It was slow, out of its element on land, and quickly fell behind.
She chanced a glance back. Shit! That was a close one!
When Ingram’s left arm caved into elbow deep mud, he was quick to free it before he continued on. He was no longer being cautious, and in an environment where the ground was not as it seemed, that was dangerous. He was also being loud, whereas she sensed they needed to be sneaky.
That crocodile Demon had followed them through the water. What else would come and intercept them?
“Slow down,” she pleaded, patting the side of his neck to calm him.
“We are almost free,” he huffed out, diverting to the right just in time to avoid another Demon, a much smaller one, as it leapt from the water.
Up ahead, the world changed.
Across a sizeable body of still water was plain forest. They’d found the end of the swamp.
However, Ingram skidded to a halt in the middle of a large clearing. She followed his roaming gaze as his beak pointed from the left all the way to the right. They were surrounded by water except for the way they came.
There was swiping movement behind them from something – or many somethings – chasing them on land. Sticks cracked, wetness squelched, and mud plopped.
Oh shit, Emerie mentally screamed before flattening herself to Ingram. He was backing up. She only had enough time to really, really make sure she had a good grip before he sprinted as fast and hard as he could.
She’d known what he was going to do the moment she saw the water separating them from freedom. He was going to jump it. She just hoped she didn’t break a rib again like back in Zagros Fortress when he’d leapt to the wall to escape.
Holding back her scream, she clung as he leapt.
Seconds in the air felt like agonising minutes.
They’d make it, she knew they’d make it – that didn’t stop her from worrying they just wouldn’t.
Her breath was knocked out of her when they landed, and one side of Ingram’s body collapsed against the soft mud and dirt as he slipped. When they stopped slipping, she looked back to find a void-like figure on the land they’d just been standing on, staring at them with narrowed red eyes.
It didn’t sink into the water to continue chasing after them. She wondered if that was because of the bright sun bathing them in protective light.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his orbs white as he looked at her from over his shoulder. He rose to all fours.
“I knew I could trust you,” she whispered, wishing he could see her thankful smile. “However, we’re still a little too close for comfort. Let’s g–”
Before she could finish, a Demon shot from the water.
When something massive, dark, and horrifying shielded the very sun that had been protecting them, her heart nearly gave out. Neither one of them had time to avoid the eight long limbs that coiled around Ingram’s midsection, effectively trapping her to him.
With a pained hiss, she only had enough room between two tentacles to see the Demon had landed on its side. It flipped onto its stomach, sunk its body into the mud to protect itself from the sun as best it could, then swiftly dragged them into the water.
She managed to gulp a breath before she went under.
The water was so murky that it was impossible to see, but she knew the important features of the Demon that had them trapped. She didn’t think anything could be bigger than a Duskwalker, yet this octopus Demon was long, even if its body was thin and nearly human shaped.
Oh, god! I thought octopuses were only possible in saltwater! She’d grown up near the ocean, so she knew plenty about them.
She never would have imagined a Demon could become one. Nor that it could survive in the Veil.
Thankfully, the water wasn’t deep. They bounced off the bottom and created a plume of loose, slimy sediment around them.
Emerie wriggled to free herself from between Ingram and the tentacles holding her down, but only gained enough room to yank one arm out. Her heart was pumping so heavily she thought her head was going to pop, anxiety making her lungs even tighter.
Bubbles burst out of Emerie as she screamed. The Demon rotated so it could place its hands on either side of Ingram’s back and towered over her with a sickening grin not even an inch from her nose. The gleam in his red eyes told her everything she needed to know.
Considering what it was, and that it had probably been stuck in this swamp, it would have rarely eaten a human once it was fully formed like this. It was delighted it had one now.
Tentacles parted, forcing a gap so it could get her free.
Just as it grabbed for her head, uncaring if its claws tore her open, a dark-grey hand wrapped around its slim forearm. Its red eyes widened before it was yanked downwards and to the side.
A drowned shriek pulsed in the water, and purple blood mixed into it. The tentacles released her, giving her space to kick.
Nothing could have stopped her from getting the fuck out of there.
She looked up, and the reflection of light wasn’t too far out of reach. She shot for it, sparing a glance down to where two frightening black creatures fought in a growing cloud of muddy sediment.
Wincing, her lungs feeling as though they were shrivelling without oxygen, she kicked harder. There, almost there. Just when she thought she wasn’t going to make it, her eyes clenching as though that would help her air last, she broke the water’s surface. Her gasp was agony and bliss all rolled into one, but it put her into a coughing fit when she breathed in water through the fabric of her mask.
She yanked it away from her nose and mouth before she waterboarded herself.
Splashing from her left had her frantically swimming to land when the Demon from before, the one that had stared at them from across the water, was slithering her way. It’d decided to brave it now that the octopus Demon was distracted by Ingram.
But panic clutched her like a set of claws when she met land.
Oh no! Fuck! The muddied edge was difficult to climb, like quicksand that swallowed her arms as she tried to crawl out of it. The ledge kept breaking off in thick lumps.
A cry of pain exploded from her when the Demon latched onto her shoulders and dug its claws in. It sliced down her back in deep, long rows, flaying her flesh open. Then it was gone, like it had been ripped from her.
She didn’t care to find out if that was true.
Whimpering with pain-filled tears falling, she managed to haul herself onto solid land.
Warm blood mixed with cool water as it sluiced down her back. On her hands and knees, she crawled away from the crumbling ledge and then staggered to her feet so she could figure out where the fuck to go.
She searched, and all she knew for certain was two things: she was lost, and she was alone.
North. Go north. Emerie looked around, bouncing from foot to foot nervously. The forest was the same, no matter which way she turned. Which way is fucking north?!
The ferocious, frenzied snarl from behind her spooked her into turning. Clawing at the mud just like she did to escape the water, a hulking form with red glowing orbs and a white raven skull greeted her.
Fuck. Her friend wasn’t home right now, and she doubted she could leave a message on the door he called a brain!
Before she could react, the octopus Demon shot up behind him. With purple blood gushing from its throat and claw marks spanning diagonally across its face, it flipped Ingram backwards into the water.