Pirate: Crew of Desire and Bonds

"...!"

Aria, frozen, stared back.

Her lips parted, but she couldn’t make a sound.

As the monster’s black gaze fixated on her in her hiding spot, a gurgling growl rose from its throat, signaling its awareness of prey within the crevice.

A heavy sound followed.

Gulp.

The creature swallowed, as though its throat had already deemed her food.

The monster didn’t wait.

Its webbed hand slammed into the gap.

CRACK!!

The stone around the opening cracked.

Aria’s body moved before her mind did.

She shoved herself backward through the crevice, scraping her shoulder raw against the rock, then dropped out the other side onto a narrow ledge.

The landing knocked the air from her lungs but she didn’t stop.

BOOM!

Behind her, the crack exploded inward.

The fish-like creature forced its upper body through, scales tearing against broken stone, lidless eyes locked on her.

Its jaw opened and closed with a wet snap.

Aria didn’t wait to check it as she ran away.

The ledge was barely wide enough for her feet.

But one wrong step and she would fall into the water-filled cavern below, where the second monster was already turning its head toward the noise.

And at that moment,

The first monster managed to come through with its whole arm as its hand lunged.

Then a slick arm swept across her back.

"...!!"

Her body moved again before she could realize it as Aria dropped into a crouch.

WHOOSH!

The claws missed her head by a finger’s width and gouged four wet lines into the wall.

She scrambled forward on hands and knees, then forced herself up again.

And soon, the tunnel ahead split into two.

The left was wider, while the right was tighter, darker.

Aria chose the right without thinking.

She squeezed into the narrow passage, breathing roughly.

Her maid skirt caught on a jut of stone and ripped.

But she yanked it free and kept going.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

Behind her, the monster kept hitting the entrance as its shoulders were too broad and couldn’t get through.

For one second, Aria thought the path had saved her.

Then the creature started ripping the stone apart.

BOOM!

CRACK!

BOOM!

Chunks of rock fell behind her.

The wet slapping of its feet grew louder, faster, and angrier.

Aria’s face outwardly stayed calm, but she felt intense fear inside.

Her eyes, wide and sharp, were fixated ahead, even as she was internally screaming.

Surprisingly, despite the desperate circumstances, her mind remained unusually calm and sharp.

As she crawled, the tunnel unexpectedly opened, and she emerged into another chamber, nearly losing her balance.

The chamber floor was covered in shallow water, with crystal veins illuminating the surface in scattered blue patches.

And she saw something was floating in the center of the water... a tattered maid’s apron.

"..!!"

Aria’s stomach turned as she realized there was another victim here.

She didn’t look long enough to see the rest as she immediately ran through the water.

Every splash from her foot sounded too loud.

Splash!

Splash!

Splash!

Just as she had put up some distance,

BOOOM!!

The monster erupted from the tunnel right behind her.

It didn’t leap like a human when it jumped.

One powerful bound took it from the ruined walkway to a rock in the water.

With its next jump, it covered half the distance across the chamber and landed directly behind Aria.

Aria felt that strange feeling again and immediately threw herself sideways.

WHOOSH!

The creature crashed down where she had been, jaws snapping shut on empty air with a sound like wood breaking.

"Uhh..."

However as she dodged, Aria struck the rock that was sticking out with considerable force, and a sharp pain immediately went up her elbow.

Yet, she persisted, first crawling, then stumbling, before breaking into a run once more, entering the subsequent passage.

This new path descended steeply.

As she ran, she sensed the air becoming increasingly cold, while simultaneously the odor of decay intensified.

Aria’s legs were burning, and her lungs felt too small.

"Haa...! Haa...! Haa..!" she gasped.

"Keep running!" she urged herself.

Despite her exhaustion and weakness, a surge of unknown strength propelled her forward.

Suddenly, a webbed hand struck the wall right beside her head.

BOOM!

Aria screamed, the sound echoing down the tunnel.

The monster had gained enough ground to swipe at her from behind, its claw ripping through her sleeve and leaving a shallow gash on her upper arm.

Blood ran warm down her skin.

But Aria didn’t look at it.

She dove through a low opening and rolled into a tighter crawlspace.

Then the monster’s face smashed into the hole after her.

Its tongue dragged across the stone, tasting her blood.

Slurp.

Gulp.

Then it started forcing itself in.

Aria crawled until her palms split, and the crawlspace ended in a drop.

There was no time to gauge the distance before she fell.

With a loud thud, she landed on her side in a lower tunnel, the impact momentarily making her world go white.

"Uhh..."

Suddenly, she could hear the monster tearing at the opening above her.

It was too large to immediately follow the same path.

Aria pushed herself to her feet.

Her blue eyes were glistening with tears, her face was ghost-white, and her breathing was ragged.

Despite this, she was still able to move.

Clutching her bleeding arm, she fled into the darkness, the sound of crumbling stone pursuing her.

The lower tunnel wound excessively, forcing her to turn left, then descend, before squeezing sideways into a passage so narrow that she had to turn her shoulders.

Aria kept going until her legs started to fail her.

The burst of unknown strength that had carried her this far was thinning out as each step felt heavier.

And the cut on her arm throbbed in time with her heartbeat.

Although she kept a calm expression, her breathing became ragged.

Suddenly, the tunnel opened up again.

"A path!"

Aria exclaimed, her face brightening with joy at finding another way forward.

However, her happiness turned to shock as she stumbled out, realizing too late that she had entered... a dead-end chamber.

The space, illuminated by the same faint crystal veins, was spacious enough for someone to stand in, but it lacked a second exit.

"No..."

Aria panicked, quickly scanning her surroundings, but found only stone and water gathered against the opposite wall.

And behind her, the passage she had come from was the only way back.

Aria’s blue eyes swept the chamber once.

"...This can’t be..."

The words left her quietly at the dire situation, and yet her face still remained composed.

Even now, with nowhere left to run, her face didn’t break the way it should have.

Suddenly, a damp roar reverberated from the tunnel behind her.

The monster had discovered an alternative route down.

Aria backed up until her heels were in the water, her eyes fixed on the path she had followed, as she finally understood her predicament, but by then it was... irreversible.

Schlck.

Schlck.

Schlck.

The sound grew closer, and the creature soon forced its body out of the passage.

As it rose to its full height, stone dust and water slid off its scales.

Its lidless eyes immediately found her, and they showed no surprise... only hunger.