29. Lost #2
A strange unease settled over Sorcha’s skin.
The ruins loomed ahead like the remains of a forgotten world.
Something about this place gnawed at her, she’d been here before but why the hell couldn’t she remember.
Then, without warning, a mist began to coil around their feet, shifting with the shadows.
Her hand went to her side, fingers tightening into a fist as realization struck.
“Maelan,” she whispered. “Does none of this seem familiar to you?!” She bent down and picked a loose brick from the ground.
Maelan hesitated, shaking his head at first, but then his expression shifted as a memory surfaced from deep within. “The city of the forgotten,” he whispered.
Kyron stiffened, clearly realizing where they were now.
“How did we even end up here?!” Maelan asked, still looking around, trying to make sense of the sudden trap.
Fear and anxiety crashed over Sorcha. She vividly recalled walking across the Bridge of the Forgotten, the twisted, hollow faces of the dead staring back at her.
She remembered the creatures with glowing eyes that loomed from the shadows, watching from the cracks between shattered glass and stone.
The pain felt raw again; the way her skin had been carved, the way the city had once held her in its tight grasp.
Beneath it all, there was an overwhelming sense she needed to enter the city.
A pull that she couldn’t explain, like being called home.
“We need to go into the city,” Sorcha exhaled, rolling her shoulders. “It’s calling to me, and I need to know why.”
Without waiting for them to respond, she walked toward the growing ruins, the buildings stretched taller, their shapes melding with creeping vines and blooming flowers that wove across their surfaces.
Jagged shards of colored glass shimmered in the mist, catching the final moments of dusk.
Hues of red drifted along the ground, covering the city in a scarlet glow.
Many of the buildings were missing windows and doors, some scarred by gaping holes as if it had torn through them with force.
Moving cautiously, they maintained a Y formation as they entered the city’s heart. Maelan kept his rapier in hand while Sorcha and Kyron gripped their sheaths tightly.
Maelan whispered low, “There are eyes on the far rooftops. We’re to exposed here.”
They crouched lower, trying to stay hidden in the shadows of buildings, pressing close to the walls.
By the time they entered the heart of the dead city night had swallowed the sky, and even the stars seemed to avoid this place.
As they crept forward, a low growl rumbled through the stone, deep and hungry.
The snap of bone followed, each break punctuated by a sickening squelch of flesh.
Sorcha pressed herself against the wall, willing herself to breathe evenly as she looked toward the sound.
In the moonlight, a white deer lay on its side, its body trembling, chest rising and falling in shallow, broken breaths.
Its antlers, once strong and regal, hung heavy against the blood slicked cobblestones, dragging against the stone with each weak twitch.
Its snow fallen coat was luminous beneath the cold glow of the moon, soaked in deep crimson where its stomach had been torn open.
The dark cavity pulsed faintly, its insides quivering with the fragile instinct to live.
The thing that was feeding on it was crouched over the deer.
Clawed fingers wrenched the wound wider, spilling its intestines onto the ground.
It was taking its time as it peeled flesh away in glistening ribbons, throwing it onto the stone beneath it.
The deer convulsed, legs jerking in last desperate movements as a sound escaped the deer.
Its body then sagged against the stone, the deer’s body still.
The creature feeding, lifted its head, tongue flicking out to taste the air.
Golden eyes swirling with hunger. Its teeth clicked together, lips parting slightly as if savoring it.
Blood dripped lazily from its mouth, trailing in sluggish rivulets down its chin, the only sign that it had been eating at all.
Sorcha forced herself to slow her breaths. It wasn’t hunger that drove the thing, it was enjoying this.
The wet sounds of tearing resumed. Another sickening crack broke the air.
The creature pushed its face into the wound, inhaling deeply, dragging its mouth over what little remained intact.
Sorcha began to move back when her foot kicked a rock.
The creature stilled, as it listened. Its golden eyes snapping up, landing directly on Sorcha.
She remained in the shadow of the building, she managed to lift her fingers, motioning for the others to move back, her hand trembling.
She kept her eyes on the creature, its eyes narrowing on her.
Just then, thuds echoed from the rooftops, the creatures eyes lifted and she backed around the corner.
Blood pooled down the broken cobblestones, gleaming like blackened rubies flowing past her boots.
Growls followed as dozens figures dropped from above, landing inside buildings and alleys.
She started moving at the sound, their movements concealing her own steps as they swarmed the deer.
Their bodies writhing as they tore it apart, snarling and fighting among themselves.
They moved, trying to put distance between them and the beasts.
They kept close to the building, slipping around the edges, moving as quietly as possible.
As they pushed farther into the heart of the city, they ducked into an open building, checking the interior before speaking.
Kyron whispered, “Did you see how many there were? We don’t stand a chance if they see us.”
Maelan nodded. “We have to keep going. They are distracted now, but not for long.”