Kael's breath was shaky and shallow as he stepped onto the narrow stone bridge. The pit below was a void, swallowing the dim glow of the Maw's veins, its depth appearing infinite. A misstep would likely mean death, or worse, a never ending plummet into absolute darkness. He moved carefully, muscles relaxed, ears straining for the whisper of movement behind him.
Then it came.
A guttural growl, low and resonant echoing through the chamber like a gale wind. It wasn't the formless whispers that still tugged at his mind. This was something real. Something hunting him.
Kael turned just as the darkness at the far end of the bridge shifted. A hulking shape stepped from the darkness, its silhouette wrong—both fluid and solid, shifting between monstrous and humanoid as if the Maw itself had molded it from the shadows. A grotesque fusion of limbs and claws, its eyeless face contorted in something that might have been hunger.
It lunged, striking out with what once resembled a claw, but now looked more like a sabre.
'NO!'
Kael jumped back, barely avoiding a swipe meant to cleave him in two. The impact of its strike shattered part of the bridge's edge, sending stone fragments spiraling into the abyss below. His pulse pounded in his ears.
'Curse this place, is this going to be my tomb?'
There was only one direction to go. One way to run, so he turned and sprinted towards the far side of the bridge.
His mind raced. The bridge was too narrow for evasive maneuvers. He had to fight. Kill or be killed. He was hoping to lure the monster towards him, desperate for the strange being to strike out once more. That's when Kael would strike.
It didn't take long.
The creature lunged again, a blur of dark muscle and jagged claws. Kael spun, ducked low, rolling beneath its swipe and as he rose to his feet, he stabbed his knife toward what he hoped was a vulnerable point—
—but the blade barely entered the beings flesh... no, more like essence? The vile creatures body shifted, twisting to force the weapon out as if the wound itself refused to exist. That's when he saw it, the Maw's otherworldly light flowing through a vein on the creatures neck.
Kael had no time to dwell on that horror, barely raising his arm in time to block a strike, the force hurling him back. His rib cage crashed against the rock, pain exploding through his body as he skidded toward the bridge's edge.
His fingers barely caught the jagged stone before he could tumble over.
'Too close.'
A heavy claw slammed down toward his hands—
Kael let go.
For a heart-stopping second, he started to fall.
'I'm dead'.
In that moment, his satchel caught a protrusion jutting from the underside of the bridge. His luck, it would seem, was not total gone. The beast, hesitated above, confused by his disappearance. It seemed to glide around the ledge, like a shadow, formless. The temperature in the room seemed to drop as the shadow moved from where it once stood, to the underside of the bridge, as if gravity had no effect on the ghastly thing. As the creature began to restore it's form Kael tried to desperately pull himself to safety, but he wasn't fast enough.
The monster seized him by the throat, squeezing hard enough to make breathing difficult, but not enough to crush his throat. Suddenly, as if transported by some magical force, Kael and the ferocious beast were standing on top of the bridge again. Kael barely had time to process this before he felt a cold, searing pain in his gut.
He looked down to see the morphing fist of the wretch before him, with it's claws piercing his chest. As his body began to cough and heave, the metallic taste of blood filled his mouth. Sputtering onto the monster before it melded into it's essence. The monster turned what seemed to be his face, as if disgusted by the human filth that dared spill it's blood on their face. It was that moment. That one singular moment, when predators, assured in their victory, underestimated their prey that Kael struck.
The knife plunged into the glowing vein of the Maw, severing it cleanly in two.
The thing screamed. A sound not meant for human ears. The veins within its body flared, bursting as energy tore through it like a violent storm. Kael yanked his knife free, stumbling back as the creature convulsed—
Then, with a final shriek, it collapsed into a writhing mass of shadow before dissipating into nothing.
Silence.
Kael panted, clutching his chest where the blood poured from his wound. His ribs, surely broken, ached. His arm that didn't hold the knife, almost separated from his body as a result of that first, fateful blow.
'I survived, just to die'.
A shallow grunt reverberated in his throat, sending him into a coughing fit as more blood spilled from his lips. The world was going cold. This was it. The end was upon him.
Then, the Maw shifted.
The bridge morphed, forming a new path forward and in the air before him, a cluster of glowing lights, resembling a group of fire flies filled the air, gathering to a single point.
A weapon, floating in the air, pulsing with the same ethereal light as the veins of the Maw. A dagger, its edge glimmering with an unnatural sharpness, the handle fitted perfectly for his grip.
A gift. A reward.
With life escaping him, he almost didn't even bother to reach for it, however his instincts pushed him forward. Dragging himself to the elegant blade, it lowered to be within an arms distance. As Kael grasped the hilt, the moment his fingers brushed against the cool ivory, warmth flooded through him. His wounds began to meld and knit back together, the inescapable feeling of death that was just tearing away at Kael's consciousness was exiled in an instant.
The Maw had acknowledged his victory. The Maw had given him another chance.
Kael exhaled. Whatever game this place was playing, it had chosen him as a participant.
And he intended to win.