World Eater

83

“DID YOU HEAR THAT?”

Sariel turned around, gritting his teeth as the corpse began to twitch. The flesh on its back rose, straining to contain whatever lurked under the skin. Taking Judas by the arm, Sariel pushed him back.

Creatures burst through a rotting gash, spilling onto the concrete. They had no discernable facial features, only shriveled, brownish red skin. They were headless bodies suspended on six legs, a gnashing mouth hidden on its underbelly.

“I shouldn’t have expected the World Eater to leave this place entirely unguarded. She's aware that we're following her,” Sariel spat, clenching his fist.

The creatures descended upon them like a wave, gaping mouths chattering with wet snapping noises. Sariel sprung into action, letting feathers tear across his body and wings emerge from his back. His true form ripped from his human body, cloven hooves digging into the mud as he threw himself at the World Eater’s spawn.

He slashed through the creatures with surprising ease, their weak flesh nothing compared to the being that created them. At his side, Judas snatched one of them by the leg, flinging it onto the ground and smashing it with his foot.

“It think that's all,” Judas said, wiping sweat from his brow.

“It's not all,” Sariel murmured, a dark expression on his face as he resumed human form, glaring down at a bone-like spine that protruded from the earth, “We're merely cutting off branches.”

He let his fingers graze its surface- it was cold, but something pounded within it, like a heartbeat. “If this planet is going to survive, we need to kill the roots.”