Running. Always Running

Running. Always running. Always running from something. Never to something. Never to someone. Always and forever away. At least I would die for someone else, this time. My life will not have been in vain.

My legs were swift, powerful. My gait was as much a leaping bound as it was a sprint. On earth, I had only ever moved this quickly on a motorcycle. There was no time to stop to make sharp turns. I could only move forward. I didn’t dare look back, for if I turned back, I would become aware of how close that thing was, how close I was to death. If I knew such a thing, I would doubtlessly falter. Besides, I needed my full attention on the path ahead.

The ground has always been littered with debris. Fallen stone and collapsed arches made the tunnels treacherous. If I failed to spot even a single errant stone or pothole, I would fall. It was like running an obstacle course, vaulting over fallen columns and sliding under collapsed pillars. As I'd pass these obstructions, I'd hear from behind the shattering of crumbling masonry and splintering ancient wood. Occasionally, I'd even feel a small piece of debris strike the back of my head, further serving to remind me just how close that thing was.

It came behind me, snarling, wheezing, coughing, panting. But never roaring, because it had no breath to do so. Despite being so massive that its stride outpaced mine several times over, it still struggled to maintain pace. Somehow, at full sprint, I was keeping it at arm's length, and I knew this was not a pace I could sustain.

My status screen lingered in the corner of my view, and I could see my HP ticking down rapidly. Second by second, moment by moment, moving this fast was outright killing me. But how long did I actually have? I had no idea. All the world, all time and space, had become dilated in my view. Movement was both imperceivably fast, and painfully slow. All the details of the moment were absorbed completely, and I had plenty of time, and no time at all, to contemplate my actions. Instinct took over, and thoughts, rationalizations, those came after, if they came at all.

Since it didn't announce its arrival with a roar, only by the thudding of its ponderous gallop on six ungainly legs, I kept coming across creatures that had no idea what was happening. A lesser gangrel stepped into our path at an intersection, staring at our rapid approach like a deer in the headlights. I vaulted over it, and the Wheezing Dragon caught it and swallowed it up in a single snap of its jaws. It hadn’t even made a full throated cry of terror. It yelped for a barely audible moment, and it was gone, down its gullet and soon to become one of the innumerable piles of shit that littered the causeways.

We barreled down another long passage where a greater gangrel had been traversing, and as soon as it caught wind of us, it started running. For several long, awkward moments, I had a running mate, both myself and the monster going at full tilt, fleeing from an atrocity. However, it was not like me, a creature made for running. It quickly tired and began to slow, the alien expression of terror creeping onto the gangrel's features. It eventually fell out of my line of sight, followed quickly by the sound of its agonizing cries.

I didn't dare to glance back, because the Wheezing Dragon did not stop to relish the flesh of its victim. As I ran, I heard the gnashing of bones and the rending of flesh, accompanied by the slow death rattle of the gangrel as it was consumed on the go.

When I could, I tried to lose it by turning corners, hoping that turning was far more difficult for it than it was for me. That turned out to be partially correct. I turned a sprint into a slide, cutting up my legs, but this allowed me to change direction far more rapidly, for as soon as enough momentum had been bled, I could leap back up in my chosen direction. Preserved some of my momentum, but not as much as I'd liked.

I could hear the Wheezing Dragon also try to skid to a stop, only to overshoot the intersection by several yards, and desperately turn around to resume the chase. Each turn widened the gap a little more, left or right, it didn't matter. All that mattered was that its snapping jaws were no longer just behind my ears, and my legs were becoming dangerously shredded. Each time I did so, I lost 50HP, and on top of the HP I was expending from running so hard, it didn't take long for me to hit half HP. Half dead, or half alive, the glass was not comforting in either direction.

Our frenzied race eventually led us to a bend, and I did not like the idea of trying to pull a slide again. Moreover, it would not be practical, as a pair of dumb and deaf zombies had been loitering there. If I dared to try and slide, they could merely reach down, grab me, and then we would all die as the Wheezing Dragon trampled all over us.

The alternative was a gamble, but I had grown up in a dying empire, I was nothing if not a gambling addict. The bend went left, and so I veered left for a few steps, then went right, approaching the wall at a diagonal. I leapt up and ran along the wall, my prior forward momentum allowing me to defy gravity for a brief few steps. Enough to at least make the turn. The zombies, barely aware of the world, registered my presence, but were too slow, and I was just out of reach. The inertia did bleed out just as the curve ended and I leapt back onto the ground to run as normal.

Behind me I heard it smash full force into the wall, the crash mixed with the noise of flesh turning to pulp, its frustrated howls quickly receding as I took another turn. I hadn't lost it yet, however. Its vengeful snarls only retreated for a few moments, before it started to catch up again. At that moment, a familiar scent rose up, the smell of water and the faint babble of the waterfall room.

Part of me despaired that I'd gone so far as to end up where we started, and the other clocked an opportunity. I was no longer in the direct line of sight of the monster, but it would forever hunt me by scent, as it had with Jorge. The waterfall couldn't erase my scent, but it was a place to hide for a little bit. Another gamble, but I was a gambling man. Well, a gambling woman, now.

I followed the sound and scent of water through the winding passages of the labyrinth, the anger of the Wheezing Dragon never too far behind. Eventually I found the waterfall room and dove into the water.

Immediately the current tried to drag me away, and I used all my strength to find a handhold on the wall. Adjusting to the aquatic environment, I found the current manageable, and I could probably swim back up without much issue. If necessary, I might need to activate my fury to do so.

I remained below the surface, staring up in anticipation, hoping that when it did arrive, it would not linger. It crashed through the waterfall sooner than I thought. I watched as it meandered around the water, confused, searching for my scent. Please, quickly give up, or even better, go on a wild chase, follow our old trail.

Under the water, my heartbeat had somehow slowed to a crawl, and I realized that I could remain down here far longer than I ever could've held my breath as a human. Even my HP drain has slowed down remarkably, but not entirely. This was still an act of exertion, and I was close to a third of my HP, 247/720.

As I watched with morbid anticipation, I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. In the deepest shadows from across the pond, something was stirring. There! A pair of eyes, staring at me from the dark. Hanging on against the current I readied my sword.

It slowly stirred, a gangrel-like creature, with amphibian features. Webbed feet and membranes that extended from arm to torso. A toad like head lined with lamprey needle teeth, and dark eyes which shone with alien intelligence. It gazed upon me hungry, and pounced.

It never got to me. As it bounded across and I braced myself to intercept, the bulbous skill head of the Wheezing Dragon came plunging into the water. Like a bird snatching a fish out of the sea, it came down on the water-gangrel and ravaged it. The water churned with the violence of the Dragon tearing apart the water gangrel, before plucking it out of the pond.

The turbulence generated was too great, and I was cast free from my handhold. Before the current could resume and suck me deeper into the void, the dragon's head came plunging down again, narrowly missing me by a hair. Both of its eye stalks were focused on me, its hunger primal and cunning. Naturally, I slashed at it, severing one of its eyes.

It once again withdrew, and I could see it roar in pain. Such was the magnitude of its cry that I could see the water itself vibrating. The eye I'd cut away remained with me for a few brief moments, unerringly focused on me, until it was carried away by the current and into the dark.

I would've been swept away as well, had the Wheezing Dragon not dove headfirst towards me again. Without an eye, and in severe pain, it had missed by a large margin this time. Indeed, it actually presented its neck to me as it blindly bit away at the water, hoping to catch me by chance. I am a greedy one. I stabbed right into the back of its head, near the base of its neck.

The broken blade sunk into the flesh deeply and easily, and unexpectedly, remained there. When the Dragon withdrew its head, I refused to let go of my sword, and was drawn out with it.

I rose from the water screaming.