Song Remains the Same

Chapter 107: Ad Purgatorium

"I thought that this must be what purgatory was like. Can't go forward. Can't go back. Awaiting some official judgment."
- Megan Miranda

She hit the ground feet first and a body-jolting shockwave rippled through her entire nervous system from impact.

Alex almost lost her balance completely from the unexpected plunge, but found her center of gravity again thanks to a low crouch as she breathed hard and squinted around to see where her feet had found purchase: Solid, hard-packed ground. She cast a quick glance around as she cautiously stood on aching legs and turned in a quick circle, rapidly realizing that she had been hurled into the bottom of a gigantic, deep crater. It was dark out; the middle of night. On all sides of her she could just make out a gently sloping angle of dirt that led upwards to thickly wooded scenery beyond. It was very cold in this place and the air felt thin and heavy all at once. There was no sound or wind or anything else that indicated life of any kind which made for an eerie, pulse-increasing atmosphere.

Alex began to move immediately because she was a fish in a barrel at the bottom of the crater. She chose a direction at random and checked to see that all of her weapons were still on her as she moved stealthily, practically run-crawling up the angled embankment—her machete was still held in hand, crossbow was still over her shoulder, and her hunting knife's familiar weight rested safely at the back of her belt. Her long ponytail hit her own face a couple times as she stumbled upwards in the dark. Some sixth sense inside was urging her to hurry because she felt on instinct that there was immediate danger nearby. Unfortunately, she was running straight into it and didn't know. She made it to the ground level and froze at the cusp of the crater—waiting for her on its haunches, seething growling low breaths through bared teeth was something out of a horror movie, she barely glimpsed it before it launched itself at her: it was something her size, a short-furred baboon-like monster with glowing red eyes and fanged teeth that dripped some kind of venom or drool.

She didn't even have a chance to flinch or gasp when she saw it—it leaped at her with a horrible gnarling noise and they tumbled back down into the crater where she was sure this creature planned to kill and eat her. Vicious snapping snarls were right in her face as she fought the monster back with nothing but her own strength and her own two hands—the world went around in circles as they rolled down the embankment locked in combat. She had lost grip of her machete and her crossbow had fallen off and currently her hands were both jammed against stiff fur as she struggled to hold back certain death—she used one of her hands to hold the thing back by the neck and the other to pin one of its arms, and when they rolled onto the ground at the bottom of the crater, she slammed her knee into its side once, twice, three times, a battle cry of rage screaming up her throat. I didn't come this far to get taken out right away!

The beast writhed rabidly, snorting and growling furiously as a clawed hand left a bloody slash against the side of her face. Alex howled her pain even as she snapped her face away from the scratching claws and took a chance, letting go with one hand and beating the side of the monkey's skull with her fist repeatedly as she kept her deathgrip on its neck and clenched as tight as she could, hoping to crush a windpipe. Sensing an opportunity, Alex roared and in one adrenaline-fueled motion flipped her attacker over with another brutal knee-bash, freeing herself for a split second and giving herself the opportunity to yank her hunting knife out of its holster. With a vicious thrust that almost didn't make it at all as the creature lunged upwards at her, the knife sank deeply into the attacker's throat and a horrible screaming noise gargled out of the bizarre monster's mouth. Its body lost tension underneath her as she straddled its collapsing form. Alex pushed harder on the hilt, teeth gritted and breath gone as she grunted hard and made sure that thing would fucking die when she was done with it. It whined pathetically and Alex yanked the knife out of flesh hard, standing up and over her opponent on shaky legs as red eyes faded out and the monster perished.