We barely made it five steps toward the narrow path before the sound stopped us cold—a scraping, slithering noise that sent a chill up my spine. Ava froze, her eyes narrowing as she motioned for me to stay behind her. From the darkness between the jagged rocks, something moved.
The thing had followed us.
It emerged slowly, its elongated limbs spilling onto the stone like liquid shadow, its grotesque form stretching and shifting as though the very laws of physics couldn't hold it in place. Its head—if you could call it that—tilted in our direction, the void where a face should have been pulsating, pulling at the edges of the world around it. A guttural sound echoed from its depths, like a thousand voices whispering in unison.
Ava didn't hesitate.
"Get back!" she snapped, reaching for something tucked into her belt. A blade—a long, wicked-looking knife—gleamed in the faint moonlight. It wasn't much against that, but the way she held it told me she knew how to use it.
The creature lunged.
Ava sprang to meet it, her movements sharp and precise. Her blade slashed out, meeting one of its limbs with a sickening hiss. The creature shrieked—a sound so loud and otherworldly it made my teeth ache—and recoiled, its blackened arm splitting open like tar. But it didn't stop.
"Move, now!" Ava shouted, ducking under another swipe. I stumbled backward, my heart hammering as I watched her fight. She was fast, impossibly fast, her knife cutting through the air in a blur. But the thing kept coming, its arms multiplying, twisting, attacking from all angles.
One of its limbs lashed out and caught Ava's shoulder. She grunted in pain as it knocked her to the ground, the knife skittering across the stone. I froze. My body wanted to move, to help, but fear had locked my muscles in place.
"Run!" Ava screamed, pushing herself up.
But I didn't run. I couldn't.
Instead, I snatched up her knife.
I didn't think. I just acted. The creature turned toward Ava again, its blackened arms winding back for another strike. With a shout that tore from my throat, I charged. I don't know what I expected—maybe for the blade to pass through it harmlessly—but when I drove the knife into the closest limb, there was resistance.
The creature screeched, a sound that made the world vibrate around me. Its arm writhed, pulling away as a dark, viscous liquid oozed from the wound. It didn't bleed like anything natural—it bled like shadows.
Ava was on her feet in an instant. "Keep going!" she barked, grabbing my arm and hauling me back toward the path. The creature lashed out again, missing us by inches as Ava dragged me forward. Its shriek followed us, echoing off the rocks.
"Did you see that?" I panted, stumbling over the uneven ground. "It—it felt it! The knife—"
"It can bleed," Ava said grimly, her voice tight with pain as she clutched her injured shoulder. "But we can't kill it. Not yet."
The path loomed ahead, twisting up the cliffside. It wasn't much, but it was our only chance. The creature moved behind us, slower now, almost wary, as if it wasn't used to prey that fought back.
We scrambled up the path, Ava leading the way. Each step was agony—my lungs burned, my legs trembled—but I couldn't stop. Not with that thing still behind us.
About halfway up the cliffside, Ava paused, her gaze darting toward the edge. "This is it," she said, her voice low. "We'll make our stand here."
"What?" I gasped. "We can't fight that thing! We need to keep moving!"
"If we don't slow it down, it'll catch us before we reach the top." Ava turned to me, her expression hard. "You need to trust me."
Before I could argue, the creature appeared at the bottom of the path, its dark limbs slithering upward. Ava grabbed her knife from me, gripping it tightly despite her injury.
"Take this," she said, handing me a rusted crowbar she'd pulled from her pack. I stared at it, uncomprehending.
"What am I supposed to do with this?"
"Hit it. Hard."
The creature lunged up the path, faster than before. Ava moved first, darting forward with her knife. I followed her lead, raising the crowbar like it was the only thing keeping me alive—because it was.
The fight was chaos. Ava slashed and struck with terrifying precision, her movements a mix of desperation and skill. I swung the crowbar with all the strength I had, every hit landing with a sickening thud. The creature's shrieks grew louder, its form rippling and splitting where we struck it. But no matter how much damage we dealt, it kept coming.
Finally, Ava shouted, "Now!"
I didn't know what she meant until I saw her move. She darted past the creature, using the narrow path to her advantage, and shoved me toward the top. I hesitated, but her voice rang out behind me:
"Go! I'll catch up!"
I didn't wait. I ran, climbing the last stretch of the cliff as fast as my legs would carry me. The creature let out another enraged scream, but I didn't dare look back.
I reached the top and collapsed onto solid ground, chest heaving. Moments later, Ava appeared, blood on her hands and knife, her face pale but triumphant.
"We slowed it down," she panted, glancing back down the path. "It won't follow us here. Not for now."
I couldn't believe it. We were alive.
Ava looked at me, her expression serious. "That wasn't the end of it. Not even close."
I nodded, gripping the crowbar tightly as I stared out into the darkness beyond. Whatever lay ahead, I knew one thing for certain: we would keep moving. We had no other choice.