Curse of the Phoenix

Chapter 6 - The Thing From Nightmares

"MATT! RUN NOW!"

He woke up with a start and sat up. That dream... It was such a long time ago. Why did it appear now? His face was pouring with sweat, and his lungs were gasping for air. Even now, the guilt had never left him.

He was still in the cavern after escaping the Ophisto and his clothes were wet because of the shallow pool he was in. He got up but- "Argh!" He fell down after his legs stung with pain, as if it was hit by a hammer. "That's not good..."

Beside him was the body of the poisoned miner. He crawled towards him. "Hey, sorry, I fell asleep. Are you still alright?" The body didn't respond, though. "H-Hello?" He gently shook the body, but it didn't wake up. Panic crawled in his mind. He checked the miner's wrist, hoping for a pulse. Please be there, please be there.

Thankfully, it was there. He sighed in relief. But he wasn't sure if the miner will survive any longer. He needs to find a way out of there.

He staggered to his feet, but his legs stung him with great pain, stronger than before. He didn't care, though. Whatever happened, he needs to save the miner. No one is going to cry on this man's grave. Because he won't have one.

"Aelia!" He said. But no one responded. Was she still asleep? He sighed and looked around for a way out. The hole he came in went up, so he couldn't go there. There was another hole, which must be the continuation of the first one. But it looked like it went down, and he didn't feel like breaking his legs again.

"How am I going to do this?!" He said, clutching his curly hair. He sat down with a splash, dejected and miserable. "Aelia, please..." But still no response. He felt like a loser. Like a failure. He didn't want to bother her, but he just didn't know what to do. Maybe that's because... He can't do anything.

The clueless, weak boy sighed and lay down again. Memories came flooding back into his head. The tears that they cried when they buried his father. Times he spent training with the rifle that his dad passed onto him. And the Firemonger that killed his father.

Suddenly, his head ached. He jolted up. What danger is coming now? The Ophisto? Why would it care about him?! He stood up and ignored his broken legs. "I really don't need this right now."

But his head ached again, as if telling him that it didn't care about what he wants. He groaned and held his head while his eyes scanned the cavern.

A digging sound resonated in the cavern and his head snapped in its direction. No, it wasn't the Ophisto. What he saw was something else. Something he thought was only a scary story. 

An arm had burst out of the ground like a zombie. The shoulder followed suit, then the torso, and finally the whole body.

A slender figure from hell appeared from the ground. It had no face. Only a mouth with an eerie smile showing its sharp, messy teeth. Its body was all black and gooey sludge that dropped off of it like melting ice cream. But the sludge refilled and kept its disfigured form.

Several cracking sounds resonated, and a fissure in the air appeared above the Rupture. The fissure made a noise like a static television and drained the light of the cavern. It looked like a portal leading to another chaotic world. Several other fissures appeared in the cavern, fizzling and unmoving.

"Matthewww..." The disfigured body was speaking in a deep and ear-piercing voice. Its words would sound high pitched first, then deep and raspy last. "Whyyyyy did you killl your fatherrr..?"

Matt sputtered and shifted away. "Y-y-you're..." He knew what it was. But he had never actually seen one. His dad would tell him stories about this creature all the time. He called it, the Rupture. The Thing from Nightmares, Bringer of Chaos, Reality Breaker.