Muse 9 (ONC 2020)

Chapter 8

Pain throbbed in my ribs as I tried to keep up a brisk, steady pace. But with each step, it grew harder and harder. Shaking my head quickly to clear my mind, I bit my lip and slung my pack down from my shoulder, reaching inside for one of the pills Luktor and I always kept handy.

It was something Eurykhan had given us a small but precious store of. The Restor pills were pain suppressors that also boosted adrenaline in order to keep one going. Somehow, it worked to temporarily mend wounds so that one could keep active for longer periods of time.

"I've only got a few for the two of you," Eurykhan told Luktor and I. "Only use it in absolute emergencies. If you can't walk and you're gonna need to? Take one. It'll keep you going until you can stop."

I shoved the pill into my mouth and took a brief gulp of water to wash it down. Within moments, I felt my pain dissipating and my step quicken. I hated that I had to take one of the pills, but down in the Drain, I couldn't take the chance of losing my focus. Maybe in Kycene, I could, but down here? Death would be imminent if I lost my focus.

As I turned into the last tunnel on Eurykhan's map that led to the Library, I began to get an uneasy feeling. This had been altogether too simple, for the Drain. The texts should have been in deeper than this, and much harder to reach. Maybe I didn't know the Drain all that well, but I knew enough to know that much.

After only one more run-in with a beast, one with the same appearance as the first which I killed a lot quicker this time around, the tunnel ended. I paused within several feet of the exit, raising my rifle as I prepared to leave.

The tunnel led out into an open space. With a deep breath, I paced quickly to the end and ducked out into the open, twisting left and firing as soon as I saw the shadow move. Before the shadow could move again, I dropped into a crouch and whirled back in the other direction, firing off two more quick shots that tore through two more shadows.

I barely had time to glance curiously at the downed shadows before I heard a slight whooshing sound from above. Before I could move or look up, something light landed on my back and wrapped its limbs around my throat.

Stumbling backwards as my air supply was cut off, I slammed into the hard wall edging the space and slammed my rifle up, trying to hit my assailant. I heard a screech and struck again as I choked, this time firing off a shot that brought an earsplitting scream.

The limbs around my neck loosened and I gasped for breath, falling forward. The figure tumbled to the ground beside me and I didn't even have a chance to look at it before another one launched itself at the side of my head.

I rolled forward, narrowly avoiding the thing. Whipping around on one knee, I pulled the trigger and sent a burst of energy through the neck of the shadow. It collapsed face first on the ground, convulsions rippling through its sleek black body.

I shoved up onto my feet, turning from side to side to see if there were any more moving shadows. For a moment, I didn't see anything. My eyes flicked back and forth, searching the space.

I was in a large, open chamber. The tunnel I had come from protruded out from the chamber wall, providing a ledge on the roof of the tunnel from where the first shadow had jumped. Behind me, in the center of the chamber, there was what I could only describe as a moat, surrounding a rising tower of stonecrete that barely brushed the ceiling of the chamber.

A tower? In the Drain, of all places?

The shadows around the tunnel opening began to move, crawling out from within the tunnel. I backed away from the mouth of the passage, raising my rifle towards the top of the opening, where the creatures were crawling up onto the roof.

Had they been in there the whole time?

The creatures seemed to be made of shadows, their bodies black as night and so fluid they appeared just as formless. It was like they had been sliced from a thin sheet of darkness, their figures perfectly traced before being cut out of whatever they were crafted from. They had no faces, not that I could see, anyway, and no markings on their bodies. Each shadow looked like the next, all identical.

This must be what Eurykhan meant about watching the Shadows.

From the roof of the tunnel, the shadows jumped to the ground, landing and flexing their lower limbs slightly to absorb the shock before stepping silently to the side, body bent forward slightly and upper limbs held out loosely. One would step right, the one behind it left, and so on. They kept stepping to the sides, spreading out to circle and ensnare me.

I needed to get out of here. Now.

I kept backing up, slowly, keeping my rifle up and ready. Moving my muzzle from one shadow to the next as they continued to circle and advance, I knew I had to do something to get away from them or else I would be outnumbered.

I touched the control panel, adjusting the settings, and then aimed my rifle at the lead shadow. Pressing the trigger, I then turned and streaked towards the moat, changing the settings back to "kill" as I ran.

At my sudden movement, the shadows leapt forward, surging after me in a silent mass. I spun around to fire off a few shots, and although I managed to hit a couple in the abdomen, causing them to flop backwards, they were gaining much quicker than I had anticipated.

Sprinting for the moat, I started to evaluate my options. There was no bridge over the moat, hence I would have to find some way to span the gap, and quickly.

A hand grasped at my cape, yanking at the tough fabric. Dropping to one knee, I spun around and fired, sending the shadow collapsing to the ground. As I shifted my aim, I managed to fire off another shot through a second shadow before they were upon me.

I snatched a dagger from my greave and jabbed it up into the upper chest of the closest shadow as I fired off a shot at another. Shoving back up onto both feet, I kneed away the body I had stabbed before slamming my blade into the neck of another figure.

But there were too many shadows and only one of me. They crowded around me and overwhelmed me, forcing me onto the ground and I couldn't help it, I screamed. Moving darkness clouded my vision and I felt multitudes of hands grasp at my arms, my legs, my hair. One snatched at my rifle, trying to deprive me of my weapon.

I lunged up with my dagger, swiping left and right as I felt sharp needles dig into my flesh. Pressing my finger against the trigger, I fired shots wildly as I kicked and thrashed.

The needles withdrew as the shadows straightened simultaneously. I crawled backwards, eyes trained on the figures as they tilted their heads to the left, then to the right, before they dropped to all fours and began to scuttle towards me.

Flipping over onto my stomach, I shoved up onto my feet and staggered towards the moat. I felt a hand grab my cape again and I lashed back with my knife as I twisted, hacking at my cape in an effort to free myself. The tough fabric resisted the edge of my blade but between that and the needlelike fingers yanking on it, it eventually tore and I stumbled forward.

The moat was only a few feet away. I had only to hurl myself into the void in order to escape the shadows, at least temporarily. I would worry about not falling to my death after I'd gotten rid of the shadows. Eagerly, I pressed forward, kicking against the hard ground to force my suddenly weary body onwards.

Just as my foot hit the edge of the abyss, ready to propel myself forward, something grabbed my head, forcing me to bend backwards as I screamed in pain. Suddenly, my vision was cut off as I heard bodiless voices weave into my head.

Sable Huntris. Sable Huntris. Sable Huntris.

It was as if darkness slithered into my mind, blocking out all light. I was frozen, hovering on the brink of the void, balancing between the shadows and the fall.