Two figures closed ranks on either side of me, and I sucked on my pipe greedily, grateful it hadn’t been hit.
“I am,” I said as I swung my enchanted swords forward and sliced the neck off an infected.
“We’ve got your back,” John shouted. There was a grunt and a thump as a body hit the ground behind me. The twins fought behind me.
“I’ve got your front.” I dodged ungodly pincers and protected them.
That was the last thing I said for hours.
The battle raged in the halls.
I blinked.
We’d been fighting for what felt like an eternity.
Sweat froze as it dripped down the sides of my face, making my skin feel uncomfortable.
We sprinted down the hall as a group. The twins and kings ran in front of me with their swords drawn.
There was a fork ahead in the corridor, and everyone turned left.
A hidden door opened at the exact moment I passed, and an infected flung herself at me. As our swords clashed, I skidded backward down the right path, away from the group.
There was a loud crack as the side of my head slammed against the stone.
Disoriented, I stumbled and touched my ear gingerly. Instead of bone and blood, a broken earpiece fell out.
I had no time to feel relief.
A blur of blue arched toward me. I barely spun and got my weapon up in time. The infected was a bulky male who towered over me in strength and height.
He was strong, but I was faster. My blade sliced clean through his neck, and his head rolled.
An ungodly ripped into existence.
I stumbled backward because it was larger than any ungodly I’d ever seen. Its head scraped across the towering ceiling.
Twirling my sword, I sliced off one of its arms.
A pincer slammed into my chest and flung me backward.
It lunged again, and I barely dodged the blow.
I needed a plan of attack. It was too tall for me to swing my sword and slice its head off. I would have to jump if I was going to pierce through its chest.
“Run!” Jinx’s voice shrieked in my head.
I turned and sprinted down the dark corridor as fast as I could. A horrible chittering clack echoed loudly behind as the ungodly sprinted after.
In a split second, I processed everything that had happened and all my options.
“HELP!” I shouted as I ran, my heart sinking in my chest. I couldn’t hear anything but the ungodly chasing me, which meant no one could hear me. I needed that earpiece. Of all the times for the bond sickness to be gone.
“HELP!” I screamed again with all my might, because while it was a long shot, it was my only option.
I just needed one person to hear me.
Just one.
I squinted as I tried to discern what glowed up ahead. Maybe the corridors looped together in a circle? Maybe the other soldiers were up ahead?
Jinx screamed in my head, “Wait, don’t ru—”
A sword swung forward, and instinctive reflexes were the only thing that stopped me from getting my head removed. Sparks flew as our swords slammed together. Multiple swords glowed, and I backed up, blocking blow after blow with everything I had.
“Behind you!” Jinx screamed, and I threw myself to the side as I remembered what was chasing me.
The ungodly was unable to change its trajectory and slammed into the infected, pincers slashing.
Not good.
My stomach tightened with horror.
Ungodly exploded out of the downed bodies, and I was surrounded by slashing pincers and screeches.
For a second, the world slowed.
The analytical side of my brain took over.
I could hear my heart pounding through my veins; I could feel every ridge of the metal hilt in my fingers.
There were two possibilities: （1） I could let them tear me apart （chances were high that they wouldn’t know to eat my heart and I would wake up after the battle was over）， or （2） I could fight with the goal of creating an opening and running away from the group.
Enchanted smoke filled my lungs, and I rolled my pipe with my tongue.
Even if I survived, the oversized ungodly would still pose a threat to the men.
A pincer swung toward me. I sliced it off.
I made my choice.
My thoughts went blank, and I fought desperately, blue swinging in an unfollowable blur as pieces of ungodly rained down. I tried to create a path for myself.
For each one I downed, another seemed to appear.
The shadow of the oversized ungodly loomed behind the fray like he was waiting for me to tire.
He was smarter than the rest.
But I also wasn’t stupid.
Mind blank with concentration, I barely processed the vibration that shook the stone beneath my feet.