Tales of Ruuin - Homecoming

By Science!

The matriarch blinked, as if unsure what she saw, then she screamed, but no sound came over her pulled-back lips – which was no surprise. In order to scream, one needed lungs, and the matriarch no longer had those, nor did she have legs, a belly, or half her torso. What she still had was her right arm – which she swiped after Echser – and right breast, which left a trail of black milk as she dragged herself ever closer.

Echser dodged her attack with little to spare, shrieking as if his soul was on fire. How by Science is she still alive?! How?! It was a stupid question, of course. Ghouls were a breed of the undead and thus not technically "alive" but still. The amount of sustained tissue damage was mindboggling! That this monster was still going after him was nothing but a marvel of tenacity. It would have been fascinating if she hadn't been that damnable close to him.

"Get away from me!" screeched Echser, crawling backward, not caring about the vile things that squelched under his fingers, not giving a damn that he sounded like a girl.

Away, just getting away from this monster was the only thing that mattered. At least it was not gaining on him in its handicapped condition. The matriarch said something, though without lungs, what exactly was anybody's guess. Then her remaining hand rose, a finger pointing accusingly toward him. It just was so unfair! What had he done to deserve that accusing finger?!

"I didn't even want to be here!" he screamed in a mix of outrage and defense.

The finger lifted, her palm now pointing towards him, revealing a tooth-lined sucker maw – from which a length of tooth-studded flesh shot. "Gah!" Too slow. The hideous thing wrapped itself around his ankle, and a screamed tore from his lungs as tiny teeth cut through fabric and flesh. "Let go of me! By Science, let go of me! Please!"

Of course, the matriarch didn't. She actually grinned as she pulled him ever closer.

"No!" Echser groped around in desperation, searching for something, anything that might save him from impending doom. "Please no!" His fingers sank into something squishy, and he let go with a yelp, nails scraping over the rough stone floor as the monster pulled him in another foot. Scraping, scraping, nails breaking, splintering, tearing from their beds – and suddenly he held something in his hand. A stone. He held a stone!

Echser rolled onto his back, drawing back to throw, screaming, "Let me..." trailing off and almost dropping his only weapon as he saw what waited for him.

The matriarch's face had flowered open once more, revealing that tooth-lined nightmare of a maw. Did she really intend to eat him? Why? How?! She doesn't even have a stomach anymore for Science's sake!

His mind stopped as understanding slapped him. Hope bloomed, a rush of insane giddiness filling him. Maybe she really had not noticed yet. Perhaps she would just swallow him whole, just as she had Hornbach, and he could quietly crawl out the other end. Disgusting and utterly unbefitting a person such as his, but one should never look a gift whatever in the mouth. In particular, if the whatever was a ghoul queen. His facial muscles contorted into something approximating a smile, breath coming in panicked, ragged gasps. Best not fight her then, best to remain calm.

Just stay calm. Just stay—

The matriarch's slimy tongue waggled towards him, twitching over the floor like some debased worm.

"Gyaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!"

He screamed – quite girlishly – and hurled the stone with all his might. It had to be said, it was a good throw, perfect even. It not only hit but also burst the matriarch's left eye as if it was a lacerated plague boil. Ichor and goo shot every which way, the stone actually lodging deep inside the cavity.