed to easily hide descriptions she desperately needed. She at least didn’t feel uneasy or dizzy yet, and resolved to stand in the hallway until she could sense her unease.
If time slowed to a crawl, Mevi had a hard time telling. She paced herself and silently counted the creature’s breaths to maintain consistency. Counting for what seemed like many minutes, but according to her pace was likely only a few at best. While her senses were dulled from her own pain and exhaustion, she managed to determine that she began to feel a slight dizziness after about three minutes. She was still stable and unimpeded, so she continued her test for up to five minutes. The last twenty seconds stretched and wore her willpower thin, and she had to give up before she approached five full minutes. Limping eagerly back into her hidden chamber and collapsing as she ordered her device to cease its function.
As Mevi fell forward into the dark interior, a slight disruption to the monster’s breathing cycle was momentarily heard. As if it had sensed the muted darkness’s passing or Mevi’s collapse. Regardless, the monster remained where it was, and Mevi watched as the black veins retreated and faded. It was difficult to keep an exact measure after her test’s end, but it probably took at least a full minute before Mevi felt recovered and what passed for her current normal.
Unsure exactly how helpful doing this test once would be, but fearing repeated use might just exhaust her, Mevi needed to begin her escape. After her recovery, and the disappearance of the black veins, she gathered herself and her things. Storing her welding stick and bending hammer in her splint, causing a small amount of discomfort. Without many other choices, Mevi decided to head further down the hallway, keeping track of how far she walked and resolving to only walk for 2 minutes unless she spotted a place to hide. If she couldn't find a new alcove or accessible hole, Mevi would make haste back to her hideaway. Unnecessary risks could be her undoing at a time like this, yet her slowly worsening leg and continued exhaustion fought against her reasoning to be safe and urged her to escape with haste. Her internal conflict being won by the immediate danger versus her own discomfort and pain.
Mevi limped quietly down the hallway, stopping only for a moment to ensure the monster didn’t notice her exit. With what little haste she could make with her current speed while being quiet, she seemed to make decent enough progress down the hallway. Most of the area was illuminated by the orbs of light above her, high in their position on the tall ceiling. Even here, further in the hallway, the walls and inscriptions seemed to be blackened with scorch and decay.
To Mevi’s growing dismay, anything that might have once been a hallway or door seemed barricaded or destroyed. In the first minute she passed by several doors similar to the one she accessed, spare for the fact that they were thoroughly destroyed and collapsed. As she continued to trek, keeping track of her distance with her internal counting, she eventually wandered far enough her heightened senses could no longer register the monster’s breathing. The pressure seemed to drop around her, as the constant reminder of her reaper’s presence made her additionally weary. Yet its sudden quiet made her almost worry, was she just too far away or was it quiet on purpose? The creature might be more clever than it seems, and if it began approaching her now she would not be able to escape it. Quick glances behind her every few moments reassured her it was at least not within the light’s reach yet. But her mind at war with its own senses and thoughts made for a poor clock.
Mevi realized that she had been preoccupied with the creature’s presence disappearing and had forgotten to keep track of her own time. How much time could she have possibly lost? A second, maybe five? Her own mind was trying to rival against the loud beat of her own heart and the panic that monstrous abomination inspired. Mevi quickly scanned the area around her, there was a small spot that might once have been a new hallway. This collapsed hallway indented a meter or two, enough that she could be out of sight of the hallway itself and potentially hidden from the beast. She couldn’t risk going forward, and didn’t know how much time she had left to risk going back. So Mevi ducked into the small indent, pressing herself against the rubble and trying to be as small as possible. Without any further choice, she deactivated her device and prayed to her ancestors that she would be safe.
As the muted darkness dispersed and returned to the gemstone, Mevi waited for the sound of screaming rage to echo down the hallway. Yet it didn’t come. The creature might not have noticed her darkened aura disappearing since she was out of clear sight. Or it may have moved from its position in the hallway all together. Her thoughts raced with potential, maybes, and hope. As she regained her composure, to a degree, she looked at her arm. The thin lines of black veins seemed like they were only beginning to take root, only partially noticeable. Then as soon as they were noticed, the alien infection began to fade away and disappear. A sigh of relief escaped Mevi, who quickly tried to catch it, as without her hidden presence she could be more easily heard.
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Mevi caught her breath, and attempted to be as quiet as she could muster. After feeling some relief she worked up her courage and reactivated the device, and made her way again down the hall. Focusing on her internal clock, and ticking away at the time to herself, she patrolled for potential hideaways and new paths. But this hallway seemed to go on forever without any deviation or interruption. Only a few alcoves of safety could be found, and they were scattered far apart. Yet Mevi used their presence, without fail, every time she found one that could keep her mostly out of sight. No further doorways were ever opened enough that she could walk inside, and any holes large enough for her to climb through seemed to lead to collapsed spaces and cramped tunnels.
Mevi continued for a time, focusing on putting as much distance as possible between her and the beast she escaped. As her continuing path progressed, she could see what seemed like an end to the hallway. At the end of her vision there was an opening that stretched out into darkness. Whatever hope was mustered began to quickly fail, how could she stumble in the dark in her state? Without being able to use light she would become easily lost, hurt, or worse. Yet if she used light she would almost certainly give away her presence. Her path seemed doomed regardless of direction, so without any choice she continued forward.
There was a small room that opened up a few meters wide and two meters long. Mevi ducked into the open doorway and used it to conceal her presence. Her strategy and methods worked thus far, and this room in particular offered a much larger degree of space to hide within. Mevi hid within and deactivated her device, instinctively looking to her arm to track the dark veins. Yet as her shroud disappeared, a great intake of air echoed from the open chamber she was planning to enter into. Mevi froze and stopped her breathing and any movement. The air was released as if in a great sigh. A chittering and scrambling was muffled yet reached her ears, as if far away. These sounds entirely different from the metallic horror of flesh and sinew she ran from before.
Echoing from far away, as if suddenly awoken, Mevi could hear the sound of many hundreds of tapping, clawing, clattering, and scratching appendages. The source of the sound let out no howls of rage, but seemed as if waking up from a long slumber and slowly moving around its domain. The creature, or creatures, were obviously within the great expanse at the end of the hallway. The sound of the clamor seemed to emanate from many different sources and places, and funnel into the corridor. Mevi quickly looked down at her arm, the veins having disappeared fully by this point, and commanded her device to hide her presence again.
The shroud of muted color and darkness loomed around her again, bathing her in the now familiar aura of silence. The chittering, that seemed to be growing in energy, started to dull and quiet. Yet the creature seemed to be awake now, and the clamoring of many hundreds of stilted legs tapped against stone and metal to echo down the way she had traveled. Mevi sensed her opportunity and began to quietly limp out of the small hiding place back the way she came. As she moved forward, preferring to confront a monster she could see than one she could not, she heard an echoing rage.
Booming from down the corridor where Mevi had attempted to escape from, the shearing of metal and anger echoed with the fury of hundreds of clanging gears. The partially muffled and faraway sound was no doubt Mevi’s previous monster, but how did it manage to sense her presence when she was hidden? Then she realized, the sound of the monster now behind her seemed to snicker and writhe in its own anger. Clattering along the walls and invisible expanse within the large chamber Mevi didn’t dare to enter. Both creatures seemed to be aware of each other now, and they did not seem to appreciate the additional presence.
The many legged thing didn’t seem to notice Mevi, and it seemed content to stay where it was. The sound of its chittering retreated slightly further within the chamber, as if it might have been readying to run or simply repositioning much farther away. Yet the angered metallic clanging echoed from down the hallway, its rage and shrill screams sounding as it seemed to be charging in Mevi’s direction.
Mevi needed to determine what to do. She hadn’t tested how close she could get to one of these monsters with her device active. Yet she hardly thought hiding in the all-too-small space would be helpful either. If these two massive beasts fought, or otherwise invaded the space around her, she would certainly get caught up and likely crushed under their malice or sheer size. Mevi needs to make a decision, and she chooses to deal with one creature rather than two.
Limping as hastily as she could while maintaining her quiet, Mevi began fleeing back down the way she came. She quickly realized the two monster’s angered cries and war shouts drowned out any noise she could make. She fell over in her panic several times, yet the sound of her scattering across the tile didn’t seem to alert or otherwise notify the monsters of her presence. They might have even been so absorbed in their bloodlust they wouldn’t pay attention to her, but that wasn’t something she planned to test. Since she had mapped the hallway already, finding the hiding spots to recharge her stamina was easy enough and she could progress faster since she didn’t need to worry about her walking staff’s tapping alerting the creatures. The metallic and fleshy horror was approaching rapidly, Mevi refusing to look directly at the abominable form as it darted in and out of illumination. When its angered clamor was at its zenith Mevi darted into one of the closest hiding spots she found. She couldn’t risk deactivating her shroud, but knew she had at least a minute left before it became dangerous to continue using it.
Mevi hid, in a small nook that barely fit her tiny body. What might be more akin to a fox hole, or a rabbit den, than something a human would try using to escape a predator. Yet her small body allowed her to conceal herself amongst the rubble. She waited for the screaming monster to pass her by, and as the sound of war and carnage approached it seemed to slow slightly. Her worst fears began racing across her mind, the creature sounded as if it were easily within eyesight even with the light orb’s sporadic placement. The still enraged beast stopped its charge close by. Its huffing and puffing of air and anger billowing out of its form as the creature shook the ground with every step. The thing’s trunk-like legs appeared at the edge of Mevi’s sight, and she recoiled as far back as the small hole would allow. She begged her gemstone to hide her from this monster.
As the massive form of scaled legs came into full view, a misting miasma of red engulfed the area. The dripping ichor seemed to be a gaseous substance that emanated from the thing’s mangled body, and it stuck to nearby surfaces congealing into the familiar bloody mess. If it was truly blood, or simply a thick red slime, Mevi couldn’t tell. The creature’s legs were in full view as it briefly searched the area around Mevi’s hiding spot. Taking in the smells and sounds of the terrain, trying to drown out the responding choir of chittering and cackling from further down the hallway. This massive monstrosity’s legs were easily twice the size of Mevi, and its main body was out of sight in her disadvantaged position. Occasionally a grasping tendril groped at its surroundings and moved past Mevi’s sight. But none of the appendages got close to her hiding spot, as it was mostly hidden by the pile of rock and rubble collapsing part of the hallway. The creature seemed annoyed, it stomped at the ground and sprayed miasma in foul gouts from its body like erupting geysers. The smell of gore and flesh permeated the area around the monstrous form, but Mevi maintained her vow of silence and kept her breath monitored if she breathed at all.
The monstrous form eventually was reminded of its enemy, and began to rile itself against its own rage of whatever was at the end of the hallway. The monster continued its charge after confirming Mevi wasn’t there. It barreled past her position and left a gorey trail of sticky red following it as it made its way to assault whatever was in the darkened chamber. Mevi continued her practice and monitored breathing, allowing her to return to normal again. She released the gemstone’s shroud so she could recover, almost two minutes passed and she had began to feel dangerously ill and dizzy. The creature was farther away as it had run past her with great speed.
As Mevi recovered and decided to begin climbing from her hiding place, she heard the clash. What sounded like two massive titans of metal and scale railed against each other in a cacophony of rage. The two creatures were almost certainly performing their dance of battle and war, and this was Mevi’s best chance to plot her escape. To return where she found her belongings and retrace her steps, in some vain hope it might lead her to salvation. Mevi fully exited her hiding place and activated her gemstone device, not bothering with silence and making all haste down the hallway.