Ezra reacted purely on instinct.
Which, considering his situation, wasn't great.
The three-armed abomination lunged, its gaping, fanged maw stretching open wider than humanly possible. Ezra barely had time to twist out of the way before clawed fingers raked through the air where his head had been.
"Okay, nope NOPE!"
He stumbled backward, barely managing to keep hold of his lantern. His mind was already working overtime. Weak body, no weapons, and I just woke up in this hellhole great odds.
The creature twitched violently, its unnatural limbs cracking as it whirled toward him with inhuman speed.
Ezra raised his lantern out of desperation and shook it hard. The bluish flame inside flared, casting eerie shadows across the crypt.
For a brief moment, the creature hesitated.
It didn't like the light.
Ezra's eyes sharpened. Weakness detected.
The creature recovered quickly, but Ezra didn't give it time to lunge again. He swung the lantern like a flail, aiming directly at its gnarled, elongated limbs.
WHAM!
The lantern's enchanted blue flame licked across its skin, and the creature screeched, flinching backward as if it had been burned.
Ezra didn't hesitate. He ran.
His boots pounded against the stone floor as he darted past the rows of chained coffins. The creature's distorted screech echoed behind him, followed by the sickening sound of something crawling unnaturally fast.
He glanced back immediately regretted it.
The creature was skittering after him on all fours, its extra arm digging into the stone for leverage. Its hollow, fanged mouth let out an awful, gurgling noise hungry.
"Ah, right," Ezra muttered bitterly. "Because running always works in horror scenarios."
He pushed himself faster, scanning the chamber. His eyes caught something ahead
A narrow stone passage leading upward.
Exit. Maybe.
Ezra swerved toward it, feet barely touching the ground as he lunged for the passage.
The creature snapped forward its clawed hand grazing his back.
Pain flared as sharp nails raked through his shirt, but Ezra didn't stop.
He dived into the narrow corridor just as the creature lunged again
SLAM.
It hit the entrance with a horrid crunch, its too-long limbs crammed against the tight stone walls.
Ezra didn't stop to celebrate. He scrambled deeper into the passage, gripping his side where the claws had nicked him. Not deep. Just a scratch.
His breath came in ragged gasps. He could still hear the thing thrashing behind him, snarling and gnawing at the stone, but it couldn't follow.
For now.
Ezra kept moving, following the passage as it curved upward. His lantern flickered weakly, its blue flame dimming.
He frowned. "You better not die on me."
The flame flickered in response, almost sarcastically.
Ezra sighed. "Great. Even the fire is an ass."
After a few minutes of climbing, he emerged into a new chamber smaller than the previous one, with no coffins in sight. Instead, a massive stone tablet stood at the center, covered in ancient inscriptions.
But that wasn't what made Ezra's blood run cold.
It was the figure standing in front of it.
A man.
Or at least… something shaped like one.
Tall, draped in a heavy, tattered coat, with silver chains wrapped around his arms. His face was hidden beneath a dark hood, but Ezra felt his gaze cold, piercing.
The air in the chamber felt wrong.
Ezra froze, gripping his lantern tighter. His instincts screamed danger.
For a long moment, neither of them moved.
Then
The hooded man tilted his head. And in a voice as cold as grave dirt, he said:
"You shouldn't be here."
Ezra exhaled sharply. "Yeah? Funny story. I keep hearing that."