Echoes of the Damned

Raelyn was dead inside. Every step she took felt like a betrayal to Luna, a heavy weight dragging her deeper into despair. The sword—Luna's sword—clinked against the ground as she walked, its edge scraping the rocky floor. She didn't have the strength to carry it properly, not anymore. Her legs moved forward out of sheer habit, but her heart wasn't in it.

She replayed Luna's final moments in her head, the grotesque transformation, the blood, the way the ground had devoured her friend. It was endless torment, a cycle of sorrow and self-loathing that left her hollow.

The heartbeat.

It had stopped.

Her brows furrowed as she stumbled to a halt. Weren't they close? The heartbeat had been their beacon, the proof of their destination. She looked around the dark, narrow corridor, her hands trembling.

"Were we wrong?" she whispered hoarsely to the void. "Were we never close at all?"

The silence answered her with a suffocating embrace, and she felt the grip of hopelessness tighten around her throat. She kept walking. She had to keep moving, if not for herself, then for Luna—for her sacrifice.

Suddenly, something slick and cold brushed against her leg. She froze, her breath hitching, and looked down. Her heart lurched.

It was wet. It was slimy. And it was slithering.

A snake.

Raelyn stumbled backward, nearly dropping the sword as she scanned the floor. Her stomach churned. It wasn't just one snake. The entire room before her was alive with them—a pulsating, writhing mass of serpentine bodies, scales glinting faintly in the dim light.

Hundreds. No, thousands.

The creatures coiled and twisted over one another, creating a living carpet that spread across the entire room. Their bodies glistened with a sheen of mucus-like moisture, and their forked tongues flickered out, tasting the air with an eerie synchronicity. Some were massive, their thick, muscular bodies curling like ancient predators, while others were smaller, darting over the larger ones in frantic movements. The sound was sickening: the squelch of their bodies pressing together, the hiss of their breath, and the soft, wet slaps of their movements.

The smell was overwhelming—a rancid cocktail of damp earth and decaying flesh, mixed with an acrid stench that burned her nostrils. Raelyn gagged but forced herself to breathe through her mouth.

At the other end of the room, she saw a narrow pathway leading onward. It was the only way forward.

Her knees shook as she stared at the sea of snakes, her mind screaming at her to turn back. But there was nowhere else to go. She clenched her fists, gripping Luna's sword tightly, and took a deep breath.

"Do it for her," she whispered, steeling herself.

Her first step into the mass sent a wave of revulsion through her body. The snakes writhed beneath her boots, their slick bodies squishing and sliding against each other. Some slithered over her feet, their cold scales brushing her skin even through her clothing. She bit down on a scream as a particularly large one curled around her ankle momentarily before slithering off.

Each step was agony. The wetness clung to her like a vile second skin, the sensation of their movements seeping into her bones. She could feel the press of their bodies against her legs, some rearing up as if to taste her with flickering tongues.

A hissing chorus surrounded her, growing louder with every step. Some of the snakes coiled, their head rising as if to strike, but they never did. Others slithered up her legs briefly before sliding back down, their movements invasive and horrifying. Her breaths came in shallow gasps, her skin crawling as she pushed forward.

Her boots finally hit solid ground, and she stumbled out of the mass, collapsing to her knees. Her chest heaved as she fought back tears, the sensation of the snakes still lingering on her skin like a phantom touch.

But there was no time to rest.

She pushed herself to her feet, dragging Luna's sword behind her once more. The oppressive silence returned, broken only by her ragged breaths and the faint dripping of moisture from the walls. She felt lost without Luna. Luna had been her compass, her guide through this nightmare. Now, she had nothing but her own fragile will.

A sound pierced the silence.

It was wet. Muffled. A grotesque squelching noise that made her stomach churn.

Raelyn stopped, her heart pounding as she peered into the darkness ahead. There, hunched over a corpse, was a figure.

It was humanoid, but grotesque in every way imaginable. Its emaciated body was stretched taut over jagged bones, its skin gray, mottled with patches of rot. Its elongated limbs ended in clawed hands, dripping with blood as it tore into the body beneath it.

The corpse was unrecognizable, its chest cavity ripped open, ribs snapped like twigs to expose the glistening organs inside. The creature scooped out handfuls of intestines, shoving them into its gaping maw, blood and bile spilling down its chin. Its eyes glowed faintly, sunken deep into its skull, and its jaw unhinged grotesquely as it crammed more flesh inside.

The ground was littered with pieces of the victim—a leg torn clean off, the mangled foot still twitching; a skull, cracked open to reveal the remnants of brain matter; and scraps of flesh scattered like discarded meat.

Raelyn's stomach turned, and she clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle a sob. Tears blurred her vision as she watched the creature feast, her heart pounding so loudly it drowned out her thoughts.

Then it stopped.

Its head snapped up, blood dripping from its mouth as it sniffed the air. Slowly, it turned its glowing eyes towards her.

Raelyn froze. Her blood turned to ice as the creature's gaze locked onto her, its head tilting in a jerky, unnatural motion.

It stood, its gaunt frame towering over the corpse.

Run.

The thought screamed through her mind as the creature took a step forward. Then another.

Its movements were erratic, its limbs twitching as it broke into a lurching sprint.

Raelyn turned and ran, her heart hammering in her chest. She didn't look back, didn't dare to see how close it was. The sound of its pursuit filled her ears—its claws scraping against the floor, its guttural growls growing louder.

A door loomed ahead. She threw herself toward it, her legs burning with the effort. The creature's rancid breath was on her neck as its claw swiped, narrowly missing her.

She slammed into the door, shoving it open and tumbling inside. The creature lunged after her, but its body colluded with an invisible barrier.

It roared in frustration, slamming against the wall with animalistic rage. Raelyn watched it from the floor, her chest heaving, tears streaming down her face.

It roared one last time before retreating into the shadows.

Raelyn collapsed, clutching the sword to her chest. 

For now, she was alive.