The grotesque spider crept towards its prey, savoring its triumph. Its mandibles yawned awake, far wider than what should be naturally possible, like a demon's mouth from a horror movie, revealing strands of slick, glistening saliva that dripped and sizzled when they struck the stone.
It lunged.
SLASH!
Adam's mandibles cut across its face. The spider reeled back, shrieking in a pitch so sharp the air itself seemed to tremble. Without hesitation, Adam staggered past it, deeper into the twisting darkness of the tunnels.
"SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT! What in the hell is that THING?!" Adam's ragged curses echoed under his breath as he forced his body forward.
The spider gave chase, its scream tearing through the tunnels, desiring nothing more than the savory taste of its prey. Limbs scraped every surface, the ceiling, the walls, the floor, as if it floated in the air, propelling itself at supersonic speeds. Adam glanced back once, and what he saw seared into his mind; a nightmare made flesh, its gaping mouth opened wide once more, screaming hunger and anger, bearing down on him with unrelenting speed.
"This… this can't be real!", panic clawing at the edges of his mind. But it was. And it was pursuing him with relentless determination.
Adam triggered Tremor Pulse, the world quivered in faint vibrations, but its short reach gained him no insight. He darted left, then lunged right at a split in the tunnels, scraping his already broken legs against the stone. Blood smeared the ground beneath his frantic steps. He dove into another passage, bruising himself as he fell, but momentum dragged him onward.
Behind, the spider pressed on without showing any signs of slowing down, as though its hunger erased fatigue. Its popping limbs sounded like breaking bones, the sound echoing closer with every heartbeat.
Adam was gasping for air, he couldn't feel his body, it could be that his body is so messed up that it can't feel anything anymore, but he knew the only thing keeping him going was his will, because his body gave up a long time ago. Only his fear kept him alive now.
A limb slashed the air behind him, grazing his back legs. Sparks of pain shot through his body as he nearly stumbled. The spider screamed, maniacally, as it sensed its victory within a hair's breadth away. So close to the taste of desire he yearned for.
He put everything he had into his remaining legs, every source of his willpower to run away from the beast, yet it didn't seem enough. The tunnel ahead appeared blocked. "Is this the end?" Adam's eyes nearly faded away from disbelief. "Is this how I am going to die?" he closed his eyes. "Perhaps this way my destiny?" He thought to himself, imagination dragged him to a world where he was being viciously devoured by the monster, a sacrifice to continue the circle of life. But at that moment, the tremor pulse suddenly activated, revealing a small hole.
A burrow. Tiny, narrow, almost invisible. Yet filled with what he needed the most. Hope.
"NO! If there's a way, then I won't give up! I can't give up!"
Summoning every last scrap of strength, Adam lunged. His body glided through the air. The monster screamed with every fiber of its being, as if it could sense the future, begging him to stop. But at last, his body scraped against the sharp edges of the tiny hole, shell cracking, his body aching down to the bone, but he forced himself through. Behind him, the spider shrieked in fury, slamming its limbs into the opening, trying desperately to hook him, drag him back, claim its prize.
But Adam slid beyond its reach, tumbling into the narrow burrow. The spider's screech filled the tunnels, echoing far and wide, a raw cry of frustration that marked its efforts all in vain.
Adam lay trembling, chest heaving, every muscle in his body quivering from exhaustion and terror. For the first time since arriving in this world, he had truly felt it...
FEAR.