Chapter 14
Hopeless. This is hopeless. The thought pressed down on Varka's mind like stone. But inside Carter's head, panic screamed like wildfire. Footsteps thundered closer. Each one hit his chest like a drum of doom.
Before them loomed the thing—an abomination twisting the very air, leaking wrongness with every breath. Carter's stomach flipped. His throat tightened. This was not something any normal boy should ever see.
The creature lunged. Limbs twitched with unnatural speed. Carter flinched. His heart hammered in his chest as Snezna crashed into Varka's arms.
Cold sweat trickled down Carter's skin. His mind scrambled, desperate for escape. But he was trapped—helpless inside Varka's body.
Snezna summoned a storm of razor-sharp air, enough to cleave stone. The gale howled fiercely. The creature slid through it like a ghost, utterly unfazed.
Terror seized Carter's breath. We're doomed. We can't fight this.
Varka's thoughts were icier still.
It hunts the girl. She's marked. Others hunt her too. Hopeless.
A spear of shadow sliced toward the creature's back. Carter's pulse surged. But the spear dissolved instantly. Tendrils erupted, shimmering with impossible hues that twisted perception and contorted sanity. The sight churned Carter's stomach violently.
Snezna was hurled across the jungle, crashing into a crater torn from the earth. Blood streamed from his head and where his hand had been torn off. His breaths were ragged. His body trembled—broken but fierce with defiance.
Carter clenched Varka's consciousness, trembling.
A horn blared. Soldiers poured through the jungle, armor glinting faintly. They formed a tight semi-circle around the abomination, weapons drawn. Spears and blades sliced the air—but vanished the moment they struck the shifting mass.
Several eyes flicked to Varka, clutching the girl tightly.
"It's a godskin," muttered a younger soldier near the front. "Heard tales about them… never fought one."
A grizzled superior snapped, eyes narrowing.
"Quiet down. Alistor will handle this. Until then, hold the line. That runt with the girl—leave him be."
The soldiers braced, blades ready. Their orders were clear: contain the godskin until Alistor arrived.
The clearing erupted. Battle cries echoed, spells flared, steel clashed. Fire, frost, and lightning lit the night like heralds of destruction. Branches snapped and earth heaved. Smoke thickened, choking the sky with ash and blood.
Through the chaos, the girl remained unreadable—eyes empty pools of hollow calm. A living ghost amid the nightmare.
Carter shuddered. She's an Astarian slave. Broken. Hollow. She's just witnessed another massacre.
Varka knew it. She's seen hope crushed until nothing remains.
Men dropped weapons, voices cracking as they prayed. Clutching charms, desperate for salvation. The creature convulsed violently. Tendrils jerked in spasms—a brief flicker of pain or fear—as fragile as a shadow's breath.
Hope flared dangerously bright.
The monster's wrath snapped like lightning. Prayers died mid-syllable. Bodies and relics vanished in silence.
Order shattered. Roots twisted like living chains, dragging men screaming underground. Others fell, breaths stolen by nightmare's grasp. Only shards of armor and scattered charms remained.
Carter's chest pounded. His mind reeled. This isn't a fight. It's a slaughter.
Amid the ruin, the girl's indifferent eyes locked on the devastation. No flicker of pain or fear betrayed her hollow calm.
Bloodied and broken, Snezna crawled toward them. His breaths labored. Every movement was a battle—but defiance burned in his eyes.
Varka's breath slowed, measured and sharp.
Survive. With Snezna. Abandon the girl, and the enemy grows stronger. The Empire's grip tightens if she falls.
They shared the terrible truth: the girl's apathy was born from chains heavier than iron. Slavery and sorrow rendered her a hollow vessel.
Beneath the dying jungle, the ravine whispered. Water rushed cold and steady.
Varka's cruel smile cut the air.
"If I were any more foolish, I would have left her long ago. The creature hunts her—not me or Snezna. She's marked by divinity, but that means nothing to me. Cosmic beasts will burn, the Empire will fall, and this nightmare will end. They can all go to hell."
His eyes sharpened like blades.
"My only aim is survival. I decided that long ago. I'm not dying today."
Two choices lay ahead: give the girl to the abomination and pray for mercy—or leave her to the Empire, to the godskin fighting for them.
Varka weighed the odds. His eyes drifted to the murmur of the ravine below.
Or maybe… he didn't have to choose between those two.
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