Where the hunters exited, Sol entered. Only one man on guard. Eyes closed, feet propped, watching.
The tall black figure twisted the guard’s head.
Surprise.
No noise.
Only rage. Always rage.
The Other proceeded to the doorway, feeling along the walls as he went.
Blind. This is how she felt.
His throat began to descend to his stomach, and he forced it back.
Only rage. Always rage.
He reached the corridor. No one. This was their night. Their time for rest. He possessed too much power, was possessed by too much fury for their sleeping numbers to affect his plan.
I will help you rest. I will kill you all.
The nightmare drifted from cave to cave. A twisted shadow stealing life.
Collared by loss, led by wrath.
As he coasted through Below searching for more to extinguish,
he smelled it.
He smelled her.
The creature rushed the scent and was greeted by a ticklish laughter. “I knew you’d come. I could feel it. Just like I felt her.”
The glowing figure twirled a blade in his hands and pressed its flat surface hard down his
nose
lips
tongue.
Eyes rolled back with every lick. “That freak.”
The word was barely finished, yet the creature had pounced and pinned its prey. The wall of dirt, hard beneath the man’s shoulders.
Laughter kept falling.
“It
was
fun.”
The Other’s grip on the glowing’s shoulder squeezed tighter. Thumbs pushed past flesh, muscle, struck bone. “And so is this.” The Other unleashed his teeth and tore down the man’s face. He ripped through his neck.
Shucking skin.
No more laughter.
Only loss.