The hand was pale grey, and parts of its flesh were missing. Slowly, another hand emerged, and then its body was revealed. It had a human-like form and clawed forward like a baby, but what stood out was that it had no legs. Where its legs should have been, there was nothing—it was as if they had been cut off. Its arms were inhumanly long, and its head was featureless except for a mouth that stretched unnaturally wide, filled with tiny, jagged teeth like a lamprey's.
Slowly, it crawled out of the ground and launched at the Firstborn at the back. He swiftly drew his sword, halting the abomination's charge by slicing off its head.
But soon, more came—not from the ground, but from the ruins.
The three Firstborns tried to mount their horses, but it was too late. The horses were already overrun with the monstrosities. They tried fighting off the pale abominations. The first was bitten in the neck, dying almost instantly. Several of the creatures launched at the second. He was torn apart—one ripping off his left hand, another his legs, and soon his head followed. The third didn't fare much better. He died almost immediately, just like the others.
Riven, on the other hand, had left as soon as he rang the bell. He knew that making noise in the city would provoke something—but what, he did not know. He could hear the screams of the three behind him.
He felt no remorse over their deaths. If he hadn't killed them, they would have taken him back to the Order, and he would have faced a fate worse than death. But soon, he came to regret his actions.
Riven had unprecedented hearing. He could pick up sounds from as far as 800 meters away, which made him aware of the threat behind him. The pale monstrosities were following him, and they were getting closer. Even though they crawled with only two long hands, they were extraordinarily fast.
He ran through the ruins, trying to find shelter or at least high ground, but he couldn't find any. Soon, the monstrosities behind him became visible. There were hundreds of them—probably even close to a thousand. And they weren't moving in any calm or orderly fashion. Several were trampled, some slammed into the walls of the ruins, while others that slowed down were crushed by the rest.
He moved faster, desperately trying to find high ground. Then he saw it—a tall pillar, the pillar was in a six way convergence point. The pillar seemed old and damaged, but in his current predicament, it was his only chance.
He reached the pillar but couldn't find a way to climb it. The surface was cracked, but the cracks were too small to grip, and it was wet from the rain. He turned and saw the charging pale creatures, which made his already pale face even paler.
He stuck his fingers into one of the cracks and let out a muffled scream of pain. Slowly, he began climbing the pillar, which stood as tall as a three-story building. It was once connected to a structure, but that building was gone, leaving only a flat surface at the top.
Eventually, he reached the top and sat in the middle, breathing heavily. He looked up and noticed the moon was already visible. The rain had stopped. He hadn't noticed before—probably due to the adrenaline and running—but now it was clear: the moon looked unnaturally close to the Earth.
He raised his hands. The tips of his fingers were bruised and bleeding. He tore a part of his trousers and used it to clean his hands and slow the blood loss. Then he stood and looked down.
Below, the ground was filled with the monstrosities. He sighed.
"Seems I won't be getting down anytime soon."
He returned to the center of the pillar top and rested his back on it, placing his head over his arms and closing his eyes.
Soon, figures started moving in the dark near the entrance to the ruins. At the front was a man who looked to be in his mid-forties, with ash-blond hair and a rugged beard. He wore round glasses and had a calm, weathered expression. Draped over his shoulders was a brown leather coat, and behind him rode several others on horseback.
They passed through the gate and arrived where the three Firstborns had died. A figure beside the man in front raised a hand, bringing the procession to a halt. The man in the brown coat dismounted, as did three others. They inspected the site—but the three Firstborns were nowhere to be found. All they discovered were scraps of clothing, a mask, and a severed arm on the bloody floor.
"You think he's dead?" one of them asked.
The man in the coat moved toward the bell.
"No. Riven isn't dead."
He stepped forward, noticing parts of the ruins had recently been destroyed. The bodies of pale-skinned abominations lay ahead. He turned and returned to his horse, remounting.
"Let's go," he sighed.
"If we follow the corpses of these creatures, we should find him."
Back on the pillar, Riven opened his eyes and sat upright.
"I need to get down somehow."
He slowly moved toward the edge of the pillar, watching the movement of the creatures. They didn't seem to be moving much—just subtle, erratic shifts. He tried leaning forward to get a better look, but he slipped and nearly fell. He managed to pull himself back up—but he noticed something: as the debris he had dislodged hit the ground, the creatures reacted. They ran toward the sound.
That gave him an idea.
There was a stone not far from where he stood. He picked it up and threw it as far as he could. When it hit the ground, the monsters scattered and ran toward it—as if attracted to the sound. Not all of them reacted, but enough did.
"Are they attracted to sound?" he murmured.
Riven knew the importance of not jumping to conclusions. He needed more evidence. But there was only one stone left, and it was smaller than the last. It wouldn't make the same noise. Still, he had to try. He scanned the surroundings for something to amplify the sound but found nothing.
He sighed, then threw the stone as far as he could. It flew toward the rusted overhang of a crumbling balcony on a nearby building.
Clink.
The stone struck a loose metal rod jutting from the ledge. It jangled, teetered—then dropped.
Clang!
The rod hit a stack of brittle pipes on the balcony, snapping one clean off. A low groan echoed as the pipe tumbled, struck a weakened beam, and that beam gave way with a crack, dislodging a chunk of masonry.
Thoom.
The debris landed on the roof of a lower extension—one of those makeshift additions long abandoned. Its roof buckled, spilling dust and gravel in a gritty shower that rattled across rusted gutters and shattered a window.
Crash!
It wasn't thunderous, but it was enough. A web of echoes bounced off the surrounding walls.
He was stunned. He hadn't planned for a chain reaction—but somehow, it had worked.
Below, the monsters froze—then turned, snarling toward the noise. Claws scraped against stone as they surged away from the pillar toward the collapsing chain of sound.
"It seems my speculation was right," he said with a faint smile.
But his smile quickly faded.
One of the monstrosities remained. It was close to the pillar. Even though the rest had run toward the wreckage, there's always an odd one in every pack.If he tried to climb down, he'd surely make noise—and the rest would return.He had to find a way to get down fast and silently.Then a thought came to him.He could jump on the back of the monster. The fall might not kill it—but it would slow it down.If he missed, his legs would probably break.
Then he'd be eaten alive.
It was a risky gamble.
But sometimes, you had to gamble to survive.
It was do-or-die time.
Literally.
The monster ain't going to be fooled by a rock for too long, he had to jump. But soon fear slowly creeped in, If he doesn't do it right, he will die.
He sighed then said to himself
You can do this
He was lying, he was afraid. But he didn't see it has a weakness, the fear just gave him the assurance that he was still human.
He jumped, then landed on the back of the monster, in that instant, he heard something it's sounded like bone being breaken apart.
At first he thought it was his that leg, but strangely, he could stand upright.
Then what was that sound.
He looked below him and saw the monster drowning in its own blood.
"Did I kill it" he muttered
But as he said those words, the abomination twitched. Even if it was just a little, has it moved he jumped off the monster and started running, he didn't border looking back.