Chapter 77: Altar Underground
They were stumbling over each other desperately, their limbs tangling in their panic as they fled whatever horror pursued them through the darkened hallway. The creature’s presence pressed against their backs, the air growing colder with each passing second. Arthur could feel its malevolence through his dark sense, a writhing mass of shadows that defied comprehension.
Part of him yearned to look back, to finally see what manner of monstrosity hunted them. But it was as if his head refused to obey, his neck muscles locked in place by some primal instinct that warned looking would be fatal. So instead, he focused solely on escape, on putting as much distance as possible between them and the thing in the darkness.
Just up ahead, they saw a door on their right—a heavy wooden door with black iron bands that seemed to promise sanctuary.
’There!’
They were booking for it while the monster behind was closing in. Its footsteps echoed through the hallway, each impact sending vibrations through the stone floor beneath their feet. The sound was wrong somehow—too heavy, too wet—like something massive dragging itself forward with unnatural speed. It was getting closer and closer as they approached the door, the space between predator and prey shrinking with every heartbeat.
’Are we gonna make it?’ The question screamed through Arthur’s mind as he began to prematurely flinch, anticipating the creature’s touch, its claws or teeth or whatever appendages it might possess. He reached for the handle of the door with trembling fingers, grasping the cold metal and turning it with desperate strength. He forced himself and Aziel through the opening, expecting them to surely be caught and killed at any moment.
But thankfully his fears didn’t come true. They fell headlong into the new room, momentum carrying them forward in an ungraceful tumble. Aziel somehow managed to slam the door shut behind them as they collapsed to the floor, the heavy wood connecting with the frame with a reassuring thud that echoed through the chamber.
They both let their heads rest on the cold stone below them as they panted and gasped for breath, relief flooding their systems as the immediate danger passed. Their hearts hammered against their rib cages, and sweat coated their skin in a clammy film, their bodies still flooded with adrenaline that had nowhere to go.
"W-what the hell was that thing?" Aziel’s voice quavered, his usual bravado stripped away by their encounter with the unknown.