Chapter 13
Escape
Bang!!
A gunshot thundered in the air.
A hole opened in the monster's torso, and around it, droplets of dark blood scattered as if floating for an instant before falling.
—"Körper!"— a voice shouted.
He thought he recognized it, though he couldn't turn. His body no longer responded; his strength had almost completely abandoned him. And yet, his eyes remained fixed on what had brought him to the brink of collapse: the monster.
Repulsive, deformed, colossal.
Barely marked by the fight.
The visible scars were only the ones Körper had opened with his cuts, but the water lances had never left a mark on that flesh.
Then a glint appeared in his vision: a glass bottle.
In his mind, disordered and on the verge of fading, the pieces came together as best he could:
A bottle. A voice. A gunshot… help. That bottle is help.
With effort, he extended his hand and pressed his palm against the water.
A wave sprang from it, racing swiftly toward the monster. When it was close, the surface fractured, curved, and swirled, transforming into three peaks that elongated, tense, sharp as lances.
The monster barely considered it a threat. It lunged against them and, with a single movement of its leg, shattered them to pieces.
Another shot thundered in the air.
The shot impacted the monster's arm. The bullet didn't fully penetrate the palm, though it did protrude from the other side.
For just an instant—barely a breath—the creature halted, hand raised, observing the bullet as if it didn't know what to do with it.
That instant was enough.
The bottle fell onto the remains of one of the broken lances, the only part still solid, connected to the water's surface.
It didn't break on the first impact: it bounced, spun in the air, cracked… and on the second fall, it shattered, scattering glass fragments that splashed into the water. But not just the water: also onto one of the monster's legs.
The beast turned immediately, as if it had felt it.
Körper saw it all: the water began to harden, transforming into a purple crystal that climbed rapidly. The monster's leg was no exception.
Suddenly, someone lifted him.
Körper barely managed to hear a female voice… and then he understood it wasn't her.
The voice belonged to someone else: bigger, more robust, with a careless tone.
The pain in his body flared with the movement; a choked groan escaped him as he was carried. He could no longer hold his head up, he didn't have the strength even to look at his savior. The only thing keeping him conscious was the thin spark of will still clinging to life.
—"Good thing you know how to use aura. With those wounds, you'd already be dead,"— murmured the robust man.
With Körper slung over his shoulder, the stranger moved with chilling agility. His steps were quick, but the stealth with which he advanced was almost unnatural.
The monster struggled clumsily. Its leg was still hardening, crystallizing into that strange purple mineral, but it didn't seem to care. With a brutal surge, it braced on its free limb and advanced like a chained beast trying to tear down the wall it was fixed to.
Another shot echoed.
The projectile hit, but didn't pierce its body. It barely elicited a growl; it didn't even seem to hurt.
—"Tch… what a shitty monster,"— the woman spat, while running to the side. She stopped abruptly next to a metal ladder and shouted:
—"Throw him to me!"
The robust man obeyed. He lowered Körper from his shoulder and stretched him out as if to lay him in the air. When he released him, the boy's body didn't fall: it floated, suspended on something invisible.
Körper barely understood what was happening. He only managed to perceive a strange murmur, like air currents holding him up.
Magic… wind?
The robust man planted a foot on one of the ladder rungs and with his right hand grabbed a higher bar. He kept his left hand under Körper's body, though without touching him.
Then he made a sharp movement, like someone throwing a bag. At the same time, Körper rose quickly, propelled upward by an invisible force.
The woman stretched out her arms to catch him. She caught him and, letting herself fall backward, dragged Körper's battered body with her, securing him in her arms.
A rending metallic crash rumbled in the distance.
The robust man turned his head halfway up the ladder, without stopping his ascent.
—That thing isn't like the others…— he thought with a shudder.
The monster braced on what remained of its right leg: barely the part that would be the knee. With a clumsy, brutal movement, it dragged its left leg, planted it on the floor, and pushed to take another step.
Then a grotesque sound was heard, like a bubble popping from within. The torn flesh of its leg began to regenerate.
It didn't stop there. It grabbed the petrified leg with both hands, broke the joint fixing it to the hardened floor, and, with immense effort, lifted it. Then it hurled it like a projectile.
The woman was just getting up, pushing Körper off her, when she saw it. The monster had thrown the leg. And its target was clear: the robust man climbing the ladder.
Quickly, the woman brought her hand to her waist, drew her weapon… but the position was awkward, too tilted. Her haste worked against her: the barrel hit Körper and the weapon slipped from her grasp.
She turned her head, desperate.
There it was, within reach. She snatched it up with a swipe, turned again with such abruptness her neck cracked. Raised her arm, her torso still twisted backward.
No…
She knew before trying. She wouldn't make it in time.
But she didn't stop. She twisted her body further, twisted her arm even more, and, using all her momentum, threw the weapon.
The pistol spun in the air.
Impact.
Bang.
The gun hit the petrified leg and, though it couldn't stop it, managed to deflect it slightly.
The improvised projectile smashed into the ladder, beside the robust man, breaking half of the last section and buckling part of the wall. Rubble collapsed onto him, scratching his arms and back, but nothing more serious than scrapes and bruises.
With a feline impulse, the man stretched and leaped, grabbing the still-intact section, hanging next to the cracked wall.
Footsteps echoed behind them, heavy, swift. They didn't need to look: the monster was following them.
The robust man lifted Körper like a doll and released him in front of the woman, who grabbed him by the back. In the same movement, the man dropped to his knees, arching his back, while the woman arranged Körper's arms.
The boy slumped over the robust man's shoulders, his arms falling near the man's neck.
The man stood up, closing his arms around Körper's legs: he was carrying him on his back like a burden.
Without losing a second, the woman and the man took off running toward a narrow hallway, where rusty pipes vibrated and screeched on the walls with every step.
As they ran, Körper managed to distinguish the remains of other fish-monsters on the floor.
A roar shook the hallway.
Both the man and the woman looked at each other.
—"Left,"— she ordered.
—"Right,"— he responded.
At the intersection, they separated without hesitation, taking opposite paths among three corridors opening up like a labyrinth.
The noise of the monster thundered behind them. Shrieks, impacts, the hiss of steam escaping rusty pipes… everything mixed into a confused echo that filled the air like a chorus of whispers.
The man kicked a half-open door and it gave way suddenly. Behind it, a wide staircase led to the upper deck. He wasted no time: he ran straight up, leaping five steps at a time, with Körper shaking on his back like a dead weight.
Upstairs, the hallway was different. The wooden floor creaked with every stride, and the walls were covered in deep scratches, cuts, burns, torn pieces. There were bodies too. Remains of monstrous fish scattered on the floor.
Körper, barely conscious, let his gaze drag over them. And then he saw it.
They weren't just fish.
There were other bodies, more twisted, almost human… but with grotesque deformities.
The vision shook him. He felt a knot in his throat, the instinct to vomit, but he didn't even have the strength for that. He barely managed to react before his mind shut down completely.
Humans with deformities?
It was his last thought before losing consciousness.
---
[Kaep's Perspective]
—"So… that's what happened,"— his uncle said.
The surrounding noise couldn't drown out the silence that fell between them. Kaep looked at him with eyes wide open, jaw hanging, unable to process what he'd just heard. The disbelief on his face soon twisted into horror as he understood what it meant.
—"Eh… eh? Seriously?! Really?"— he asked in a halting voice, halfway between denial and fear.
—"Yes, very seriously. So don't you dare separ—" a slamming door interrupted him abruptly.
The door slammed against the wall, nearly ripped from its hinges, and everyone in the room turned their heads toward it. Five reacted immediately. The other five were still so busy tending to the wounded they didn't even look up.
A robust man burst in, his leg still raised from the kick, leaving the wood dented.
—"Help me! He's almost dead,"— he shouted. He turned to show what he carried on his back: an unconscious body, shattered with wounds. One glance was enough to understand it was serious.
Three of those present moved immediately.
Kaep recognized him.
It was him. The man who had fallen into the water.
—"Körper?"— his uncle murmured, between surprise and tension.
Kaep noticed it too, with a lurch in his stomach.
The robust man kept talking, while tearing off some of his own garments to lighten his load.
—"Get ready. I was being followed by a monster… hard to kill. Possibly second grade. It's what did this to him."
Kaep's uncle stood up abruptly.
Kaep saw it and wanted to say something, but froze when he noticed the look his uncle gave him: hard, sharp as a blade. A shiver ran through him and he closed his mouth, lowering his hand.
But he didn't hold out for long. He lifted his gaze, swallowed saliva, and shouted:
—"Uncle!"
The man turned, puzzled. But his face showed he already knew what was coming.
—"I'm coming too."