Chapter 17

Gamon's eyes opened wide, further succumbed by this spell that had taken him over, and with the deepest of breathes, he reached out and took the rune into his hand. Just like that, he was reborn.

Cassius miraculously made it to the tent; the creatures seemed to avoid him like he was protected. He kicked open the door and saw Roman being devoured by one the creatures. All but one extended arm was already in the creature's mouth. Hadrian wasn't there, and Ryia was cowering in the corner screaming hysterically.

"Ryia!"

She noticed him as the tent wall near her SPLIT open and Gamon floated in clutching the rune in his hand. His pupils completely white, he looked supernatural, like a deity. His skin transitioned to a black, purplish color, and he began losing his human form. He opened his mouth, which stretched beyond normal human limits. It resembled a shark, where the jaw was separate from the skull. A cascade of small black scaly worms began pouring out as he struggled to speak. He had become half man, and half them.

"Caaasssius.....save me!"

His arm extended several feet, dislocating the joints, and clutched Cassius' leg. Energy shot into Cassius' body as his eyes went completely white, as if his pupils were stolen. Ryia looked on, losing her mind to what was occurring. Wishing she could wake up...wake up.

"Heeelllpppmeee..."

A vacuum like force began sucking in the creatures within the tent into Gamon's mouth as he dropped Cassius to the floor. Cassius intensely tore off Gamon's hand and the rune fell with his maimed hand still on it. Gamon descended to the ground, and his human shape started to come back. Cassius grabbed Ryia and they fled from the tent. The area around the rune started to blossom with lavish green grass and colorful flowers, affecting the soil it landed on, engulfing the removed body part.

The creatures spread like piranhas and termites across the excursion site. Speeding along, even ingesting animals and the dragons nearby, who tried to burn them by shooting flames from their bellies and out their mouths. Inside the Arcane militia's bunker, the steel door was getting banged in with what sounded like a battering ram, every gut-wrenching BLOW lowering their chances of survival. Guards unsheathed their great swords in preparation, with their legs barely holding up. No one was prepared for this.

"Dear god, the apocalypse is upon us," shrieked No. 4.

"They must be here for the boy! We should free him!" yelled Logan.

The hinges on the door begin to bend inwards, and air starts blowing inside. The military personnel stared in shock, all they could make out of the small bend was black scaly skin. Making it appear that they were being advanced on by an army of shadows.

"No, we need him. He might be the only liaison we have with these..." announced Clarence as the steel door FLEW into the room like it was hit with an explosion, crushing the first wave of resistance.

The creatures slithered in, and the once esteemed control room became a slaughterhouse. They started to feed on the humans, stripping flesh and bone with ease. One of the guards' shut his eyes as his ripped off arm was being eaten.

Logan and Clarence hid behind the desk, paralyzed by fright, but still curious enough to peek over. One of the creatures' scratched down No.4's back and pierced straight through to his spine. Clarence covered his face as the creature ripped the spine out, while the head was still attached. Two more are working on No.4's ribs, while another guard's skull was inside a creature's mouth. Another one bites into No. 4's leg, and they go in separate directions slowly tearing his limbs apart.

Clarence, shell-shocked, noticed that there was a small area in which to escape outside, not realizing, that there was even more hell out there.

"I'm going to run for it, maybe find help. Bless the great God of the Eternal," noted Clarence as he bolted towards the now huge hole where the door used to be. Logan looked on, speechless. What could he say?

Clarence barely dodged the creatures and witnessed the nightmare in full form, a buffet for the wicked visitors. The entire excursion site was under attack, and losing significantly. Fires had broken out; and screams mixed with the crunch of bone and flesh coated the sounds in the air. He simply dropped to his knees as a creature gashed out his throat within seconds.