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Chapter 11: A Hearty Meal

Chapter 11: A Hearty Meal

A heavy roar sounded from their right.

Rook stopped.

The grass ahead bent beneath the weight of something charging toward them.

Another roar answered from the opposite direction.

Mara turned and saw several enormous silhouettes rushing through the field. They had heard the child’s crying and were converging upon it, drawn by the promise of prey, stolen memories or whatever else compelled Abominations to tear one another apart.

The problem was that Rook and Mara stood directly between them and the Third Rank.

Rook looked toward the charging shapes, then toward the child.

Running would reveal them.

Remaining where they were would place them beneath the feet of creatures large enough to crush the coffin into the ground. If that killed them immediately, they would be fortunate. Because not dying immediately here, is far, far worse than any torture once caught by the abominations.

"Fuck," Rook thought.

The word felt insufficient.

He lowered himself and shoved Mara down beside him.

Two Abominations tore through the grass ahead. The first moved on four thick limbs with its enormous torso twisted backward, its spine bending in the wrong direction. A ring of human arms encircled its neck, each hand opening and closing as though searching for something to grasp.

The second possessed no recognizable head. Its upper body narrowed into a long, fleshy tube lined with breathing holes, while three swollen legs hammered the ground beneath it.

Neither slowed.

The malformed creatures were in a straight collision course with Rook and Mara.

Mara pressed herself flat against the earth. The pale chain between them disappeared beneath the grass, flickering once as Rook shifted closer to prevent it from tightening.

The charging Abominations drew nearer.

Twenty paces.

Then ten.

The earth shook beneath each impact. The coffin’s hooks rattled softly against the wood, but the noise vanished beneath the thunder of approaching limbs.

Mara looked at Rook.

He held the falchion in one hand while the other closed around a thunder charge. There was no time to light it. Even if there had been, the explosion might inconvenience one creature before drawing the entire field upon them.

Five paces.

He needed to act as bait. That was the only way out, reveal himself, distract the two and run. Allowing Mara to escape. The contract would allow that. The chain won’t tighten.

The arm-ringed beast lowered its body as it charged. Several of the hands around its neck struck the grass, tearing black stalks from the ground.

One of those hands brushed Rook’s coat.

A face opened along the creature’s chest.

Its eyes found him.

The Abomination’s charge faltered as recognition passed through its distorted features. Its mouth widened, gathering a cry that would announce Rook’s presence to everything around them.

The child stopped weeping.

It turned.

Its hands fell away from its face, and the mouth beneath them opened wider than before. The lower jaw split down the middle, peeling apart until the entire front of the creature’s body became a red, trembling cavity.

The membranes shot outward.

They crossed the distance too quickly for Mara to follow.

Several wrapped around the arm-ringed Abomination’s throat and limbs. Others struck the headless creature beside it, burrowing into the breathing holes along its upper body before coiling around its torso.

Both Abominations were ripped sideways.

The first had enough time to release half a cry.

Its voice ended as the membranes hauled it into the child’s waiting mouth.

The second creature struck the ground, carving a trench through the grass as it was dragged behind it. Its three swollen legs kicked violently, crushing the earth and anything beneath them, but the membranes tightened and pulled harder.

The child’s tiny body did not move.

The two massive Abominations disappeared into its open jaws.

Bones broke within the red cavity. Flesh folded and compressed beneath layers of tightening membrane. The child’s narrow body stretched around them without changing shape, swallowing creatures several times larger than itself one piece at a time.

Wet crunching echoed across the field.

The arm-ringed beast continued struggling. Hands clawed at the child’s face and tore strips from its gown, but every arm vanished between the membranes in turn. The last visible hand closed around empty air before being pulled inside.

Then the mouth snapped shut.

The child stood exactly as it had before.

Small. Pale. Trembling.

Blood continued running from where its eyes should have been.

"Mommy..." it sobbed.

Rook slowly looked forward.

The path was open.

He nodded once.

Mara understood.

They began moving again.

Neither stood fully. They kept low beneath the grass and travelled with the same agonizing care as before, even while the child chewed whatever remained on the ground from the abomination limbs. Every crunch made Mara’s body tense. Every wet swallow tempted her to move faster.

Rook refused to rush.

The creature had saved them by accident. It had not attacked those Abominations to protect them. It had simply heard prey coming and taken the closest meal. The moment it discovered Rook and Mara, it would do the same to them.

They crossed the last stretch of black grass.

Rook reached the broken ground first. He climbed over a low ridge of stone and turned, extending one hand toward Mara. She caught it, and he pulled her over the rise without allowing the chain to become taut.

The wailing continued behind them.

They did not look back.

The black field ended abruptly beyond the ridge. Pale stone replaced the grass, spreading ahead in jagged shelves and narrow passages. Tall formations rose from the earth like the remains of enormous bones, blocking the sight of the field after only a few steps.

Rook led Mara between them.

They moved deeper into the new terrain until the sound of chewing faded and the child’s cries weakened into a distant echo.

Only then did Rook slow.

Mara remained close behind him, her fingers still twisted into the back of his coat. She did not seem to realize she was holding it, and Rook did not point it out.

Behind them, from somewhere beyond the wall of pale stone, the child called once more for its mother.

Rook tightened his grip on his weapon and continued forward.

Soon, they left the field behind and entered an entirely different region.