Phobia

Nora soon realized the abnormal state of the corpse without having Kyren pointing it out. Her reaction was more severe than the boy. She vomited on the spot, emptying her stomach on the floor. Yet, after a few coughs, she had already recovered, becoming accustomed to the sight. Perhaps a bit too accustomed.

Kyren could not find himself close to touching the corpse with his bare hand, but Nora was already poking the holes with her fingers, squeezing and inspecting the organs, stretching the holes to look inside. Kyren was then reminded of a man he had met before, a person who worked in the field of forensic and performed autopsies on a daily basis. That man always had heavy bags under his half-open, tired eyes. But the moment he clocked in, his professionalism was incomparable, borderlining obsession when it came to the human body.

That man was Nora's father. Suddenly, her behavior did not seem so strange anymore.

Her hands were quick and decisive, moving from one action to another without buffer time, inspecting every nook and cranny. He was afraid that she even forgot to blink, her gaze did not move away from the body, fully focused. There was a brilliant spark within the pair of emeralds.

"Did you find anything?" he asked, seeing the girl no longer examine the corpse.

Nora tried to find a place to clean her hands, but there was nothing to use. Kyren offered the hem of his inner shirt. The girl smeared blood on the white fabric without hesitation, making sure to get rid of all the blood between the fingers and under the fingernails. She stated, "All the wounds are the same, caused by multiple small, shallow cuts until it went through the skin and muscles. Similar wounds were found on the inside of the flesh, where the muscles bond with the bones. So the same things that got through the skin and muscle also took the bones. Without the frame, the body can not support its own weight. He was probably still alive for a while after the deed was done."

Kyren took a long look at what used to be a living person. How did it feel to be crushed by one's own weight to death?

"It doesn't seem like he has died for long," he voiced his deductions, "Maybe he was one of those who managed to escape but met his end here when he wandered into the territory of these...things, whatever that killed him. That also means we will be doing the same thing from this point on."

Silence descended. None of them spoke a word. Kyren and Nora looked at each other, then directed their line of sight to the corpse. The face was too messed up to be recognized. Combined with the hazy light, the more they looked, the more its face resembled their own.

Kyren had a good idea of the identity of these creatures. Glancing at Nora, he noticed her face was pale, donning a sick and disturbed expression, even though the girl was fine with examining a messed-up corpse. Perhaps she also had her own guess, and it was likely the same with his.

"How did 'that person' go past this area?" Nora said under her breath.

Kyren tried to remember everything he was told about the monsters, but, "There was nothing said about the one-strike areas."

"Did he forget, or did he think this isn't enough of a problem?" the girl gestured at the corpse as flat as a house carpet, deprived of its skeleton.

"If it's the latter, he should've given us instructions, or at least clues, on how to bypass them," Kyren signed, then it dawned on him.

He slapped his forehead before taking out the parchments and the orb given by their old neighbor when they left the prison cell.

There were a total of seven parchments, each drawn a magic circle. He inspected and realized that three of them contained the same magic circle, from patterns to symbols, while the others were unique.

"Here, take a look to see if there's something we can use," he handed the pile of parchments to Nora.

The orb was spherical in shape, black like coal. It was small enough to fit in his fist. Though hard to be noticed by naked eyes, there were carvings on the orb when Kyren felt it with his palm.

From the corner of his eyes, he saw Nora conjuring a shining magic circle on her palm. It was the indication that a spell was being constructed. More than once, he had thought everything happening was nothing short of a nightmare, but the sight he was seeing right now made him believe that there was beauty in this.

"What does that do?" he could not help his curiosity, pointing at the manifested magic circle.

Nora giggled at his unhidden fascination, "It's something that helps me read the magic circle."

Then, she took out one of the three identical parchments, "This contains a barrier spell, we can use this later."

Kyren nodded, taking one of the torches of the wall, "Great. Let's go."

The two of them continued on the path. There were three one-strike zones, each consisting of tunnels and passageways intersecting with each other without any rooms or chambers on the way. The smell of blood dissipated the further they got away from the corpse, but in its place, the acidic odor became more potent. The gel-like substance on the surface thickened noticeably, turning from transparent to a greenish yellow hue. Nora had to tighten her shoe laces, since the ground was so sticky it had made her feet slip out of her shoes on multiple occasions.

The smell of acid did not come from the gel, but both of them were caused by the same creatures, Kyren was sure. They had been adhering to the red line on the map, but he could not help feeling that it was the wrong way. They were definitely coming straight into the heart of the enemy rather than further away from it.

"Are you sure this is the right way, Kyre?" Nora asked, having the same thought as him.

Even though he had already memorized the whole map, the boy still took out the parchment to check. "Yes, this is the way," he confirmed, "Let's be careful."

Despite his own words, Kyren was still skeptical. The dark passageway was no longer quiet. The more they went forward, the louder the buzzing noise became. Both of them were no stranger to that noise. It was a noise that even a random, normal person would be anxious to hear.

After ten more minutes, the two of them came to the end of the passageway, leading into an open cavern. The buzzing was so loud that they could not even hear their own voice. It was the result of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of thin cuticle wings flapping with high frequency.

The cavern was not pitch black, despite the lack of torches, being illuminated by the parts of the walls. It seemed to be a kind of luminescent stone. From first glance, it was as large as a stadium. It was unclear how high the ceiling was.

Kyren and Nora did not dare to step through the entrance. Kyren stood in front, raising his torch, the other hand holding tight to the spike. He looked behind, seeing Nora with her face lowered, white as a sheet. Her entire body trembled to the point of vibrating. Her eyes closed shut, teeth clenching. Even the spike was slipping out of her grip. Her spirit was shaken, her mind was not stable.

Kyren put his spike under his armpit, the free hand grabbing Nora's hand. It was cold, weak, without any strength to resist his pulling. However, when trying to go into the open cave, he was dragged back. No matter how much force he used, Kyren would not move Nora from her spot, her feet planted firmly on the ground. Her head shook repeatedly, expressing her unwillingness.

With their voices drowned by the buzzing noise, Kyren could not persuade her with words. With no choice left, he had to go with an extreme measure.

"I'm sorry, Nora. You can kill me later," he said, knowing that those words could not reach the girl.

He let go of her hand, then took a step back, towards the cave. Nora raised her face, shocked and betrayed, her eyes stared in disbelief, only to see Kyren take another step. His face was cold, blank, devoid of any emotions. He took another step. Nora raised her hand, but he was already out of her reach, her feet could not move. Imagining what was dominating the space inside that cave, Nora could not find the courage to take a step. Strength had left her, no matter how much she tried to muster.

Kyren was another step further from her. His back was at the entrance of the cave. The torch in his hand was waving at her. Tears streamed down her face.

"Don't you dare, Kyre!" she screamed, but could not overwhelm the sound of the cave.

Kyren once again lifted his foot off the ground.

"Kyre!" her voice silenced once more.

Beyond that dark gaping cave mouth was her nightmare, the things that crawled out from hell to walk the Earth. Their shapes, their smell, their colours, their behavior, all belonged to monsters, the damned, the creatures that had no value other than terrorizing the lives of people. Now, they had become real monsters that could tore through a human body and ripped out all the bones. Rampant killers, driven by ravenous hunger. They were terrifying before, what words could be used to describe them now?

But how could she remain at this place? She had to either move on, or go back. Kyren chose the former. She did not have the map, turning back without him was out of the question. Even with the map, Nora could not do this alone.

She had to move on. She had to take the step. But how? For years, times and times again, she tried, but never succeeded. If Kyren left, she would be alone. She did not want to be left alone again, in this dark, smelly, cramped place infested with freakish dangers, not knowing what would become of her.

Her feet felt light, yet heavy. She lifted her foot. She could redo that action a billion times. But the moment her shoe touched the ground again, it was still at the same place, no matter what. It was just one step. One step, amongst the billions of steps that she had taken during her entire life. But it was so exhausting, so difficult.

Suddenly, a warmth wrapped around her hand, holding so tight it was painful. Kyren's face was closer than he was one second ago. Her balance was broken. A force was yanking at her arm, dragging the rest of her body. The foot that was hovering in the air touched the ground again, this time, one step ahead.

Kyren did not stop, pulling the girl until they were both inside the cave. Nora closed her eyes, ignored the noise, ignored her nightmare. Her mind was occupied only by the rough texture felt on her palm. It was warm and comforting.