The darkness shifted.

  At first, it was subtle as if it was just a trick of the light. it was a mere ripple in the shadows, the kind that made men second-guess their senses.

  But Chael felt it.

  Something moved beyond the edges of the dim cavern. The weight of the air changed, thickening with something unseen but suffocating and pressed into his chest like unseen hands. His breath slowed.

  A shape stirred in the blackness.

  Chael's heart hammered against his ribs, his body tense and his instincts screaming at him to move. But he didn't move. He barely breathed. He stayed frozen with eyes locked on the shifting void in front of him.

  Then, it emerged.

  The first thing to breach the dim light was a hand or, at least, something that resembled one. It was too long and thin, clawed fingers dragging across the cavern floor with a slow, deliberate scrape like it was savoring the feeling of stone beneath its nails. Then came the wings. They were tattered, blackened things that stretched too far and brushed against the cavern walls as if they were feeling their way forward.

  Finally, its head came into view.

  Chael's stomach twisted.

  It was grotesque and elongated - almost human in shape but unmistakably wrong. Its skull was smooth, featureless, except for two deep slits where a nose should have been. No eyes. No mouth. Just an empty face, peering into the world without seeing.

  But Chael knew that it could see. Just not with its sight.

  A slow and rasping inhale filled the cavern as if it were tasting the air.

  The massive frame hunched lower and its entire body quivered. The cavern itself seemed to shudder around it as if the beast's presence warped reality itself.

  Chael knew this thing.

  A Veyrith.

  The Screeching Death.

  A creature whispered about in old northern tales. It was the kind of horror meant to keep children inside at night. No one hunted them nor did they try to fight them. Even the highest-ranked Veiled Harbingers would rather avoid them altogether.

  Chael's fingers curled into fists and his nails dug into his palms, but he didn't move.

  But, someone else did.

  "Ouch, what the fuck, man. I didn't see that fall coming at all."

  "Of course. We rushed blindly into the dark looking for that bastard! Where the hell-"

  The mercenary stopped talking and he simply stared at the creature not too far from him in sheer horror.

  The remainder of the Mongrel's Vow beside Echidna made their way down to the pit.

  "Dumbasses, watch where you're-" Garren was just about to finish his sentence when he saw the creature under small fractures of light coming from above. "What the fuck..."

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  A second stretched unbearably long, the entire cavern holding its breath.

  Then, it screeched.

  It wasn't just sound it was a force.

  The very air shuddered, the cavern walls trembled, and Chael felt it slam into his ribs like a physical blow. It rattled his skull, sent a sharp, piercing pain straight through his bones, and made his vision blur at the edges. The mercenaries around him weren't as lucky. Some staggered back while others fell to their knees, clutching their ears as the sound tore through them.

  But the Veyrith didn't wait.

  The instant its screech ended, it moved with inhuman speed.

  The first mercenary barely had time to react before claws tore through his torso. Blood splattered across the stone as his body was ripped apart in one clean motion, his severed halves hitting the ground with a sickening splat.

  Another man tried to retreat, his sword half-raised, his face twisted in terror but he didn't even finish his swing. The Veyrith whipped around, moving like a shadow, its skeletal wings folding as it slammed its entire weight into him. The mercenary was thrown against the wall with such force that his bones shattered on impact. His lifeless body slid down the rock and left a smear of red in its wake.

  The rest tried to fight but it didn't matter.

  They spread out, surrounding it, weapons drawn, eyes filled with desperation but the Veyrith was erratic. It crashed against the walls as it moved. It was reacting not to sight but to the tremors in the air.

  One swung a blade and missed.

  The Veyrith dodged, then retaliated.

  A claw sliced through armor and flesh alike, cutting the man down instantly.

  Another tried to fire a crossbow, but the moment his fingers twitched on the trigger, the beast turned on him. Before he could even lose the bolt, it lunged with its teeth tearing into his throat, ending him in seconds.

  ****

  Chael sat against the cavern wall, watching the massacre unfold with a slow, creeping grin.

  And he laughed.

  It started as a quiet exhale, barely more than a breath, but it built from a low, sharp, bitter chuckle then to a louder, raw, unhinged laughter.

  He laughed at the mercenaries who thought they had control over him. He laughed at his clan that had perished without him. He laughed at the storm that had tried to swallow him whole. And most of all - he laughed at his own fate.

  Soon another set of boot steps echoed into the cavern desperately.

  Echidna.

  She had finally caught up.

  Her breath was ragged, her face pale as she staggered into the cavern, taking in the carnage.

  Her silver eyes locked onto the Veyrith, now circling its last two victims, wings twitching, claws dragging against the stone floor.

  Her breath hitched.

  "No..."

  For the first time in a very long time, there was real fear in her eyes.

  Echidna had seen men die before. She had killed more than she could count. But this? This wasn't a fight. It was a slaughter.

  Merken barely had time to scream before the Veyrith ripped him apart, its claws sinking into his torso and tearing through flesh and bone like it was nothing. His blood sprayed across the stone in a sickening wet sound that filled the cavern as what was left of him collapsed in a heap of gore.

  Garren was the only one left.

  The cavern shook violently as another section of the wall collapsed in a deafening roar. Dust and stone came crashing down and sealed off the entrance completely. There was no way out now.

  Echidna staggered back, her body rigid as her breath came in quick, sharp gasps. The Veyrith turned toward her, its head tilting at an unnatural angle and sniffed the air. Its fanged maw twitched and its hollowed sockets locked onto her despite its blindness.

  A primal fear gripped her spine. The kind that made her blood run cold and made her body refuse to move. Her mind screamed at her to run but her legs wouldn't listen.

  Then a hand grabbed her.

  It was Garren.

  He shoved her forward and blocked the Veyrith's path with his robust form.

  "Run!" he roared and swung his axe with everything he had. "There might be a pathway up ahead!"

  The Veyrith lunged.

  The last thing she saw before turning to flee was Garren's axe clashing with the beast's claws and the collision causing a violent explosion of force reverberating through the cavern. She didn't wait to see the outcome.

  She ran.

  She hated it. She wasn't someone who fled and abandoned her own. She had fought alongside her men in the worst of times and had stared death in the face and laughed.

  But this was different.

  This thing wasn't just strong. It was something else entirely. Something that wasn't meant to be fought - only survived.

  Garren had given her a chance to live so she took it.

  She ran past the bodies with her boots sloshing over the shallow pool of blood and deeper into the darkness - toward the sound of laughter.

  Chael's laughter continued. He was still slumped against the wall. He was still bleeding and still grinning. His lips were split and his skin pale from blood loss, but his expression was one of pure amusement.