Chapter 8
Escape
Bang.
A shot thundered through the air.
A hole opened in the monster's torso and, around it, dark drops of blood scattered as if they floated for a moment before falling.
"Körper!" a voice shouted.
He thought he recognized it, though he couldn't turn. His body no longer obeyed him; his strength had almost completely left him. And yet his eyes remained fixed on the thing that was pushing him to the brink of collapse: the monster.
Repulsive, misshapen, colossal.
Scarcely marked by the fight.
The visible scars were only those Körper himself had opened with his cuts, but the water spears had never left a trace on that flesh.
Then a flash appeared in his vision: a glass bottle.
In his muddled, fading mind the pieces joined as best they could:
A bottle. A voice. A shot… help. That bottle is help.
With effort he reached out and pressed his palm to the water.
A wave sprang from it and ran swiftly toward the monster. When it neared, the surface cracked, bowed and swirled until it formed three peaks that stretched out, taut and sharp as spears.
The monster barely considered them a threat. It launched itself at them and, with a single sweep of its leg, tore them to pieces.
Another shot cracked through the air.
The shot struck the monster's arm. The bullet didn't pass cleanly through the palm, though it did protrude from the other side.
For a single moment—barely a breath—the creature stopped, its hand raised, staring at the bullet as if it didn't know what to do with it.
That moment was enough.
The bottle fell onto the remains of one of the broken spears, the only part that still remained solid, attached to the surface of the water.
It didn't shatter on the first impact: it bounced, spun in the air, cracked… and on the second fall it shattered into pieces, spraying shards of glass across the water. But not only the water: one of the monster's legs as well.
The beast turned immediately, as if it had felt it.
Körper saw everything: the water began to harden, turning into a purple crystal that climbed quickly. The monster's leg was no exception.
Suddenly, someone lifted him.
Körper barely managed to hear a woman's voice… and then realized it wasn't hers. The voice belonged to someone else: larger, more robust, with a careless tone.
The movement ignited the pain in his body; a muffled groan escaped him as he was carried. He could no longer hold up his head; he had no strength even to look at his rescuer. The only thing keeping him conscious was the thin spark of will that still clung to life.
"Good thing you know how to use aura. With those wounds you'd already be dead," the burly man murmured.
With Körper slung over his shoulder, the stranger moved with chilling agility. His steps were quick, but the stealth with which he advanced felt almost unnatural.
The monster struggled clumsily. Its leg was still stiffening, crystallizing into that strange purple mineral, but it didn't seem to care. With a brutal lurch it put weight on the free limb and advanced like a chained beast trying to tear down the wall to which it was fastened.
Another shot rang out.
The projectile struck but didn't penetrate the body. It only drew a grunt; it didn't even seem to hurt.
"Tch… what a shitty monster," spat the woman as she ran to the side. She stopped abruptly beside a metal ladder and shouted, "Throw him to me!"
The burly man obeyed. He lowered Körper from his shoulder and stretched him out as if to lay him in midair. When he released him, the boy's body didn't fall: it floated, suspended over something invisible.
Körper barely understood what was happening. He could only perceive a strange murmur, like currents of air holding him up. Magic… wind?
The burly man planted a foot on one of the ladder rungs and grabbed a higher bar with his right hand. His left hand remained under Körper's body, though without touching him.
Then he made a sharp motion, like someone throwing a sack. At the same time, Körper rose quickly, propelled upward by an invisible force.
The woman stretched out her arms to catch him. She grabbed him and, falling backward, dragged Körper's battered body with her, securing him in her arms.
A sound of metal ripping thundered in the distance.
The burly man turned his head halfway up the ladder without stopping his ascent. "That thing isn't like the others…" he thought with a chill.
The monster planted what remained of its right leg—barely what would be the knee. With a clumsy, brutal motion it dragged its left leg, planted it on the ground, and pushed to take another step.
Then a grotesque sound was heard, like a bubble bursting from within. The torn flesh of its leg began to regenerate.
It didn't stop there. It grabbed the petrified leg with both hands, broke the union that held it fixed to the hardened ground, and with titanic effort lifted it. Then it hurled it like a projectile.
The woman was just getting up, pushing Körper away from her, when she saw it. The monster had thrown the leg. And its target was clear: the burly man climbing.
Quickly, the woman brought a hand to her waist and drew her weapon… but the angle was awkward, too tilted. Her haste worked against her: the barrel struck Körper and the gun slipped from her hand.
She turned her head, desperate. There it was, within reach. She snatched it with a grab, spun again so violently her neck cracked. She raised her arm, her torso still twisted back.
No…
She knew it before trying. She wouldn't make it in time.
But she didn't stop. She twisted her body more, swung her arm further and, using all the momentum, threw the weapon.
The pistol spun through the air.
Hit.
Bang.
The weapon struck the petrified leg and, although it couldn't stop it, did manage to deflect it slightly.
The improvised projectile crashed into the ladder, to the side of the burly man, breaking half of the last section and gouging part of the wall. Debris collapsed on him, scratching his arms and back, but nothing more serious than scrapes and blows.
With a catlike push the man stretched and jumped, grabbing the still-intact rung, hanging alongside the cracked wall.
Footsteps sounded behind them, heavy and fast. They didn't need to look: the monster was following.
The burly man set Körper down as if he were a doll and dropped him in front of the woman, who held him by the back. In the same motion the man fell to his knees, arching his back, while the woman arranged Körper's arms.
The boy collapsed onto the burly man's shoulders, his arms falling near the man's neck.
The man stood, closing his arms around Körper's legs: he carried him on his back like a bundle.
Without wasting a second, the woman and the man ran down a narrow corridor where the rusted pipes vibrated and screeched against the walls with each step.
As they ran, Körper glimpsed the remains of other fish-monsters on the floor.
A crash shook the corridor. Both the man and the woman looked at each other.
"Left," she ordered.
"Right," he answered.
At the intersection they separated without hesitation, taking opposite routes among three corridors that opened like a maze.
The monster's noise thundered behind them. Screeches, thuds, the hissing of steam escaping from rusted pipes… everything blended into a confusing echo that filled the air like a chorus of whispers.
The man kicked a half-open door and it gave way with a crash. Behind it, a wide staircase rose to the upper floor. He didn't waste time: he ran forward, taking five steps at a time, Körper thrashing on his back like a dead weight.
Upstairs, the corridor was different. The wooden floor creaked with each stride, and the walls were full of deep scratches, cuts, burns, pieces torn away. There were bodies too. Remains of monstrous fish scattered across the floor.
Körper, barely conscious, let his gaze slide over them. And then he saw it.
They weren't just fish.
There were other bodies, more twisted, almost human… but with grotesque deformities.
The vision shook him. He felt a knot in his throat, the urge to vomit, but he didn't have the strength. He could only react for a moment before his mind shut down completely.
Humans with deformities?
It was his last thought before losing consciousness.
***
[Eilor's Perspective]
"So… that was what happened," his uncle said.
The bustle around them couldn't cover the silence that fell between the two of them. Eilor stared at him with wide eyes, his jaw dropped, unable to process what he had just heard. The disbelief on his face soon twisted into horror when he understood what it meant.
"Uh… uh? Really?! For real?" he asked in a choked voice, halfway between denial and fear.
"Yes, very much so. So don't you dare—"
The slam cut him off.
The door crashed against the wall, nearly ripped from its hinges, and everyone in the room turned their heads toward it. Five of them reacted immediately. The other five were still so busy tending to the wounded they didn't look up.
A burly man burst in with his leg still raised from the kick, leaving the wood dented.
"Help me! He's almost dead," he shouted. He turned to show what he carried on his back: an unconscious body, ripped by wounds. One look was enough to know it was serious.
Three of those present moved at once.
Eilor recognized him.
It was him. The man who had fallen into the water.
"Körper?" his uncle murmured, between surprise and tension.
Eilor felt it too, a flip in his stomach.
The burly man continued speaking as he tore off some garments to lighten his load.
"Get ready. A monster was following me… hard to kill. Possibly second-grade. That's what left him like this."
Eilor's uncle sprang to his feet.
Eilor saw him and tried to say something, but froze when he noticed the look the man returned: hard, sharp as a blade. A chill ran through him and he shut his mouth, lowering his hand.
But he couldn't stand it for long. He raised his eyes, swallowed, and shouted:
"Uncle!"
The man turned, startled. But on his face it was clear he already knew what was coming.
"I'm coming too."