My eyes snapped open, heavy as iron—but open. Only specks of vision remained; the rest was clouded in darkness. The bubbling, squished remains of one of the creatures rested in front of my face. The smell was rancid; the stench alone burned my nose—or what was left of it. I wasn't even sure if I still had one.

  My face felt charred, black goop dripping onto the ground beneath me. My eyes bulged, nearly slipping from their sockets. My ears rang, and every sound around me was warped and distorted.

  The lump of decayed flesh had dark eyes plastered all over it. They stared at me. Its red pupils didn't move. It never blinked.

  It was dead.

  A heavy breath escaped my mouth, relief washing over me. I had killed it. But I hadn't fared well against the beast; it had taken its toll. I could feel my heart slowing, matching the rhythm of the one that vibrated through the ground.

  "Budump… Budump… Budump…"

  Three seconds between each beat.

  Definitely not survivable.

  I lay there, taking in the cave around me—the jagged spikes lining the walls and ceiling, the uneven stone beneath my ruined body. The steady thumping of that distant drum sent vibrations through the cavern, making my destroyed frame tremble. The air was thick with blood and decay, burning my lungs with every shallow breath. Somewhere nearby, something scurried—the creature that had first bitten me, that had injected those monsters inside me.

  A shiver crawled through what remained of my spine.

  I closed my eyes. My ruined hands clasped together in prayer, begging whatever lurked in the dark to leave me alone—to let me rest, to let me die in peace.

  The constant pain had numbed my mind and body. I had grown used to the torture. It no longer even felt like I was melting alive.

  I tried to laugh, but only a hushed gurgle escaped.

  I was amused.

  Amused that I had been corroded so completely that my nerves had been burned away. There was nothing left to hurt. I was being reduced to a lump of flesh—just like the creature that had formed from my ruined matter.

  Will I turn into something like that?

  Will a seed be planted in my rotting corpse, sprouting into a horrid beast of death and pain?

  The thought terrified me.

  I imagine myself inflicting the same agony on the next poor brother or sister who stumbled into this accursed cave—implanting them with a monster that would eat them from the inside out.

  Would I still be conscious?

  Could I control myself?

  Or would I be lost to instinct?

  That would be a fate worse than death.

  Even if the risk is small, I cannot allow it. I will not become one of them. I have to do something. They cannot devour me, and I cannot be taken over.

  I will fight for my life.

  No matter how much I suffer.

  against stone. The noise was close enough for me to tell it was circling me, yet far enough away that I couldn't see what was making it.

  I think it was trying to decide whether I was dead or alive.

  I was close—but death hadn't taken me yet.

  It didn't know that. All it had seen was me destroying the beasts that had sprouted from my body and then collapsing onto the ground. It must have been waiting, testing my strength and resolve. I could barely move; I don't doubt its weariness. If I had watched something brutally slaughter others like me, I would hesitate to approach as well.

  But if survival meant risking everything, I wouldn't hesitate.

  A few minutes passed, and the grinding grew louder. The creature was growing impatient. I hadn't moved a muscle; my body was too ruined to do anything but breathe. I could move if I forced myself to, but I doubt I could go far. My best option was to remain still and rest.

  I could barely turn my head. The sounds of the monster were clearer now, but I couldn't tell which direction they came from. They seemed to surround me.

  Was it truly that fast?

  Or were my ears so damaged that they twisted the sound, distorting my sense of where it was?

  The screeching noise made my head spin. I searched for the beast, trying to pinpoint its location. The sound was all I had, but my perception of it was ruined. I scanned my surroundings, searching for its figure, yet darkness swallowed everything beyond a few meters.

  The sound began to fade, disappearing altogether.

  Then a small tapping echoed from directly in front of me.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Or at least, I think it was in front of me.

  From the darkness, a monster the size of a small boulder emerged. It had finally decided to show itself. Its size amplified its grotesque features. It resembled the beasts that had sprouted from inside me—but on a far larger scale.

  Its skin was liquid, webbed with dark veins that pumped black fluid through its body. The veins bulged, the skin cracking along their paths. Eyes covered its form, dark with red pupils burning at their centers. When one blinked, they all blinked. Red irises examined my broken body. It clicked one of its legs against the stone and began moving toward me.

  Its body was plump—a ball of distorted black flesh. It had eight legs, each bending at unnatural, impossible angles. The tips were sharp, sharper than steel. Black in colour, with cracks lining their surface.

  Beneath it, bone splintered.

  My bone.

  The white fragments from my shattered leg had turned completely black. The monster did not walk on iron.

  It walked on decayed bone.

  With each step, its talons left holes in the corroded stone. As it drew closer, its face split open, revealing two massive fangs. The flesh peeled to the sides, held together only by rotted tendons. Black blood dripped to the ground, hissing as it landed.

  It stopped a few feet away. Gurgling, choking sounds leaked from its deformed mouth.

  Sweat trickled down my burned brow. Fear rooted itself deep within me. I could barely move—and even if I could, what chance did I have? Monsters five times smaller than this had nearly killed me.

  How could I win against this?

  My mind raced. I didn't want to die. But how could I survive? The situation was dire: no escape, no strength, no help.

  My eyes darted around the cave, searching for anything that might give me a chance. There was nothing but darkness and stone. The only living creatures were the monster and me, separated by barely more than a foot.

  Nothing else.

  I looked back up at it, locking eyes with one of its many. I chose the one embedded in its forehead—the one that seemed to glow brighter than the rest.

  I forced myself to calm down. I had already defied death more than once. If this was where I died, so be it.

  I gargled through ruined lungs and stared daggers into that glowing eye. Rage burned behind my corroded vision. My fear twisted into fire, feeding my fury. I lowered my gaze from the towering beast.

  My eyes drifted to the corpse of the creature that had tried to devour me.

  The one that almost succeeded.

  This bubbling mass of decaying flesh had tried to melt my organs into liquid. It had tried to burn me to the bone. It had tried to end my fragile, precious life.

  But in the end—

  It was the one who died.

  And now…

  It would be the one devoured.

  The ground beneath me shook; the drums were beginning to beat faster once again.

  "Badump...Badump...Badump." Three seconds, two seconds, one second.

  The beat sped up—then stopped abruptly.

  I braced myself as the monster gargled in frustration. I dug my melted fingers into the stone, hardening my posture against what was coming. I pulled the corpse of the smaller creature into my embrace just as the cave began to shake violently.

  Rocks crumbled. Stalagmites snapped and fell from the ceiling. Pebbles and dust erupted from the ground, blinding me further. I rubbed at my eyes, dark tears forming at the corners. When I forced them open again, they burned—irritated, but still functional.

  Through the haze, I watched the creature plunge its talons into the ground, desperately trying to steady itself. It dug deep, its massive body trembling as the quake intensified. Its drooping face snapped upward, reattaching as it pulled its flesh tight, hiding its exposed forehead and shifting eyes.

  The tremors worsened.

  The world convulsed.

  The monster's many eyes widened as the cave shuddered around us. Its talons burrowed deeper, clinging with everything it had. Yet with each violent jolt, its body was rocked upward, its claws tearing loose from the stone before slamming back down again. Rocks battered its face but caused it no harm.

  While the monster struggled to hold its ground, I fared much worse.

  The first quake had already thrown me into the air, sending my broken body crashing against the stone. Before I could even settle, another tremor launched me again. I struck the ground, then lifted once more. I was launched like that many more times while also being struck with stray stones. Fortunately, I had just barely avoided being impaled by a stalagmite that fell from the roof. If I had been a few feet to the right, my head would have been crushed flat.

  It didn't hurt anymore.

  But it made moving my ruined muscles even harder.

  I was thrown across the cave, holding onto the corpse of the smaller beast with everything I had. The larger beast held its ground, unmoving from where it had planted its talons. The tremors began to slow, and the cave started to calm.

  I lay against the cave wall, legs twisted, skin ripped. Rocks lodged themselves inside my melted flesh; all sight in my right eye was gone. Below me, resting on my legs, lay my eye. The muscles holding it in had failed, dislodging it along with the optic nerve. Black blood stained my cheek, seeping from where my eye used to be. I brought my hand to my head, my fingers slipping into the empty socket. When I removed them, I watched as blood dripped from my fingers onto my lap.

  The monster stood a few meters away, its disgusting face shrivelled into a grin, exposing its rotted black teeth. It looked at me, then gargled before splitting in half and falling to its side once again. It clattered its talons against each other, sharpening the edges. It began taking slow, agonizing steps forward.

  I watched it approach, waiting for it to strike.

  Its talons scraped at my legs, absorbing fallen flesh and blood. It loomed above me, its lucid face lowering onto my shoulders. Fangs dripped with saliva, the substance falling onto me and melting through more of my flesh. I looked up at it, my rage still brewing within me. I showed it no fear, no pain — only rage. It hissed at me, displeasure seeping from its throat.

  Why isn't it attacking? Is it toying with me?

  It sucked in air, then exhaled into my face. Its rotten breath made me gag and shudder. The excruciating stench was unbearable.

  On its forehead, its eye tightened and began to bulge. From within, something pushed outward. I could hear it squishing and tearing. The skin split open, and from inside, a small larva appeared. It squirmed down the creature's dark flesh, climbing onto its fangs. It was pure white, with black veins webbing across its body. A single orphix sat at its front, dripping pitch-black, corrosive blood. I watched as its own fluids corroded its skin, turning its flawless white membrane into a dark layer of rot.

  My face shrivelled as I realized what it was about to do.

  It was trying to use me as fertilizer to grow more of its kind. It wanted to devour me.

  But I won't let it.

  From behind my back, I brought forth the creature I had killed.

  The monster gargled in confusion, not understanding what I was doing. When it realized it was the corpse of its own species, it hissed in anger. It raised its fangs and pierced my legs with its talons. Its eyes burned with fury.

  I flinched but did not stop.

  I lifted the body higher; each inch felt like lifting one hundred tons. I kept going as it wound up to strike. Looking down at the lump of flesh, my gut twisted as I comprehended what I was about to do.

  I brought it to my mouth and bit as it tightened its talons and started to drop its fangs.

  It burned. My mouth began to steam as I chewed. It tasted like death — then like nothing as my tongue and teeth dissolved. I kept shoving it in, finally swallowing the last of the beast. My throat burned, and I felt as if my stomach would tear open.

  The beast above me halted its attack, staring at me, dumbfounded.

  Blood dripped from my mouth. My lips began to split and crack.

  I looked into its foremost eye.

  In its reflection—

  was a smile.