Ethereal | Twilight |

016

Sora slipped through the trees, his paws gliding over the rotting leaves, the ground sagging beneath him like wet paper. The forest pressed inward on all sides, thick with the stink of mildew and death, a sourness that curled inside his nostrils and coated his tongue. Every breath tasted like decay.

Puppy eyes haunted him. The girl with freckled skin, her smile as soft as candlelight, now lost somewhere among the shadows. His heart squeezed violently inside his chest. He did not know how she died. Had she followed him, innocent and blind, into this festering place? Had she wandered straight into the jaws of the thing he had failed to kill?

The air itself felt wrong. Too heavy. Too still. The trees seemed to lean closer with every step, their bark split and blackened, their branches clawed and broken like skeletal fingers. Even the leaves underfoot looked bruised and brittle, curling inward like dead things.

Then he saw it.

The creature slumped ahead, a grotesque figure stitched together by rot and nightmares. Its flesh peeled away from its body in strips, thick black ichor steaming in the cold air. Bones jutted through the skin, twisted and clicking with every shuddering movement. It turned its ruined head toward him, grinning with a mouth that gaped open, its teeth shattered into jagged shards, ribbons of spoiled meat hanging between them.

Sora growled deep in his chest, the sound vibrating through his bones. His hackles rose, muscles locking. No packmates. No backup. No hope of help. Only him, the dead woods, and the abomination in front of him.

The creature moved first, bursting forward in a disjointed sprint. It gurgled something wet and foul from deep inside its ruined throat. Sora sprang to the side, muscles snapping into action, the creature's rotted claws barely missing his face. He pivoted sharply, sinking his fangs into its exposed flank.

The flesh gave way sickeningly, collapsing between his teeth like rotten fruit. The stench hit him full force, sour blood and mold, a rancid perfume that made his vision blur.

The monster shrieked, a wet, broken sound, and raked a claw across his ribs. Agony burst down his side, hot and immediate, but he anchored himself deeper, refusing to release his grip. In a brutal jerk, he tore free a chunk of its side and spat it onto the ground, thick sludge spilling from the wound like tar.

The creature stumbled, leaking viscera, but it lunged again, more feral than before.

Sora met it without hesitation. Fury roared through his veins, sharpening every nerve. He crashed into it, jaws locking around its throat. The flesh collapsed under the force, splitting and folding under his crushing bite. He did not care that fists slammed against his ribs, did not care that his blood and the creature's blood rained down around them, painting the forest floor.

He shook it violently, the snapping of bone cracking through the trees like gunfire. The thing clawed at him, nails raking through his arm, splitting muscle to the bone. Its broken jaw snapped forward, teeth sinking into the side of his neck.

Pain tore through him, white-hot and blinding, but he did not yield. He forced his jaws tighter, grinding his teeth until he felt the monster's spine crumple between them. With a savage heave, he ripped the head free, feeling the last shudder of life leave the body.

Blood flooded over his tongue, molten and burning as it slid into his stomach. It tasted like rust and death and something far worse.

He staggered back, the severed head slipping from his jaws into the dirt. His breath came in ragged bursts. His wounds gushed blood, hot against the cold air, each heartbeat a hammer against his ribs.

He ran, instinct roaring louder than pain. He tore through the trees, through the ash-thick air, through the blackened woods that seemed to snarl and clutch at him as he passed. His legs screamed to collapse but he kept moving, a blur of desperation and broken strength.