Seeing the woman moments from being consumed, Nolan didn't hesitate.
He surged forward and hurled his war hammer straight into the mother's open mouth. The impact staggered the creature just long enough for him to dive past it, snatching a fallen spear from the sand as he moved. In one fluid motion—mirroring the woman's earlier strike—he twisted the shaft hard and severed the creature's tongue.
Reeling back, it screamed, the sound assaulting us like a physical force, but worse was what followed.
Looking into the gaping maw, that familiar sensation washed over me as brilliant light flooded my mind. Yet this wasn't like the smaller creatures. Their influence had felt like a suggestion, a gentle pull toward sleep.
This was a command.
The moment my eyes locked onto it, my body shut down. My limbs went limp, muscles refusing to respond as I collapsed to the sand, helpless, unable to look away even as every instinct screamed at me to move.
Seeing my reaction, Nolan acted. He shut his eyes tight, spun on his heel, and slashed blindly with the spear, carving a shallow gash into one of the monster's legs.
It wasn't a deep cut, but it did the job. The moment it jerked back, the light vanished, freeing us from its spell. Sucking in a sharp breath, I snapped back control of my body.
At the same time, the woman stirred, coughing and sputtering as awareness returned. Her eyes locked onto Nolan for half a second as recognition flickered within her eyes before terror took over. She shoved him aside just as the creature's massive tail came down in a whistling arc, cracking into the sand like a whip.
Nolan rolled, barely recovering in time to try the spear again.
However, he was too late, because when it whipped back, it curled around the shaft and snapped it clean in half like a twig, making it utterly useless as a long-range option.
Then, as if to add to the fire, something enormous slammed into the ground behind me.
I spun on my heel and came face-to-face with another creature, slightly smaller than the mother but no less deadly.
As it lunged, I was driven back into the stone wall, its teeth sinking into my flesh while I struggled to keep it at bay.
The stench hit me like a physical blow.
Rotten meat, sulfuric fumes, and something sickly sweet assaulted my lungs, crawling up the back of my throat and burning my sinuses. My stomach lurched violently. I gagged, eyes watering, fighting the overwhelming urge to retch as I forced air through the foulness.
Snarling through the nausea, I jammed my blade into its mouth, slicing through gums and forcing my arm deeper despite the pain. I reached as far as I could and slashed upward, right where I knew its brain sat.
Yet the blade was too small to kill it outright. But it was enough to make the creature reel back, hacking and shrieking as it tried to wrench the knife free from its mouth. But that moment was all we needed.
With a quick exchange, we took off running.
Bolting through tunnel after tunnel, we weaved through the stone maze as screams and impacts echoed behind us. If we could reach the wall, there was a chance, if there was still an open section, that is,
But that entirely depended on how the stones had risen throughout the entire battle. If we were trapped within a box, then things were about to get messy.
Then, out of nowhere, we ran headfirst into a lone survivor. He turned toward us with a wide, desperate grin, relief flashing across his face, only for it to twist into horror as his mouth opened in a silent scream.
A moment later, a blur hurled itself forward.
The massive creature slammed into him with unstoppable force, its full body crashing through him and driving what was left straight into the stone pillar behind. The impact was so violent that his body burst apart in a spray of blood and gore, leaving nothing but a wet splatter across the dark stone as the remains slid down in a slick, gruesome smear.
God damn…
The brutality stunned me for half a heartbeat, long enough that if Nolan hadn't shoved me to the side, I would have ended up the same bloody mess as the man, as the mother followed through, crashing down where I'd been standing moments before.
I scrambled, kicking through sand until I found my footing.
"Nolan, where do we go!?" the woman shouted.
He rounded another corner, breathing hard. "I don't know—just—"
Boom!
The wall behind us shook as something massive slammed into it. But instead of continuing, Nolan stopped short and grabbed the broken spear, gripping what remained of the hilt. "I'll hold them off. You two go."
"The hell you will!" the woman snapped. "I'll fight with you."
"Sandra, go—" Nolan barked. "That's an order!"
She scoffed, planting her feet. "Can't order me around anymore," she grinned. "Have you forgotten? You were stripped of your title."
He grimaced, about to fire back, but the wall exploded.
Stone cracked, and dust poured into the air as a massive body slammed through, scraping against the narrow passage as it turned toward us.
Sandra didn't hesitate.
She ripped the spear from Nolan's hands and charged, driving the jagged end straight into the same spot my dagger had pierced earlier. The force of the creature's own momentum carried it forward, sinking the spear deep within its flesh.
The beast shuddered once and collapsed in a heap.
Sandra turned back, grinning. "See? I told you I could—"
She never finished.
Her eyes went wide, and she dropped to her knees before toppling sideways, body going limp as she fell into a deep, unnatural trance.
"No!" Nolan roared.
He spun just as the mother lunged at him, raising his arms to brace for the impact, only for it to stop short. Its massive body slammed into the narrow gap between the pillars, legs scraping uselessly against the stone as it tried to force its way forward, utterly stuck.
For a heartbeat, everything froze.
Then something in Nolan snapped.
He stepped in like a man possessed, driving an uppercut straight into its mouth.
Then another.
And another.
He never gave it a chance to meet his gaze, never let it breathe. Blow after blow rained down as he hammered into the creature trapped within the stone corridor.
The beast shrieked, thrashing harder, rage boiling over as it began to force itself backward, claws screeching against the rock
Then, finally, with a deafening scream, the mother shot backward, each leg scraping across the stone until it tore free from its confines and launched itself into the air, vanishing into the distance.
Sucking in a breath, I leaned against the stone, utterly spent from the run. But just as I began to think it had left us alone, a shadow passed overhead, and with a flick of its tail, a massive stone was hurled toward us.
Unable to move with Sandra still dazed, Nolan folded around her, placing his body between her and the impact. The stone slammed into his back and shattered on contact.
He coughed up blood and collapsed to the ground, going limp.
Sandra blinked as the haze of her hypnosis finally faded. But the moment she saw Nolan, she grabbed him in a panic.
"No, no, no-no, Nolan, stay with me!" she hissed, and looked up just in time to see the Skrill's tail coil back, winding up for another throw.
Groaning under his weight, she tried to lift him. "Dammit, Nolan, move!" she screamed, hauling his arm over her shoulder.
Seeing that they weren't going to make it, I lunged forward and grabbed his other arm, nearly losing my footing as another stone exploded in front of us. We ducked on instinct, shards screaming past our heads as the impact cracked the column apart. Dust choked the air, grit grinding between my teeth as we staggered through it.
We turned a corner just as another projectile slammed into the stone behind us, the shockwave throwing us forward. I hit the ground hard, shoulder-first, sliding through sand slick with blood before scrambling back to my feet.
Overhead, the mother's shadow darted from place to place as it searched for more ammunition.
But no matter where we ran, it followed.
The tunnels blurred together into a twisting nightmare of stone and death. We stumbled over bodies, some human, some not. More than once, my foot caught on a corpse, and I nearly went down, only barely catching myself on the wall.
All the while, stones rained down relentlessly.
Each impact sent tremors through the ground, knocking loose chunks of ceiling that crashed around us. One clipped my shoulder, another glanced off Sandra's back, driving the breath from her lungs in a sharp cry. We kept moving anyway, dragging Nolan between us, his weight growing heavier with every step.
"Don't stop," I gasped. "Just… don't stop."
She nodded, eyes wild with fear.
We burst through another turn and nearly ran straight into a pile of bodies stacked against the cage of the colosseum, where far above I could make out the cheers of the crowd.
Gritting my teeth, I gagged but kept moving.
Another stone smashed down behind us, close enough that the fragments tore into my side. Somewhere overhead, the mother screeched, the sound reverberating through the tunnels as if the stone itself were screaming with it.
My breath came in ragged pulls, vision narrowing as my legs began to tremble. I could feel my strength slipping, each step heavier than the last, the weight of Nolan dragging me down inch by inch.
Then my luck ran out.
From above, a massive stone flew true, and a blinding pain erupted through my leg as bone shattered. Screaming, I fell to the ground, and with all of Nolan's weight suddenly shifting onto Sandra, she crumpled beside me, utterly helpless.
"Get up!" she screamed, trying desperately to pry herself free from beneath him. But no matter how hard she pushed, she couldn't move him.
I crawled forward, my head a mess, every thought a desperate grasp at survival. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't think of a single way we were getting out of this.
From above, the shadow flashed once again.
A second later, a stone slammed into the side of my head, stripping my thoughts away as my mind went numb.
The only thing I could do now was drag myself to the wall, out of the way, leaving the two of them to take the brunt of the attacks one after another.
No matter how hard she pulled, Sandra couldn't free herself from under Nolan, and the more stones that rained down on us, the worse it became. Until one struck her cleanly in the head, dropping her like a dead weight beside him.
With all of us incapacitated, there was nothing left to do but wait for death and hope it came quickly.
If only I had my powers, I could have fried this thing. With my Astroharbinger form, I could have crushed it. But no matter what I tried, they never responded. Even a simple spear would have helped, but—
Then, as if it had been waiting this entire time for me to realize it was there all along, the Void answered.
Darkness shaped itself within my palm, forming the shaft of a magnificent spear. But at this point, I was far too exhausted to put any real weight behind the strike, yet I paused. I didn't entirely have to do this all myself. With the help of an exoskeleton, I could give it the extra force it needed.
Within a moment, the shape began to take hold, each piece locking into place around my wrist, then elbow, then shoulder, before I reached my limit. Propping myself against the wall, I cried out in pain as my bones stabbed through my skin, but I kept on.
Raising the spear, I waited. Moments passed, then the shadow crossed over us again.
But I waited.
It flashed once more, yet still I held, each second adding pressure like a coiled spring ready to snap.
Then I felt it.
The faintest flicker of movement.
With all that pent-up energy, I thrust the spear upward.
It soared like a comet, cutting through the air before embedding itself deep within the thick hide of the monstrosity as if it were nothing more than butter. The creature let out one final screech as its massive body slid back into the opening, coming to a slow stop when its bulk could no longer fit.
High above, the monstrosity that had nearly killed us all lay limp, grotesque, and finally still, silhouetted by the fading light.
As the last of my strength faded, I collapsed, utterly spent, before darkness claimed me.