Corpse

Vritra had not lied when he told the others that running people are the favourite prey of the beasts. He wasn't exactly sure how true that was, but all strong creatures have that characteristic. 

They would first finish the prey which is trying to escape before the ones that are already frozen or unable to move. 

Feeling the heart-wrenching pressure of the beast, Riham hastily stood on his legs and without a care in the world, he turned around and began to run, as he cried while limping. 

His cries and the smell of his blood undoubtedly attracted the Raptor. Based on its instincts, it chose Riham as its prey and charged towards him while waving the axe. 

Sana came in front of Vritra and fell onto her knees. She couldn't even look at his hand, but gritting her teeth, she began to wrap a cloth around the wrist part. 

" Ughhhh... " Vritra's body shivered under the intense pain. It was unbearable, but stopping the bleeding was all that could be done. 

" We have to huff and puff and go. " He said, while patting her shoulder with his right hand.

Sana was almost in a crazy state. She felt like vomitting, her head was spinning constantly, and her heart was beating like drums. 

After wrapping the cloth properly over his wrist, she nodded and helped him stand up. Vritra placed his arm on her shoulder, and both of them began to walk towards the door that almost had enough space for a person to pass through it. 

Out of the four people, the girl who was the thinnest of all had already gone inside, while the remaining three were still trying to push themselves. 

Azhar was still on the ground. His body and mind were frozen. He only stared as Vritra and Sana passed by him. 

After trying for a few seconds, the second boy pushed himself inside while Jackal and one more boy were still struggling because of their excess weight. 

The Raptor wouldn't need much time to kill Riham, so they had to escape as soon as possible. 

Just as Vritra arrived near the door, even Jackal had pushed himself inside. Only one boy still struggled because of his bulging belly. 

WHOOOOSSHHHH

"Let's go inside, " Vritra was just speaking when a whoosing sound was heard, as if something was tearing through the air and approaching them at high speed. 

Without even looking back, Sana pushed Vritra away with all her strength, and because of the recoil, her own body began to fall backwards. 

BANG

The two of them saw a shadow rushing towards them, and in the next instant, it struck the door. 

Vritra fell on his back but didn't receive any injury. He quickly raised his body with some difficulty and saw that it was the axe of the giant Raptor. 

' It is already coming back, ' Vritra concluded as he heard the loud thumping sound. 

He stood on his feet and looked towards Sana. She was lying on her side facing the other side. 

Vritra saw that even the last person had gone inside the door, so he ran towards Sana to go inside together. 

" Are you alright? " He held her shoulder and turned her around, but what he saw was her beautiful face covered in blood. 

There was a deep wound on her head. The handle of the axe had hit her when she pushed Vritra away. Her breathing was already very slow.

With her barely open eyes, she saw the face of her beloved. There was happiness in her eyes that he was fine but also pain that this would be the last time she was seeing him. 

" Vritraaa... " Her lips, which were painted red by her blood, opened slightly as she called out his name in an inaudible whisper.

As if registering his image in her mind, Sana slowly closed her eyes and took a long breath before she passed away. 

Vritra stared at her face for a second. He pitied this young girl a little since he had used her to ensure his survival. A woman in love can be quite crazy. 

He had already seen in one of the visions where Sana had pushed him, but it was unknown whether it was towards the danger or away from it. 

So to ensure that it is the latter case, Vritra had been showing interest and care towards her, making sure that their bond is strong enough that she wouldn't kill him. 

 But that feeling was faint and emotions were back to normal in an instant. 

He gently laid her down and took her bag. Vritra took one last glance towards the approaching beast who had significantly slowed down. Vritra then ran towards the door carrying the two bags. 

Azhar, who was sitting frozen on the spot, saw Sana's dead body and felt his heart shiver in horror. The approaching sound of the Raptor made him realise that he was still not safe. 

" H- Help me!! " Azhar shouted looking towards Vritra, while dragging his body towards the door. 

Vritra didn't even glance back at him as he went inside the door while pulling the bags with his right hand. 

In the next moment, a heart-piercing scream rang out and blood splattered all over. 

After entering the door, Vritra hastily stood on his feet and looked around carefully, with his left hand hidden. 

 One girl and three boys stood some distance away. They looked dreadful, all of them were crying. 

All of them were lucky enough to have ended behind the Raptor after its first strike. 

Vritra panted heavily. The unbearable pain was making it difficult for him to stay awake. Despite the cloth wrapped around his wrist, it was not able to completely stop the bleeding. 

' I have to go ahead quickly. ' 

" W- Where are the others? " Jackal asked. The three of them stared at the door, but no one else was entering. 

Vritra only shook his head, and the four attendants understood the meaning. The girl began to cry even louder, as all four of them lost the strength in their legs and fell down. 

Maybe it was because all of them had entered, but the door stopped moving, with a gap of less than a metre. Vritra moved away from the door. From the noises, the giant Raptor was still outside, and Azhar was most probably dead. 

' I can feel it, whatever is ahead it is very close. ' he stopped beside the others and dropped both the bags, then took out water and drank some.

" W- What's wrong with your left hand? " Jackal was the one to ask, as he saw a large patch of blood around his hand. 

" I got a cut on my palm, it will be fine. " He answered then unsteadily stood on his feet one more time. 

" Wait here, I'll go ahead to check for any danger. " Vritra said, placing his bag back over his shoulder. 

" W- What? You are all alone? " One of the boys asked, they were too afraid to move even a little. 

" Yes, Huff Huff stay here, I will be back soon. " Vritra answered, turning to leave. 

" I- I'll go with you... " Jackal said as he stood on his shaky legs, his face was filled with tears and snots and it seemed he really might faint. 

" Just stay here!! " Vritra had no time to explain, his voice was stern and his gaze threatening. 

" Okay but be careful ahead. " Jackal sat down, for some reason he was feeling fear even from Vritra. 

After taking just a couple of steps he stopped and turned to look at Jackal before extending his right arm and saying: 

" Give me your knife. "

" Y- Yes, you can have it. " Without asking anything, Jackal simply handed his knife to Vritra. 

The four attendants could only watch as the boy walked away from there, his steps unsteady while dripping drops of blood on his trail. 

Huff Huff

Even breathing was getting so hard now that his throat had started to burn, he felt thirst but even drinking water was not helping. 

Just walking straight seemed like an impossible task as he forced his body to keep on moving, his eyelids weighing in kilos. 

Vritra stopped for a moment before reaching his destination, gritting his teeth he extended his left and slowly removed the cloth that Sana had wrapped around it.

Instantly blood began pouring out, forming a small pool on the ground, Vritra allowed the blood to gather for a few seconds before he wrapped the cloth back and finally proceeded.

Although this had slightly worsened his condition but it was necessary to avoid later trouble.

After walking for around ten minutes, he arrived in front of another door. Unlike the previous one it seemed to be made of some metal, it was just one large door which needed to be pushed to open. 

Instead of a door knob, some kind of animal head of the size of a fist was present, with its mouth open wide displaying its sharp teeth. 

' I wonder if I have found some kind of hidden lever or something to open this door. '

Vritra slowly walked close to the door. First, he decided to check the animal-headed door knob. He placed his bloody head against its mouth and pushed forward, mustering all his strength. 

Drrrrrrrrrr...

And it actually began to open. For some reason, he was able to open such a heavy-looking door with so little force. 

Vritra didn't pause to think about it. Just as the door opened enough, he walked inside only to be surprised by the space he found himself in. 

It was a large hall. Aside from the door through which he had entered, there was another locked door in front. 

At the centre of the room, there was a strange container that looked like a bathtub with a height of a little over a meter, filled with some kind of crystal-clear fluid to the top. 

There was a book lying beside the bathtub, looking old and ordinary. 

In one corner of the hall, a man wearing a tattered robe sat with his back pressed against the wall. His disheveled long black hair covered half of his face. 

Vritra observed the room cautiously while standing with his back against the door which had already closed behind him. 

' Why is there a man here? ' Vritra was quite surprised, but he was wary of that man since he could feel a strong presence from him. 

He had been in many battles in his previous life, and maybe because of instincts, he could feel danger. He was getting quite a strong feeling from the man who sat there with his eyes closed. 

Pushing his body forward, he headed towards the book first. Keeping his eyes on the man, he picked up the book and opened it. 

Vritra found it strange that he wasn't able to open more than a couple of pages, but then he began to read from the start. 

Just after reading a little, Vritra was quite shocked.