Henry Allcott
Tiredness ricocheted through me like sound rebounding off of walls, it reached my legs, caused my heart to beat faster and cool sweat dampened my hair, the salty liquid dripping down my face. I wiped my eyes, to clear my vision as I fled from the horde of undead. I rounded corner after corner, my focus on the path ahead of me. I made a left turn into a much longer corridor than I had been in prior. I passed many openings for different corridors on my left and right, but I stayed on the straight path. Growls and snarls could be heard from an opening on my left, a thumping, like that of my own heartbeat, could be heard from a few meters ahead. I twisted my head backwards, to see the procession of the dead still stumbling towards me, blood and mist trailing behind them like regal capes. I skidded to a stop as a lumbering figure stepped into the corridor which caused the ceiling to stretch away from the floor as the monster fully emerged. Giant in size and wielding a club similar to that of the minotaur, the monster, turned its head, hearing my gasps of air. Its one singular eye looked down at me, confused at first, then it turned into intrigue, but as it looked past me, seeing the monsters that followed me in the distance, it tilted his head up to the ceiling. An ear piercing scream caused the world to shake, I covered my ears to no avail, the sound reminded me of that horrible noise before the first trial that had roused everyone from their sleep. It continued roaring, a battlecry I hoped, praying to myself that it wasn't calling for reinforcements. I turned my attention to the stumbling corpses, which were advancing through the noise without issue and I decided that I had to do something. I focused on the twin discs which shook in the noise as if hit by lapping waves of sound, I sent them forwards, aiming for the monster's single eye. I followed the discs as they reached closer and closer to the cyclops, only one of them hit its mark, the other had veered off course slightly due to my lack of concentration amidst the painful screeching. Its battlecry twisted into a different sound, one of pain as it tilted its head back down to scan for me. The cyclops' mouth grew into a grin as its bleeding eye focused on me, this time, it didn't opt for a battlecry, but instead decided to charge. I looked to my left and right seeing no escape route, the only choice was to either run forwards or retreat backwards. One led towards the giant cyclops, the other led to the dead surrounded by that mist. I made my mind up then, I charged towards the Cyclops and focused on the saw blade that was still nestled in its eye, the red outline appeared and I commanded it to spin. The cyclops howled in pain once again, it dropped the club as its two mighty hands reached up for his eye, searching for the source of his pain. I willed the saw blade forwards, its screams of agony caused the vines along the wall to burst, causing a torrent of green ichor to spill outwards, coating the floor. It flailed about smashing against the walls, still attempting to remove the source of its pain. I nearly fell as I stepped on the green liquid, my attention waned as I recovered from the slip. I resumed my cautious run as I neared the cyclops, I removed my grip on the first saw blade, leaving it drilled into the cyclops' skull, instead, I searched for the other saw blade, finding it on the floor. When its outline shone that ruby colour, I sent it spinning into the Cyclops' achilles tendon. I jumped to the side as it fell, its large frame creating a barrier between me and the undead. As it's head smashed against the floor, the cries stopped and I focused once more on the metal that was lodged into its head, a few moments later and it was in my hands once again, coated by brain and blood. I felt nauseous as I looked at it and I turned back seeing the giant monster utterly still. Seeing no undead, I leant against the wall, violently throwing up. The excitement bubbled away now that the threat was over, was that what that was? Excitement? I thought to myself as I pushed myself off of the wall and proceeded onwards, feeling awful.
Jacob Malnew
I breathed out as I drew the remnants of flames that had turned our attackers into ash. A black residue remained on the floor where the corpses of the wolf-like creatures had just been, the residue retaining the outline of the beasts. I turned to look at the party of people still following me, Harley was coated in saliva after having been pounced on by one of the wolf-like creatures, the others that remained, Kyle, Linda, Hannah, Luke and Marc were all attempting to recover their breath. Luke and Marc, who were brothers, sat next to each other with their backs to the wall, cleaning their hands of blood. The other three were nervously keeping watch on the surroundings, too shaken to do anything else. Five had died in the attack, the monsters pouncing in a carefully planned ambush, killing two instantly. Seeing this, four people fled, not out of cowardice but due to the monsters cutting them off from the rest of us, I gave them a silent prayer that they were still alive. Three more had gone down fighting, unable to activate their abilities or not knowing how to properly use them. I walked over to Harley who was flicking flecks of saliva off of his clothes.
"That's just disgusting," He said to himself, not even noticing my approach.
"You are taking this marvelously well," I stated as I leant against the wall to his left. He noticed my being there, with an acknowledging nod.
"When you've been through conflict as often as I have, then it just becomes second nature. Some lose themselves in it, becoming unable to cope when they are in battle-" he gestured to the one of the women, Linda, who shook like grass in the wind, "others welcome it, I believe I am in the later camp, and others seem to be molded by it," he didn't say anything past that, just giving me a look that obviously stated, like you. "Conflict becomes their very essence in life."
"You speak as if you have seen all this before."
"I've seen it often, a battle is the same wherever you go, the only thing that changes is the reason." He turned his head looking me in the eyes as he smiled, but the emotion didn't seem to convey happiness, it seemed sad and pitiful, forced almost. "You are young, on this battlefield, you hold the best weapon, whilst the rest of us wield rifles with damaged sights," he stopped wiping the saliva from him and gestured to the pools of residue on the floor, "I'm sure that after this, the words your friend has stated over that conference will be seen as truth among those still unsure of what is going on, hell I'm here and I still don't know what to believe." He chuckled to himself and I remained quiet, simply thinking on his words. We were lucky, Henry, Sebastian and I were the only ones who had known what was going on and prepared for it. Isaac was, amongst other things, brutally honest with his actions and words, making us realise the direness of the situation. I imagined myself in Harley's shoes, an old man, probably an army veteran, asked to investigate something alien. His experiences and training over a lifetime seemed to dwindle in obscurity after stepping inside this place, the maneuvers and training keeping him alive amidst the chaos of battling monsters, something he was never meant to fight, he knew how to fight humans, they had ego's to abuse, weaknesses to target, but these creatures told him that if he tried the same thing, then only his death remained. He was correct about the weapon analogy, to the others, I held a weapon that could kill and protect, but they held something uncertain, a crooked spear which could, with time and effort become something much greater.
"You've been quiet for a while now," Harley stated, ripping me from my thoughts. He had a look in his eye that told me that he knew what I was thinking about. He placed a hand on my shoulder and I tensed at the impact. "Look lad, I was just rambling before, don't pay too much heed to it."
"It's not just that," I stated, looking down at my hands which shook. The shaking taunting me, speaking cruelties. I gripped my hands tightly together to stop them from shaking. "I-" I paused, the words not coming free, "We should go." I pushed myself away from the conversation, starting down the corridor. I could feel the gazes of the others behind me, their looks of concern and admiration weighed on me like chains. No, you know things have changed. I looked to my hands, seeing them mangled, fingers bent the wrong way, bone jutting free, blood dripping from them like droplets from a closed faucet. I blinked hard, and the illusion was gone, replaced by the usual shakes.
"Lets go," I heard Harley say to the others shortly before they followed, their footsteps noticeably quieter than before. I failed to protect them again, I thought to myself as we proceeded onwards down the corridor.
Henry Allcott
Stifled air clawed at my lungs as I staggered down the corridor, looking and feeling like a drunkard coming home from a night out. My legs felt weak and my hand was glued to the wall and the jutted out vines that acted like railings, too afraid to let go in case I fell. Jacob was out there, probably fighting with his life on the line again, his fire keeping him safe. Isaac, I, Why am I concerned with him? I thought to myself, my mind did this after hardship, thinking of those close to me, not on the situation at hand. I rounded another corner, and found a sight that caused me to smile. In the distance was a large square space which contained a gazebo made from stone, inside of which jailed a brilliant obelisk of glass. The area was wreathed in glittering amber light which made it easy to see, even from where I stood a distance away. I pulled myself forwards, finally seeing the point that Isaac had described. Hope rose in me, I knew I was still in potential danger, but the side of me I didn't want to admit was there made me giddy which overrode my anxiety. I stepped forwards, not letting my tiredness stop me now. Another step. Another. It seemed like minutes passed between each step, the burning sensation of my lungs forcing me to proceed slowly. I felt something through the vines then, a tremor that was distinctly different from the rhythmic pulsating movement that I had grown accustomed to. I moved on, but with each step, I felt another vibration make its way through the network of vines. Another few steps and I felt the vibrations through the floor. I looked about panicked, seeing no immediate threat. I hobbled faster, ignoring the complaints of pain emanating from within. I felt my legs quiver, but I hoisted myself along the vines. The vibrations came quicker now, the shockwaves massaging the soles of my feet through my shoes. I turned once more, still seeing a calm emptiness behind me. I almost jumped as a hand, at least as wide as the size of my body, swung into view, gripping the wall. The giant creature dragged itself into view, its bloodied eye emitting a steady stream of violet smoke which created a river that ran along the ceiling above. I sent a blade hurtling towards the corpse, but it raised its hand, blocking them with its palm and before I could command them otherwise, it closed its hand into a fist and I saw shards of red fall loose as he opened his grip. It seemed to smirk then, as I turned and fled.