My legs and lungs are burning like hell, the sound of the demonic beast are closely behind us, but the rubble did slow it down a bit. Not enough though, not enough.
"We have to get away from this thing!"
"Do you think we can outrun it?"
"I don't know. I hope so."
The pathway ahead is split. There's no time to make a calculated decision. We sprint down the pathway to the right. I can hear the loud heavy footsteps of the thing behind us, but I don't have the courage to turn around.
Rubble, crashing into the ground all around us. Crashing, crashing and dust clouds the air filling the empty space of the caverns. It's harder to see, hard to breathe… but this can work in our favor, maybe… maybe we can escape this thing. Up ahead a few silhouettes can be seen, it doesn't take long for them to fully come into sight. More of those things… 5 of them. Whether it be the aiden and I, or the giant beast charging towards them, they notice something and turn in our direction. Their stance lowers, they bare their teeth. Both of us already have enough experience to know what's gonna happen when we get close enough.
"Get ready alright Aiden!"
"Right!"
Closer, closer…
"Graghhhhh!"
It pounces off the ground with powerful force and its arm pulled fully back. Shit It's faster than most… but I can still… avoid it.
I shift my footing, spinning my body before it can even attack. And even then… it's arm swings like a bullet, a gash forms across my head, but only that… the rest of its arm, then body rolls over my shoulder, eventually my back until it's far behind me.
It's not over yet… one more ahead targeting me. The other has its eyes set on Aiden.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The shots ring out cutting through the air, piercing the chest of the one in front of me while the other drops to the ground as blood shoots out the back of its head. A loud shriek of pain follows. My hand rests on the pipe, gripping it tightly as I speed up, closing distance before it can recover.
Smash!
It falls to the ground, left behind by both of us. I look back for just a moment to see it get crushed beneath the foot of that monster. It's a good distance, but I'll catch up eventually… one more, I turn back ahead of me. Rocks and boulders still falling, not as much as before but still raining hell. I grip my pipe tightly once again as we close in to the last one.
CRASH!
Shit! I cover my face with my arm as my body gets pelted with tiny fragments. Peaking through the gaps I made with my arm I see blood splayed over the ground, the things body crushed before I even got a chance. If I rushed in like last time I'd be dead… but no time to think about that.
"LET'S GO AIDEN! HURRY!"
Aiden is a significant distance behind me. I thought we were around the same speed? I slow down a bit to make sure I don't leave him behind. Shit, how long until we find the exit. My lungs and legs are burning like hell… wait… could physical exhaustion count towards pain that increases my strength? That could explain… no, I need to focus. Focus on running, but if that's the case I can't leave him behind.
The dust begins to clear as the falling stops. Shit that means that it won't be slowed down anymore… the walls of the cavern begin to narrow, as well as the ceiling too. Blood begins running down my head, partially painting my vision red. In the distance I see something. A creavess, a creavess too small for the thing chasing it.
"AIDEN! RUN! FASTER, AS FAST AS YOU CAN!"
Aiden musters up whatever strength he has left and begins to speed up. I maintain my speed, still trying not to leave him and forcing him to take the lead. My legs are still burning and my lungs feel like they're bleeding. But we're so close. Getting closer and closer as I hear giant footsteps of that thing approaching us as well. I can't turn around, I don't want to. Shit, shit… come on. Just a bit further!
GRRRAAAAAHHHHHHHH!
The powerful roar almost shatters my eardrums… I can't tell what it's doing, it could be charging for us, it could be ready to kill us right in this moment. But it didn't matter.
CRASH!
The creature crashed into the wall of the cavern as we safely made it to the other side.
Fuck, holy shit. We made it. Both of us are trying to catch our breath, damn near hyperventilating.
"Fuck man… at least, we have to rest now…"
"Yeah. You alright None?"
"Yeah, it's not too bad."
I wipe the blood from my head and eye. It stings but this is nothing. Fuck, still no exit in sight, but we have to be getting close.
CRASH!
The monster is still trying to get through.
CRASH!
CRASH!
CRASH!
crack
"None… it's breaking it…"
"Come the fuck on man, can't we catch a break."
Shit…
"We have to keep running Aiden, let's get some distance before it breaks through.
We both take off in a sprint. Even if it were less than a minute, every second of rest we got counts. Our footsteps land heavy on the ground, as we drift further and further from that beast. I can still hear it crashing into the wall over and over. It'll give way soon enough, just need to get as far as possible…
The structure of the carven begins to rattle and shake once again, as we're turning a corner I get one last look at the wall that's now a good distance behind us.
SMASHH!!!!
And the wall gives way…
The force it used sends rock fragments flying our way, narrowly missing us. The distance we've gained isn't far enough… we'll be caught soon. Shit, what do we do. As we run and run, eventually we enter a part of the cavern that's far more open than what came before us. The ceiling is high up, the walls are so far apart it would take me at least 30 seconds to run from one side to the other. To the right is another bottomless drop off…
"Heh, perfect area for a boss fight."
"Huh, None why did you stop! We have to keep running!"
"Aiden, we're not gonna out run that thing. It's already almost here."
I doubt we'd even make it to the end of this part. Either way…
"We have to fight…"
"Do you really-"
Before he has the answer to finish, he's cut off as another beastly roar fills our ears. We both turn to face this thing that's been haunting our travel.
For the first time they're face to face with the beast. Its dark grey grotesque body was large and tall. About the size of an elephant but standing on two legs. Its body was covered in muscle. But its torso while still muscular looked as if it were anorexic. It's ribcage, and spinal bones protruding from its skin. Its arms were long and you could tell at an instant that whatever it hits would likely be crushed. Strands of hair flow down its head. It was truly an unsightly beast.
It stares at us, and none of us are making a movement. Aside from the foul beasts panting, I can visibly see its breath in the air as it breathes in and out.
Then… it charges.
"SHIT, WATCH OUT!"
It's fist raised high in the air…
SMASH!
It brings it crashing down, cracking the ground beneath it as we move out the way…
Kill this thing before it kills us… that's the only option we have.