Nyx (Complete✅)

Chapter 46

   Beth covered her ears. She was still stunned about the fact that Kelbar had actually managed to find more Viscordians, and now someone had died, and they were talking about leaving, and the most recent development was sending adrenaline pulsing through her.

   The sounds were strange, and they echoed from every surface of the cave's spacious walls, so it was impossible to tell which way it was coming from, or if it came from every direction at once. From the terrified looks on the faces around her, the underground villagers had heard the sound before, and it was nothing pleasant.

   She reached over and grasped Liam's hand, as much to comfort him as for her own relief. She felt safer whilst touching him, because if the worst happened, she could quickly teleport him out to safety, and then maybe come back afterward to see if she could save anyone else, but he was top priority.

   There was a shriek from the opposite side of the cavern, and then the world descended into chaos. Bodies were pressed against her on either side, shoving and jostling and elbowing. Her ears rang with the terrified shouts going off right by her ears, and she hardly realized when Liam's hand slipped suddenly from her own.

   She tried to make sense of anything that was happening, but her mind was a fuzzy blur of running and pushing Viscordians, mixed with the deafening sounds of retreat. She was pushed this way and that. She lost all sense of direction, except the one that everyone seemed to be trying to go.

   She was shoved roughly against a stone wall, and she gasped for air as the breath was knocked out of her. Another Viscordian ran straight into her, knocking her off her feet completely, then she was face to face with a sea of thrashing legs, all fighting to get out. She struggled to get her hands underneath her to push herself up. She had to find Liam and get out.

   Someone kicked her head in the frantic dash for safety, snapping her head back and into the cavern wall. She blinked the stars away from her vision as she tried once again to get up. A foot scraped harshly against her arm. She blinked a few more times, trying desperately to make sense of the dim scene in front of her. So many legs.

   She groaned, giving up on getting to her feet, and she pressed herself against the wall, hoping to get out of the path of the exodus.

   No matter how far she squished into the stone wall of the cavern, people still seemed to be brushing past her, and she saw the blade just a bit too late. It looked like it was designed to cut and harvest plants. The holder was a young male, his eyes stretched wide in terror as he fled the invisible jaws of whatever they were running from.

   The curved blade struck her just as she was ducking to avoid it, and her already foggy head went blank completely as she slumped against the wall. She didn't understand why everyone was so scared. Were they running from something dangerous? Would she be in danger if she stayed where she was? Something warm trickled down her forehead and into her eyes, making her vision blurry and faded. She wished Liam was there to answer her questions.

   She suddenly sat up straight. Liam!

   She had to find him and get him out. She was the only one who could save him. He was probably just as lost as she was. She hoped that he hadn't been trampled just like she had. Just the mere thought sent a jolt through her veins. She had to find him. What if he was knocked out somewhere among the ocean of legs, getting more and more trampled by the second?

   "Beth!" one familiar voice suddenly became clearer over the din. The crowd seemed to be thinner, or was that just her eyes playing tricks on her?

   "Beth!" the call came again, this time another voice, just as familiar as the last. As if rising out of a tossing sea, Kelbar and Liam were suddenly at her side.

   "Beth, what happened?" Liam anxiously examined her. She blinked a few times, wondering why it took a second for the correct reply to come to mind.

   "I-" she nearly choked from the dryness of her throat. "I fell and..." she trailed off, reaching up a hand to feel the source of the sticky red flow that was leaking into her eyes. The cut was long and jagged, surrounded by a patch of feverish skin that probably appeared red.

   "Beth, we have to get out." It was Kelbar that spoke this time. He was anxiously scanning the crowd as if searching for someone. She had noticed him cradling a young Viscordian girl before in the place called the healer's cavern, and he had seemed connected in some way to the other Viscordian woman, whose name slipped Beth's mind. Was he searching for either of them?

   After her train of thought, she nearly forgot exactly what Kelbar said, but then she remembered. Why did she feel so sluggish right now? She had barely even hit her head at all.

   "Beth, can you teleport us?" Kelbar finally turned to look at her. He was definitely worried about something, but whether it was about her, or someone still in the crowd, she wasn't sure.

   There was a heavy pounding noise coming from somewhere on the other side of the cave that she almost thought was nothing more than a background noise that came from being underground,  but then there was a snarl, that sounded vaguely like someone blowing their nose, in her opinion. Was there something coming? Were the things making the villagers so afraid, attacking right now? She racked her brain, only coming up with the name after several minutes. Dire Hounds.

   She jumped when she felt Liam's touch on her shoulder. "Did you hear what I said?" he had a worried expression on his face.

   She looked over his shoulder, her mouth dropping open. Most of the villagers had completed the dash for safety, and the cavern was mostly empty except for a few stragglers close to the exit. On the opposite side of the cavern, streaming in through a large entrance, were large black animals. They were about the size of the hogs she remembered seeing at a fair back on earth. They had curly black pelts, sleeked back and shiny. Their eyes were nothing but gleaming beads from that distance. Their heads looked like that of a hammerhead shark, with a mouth full of jagged teeth, and jowls dripping with black saliva.

   And they were headed straight for Beth, Liam, and Kelbar.