WilburWoods
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Chapter 8 - Levespawn
🕑 Added 2023-08-23 17:26:08 +0000 UTCThere was no doubt. It was that great monster from the mural. Levemoth. Even as high as it was in the sky, it loomed over the land. It was enormous. Its belly and lower body was covered by a dark thundercloud. What was visible of its body was blue and black, and it shone in the afternoon sun as if covered by a slick membrane. Horns the size of trees protruded of a giant whale’s head which was covered in black bulbous eyes. The monstrous creature sent out another wail, and it ripped through the air like an angry torrent of wind, sending Logan tumbling off the boulder.
The creature floated in the air above, hundreds and hundreds of feet above the air. The cloud below it began raining down black droplets which threw up the ground and toppled trees when they landed.
The great beast wasn’t directly above Logan, or he would have likely died. But a stray black drop of the beast’s rain fell down twenty yards from him. Some other drops fell through the canopy some fifty yards away. It struck the ground like a meteor, clearly leaving a crater. Curiosity got the best of Logan, and he crept closer, clutching the javelins in his hands.
In the middle of the little crater below grass-level was a deeply black bubble. Like a giant unbroken raindrop. It moved violently as if something was struggling inside.
Then the bubble burst open as a blue scythe ripped out of it. From inside the black gel-like substance another scythe came out and they peeled the bubble fully open. From within arose an ugly creature. Like its progenitor, the skin was sleek and mottled with blue and black. It had a sleek head that turned backwards into a horn. Two scythes protruded from its arms, long, sharp and shining blue. When it rose up, Logan saw it was tall and skeletal, with a protruding ribcage clearly visible. It had long, sturdy legs with backwards bending knees and a lengthy tail for balance. Its face was nothing but a maw. No eyes, no ears, no nose. Just teeth. A lot of them.
As the sight was as horrific as anything Logan had ever seen, he wasted no time. He ran in the opposite direction. The giant monster in the sky blared out another clarion call and the black rain began to descend.
NopeNopeNopeNopeNope.
Logan glanced behind him and he noticed the giant black raindrops fell somewhere in the forest to his right. He turned an immediate left, as far away from the giant floating skymonster as he possibly could.
If only it were that simple.
By accord of what must have been monumentally bad luck, the scythe-creature had noticed Logan. Maybe it sensed tremors of the ground, who knew. Logan wasn’t exactly keen to ponder that right now.
The creature behind him screeched out a dry-throated rasping cry, as if in pain and anger. The scythes clicked on the ground as it began to chase Logan. Logan glanced behind him and cursed. The thing was fast. Really fast.
Logan lobbed behind him the regular javelin. It would only slow him down. He ran, trying to control his breath. Then something blared up in his mind. Maybe it was a subconscious notion of the cadence of clicks behind him missing a beat. Whatever it was, it was more than instinct. Logan threw himself on the ground.
[Reconfiguring Neural Matrix… 14% Completion]
The creature soared through where Logan had just been, swiping at air with its scythes. Logan scrambled up, just in time for when the creature landed, and lunged at Logan again.
“Shield!” Logan roared and thrust forward his left arm.
A blue disk sprouted out of the white smart watch. It stopped the scythes. The creature glanced off and lost its balance, as if repelled backwards by the force-field. Logan wasted no time. While the creature was still getting up, Logan let out an adrenaline-fueled shout and hurled the Numa-craft javelin at the monster. It struck in the middle of the creature’s chest. It let out a hoarse cry as its innards exploded here and there on the grass. It took a wobbly step towards Logan and swiped at him with its last strength before it fell on its face.
Logan stared at the sight with wide eyes, breathing heavily.
Move.
The adrenaline helped. Somewhere behind him, Logan could hear more of those hoarse screeches. He picked up his Javelin and used it to crush the creature’s skull. Indeed through the bits of skull and gore shone a blue light. Without hesitation, Logan picked up an [E-grade Numa-crystal, 100%]
To his dismay, he noticed that the javelin’s head had lost its light. It was now dim. He stepped on one of the monster’s arms and hacked at the joint until the scythe was almost loose. Logan sat on the ground, put both his legs against the creature’s limp shoulder and pulled at the scythe, which still gleamed blue. Logan was pretty sure there was some Numa on the blade.
With an oof, Logan managed to rip off the blade from the meat and sinews. The screeches were coming closer. Knowing he had not much time, Logan ran off, a scythe in one hand and a dim-tipped javelin in another.
At no point did Logan slow down. He ran like his life depended on it, because it did. The screeches behind him were getting closer. How the hell did the monsters know where he was? Good question. For another time.
Logan looked back, there were three of those things chasing him. Logan had a lead on them, but their scythes clicked the ground at a rapid pace. If Logan didn’t do something fast, he’d die. There was no fighting three of those monsters.
Logan’s lungs burned. Breathing was becoming a luxury. His thighs ached with lactate pain. In the corner of his blurred vision, an outline of a building was visible. It was but an archway of cut stone, but it shone like a beacon of hope through the foliage of the jungle.
Logan ran towards it. It hurt so much his mind was telling him to give up. Just give up and die, it said.
Fuck off!
Logan ran, pumping his arms. The leaves and branches kept hitting him in the face. He didn’t care. The clicks of scythes were approaching. Hoarse snarls were already distinct behind him. They were but a ten yards away or so. Logan stormed inside the archway leading inside a hill.
The blue lines snaked the seam between wall and the floor, giving Logan a direction to run towards. In the first crossroads he took a right. The angry click of scythes on stone were close. The hoarse raspy, dry sounds the creatures made were as close as a lover’s breath in the back of his neck. It pricked the hell out of Logan’s neck hair.
A door. Logan had no time to think. He went inside a room and slammed the door open. He dropped the scythe-arm he was holding and scrambled for the [E-grade Numa-Crystal] in his pocket. The creatures knew where he was. Tremors, heat, whatever it was. They threw themselves at the door and clawed at it in hungry rage. The door pushed, but Logan threw his weight on it, pushing the crystal into it.
“Seal this door. Make it a seamless wall. Make it impossible to open without the words ‘Open Sesame’.”
The crystal gave off a warm glow and it dimmed. Logan wondered at that. It still had a decent amount of charge.
[Attribute Level Up!]
[Potency: 4]
[Efficiency: 3]
“I guess that explains it,” Logan muttered to himself, as he slid down against the door. The pounding, scything and hoarse screeches didn’t stop. Logan just tried to breathe. It hurt so much. The adrenaline was waning, but that only increased the pain. And a heaviness impossible to fight. Logan slumped further on the floor. One of the monsters threw itself against the door, but it didn’t budge.
Logan gave an idle glance at the room. There were some tables, blue glow, but no doors or other exits.
If I die, I die.
And with that Logan lost consciousness.
