Chapter 19: Fortuitous Encounter [2]
They didn’t stop.
Skreeches didn’t mourn. They didn’t hesitate. One’s death only fueled the others’ frenzy.
And worse—the Vylemaw began to move.
It didn’t charge. It didn’t roar.
It simply watched, its gaping maws flexing open and shut in a silent rhythm, as if savoring the chaos. Its parasites wriggled excitedly across its back, spilling to the stone and joining the swarm.
Lena crushed another Skreech underfoot, her boot grinding into its twitching carapace. Blood splashed up her leg. She didn’t flinch.
But I could see it now.
The cracks forming in her rhythm.
She was fast—too fast for their eyes—but they were adapting. They spread out, avoiding the blast zone of her punches, waiting for the gaps between her attacks.
And she was bleeding.
Not badly, not yet—but this wasn’t sustainable.