They ran on all fours like some oversized beast, the perimeter they had formed around the two humans constricting tighter and tighter as they rapidly descended floors with no regard for personal safety.
As they drew ever closer, their appearance became even more clearer.
It was as though someone had genetically bred a human with an oversized wolf or bear. The inhuman, brutish frame was unnaturally complimented by an unnerving sense of intelligence, hidden behind the creatures' eyes and facial expressions.
One of the beasts, presumably the leader judging from its size and a branded mark on its chest, clearly visible through the thick hair that resided there, landed in front of the two of them. It raised its arms in a commanding gesture and let out a low growl.
Obeying the creature's orders, other beasts began dropping down to join it on the floor, while others remained above, their eyes fixed firmly on the surroundings.
"What the fuck are these things? Are they keeping watch?!" Marcus exclaimed, turning around to watch the surrounding creatures.
"You know, some creatures are smart enough to do things like keep watch during the night. Don't underestimate them," Tess warned him.
"But they're not keeping watch, are they?" Marcus retorted.
"No, but all I'm saying is-"
She was cut off by another howl originating from the pack leader. This one, rather than announcing their presence, sounded more like the creature displaying pleasure at the easy prey that just happened to walk into their domain.
Marcus quickly snapped his view back towards the leader as it emitted yet another howl. This one, however, was matched and reciprocated by the others in the pack, each rising onto their hind legs as they joined the chorus.
"Marcus, left!"
Tess's warning proved to be the difference between Marcus living and dying in that situation. He stepped back just as a beast dashed across from the left of his vision, tearing the air apart in the space that had just been occupied by his throat. The beast landed hard on its shoulder, before standing up and flexing its thick, sharp claw in a threatening gesture.
*Snap*
*Snap*
*Snap*
"Tess, hold on for a moment," Marcus said before disappearing from view.
'What?' she thought to herself, as she stared at the chunk of rock that now stood where Marcus previously stood, with the boy trapped inside like the rock was an egg.
'Hold on? Hold on?'
She forced the thoughts of confusion from her head, composing herself to face the creatures while Marcus did whatever he was doing.
'Bold of him to just leave me here alone with no warning, though.'
"Shadowshell!"
The black mass that spilled out around her body took the creatures by surprise. A few even took cautious steps backwards, or crouched down onto all fours in preparation for her attack.
Tess, in an effort to re-acclimate herself with this form, spun the sword of darkness she held in her right hand as she controlled the tendrils that floated behind her. After all, this was the complete form, the one that channelled Manan through her body like a geyser channels water, so it was a lot stronger than what she was used to.
The creature closest to her that had attacked Marcus, taking her transformation as a sign of weakness, lunged at her with a swipe intended to rend her chest apart.
Tess simply glanced at the creature with indifference.
Multiple tendrils, initially launched high into the sky, lashed back down in the area in front of her. They penetrated the limbs and back of the creature and pinned it to the ground. The creature, twitching and writhing as much as it could in a futile effort to free itself from the darkness, desperately howled, begging its companions to come and save it from the situation it had put itself into.
None moved. Instead, they forgot completely about the creature and turned their focus entirely towards Tess.
The creature's wails grew even louder as it's desperation also grew.
Nonetheless, the other creatures remained motionless, staring intently at Tess.
Tess, fed up with the incessant noise of the creature, stepped forward and thrust her sword downward. The sword penetrated the skull of the creature, putting an end to the noise.
"God damn beastmen," she muttered. "Strength of the pack only until one loses.
The leader then growled once more, gesturing at Tess.
Three more of the creatures leapt at her, each from a separate direction.
She stepped right, directly engaging the first with her blade while her rear was guarded by the tendrils of the dark armour.
Despite bracing with her supporting arm, the claws of the creature she moved towards still knocked her off balance as they clashed with the sword. With the opportunity granted, the two creatures behind her increased the rate and ferocity of their attacks, resulting in openings being found between the incessant movement of the tendrils.
Small wounds opened up along her back as the creatures' attacks slowly managed to work their way through the magically generated armour, before a claw sunk into her left shoulder. Through gritted teeth, she growled and swung round, striking the creature responsible with the flat of her sword.
One of the tendrils slammed through the leg of the creature and rapidly flung it back and forth and, like a dog with a rat caught between its teeth, persisted until the creature's body was broken.
Tess heard loud cracks as her vision began to blur. Nonetheless, she rallied her attack against the creature in front of her now that the number of creatures behind had been halved. Using large slashes of her sword in tandem with intermittent jets of water, she managed to drive the creature in front of her back, filling the creature with fear for its claws with each broad swipe that connected.
'Something's wrong!'
Glancing behind her, she saw that the number of tendrils had dropped, from 6 at the apex of performance down to a measly two. And those two were simply not enough to match the speed and strength of even a single one of the creatures.
'Why am I so tired?' she thought as her legs gave out beneath her.
This pleased the creature behind her, who howled in elation as it prepared to strike the final blow.
'Oh. I used everything on that shell.'
'Who would have thought I would die like this, in some tomb? And as a consequence of him, no less?'
She laughed at the irony of the situation.
"Why are you laughing? Shouldn't you have been able to hold on for that long?"
A wet thud, courtesy of the creature's head hitting the floor, was heard just outside of Tess's view.
"You shouldn't have done that. Not against them," she forced out of her mouth, struggling from the effort.
"You shouldn't have been so weak." Marcus's response was cold and sharp.
'Why is he like this? What happened to him that made him like this? What could I have done to stop it?'
"First things first, I've got to kill the leader."