The hiss cut through the darkness like a blade.
It wasn't a human sound—it was low, rattling, and wet, vibrating through the floor under my boots. My skin tightened as if every pore was trying to close.
Lena froze. Her fingers curled around her weapon—what looked like a makeshift spear, the metal head jagged and uneven. She slowly turned her head toward the sound.
The scratching stopped.
Silence.
Then, a flicker of movement in the shadows.
It was fast—too fast to see clearly—just a blur slipping between the mounds of bones. The air smelled sharper now, like burned metal. My heartbeat slammed against my ribs.
"Stay behind me," Lena said quietly.
I did, because my legs weren't entirely under my control.
We moved forward. The darkness here felt alive, thickening with every step. Somewhere ahead, a faint orange glow began to pulse—soft at first, then stronger, like it was breathing.
The hiss came again, closer this time.
Something heavy shifted in the black. A bone rolled across the floor, bumping against my boot. I flinched, my foot crunching down on it.
That's when I saw them.
Two points of dull orange light, low to the ground, watching us. They blinked—not like human eyes, but like shutters snapping open and closed.
Lena didn't speak. She crouched, gripping the spear tighter.
The thing moved into the glow.
It was long, low, and lean, its body covered in plates that caught the faint light like glass. Its head was wedge-shaped, mouth stretching impossibly wide, lined with teeth that curved inward like hooks.
When it hissed again, the orange in its eyes flared brighter.
It began to circle us. The claws made a slow, deliberate scrape with every step, as if it wanted us to hear.
Lena suddenly lunged. The spear shot forward, striking the creature's shoulder. It let out a sharp, high-pitched screech and darted back into the dark.
"Run," she said. No hesitation.
I didn't need to be told twice.
We sprinted toward the pulsing orange light, weaving between bone piles. The creature's hiss echoed all around us now, bouncing off unseen walls. It wasn't following in a straight line—it was playing with us, moving ahead, then behind, then above.
Above?
I glanced up and nearly tripped—there were bones in the ceiling. Not embedded—hanging. Strung together by something black and shiny, like strands of wire.
The creature dropped from them.
I barely had time to shout before it landed between us and the glow, teeth snapping.
Lena didn't stop. She swerved left, ducking under its swipe, and I followed, the air beside me tearing with the sound of its claws slicing through nothing.
We burst into the glow. It wasn't sunlight—it was fire, burning in a metal drum. Around it, half-collapsed walls rose from the ground like the skeleton of a building.
Lena shoved me toward one of the gaps in the wall. "Through!"
I dove. She was right behind me, but the creature wasn't far—its head smashed through the rotted wall as we scrambled down a narrow passage choked with dust and cobwebs.
The passage opened into another door—smaller, with a wheel lock. Lena spun it, yanked it open, and pushed me through.
We slammed it shut just as the creature's claws raked the metal from the other side.
The hissing became a roar.
Lena leaned against the door, chest heaving. She didn't speak for several seconds.
Finally, she said, "That… was a hunter. And if there's one… there are more."
I didn't ask what that meant. The walls were already vibrating again.