Too Late

Pieran turned back.The creature was already above the girl.One paw rose into the air, huge and deformed, ready to come down on her. The girl covered her face with her arms.

The world slowed.

Not truly. Not like the stories about people who could read movement before it happened. It was simply that fear filled his head until everything else disappeared.

The sound of the rain vanished. The traffic vanished. The humming rails above the buildings vanished. Only the girl remained, the beast’s raised claw, and the impossible distance between him and them.

Too far.

I can’t make it.

The thought came clearly.

Then, somewhere inside him, something answered.

Not with words. Not yet.

It felt more like a crack, a black fracture opening at the bottom of his consciousness.

His body moved.

He did not decide to run. He did not think about how to do it.

He launched forward.

The asphalt exploded beneath his shoes in a burst of water. The air struck his face so violently it stole his breath. For one terrifying second, he was not running. He was being moved.

The distance disappeared in a heartbeat.

No, in less than a heartbeat.

He reached the beast without understanding how. He had no technique, no strategy, not even a way to stop himself. The only thing he could do was lower his shoulder and slam into it with all the weight of his body.

The impact was horrible.

Something cracked. Maybe his bones. Maybe the creature’s. Maybe both.

The beast was thrown sideways, more surprised than hurt, and he flew with it for several meters before losing control completely. He rolled across the asphalt, once, twice, until the world became rain, concrete, pain, and light.

Then he stopped against the edge of the sidewalk, his cheek pressed into a cold puddle.

For a few seconds, he felt nothing. Then the pain arrived all at once: his shoulder, his ribs, his knees, his head. He tried to breathe and coughed up water.

Somewhere nearby, the girl was shouting something. He couldn’t understand the words.

He lifted his gaze.

The beast had crashed into the wall of a building. The impact had cracked the plaster and bent an old metal shutter inward. For a moment, it did not move.

Then one paw scraped against the asphalt.

His stomach turned cold.

The creature was getting back up.

It staggered. The wound in its side pulsed with unstable light. Part of its muzzle was crushed, and dark blood mixed with saliva dripped from its mouth. But its eyes were still burning.

Not with life.

With rage.

The beast slowly turned its head toward him.

He tried to stand. His hands slipped on the wet asphalt. He pushed himself up on one elbow, but his arm shook and he fell again.

“Get up!” the girl screamed. “Please, get up!”

I’m trying.

He wanted to say it, but no sound came out.

He tried to move his legs.

Nothing.

It was as if everything below his waist had become distant, numb, disconnected from his mind. His muscles burned, but they would not answer. Each breath felt like a knife buried between his ribs.

The beast advanced toward him, one uncertain step at a time.

He dug his fingers into the asphalt, trying to drag himself backward. He barely moved.

What did I do?

He had not really saved her. He had only moved the monster from her to himself.

The creature lowered its head. The growl vibrating inside its chest sounded like a broken engine. The girl kept screaming, but her voice was growing farther away.

The edges of the world began to blur. The rain on his skin felt warm, then cold, then distant again.

Above him, between the buildings of the Common District, another Resonance train crossed the sky. Its blue light reflected in the puddle before his face.

For an instant, he saw himself in that dirty water.

Pale. Terrified. Pathetic.

Someone meant to watch from below.

The beast opened its jaws.

And then, just as consciousness began slipping away from him, he heard a voice.

Low.

Close.

Inside him.

A voice that sounded as if it were smiling.

“Once again…”

The darkness closed around him.

“…you arrived too late.”

Then the world went black