Author's Game Entries

Task 4: A Monster

At first all he can see is darkness... Slowly as it fades it gives way to a castle. A maze of a castle. Tumbling corridors transition into descending steps, and then to corridors again. Willis finds himself slipping off blood soaked stone and he cries out in shock, reaching out for something -anything- to stop his fall, but there is nothing.

Stairs give way to nothingness and his vision his fills with black. A terrifying thudding fills his ears, like the drums of a battle, and Willis can just barely hear the cries of the war above the beat.

Skeet, skeet... Skeet, skeet...

His descent doesn't slow at all, and in a woosh of air, the sounds of battle are gone and replaced with growling of a giant beast.

He feels giant jaws open up around him and he sucks in a breath to cry out, only to find himself sitting up abruptly in a cold sweat, the scream dying in his throat just before he could release it.

His heart hammers in his chest and it takes a long deep breath before he can convince himself that it was just a nightmare. His eyes dart around the dark room for a moment and his heartbeat seems to speed up again for just a moment before he reminds himself yet again that he wasn't dreaming anymore.

Breathing out a slow sigh, Willis lets his gaze travel over to his side where he finds Adrien curled up next to him in a comfortable sleeping ball. Willis lets out an airy chuckle and reaches down to run a hand through the other boy's hair softly. He knew Adrien was supposed to be on watch, but he didn't really mind him sleeping either; they were both tired and danger wasn't imminent, so why should one of them stay up?

Honestly at the moment Willis is finally starting to feel a little safe. The last tribute either of them had seen aside from each other had been the previous day, right after the bloodbath. They had caught Mala Akindi attempting to take off with the few supplies they had, and while it had been difficult to corner her, it had been easy for the two of them to dispatch her.

...Skeet, skeet... Skeet, skeet...

Willis freezes instantly and his heart skips a beat. Slowly his head turns in the direction the noise had come from, his eyes growing wide and his pupils dilating from fear. That had been part of his dream, that isn't part of reality, it couldn't be here. He could feel his heart fluttering, and not in a good way. It felt like a cold ache is crawling its way up his throat, thick like a stone, causing goosebumps to start to form over his arms.

Skeet, skeet... Skeet, skeet...

The noise comes again, this time closer. In his dream it had blended with the sound of drums, like the drumsticks had been hitting against the metal rim of the instruments. But now the sound is higher pitched and more like a scratching noise... Like the sound of tiny claws scraping against stone.

Scrambling to his feet, Willis' eyes once more dart around the small room he and Adrien were in, searching for the source of the noise, but it is coming from outside in the hall. As the noise sounds again Willis stiffens and slowly reaches down to grab the sword at Adrien's side. He would have woken the other boy, but a part of him still felt like he was dreaming, still trapped in a nightmare. He didn't want to drag Adrien into it.

Skeet, skeet... Skeet, skeet...

The sound comes once again as Willis creeps his way out of the room, his dual-handed grip on the sword quivering. He could hear each of his breaths and even the thudding of his heartbeat echoing in his ears. The hallway is dark, lit only by the moonlight seeping from a window, and the distant sound of dripping water could be heard somewhere further down in a different room.

It is only a few steps more before his progress down the corridor is interrupted as Willis feels his foot catch on something heavy. Swallowing his scream, his gaze drops down to the ground to find an almost unrecognizable bloody corpse, looking more like a hunk of meat than anything else. The face of the bitten and gnawed tribute just barely resembles Cyon Taragyan, but Willis finds he doesn't want to look long enough to be sure.

It takes everything he has not to lose his lunch and he takes a dry swallow -more like a nauseous gulp than anything- before he can uneasily go around the body. Starting down the dark hallway again, he continues until he reaches a set of stairs that seemed to lead into nothing but darkness. He stops. It is about the time he expects to hear the scratching sound again and he holds his breath, listening for the sound.

It doesn't come.

There is a long charged silence as Willis stands there trembling slightly and he is about to head back to the room when there is an abrupt high pitched scream from his right. Willis cries out in alarm and falls back as a fat creature launches itself at him from an unseen nitch in the wall. His head cracks against the stone floor harshly, causing his vision to start to swim before his eyes.

Its war cry is echoed by multiple other creatures in the wall and with sharp claws the original creature slashes at Willis' face, multiple other attacks coming at the same time to his legs and chest. Willis writhes under the disgustingly hairy bodies and tries to throw them off him, but for every one he got off another two would come.

Having fallen too far from his reach to retrieve, Willis couldn't get to his dropped sword and he is quickly growing defenseless against the creatures. He is only able to see the multiple sets of his attackers' red glinting eyes, each set belonging to one of the swarm of attacking rodents.

Rats.

Most were the size of a house cat, some almost normal sized while others were even larger, reaching the size a small dog. The mass of creatures were over taking Willis easily, each biting and scratching with a precision that causes wounds so close together they were practically the same.

Blood starts to pool around him, the vicious creatures relentlessly clawing at him with an anger that normal creatures just did not possess. Willis cries out and kicks at them, his cries turning into wails as their teeth sink deeper. He couldn't do anything, he couldn't defend himself.

"WILLIS?!?" A panicked voice further down the hallway suddenly exclaims, and the rats stiffen. Their momentary pause is just enough.

Willis is able to dart for the discarded sword and he swings it over himself at the rats. The weapon easily slices through four of the greasy creatures at once, catching one in the neck and killing it instantly.

There is a chorus of squeals in response, enraged yet also terrified. Willis yells back at them in his own rage, stabbing the sword at as many as he could before they all start to flee. Even then he didn't let them escape, slicing down many of the large rodents before they could find safety in the walls and stepping on the smaller ones.

When Adrien finally finds him, the tattered boy is covered in seeping wounds that coat him in his own blood, and he clutches the stolen, bloodied sword like he would die if he didn't.

"Willis..." Adrien speaks softly, holding a tentative hand out. Willis' eyes dart towards him in a crazed way and he instinctively swings the sword as well.

Adrien flinches back and raises both hands, this time in defense. "Willis, it's me, calm down!"

The other boy blinks and his eyes actually focus on Adrien. Abruptly the sword clatters to the ground as Willis stumbles forward, pulling Adrien into a tight trembling embrace.

"Th-thank you..." He mumbles, his voice sounding choked, "Thank you."

Adrien is taken aback. "Wha-what..?"

"You saved m-me... Thank you."

The gratitude Willis held for Adrien at that moment was clear on his face as he pulls away from the hug. Just a moment ago he had seemed about to break down sobbing, but relief now swept over him and he is overjoyed that it is finally just over. The rats are gone; he had beat them. Even later after the ordeal was truly over, Willis wouldn't be able explain to Adrien just how happy he was to be alive right at that moment.