Beasts

Aching. His whole body ached as he pushed his body to run to its limits. Thawrne's lungs burned as his throat dried up and closed.

He swallowed his saliva. He panted as he ran aimlessly. His feet hurt.

The rough terrain caused Thawrne's feet to have cuts and bruises. He felt the cold air against his nude body sending chills down his spine.

He felt like he was freezing to death. He wished he was wearing clothes.

Thawrne didn't have any spare time to look at his surroundings or question how he could see in a tunnel.

Massive stalactites reaching 3 feet glowed a beautiful purple color. The ran all throughout the roof.

He could not tell how long he had been running but the adrenaline coursing through his body kept his mind focused on fleeing.

Thawrne was being chased by a pack. By what kind, he did not want to know. He heard their howls and growls that echoed throughout the walls. 

He could not tell how far behind the pack was, but he instinctively knew that they were getting closer and closer. 

Crash!

Thawrne's leg gave out from sheer exhaustion causing him to stumble and fall to the ground. His rough fall kicking up dust making him cough.

 "Get up! Get the hell up!"

His body was exhausted from running. He just wanted to rest. He wanted to be anywhere but here.

Tharwne grunted and groaned as he willed himself up. The fall scrapped his body leaving him with multiple cuts.

Thawrne grit his teeth as he figured that all the new cuts would make him an easier target.

He put his weight on his left leg and he howled in pain.

"Graghh!! Ffff...!"

He bit his lip in frustration. His ankle had sprained. His shoulder hurt as well from taking the brunt of the fall.

The howls were even closer now. He could hear the noise of loose gravel as they increased their speed.

Thawrne started to march and winced in pain at every left step. Occasionally he leaned his shoulder against the wall of the tunnel.

It was hard for him to control his breathing. His sides was burning from the excessive running.

Yet Thawrne persisted despite the exhaustion and pain. He had no other choice.

His surroundings were looking grim. There was no one to save him. Everything looked the same.

Thawrne had to save himself.

There was also nothing he could use to defend himself. He was easy prey for the incoming predators.

Had he not been in a life or death situation, he would have been reeling from the mental collapse.

His head felt like as if it were forcefully split open and his mind was slipping out.

Thawrne had experienced the unexplainable. He could not put in tangible words the mind blender he was exposed to.

However, the hectic life or death situation was the highest priority.

Thawrne kept on trudging forwards. He gripped her left shoulder to stop the bleeding.

"Keep moving forwards... I'm exhausted, I want to sleep. Why the hell is this happening to me?"

Thawrne was just starting his first semester of community college when got called forth and called a homonculus. He even worked overtime to save up for an apartment.

It was nothing extravagant but he could proudly call it his.

Now it was all gone.

Everything.

His apartment, his friends, his mother. Gone just like a flip of a switch.

He tried to do any and all mental gymnastics to convince himself that this was just a really vivid hallucination. A really bad one.

Thawrne could have somehow eaten a deliriant. Like Datura. He heard nightmare stories of people experiencing absolute hell.

What Thawrne was yet to realize is that Desad's Abyss is Hell manifest.

He boiled with anger. He knew that he was being used as a pawn. He was discarded and metaphorically forced to learn to swim.

Being absent minded in his thoughts, Thawrne failed to realize that the beasts had caught up to him.

Thawrne felt a searing pain on his back. It was a clawed slash.

His screamed echoed as his mind went blank from the pain.

The wound were roughly 3 inches deep and it ran from the top right of his torso down to the back of his midriff.

Thawrne craned his neck to see what could have caused such wound.

Thawrne mentally berated himself for slowing down. If he had the time to contemplate, he had time to pick up his pace.

What Thawrne saw was three quadruped beasts that stood just a few inches above his chest.

They held a triangle formation with the biggest in the middle.

They had black fur. No. It was a beautiful indigo that reflected the stalactite's radiant purple light.

The had matted dark grey manes, the one in the center had the longest mane. It had fresh lacerations on its face.

Pink flesh could be seen as if another beast had gotten a few good bites and swipes.

It's teeth jetted out like a sabertooth's. They had a sickly yellow tint to them.

It was a miracle he was able to create a such distance. That, or he had been toyed with.

Thawrne's eyes darted around for anything he could use as a weapon.

Who was he kidding, by the time he bent down to pick up something useful, they would have instantly pounced on him and tear through his jugular.

He backed away slowly with both arms outstretched. He was unsure what he should do, but he refused to break eye contact and turn his back.

The largest one pounced on him, it's claw dug into his left shoulder pinning him to the ground.

Thawrne hollered in pain as the new injury as well as the back injury shot his pain receptors.

The beast barred it's fangs just mere inches from Thawrne's face. It reeked of decay.

With his free hand, Thawrne scrambled his arm around looking for anything. His fingers only grazed small pieces of gravel until he grasped something bigger than his palm.

It felt cold and moist, it slimmed down as it narrowed.

He lifted his free arm and swung the unidentified piece like a bat across the beast's face.

The smack caught the beast by surprise. It dripped it's drool on Thawrne's face.

Thawrne grunted in disgust.

What was most surprising was that the object exploded into purple dust.

Thawrne coughed and covered his nose and mouth as the three beasts constantly sneezed, they rubbed their nose with their paw.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Thawrne got to his feet and quickly limped away.

He managed to get a good amount of distance before the beasts re-ignited their chase.

The tunnel grew narrow by the foot and descended. It grew darker and darker.

Thawrne could hear running water in the distance.

The beast's grownls echoes in the tunnel making Thawrne's heart drop to his stomach.

Thawrne sometimes hit his body against the walls.

It took a sharp turn to the right and the tunnel widened into a birth.

It was a cliff. The corners was covered in moss. It felt soft and moist on Thawrne's rugged feet.

For the first time since waiting for his train, had Thawrne experienced some comfort.

He wanted to savor in it for as long as he could. Unfortunately for Thawrne, the predators had finally caught up to him.

All three blocked the entrance back to the tunnels.

He once again held his arms up in a warning gesture and slowly

The beasts were examining him from head to toe. They were trying to find the most brutal method to end his life.

Thawrne let out heavy raspy pants as he continued to slowly back up.

The biggest readied it's body to swipe at Thawrne. The swipe was intended to gut Tharwne but the edge of the cliff let out a rumbling noise as it began to collapse.

The beast's attack missed the target but instead slashed Thawrne's face. He closed his eye shut as he felt his warm blood trickle down his neck.

He let out a groan of agony. He clamped his eye shut.

Thawrne reached out his hand only to grasp at nothing and was plunged once again into unknown depths.

He saw those hungry eyes staring back at him. Those yellow eyes burrowed into his heart.

The fall was steep. Thawrne was unintentionally diving headfirst. He felt the cold air against his body.

He couldn't shift his body into a safer position and just as he saw the ground his consciousness disipated.