“The gate is rising,” Anna said.
The gate was halfway up, and from the darkness behind it I heard a high shriek. It was a familiar, horrible sound — cold and unyielding, making you want to run, scream, and cower.
“Oh no…” Makara said.
Then they came out of the gates, at a low, dead run. It was a part of my home that I didn’t want to be reminded of.
“Crawlers,” I said.
The first to fall were the jaguars, not us. If there was anything that could knock the boredom out of them, it was crawlers. These were big ones, too, not like the ones in the Wasteland. They were long, serpentine, and scuttled about on multiple legs. Their three eyes were haunting white orbs, without pupils so that you could not see which way they were looking. Their long tails swung back and forth like a scorpion’s. How the Empire had managed to capture them and transport them here, I couldn’t guess.
There were three of them, and that was more than we could handle on foot. The first crawler surged out of the tunnel, leaping right for one of the jaguars. The cat gave a pained yowl as the crawler swiped it with its tail, red blood spewing into the air. The crowd gasped in shock as the torrent of blood fell, splattering onto the dirt. The cat fell lifeless.
The other two cats, hair on end, tried to slink away out of sight. It was pitiful to watch them as they were put against the walls, the three crawlers surrounding them on all sides. The crowds in the stands pulled back as the hideous monsters approached, flexing their tails to strike. In tandem, they stabbed the jaguars, over and over. A fine mist of blood collected in the air from the momentum of the stabs. The cats, after giving a few pitiful wails, fell silent, and the crawlers began to feast on their flesh.
The five of us stood in the center, weapons ready. It was only a matter of time before they lost interest in their fresh kills and came after us. Samuel motioned with his hand, taking a step forward. He meant us to follow him. I saw that he meant to take them by surprise. We had no other shot, anyway.
We snuck forward, and with our movement, the crowd began to get excited. Still, the crawlers dug into the fallen jaguars, the sounds of their chewing and gnashing sickening. Flesh ripped and bones crunched, and nasty slurps sounded in the air. As we neared, the monsters’ stench made me want to retch. I had almost forgotten how
The crawlers didn’t seem to have much intelligence, even if they were powerful. We were ten feet away. Up close, they were even more giant, still munching away at their prey even as Samuel gave the signal to attack the one on the far left.
Letting out primal yells, we charged forward, hacking at various parts of the crawler’s body. Anna slashed at the tail, giving a good chop that only went halfway through, causing the tail to hang askew. The creature shrieked, turning on us and glaring at us with those white orbs. As it reared up, Makara and stepped forward, stabbing it in its soft, white underbelly, where its dark crimson scales were not so impenetrable. Purple blood gushed from the wounds. It thrashed about, catching Julian with an insect leg, sending him sprawling to the dirt.
Now alerted to our presence, the other crawlers encircled us, blood dripping from their fangs. Their mouths opened, revealing forked tongues and rows of sharp, yellow teeth. They gave unearthly bellows, their breath smelling of rot and decay.
Samuel dealt a killing blow to the first crawler. He swung his mace down, pummeling its head into the dirt. Dazed, the creature remained still as Samuel hit it, again and again. The creature twitched and grew still.
There were two crawlers left. One broke from the other, going right for Samuel, mouth agape. Anna jumped forward, but the crawler tackled her, sending her to the dirt.
The crowd was on its feet, cheering. As Makara rushed to help Samuel, and as Julian was getting back onto his feet, I ran to Anna. Anna tried to force herself up, but the crawler snapped its face downward, its mouth opening…
“No!”
I was too far to save her. I hurled my gladius toward the face of the creature. I had a lucky throw; my gladius spiraled, connecting with one of the crawler’s three eyes. The creature roared in pain, turning to face me. It stamped the ground with its front four legs, and scuttled toward me at an alarming rate.
I dove to the side, but it wasn’t enough. Its teeth snapped at me, grabbing me by the shirt. It picked me up with its mouth, swinging me left and right. The bottom half of my shirt ripped, and I flew through the air, landing right on top of the body of the downed crawler Samuel had killed just a minute before.
I crashed into the armored creature, wincing in pain. I had barely missed landing on the row of spikes jutting from its back. I thought the crawler was going to leave me alone at this point. I was wrong. It was dead set on killing me, here and now.
Just as it was nearing, I heard Makara scream. She now stood right in front of it.
“Makara, no!”
The creature tore into her. She screamed in pain and toppled to the ground, her shirt wet with blood.
“Makara!” Samuel shouted.
The evil creature flashed its teeth, as if in a triumphant grin. But that wasn’t to last. It didn’t even scream in pain as Anna stabbed downward, right into the back of its head. Closing its eyes, the crawler slumped to the ground.
All three crawlers were dead — somehow, the other had been felled while I was occupied with this one. I didn’t care about that right now. All that mattered was Makara.
I ran to her. She held her side and was shaking. Blood gushed from a deep wound — the kind of wound a person did not survive. Her face was pale under the bright sun.
I pulled off my shirt, pressing it against her side. But even that couldn’t stop the flow of blood from leaving her.
“Makara…” Samuel said.
He touched her face. Makara’s eyes focused, if only for a moment.
She looked at Samuel. She said nothing, her eyes fluttering. She then turned to look at me. She smiled slightly, I don’t know what for. The ground around her form was stained with her blood.
“Why?” I asked, tears coming to my eyes.
She looked at me a moment, her green eyes growing hazier every second.
She never answered. She faded, and closed her eyes.
Chapter 17
I couldn’t be shocked. I couldn’t be anything. I was dead to everything. I couldn’t believe that what had just occurred. Makara had saved me, countless times, and she had saved me one last time.
And I didn’t deserve it. I didn’t.
I stared at the ground, tears welling in my eyes, refusing to believe. But there she lay, on the ground, her brother’s hands still unable to stem the tide of red leaking out. My mentor, the one who taught me how to survive. My friend was dead.
Samuel was on his knees, tears in his eyes. He still held her wound, blood soaking through his hands. But no matter how much he held the wound, the blood wouldn’t stop. The pain wouldn’t stop.
I fell to the ground, and didn’t want to remember anything anymore. Anna was by my side. Tears were in her eyes, too. Julian watched, eyes glistening with tears, as if he too couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
It seemed impossible. We had all gone through so much together. And now this.
Something had finally gotten to us.
The ground shook, I didn’t know from what. I thought it was the crowd at first, somehow making a constant thumping noise. Then I realized it was more like a set of legs.
“Look out!” Julian shouted.
I turned to see what would be our final doom. A Behemoth, and there was no Recon to outrun it this time,
