Chapter 88
- Kaysi -
The creature's long, pale arms rippled with muscle under cracked skin. Its back was to us, but I could see the twitch of a tail and jagged ridges along its spine. Its mouth—a vertical slash across the back of its skull—opened in rhythmic chomps, blood dripping down its sides like oil.
I blinked.
Then I saw what it was devouring. My mind slowed to a stall.
A human body—face still intact, mouth slightly open in frozen horror. Blood pooled beneath the thing like ink soaking into the cavern floor. There was a smear of clawed handprints along the stone, like the person had tried to crawl away before being caught.
My knees buckled I almost fell to the floor.
I staggered back, my hand flying to my mouth as the breath in my chest vanished. The sword slipped an inch in its sheath, but I didn't draw it. I couldn't. My vision blurred, spinning with the sight. My legs shook like they were about to give out entirely.
"Oh my God," I whispered, the words barely escaping my throat. "It's a person—it's eating a person."
My pulse pounded in my ears louder than the sounds of tearing flesh. The smell hit me again, stronger now—burnt copper and rot. I turned and stumbled toward the wall, leaning hard, willing myself not to collapse. My breaths came short and fast, each one stabbing at my ribs.
Evan was there in an instant. His hand pressed gently on my back, steady and warm.
"Kaysi," he whispered, his voice low but firm. "Breathe. Look at me."
I couldn't. I just shook my head, eyes locked on the ground, blinking hard to keep the tears from falling.
"Hey," he said again, this time catching my chin lightly and turning my face toward him. "Don't look at that. Look at me."
His eyes held mine—calm, focused. Not unafraid, but grounded. He wasn't unaffected. I could see it in the tension in his jaw, the way his other hand gripped his sword so tightly his knuckles turned white. But he was holding it together for me.
I forced myself to breathe with him. In. Out. Again.
"This isn't the first horror we've seen," he said gently. "But I know this place makes it feel worse. Amplified. You're not weak for feeling it. But we can't stay frozen here."
My throat was still tight, but I managed a shaky nod.
Evan stepped between me and the demon, shielding my view. "We go back the way we came," he whispered. "Quietly."
"No," I said, finding my voice again—wobbly, but real. "Not back. There's a tunnel across from it. Left wall. I saw it when we entered."
He glanced back, his eyes scanning. "Are you sure you can make it?"
"I have to, we have to."
We moved slowly, crouching low, hugging the jagged cavern wall. Every step felt like a lifetime. The demon didn't notice us—it was too busy tearing off a limb and slurping the marrow. I had to stop myself from gagging.
When we reached the tunnel, I paused to glance behind. The demon had finished. The body was unrecognizable now—just red scraps and bone.
And behind it, dozens of prisoners watched through bars in the far wall.
That was the second horror.
Not the demon.
The silence.
The utter, numbing apathy.
Shadows pressed into the walls like forgotten statues. People. Prisoners.
Dozens of them.
Sitting. Staring. Not blinking. Not reacting.
Blank faces. Hollow eyes. As if they were carved from ash and loss.
And none of them—not a single one—seemed to care that a human was being torn apart less than ten feet away.
Not one of them screamed. Not one cried or covered their eyes. They just… stared. Blank. Hollow. Some didn't even bother to turn their heads.
Evan saw it too. "What the hell…?" he muttered.
We moved toward them slowly. The prisoners were behind a massive barred wall, barely visible unless you looked directly into the shadows. I pressed against the stone and peered in.
"Is this some kind of… prison block?" I whispered.
"Looks like it," Evan replied grimly. "But where are the guards?"
A loud, screeching clang echoed through the chamber. We spun.
A pair of demons emerged from a split in the far wall—each easily nine feet tall, their skin like molten rock streaked with obsidian veins. They had no eyes, just mouths across their faces and chests, lined with fangs. They didn't speak. They didn't need to.
They saw us.
I barely had time to move before one lunged.
Evan shoved me out of the way, drawing his sword with a flash of light. The swing connected with a loud crack, sending sparks off the demon's thick skin. The other roared and charged me.
I spun and drew, the blade humming in my hand. The moment it touched the demon's side, it shrieked—a noise that scraped against my skull like broken glass. The creature recoiled, surprised, but not hurt enough.
"Run!" Evan shouted.
We turned toward the bars—but we never made it.
A third demon dropped from above. Silent. Swift. Its claws wrapped around Evan like a bear trap, lifting him off his feet and slamming him into the stone wall with bone-cracking force.
"Evan!" I screamed.
I turned back, blade raised—but something struck me from behind before I could strike. Everything went black.
I woke with my face in dirt.
My wrists burned. Shackles. The cold metal bit into my skin. My sword was gone. I couldn't feel its familiar weight.
We were inside the prison now.
The bars stretched high above us, forming a dome of twisted bone and metal. Dozens of others sat or lay around us. None spoke.
Evan sat nearby in the cell with me, groaning as he rubbed the back of his head. He was bruised, bloodied, and breathing.
"We're in," he said dryly, looking around. "Great."
I looked at the others. Not a single one met my eyes.
Not one.
They just… existed like breathing statues. Souls crushed into silence.
"What is this place?" I asked, my voice cracking.
Evan didn't answer right away, I don't think he really knew either.
I sat on the cold stone floor, hugging my knees to my chest, trying to ignore the sound of screaming from somewhere down the corridor. Evan sat across from me shackled as well. Rubbing his wrists.
"I'm not staying here," I said at last. "I don't care how many guards there are. I'll do what I have to."