The air was thick with tension, a palpable weight that pressed against Arin's chest. Around him, the fog swirled like a living thing, obscuring the jagged spires that jutted from the ground like broken teeth.
A faint hum filled his ears, an unsettling mixture of whispers and distant wails that seemed to echo through the ash-fog.
Gravity shifted with each movement he made, teasingly lightening his steps one moment before dragging him down like an anchor the next.
The ash curled like restless fingers around his ankles. Arin crouched low, every muscle tight, one hand gripping the knife, the other brushing the tether still looped to his belt.
"Stay close," he muttered under his breath. The rat didn't reply, of course.
The fog pushed with something heavier now. Arin steadied with his knife, jaw clenched.
"Whatever's in that fog… we'll face it together."
But the tether didn't twitch. No faint shuffling of paws. Arin was too occupied to notice the silence.
The ash shifted again. This time not with wind, but with weight. Something big was out there. Bigger than a rat. Heavier. The fog didn't just swirl. It recoiled, like it was making space for something that shouldn't be walking.
Arin crouched lower, fingers tightening around the handle of knife. His mind brushed the tether to signal it for attack. But nothing tugged back. He blinked and risked a glance over his shoulder.
Empty.
There were just floating ashes, not even footprint or paw-print. The fog groaned ahead, and a shape began to be visible; a familiar figure with long-limbed, hunched, ribs flared outward like a snapped-open cage.
Arin's pulse spiked. He opened his mouth to call for the rat. But only silence answered. Arin turned toward the beast, its sinewy form glistening with moisture of fresh blood, eyes burning like coals in the mist.
It snarled, revealing teeth that gleamed with malice, and Arin felt his heart race, though it was not fear that gripped him now. No, it was something deeper, a primal instinct of rejection.
What is this feeling? Fear, Hatred, nervousness or excitement? Arin questioned himself, and where is my rat? I spent my whole day and night on it.
Arin focused on the beast as he stood in the midst of ash-fog with his breath held. The beast was standing in front of him with its mouth opened.
Its mouth was full of bloody jagged fangs and its long sinewy limb bulged with unnatural muscle. If Arin had to describe it. It was like skinless dog on the steroids.
Arin stood with his fingers tightly clenched on the handle of knife. He braced for an attacked but the beast just stood, blood dripping from its mouth.
After few moments Arin noticed that the beast's eyes were white and it were emanating some kind of smoke.
Is it actually blind? Arin thought. After waiting for some more moments, he was quite sure that beast was indeed blind. So, he slowly stepped back.
Just as he moved, the beast lunged at him. Arin saw the bloody claw tearing through the air, threatening to dismember him.
"No…"
This was the only word in his mind as he awkwardly fell backward, allowing the claw to miss narrowly.
Arin landed on the back, narrowly avoiding the unexpected strike. The good thing was he avoided the hit that could have been a one hit kill or at least a grave injury. But the bad thing was he was sprawled on the ground unable to defend or make distance between him and the beast.
Arin was defenceless and an easier target now, just as this realization dawned on him, he desperately rolled to the side. In the next moment, the claw hit the ground, bouncing the ashes that covered the ground.
The ashes instead of falling back to the ground stayed afloat.
Arin thanked himself for his quick reaction otherwise he would have been dismembered by that blow. He was just standing up when another claw swiped sideways.
Luckily, he was ready this time, he blocked the claw with his knife but instead of fully resisting the force of strike he went with it, cushioning the force.
As his arms screamed in pain.
Arin might not have learned how to fight but he knew, he didn't have to win to survive. He has to fully avoid getting hit by this monster otherwise even if he survived now, he won't survive long afterward.
Instead of fracturing a few bones in his arms trying to fully resist the blow, he used the blow to fling himself in a distance then nimbly rolled.
Huh... Arin breathed heavily, I guess watching all that parkour wasn't a waste after all.
Then, He looked around, trying to ascertain the situation.
The beast was moving toward him. The blood of its previous victim dripping from its mouth as it growled at Arin with its teeth clinched.
"Come on, I am a dog lover. Do you have to kill me? Are three humans from earlier not enough for you?"
The beast obviously didn't answer but the answer was quite obvious to Arin.
All beasts hunt for the food but some also hunt for pleasure. It was probably full already from the last 3 victims and now it was hunting for entertainment.
Arin noted that scales that resembling the shattered glass were only protecting some points like neck, underbelly and parts nearby knees and elbow.
Well look like, I found the weak point. But the problem is if it is protected by the scales than is it really a weak point?
Arin pondered, trying to find a way to kill the beast or at least a way to escape and survive.
"If only that rat had been with me it would have been a little easier", Arin muttered under his breath as he jumped the side.
In the next moment, the ground he was on was torn apart by the beast. Its claw hit the ground leaving the deep claw marks and sending the ashes flying in all directions.
Normally, the ashes would have fallen down back to the ground but they hung, suspended in the air, making the small area denser of ash-fog.
Arin balanced himself and continued moving, hoping if the beast was actually blind then it would not be able to locate him easily if he kept moving.
But unfortunately, this time attack came sooner and more accurate than previous ones.
It lunged at Arin making a small cloud of ash-fog where it stood and its claw cutting through the air, threatening to cut his body with the same ease.
Arin swiftly ducked to avoid his demise, his mind churned to find a way.
He looked at his knife. The knife was big, the problem was even with its size, the attack range was shorter than beast's so he had to close in to land a hit. But even after it, Arin wasn't sure if it could pierce the glass scales of beast.
His problem didn't end here; his attack speed and power were also lower than the beast. So, if he didn't attack the weak point, the beast would just tank his hit and then dismember him.
Arin kept observing as his mind raced against time to find a solution.
A mad idea crawled its way into his mind.
The idea shocked the Arin himself. He had never done something like this. He didn't even know how such an idea had entered his mind. Only a lunatic would call it an idea.
No. No. No. Things aren't that desperate and even if it were, the beast would not attack according to my plan. Arin quickly rejected the idea.
At the same time, the claw lashed out again. This time Arin was too lost in his thoughts to dodge completely so he tried to block it with knife.
This sudden change of his action caused the inefficiency in handling the force behind attack and instead of gaining distance like earlier Arin was just thrown onto ground.
There was no time to recover. Arin understood he messed up bad. There was no point finding a better plan if he isn't alive to execute it.
No matter how mad every idea has its usefulness. So, Arin just clenched the knife in his right hand tighter. One claw pierced his stomach; the other pinned his shoulder down.
Arin felt like his body was butter and the claws of the beast were hot knives, as they entered his body without much of resistance and causing him a burning pain, making his grip falter.
Arin gasped for breath and tasted something metallic in the air as the beast neared to bite between his neck and left shoulder.
The pressure was crushing making it harder to breath for already gasping Arin. He couldn't even scream. Everything was heavy, burning, and suffocating.
"So, this is it?" Arin muttered absent minded, but something within him…refused.