Chapter 258: Devour

Chapter 258: Devour

Run. Just do it. Its better than dying; its better than becoming undying,the thrall of some Skies-damned monster, Eli told himself. Someone has to get away. Someone has to warn everyone about whats happening here. It might as well be you. You can sprint until your body eats itself whole. Youre the best choice for getting a message out. You can live. Just go. Go. Go. Go. Go, go, go, go -

His right leg twitched, as if moving to flee of its own volition, but Eli stayed rooted in place despite his terror. Trembling, but still rooted. At the end of the day, he found that he couldnt do it. While small, there was a slim chance that his small squad could pull through. Sergeant Horik was closer to a monster than a man, and some of the other squad members werent so bad themselves.

What if Eli chose to run and his cowardice was the reason that everyone else was killed? Or worse, turned into the same things that they were being forced to fight? He wasnt sure he could handle that - and the worst part of it was, if he left, Eli would never know if his presence wouldve been what made the difference. If, with him there, they could have lived.

Though the reality was, Eli probably didnt matter. He was weaker than the others, with muscles atrophied by his own enhanced healing and endurance. Near-useless in a fight, when it came down to it. Something that he was proving with his struggle to defeat the already-impaled enemy in front of him.

Sergeant Horrik was going to beat him into the ground for this showing, if he found out and they all lived through this. Especially because the Sergeant had been right. Eli had wasted some of his armors charge before the fight, and his Wind Barrier had already started to weaken because of it, the strong whistle of wind broken up by the occasional pathetic sputter.

In the face of the horror that might otherwise be, Eli found himself somewhat hoping for that eventual beating. It would mean that he was still wholly alive. Still himself.

And now the desire to run was coming back again with a vengeance.

Eli didnt listen to that desire, that overwhelming need, choosing instead to send another thrust of his spear towards the approaching enemy. The xenlite embedded in its shaft activated, sending a pulse of light down the metal-lined rod, and then a spear of wind from its tip. In a feat of pure luck - the wind enchantments were harder to aim than it looked - the spear of wind took the former guard in the eye.

A smile crossed Elis face, more relief than anything else. He couldve sworn he saw bits of its brain in the hole that was left.

Surely, that was

A cloud of pitch-black smoke surged from the wound, and Elis heart fell. It wasnt enough. Maybe, just maybe, the wispy smoke was getting a little thinner.

But only maybe. He could have been imagining it. And before he could figure out whether he was or not, the smoke-bleeding former guard rushed forward with a sudden burst of speed, easily pushing past Elis flickering, failing Wind Barrier.

Eli held up his spear in shock, bracing it against the floor and his boot, just like he had been trained - and to his shock, it worked. The charging enemy impaled itself deeply on his spear, the force of its charge managing to push the spear that was already caught in its guts all the way out when its butt smashed harshly into Elis metal-covered chest. The thing didnt seem to care, willingly pushing itself further along Elis spear, bits of smoke sliding out of its gurgling mouth as its horribly-battered body tried to knit itself back together again.

It breathed that smoke directly into Elis shocked, gaping mouth - and then Eli learned that it wasnt smoke at all. Wasnt even close. It tasted like death, and the ever-widening pit in Elis stomach proved that too much of it could probably lead to his death, too, if his bodys healing hadnt so quickly fought off the effects.

Despite that, his opponents self-impalement was a good thing. It meant that Eli had actually done some damage. That maybe he could -

Two pinpricks of pain made themselves known on Elis lower leg, and his surging hopes fell like the tide.

Shit, the snake!

By the time the true agony of it all hit, Elis decision had been made. There was hardly any thought towards what might happen to everyone else with Eli gone. There was hardly any thought about whether Elis presence could make a difference if he stayed. There was hardly any thought at all.

Eli ran, leaving his twice-impaled enemy behind, leaving his struggling comrades behind, and hopefully, leaving his death behind.Vissit novelbin(.)c.om for updates

It didnt work.

...mean much. Youre old as dirt! Im probably not much older than your kid. I dont know how you havent kicked the bucket being stuck down here.

Eli stumbled, missing a step as whatever poison was in that damn snakes bite continued to wreak havoc on his insides. He fell flat on his face, landing hard enough to flatten his face.

Just another wound to dig the growing pit deeper. Eli shoved a hand inside a pouch, and then shoved that hand towards his open mouth.

The dried meats tasted like metal. Like dust and blood.

...really, should we do something? This is kind of hard to look at.

...nothing to do. Hes a goner. Has been since this whole prison break started. Best we could do is finish him off ourselves, and Im not willing to do that. Are you?

Nobody answered by the time Eli finally pushed past the crowd and started running again - or at least Eli never heard the response.

Not that he was listening anymore. It was getting hard to even think, to do more than run forward and toss a growing pile of food down his throat, emptying the pouches at his side one by one.

Please, I dont want

The cold-fire in his veins still hadnt stopped. The pit in his stomach was just getting wider. He shoveled more food down his open mouth, careening through the network of tunnels that was the mines for an indeterminable amount of time, what little part of Eli that was still conscious desperately holding to the hope that his mana-enhancement would save him.

Because if it didnt, it might even kill him before the monsters horrifying bite ever did, withering Eli away in its attempts to keep him alive.

Eli didnt know which death was worse - and before he could decide, the blackness at the edges of his vision closed in a little more, and he tripped on something hidden in the darkness, barely registering the pain of the fall. Still on the floor, Eli reached for his pouches again.

When he brought them towards his face, there was nothing but crumbs slipping through the ever-widening gaps in his skeletal fingers.

Eli sobbed again, but no tears came out. There werent any left to give. Like everything else, they had been sacrificed to the pit. Devoured to delay death.

And even if it had been working, there was only so much of Eli left. Only so much healing he could handle. And, faint as it had become, the horrible chill of the snakes bite was still there. Almost unnoticeable, like a spark compared to a raging inferno, but even that might still be enough.

Elis body didnt have anything else to give.

Please, the hollowed husk thought, I dont want to die.

He crawled forward and licked the crumbs off the floor. They tasted like dust and blood. They tasted wonderful. Like life. Like hope.

He licked the floor again. It tasted like dust and blood.

There werent any crumbs left.