The Terror was a strider.
Standing from a distance, it was clear to see why. Different from the intelligence of a stalker, or the idleness of a sentinel, and even from the bloodlust of a standard Terror, striders were different.
Undisturbed and away from human intervention, they seem to have no interest in humanity as a whole. For generations, none could figure out what their true purpose was other than to endlessly march to an unknown destination. And, unless provoked or approached by humans, it does exactly that.
"But how could you tell?" Nyx remembered the conversation, still peering out from behind the box in suspenseful silence.
"I know because I've seen them first-hand. Looking back, there's no way that it failed to spot us when we were hiding in the storeroom. A Terror's sense of smell is impeccable- even the slightest whiff of a human would typically set them off. I was a fool to not have noticed sooner..."
He could tell what she meant. In this instance, her knowledge wasn't from cadet training or from being Shadowbound. It's from having already awakened.
Nyx trusted her judgment, and now she appeared to have been right. Despite him being only moments behind the beast, it failed to even care. It held no grudges of previous altercations and simply walked forward into the dark abyss.
Of course, now he was alone. The two had separated, Rei out searching to unite the others, and Nyx to follow and keep watch.
If anything were to happen, he was to run and hide — fight if he had to — but not to die.
Still missing a weapon since the last battle, all he had at his disposal was the occasional junk littering the ground. For that reason, he dreaded the possibility of some unknown Terror creeping out from the darkness and striking while the moment was hot.
He sneaked his way behind it, tailing at only around ten meters away. Of course, the beast didn't care. as long as he stayed a reasonable distance away, he was fine.
Then again, Nyx would occasionally take a peek behind him. Occasionally he'd stop to listen around. His nerves were shot, and his brain felt like it was racing.
He wanted to ensure that nothing would take him by surprise. Of course, during a slim occasion when he steadily walked forward, that's when something struck.
For a brief moment, he had thought it was nothing but the wind pressing against his back. After full contact was made, he began to feel his heart drop.
He churned his body around — jumping back and raising his leg, with a hefty slam kicking whatever had touched him away.
Much to his terror, whatever it was gripped his leg before the attack connected. To his own surprise, however, it didn't attack. Instead, it simply Shoved Nyx away as he fell to the floor.
"Pathetic." He heard from behind him. Standing overhead was Seren, a hint of disgust lingering on his face. "If you're going to be on edge, at least do it with competence."
Nyx felt embarrassed. Realizing his mistake, he gripped his head in contempt, Seren reaching forward and helping him up off the ground. "Still, at least you defended yourself- even if it was sloppy. It's good to know I'm not traveling with walking fodder."
From a small alley behind, he could see Rei and the others approach. The group was together again.
"Rei filled us in about the Terror," Silas murmured, standing just to Nyx's side as he spoke, "I'm impressed you both managed to hold your own."
He passed a few bits of bread and a small waterskin to him, Nyx being quick to stuff his mouth. 'At least one thing is going well tonight...'
Acher nodded, staring daggers into it as it sauntered away. "It's clear this one is different from the wolves. It's... stronger. More evolved." He passed a glance to Rei.
"Right." She said. "This Terror is a strider. If we provoke it or get too close, it attacks. If not, it walks forward to an undisclosed location. This gives us an opportunity to prepare. If we know a general direction in which it's walking toward, we can set up some form of trap. If we're lucky, we kill it in one go. If not, we stab till it dies and hope our weapons can hold out against the heat. All we need to know is which way it's going..."
Nyx could feel his head light up. Deep down, he knew he could recognize this street. He remembered the dark alley they came in through. His eyes peered overtop one of the buildings — though out of sight, he knew it was there, hiding in the distance.
"The chapel..." he muttered after gulping down his food, "It's going towards the chapel."
"It's decided then," She tensed, "we're going for the kill."