After roughly two hours of trudging through the thick, swirling snow, the silhouettes of structures began to emerge from the obscured horizon, hinting at the presence of a village in the distance. Mono's heart raced in his chest.
'Jackpot.'
With excitement coursing through him, Mono wasted no time. Gripping the worn fur of the bear slung across his shoulder, he shifted from a weary walk into a determined light jog, urging Grey to keep pace. Each step crunched in the deep drifts, breaking the pervasive silence of the winter landscape. As they drew near, Mono's apprehension mixed with curiosity, and he steeled himself for whatever awaited them in the village.
As they approached, the scene revealed itself in greater detail—a collection of crumbling houses stood shrouded in a ghostly stillness. The buildings leaned at odd angles, their roofs bowed under the weight of accumulated snow. Abandoned sleds and broken fences littered the paths, half-buried and forgotten beneath the white blanket. Mono realized, with a twinge of unease, that this was no mere facade; it was undeniably a village, long forsaken.
***
Grey took a moment to study the desolate landscape before deciding to follow Mono into the village's heart. Just behind him, he cast furtive glances around, taking in the disheveled state of the town. Windows stared vacantly like the hollow eyes of the departed, their glass shattered or missing entirely, revealing shadowy interiors cloaked in darkness.
It was as if the townsfolk had made a frantic escape, leaving behind only echoes of their hurried lives. Chairs sat overturned in the snow, and a half-burnt lantern flickered weakly, swallowed by the encroaching winter. Grey could almost sense the lingering fear that had driven the villagers away, an unshakable urgency that hung palpably in the frigid air. There was an ominous silence, broken only by the faint sound of the wind howling through the empty streets, amplifying the unsettling feeling that they were stepping into a place steeped in unspoken histories.
In the distance, Grey could see Mono peering into a house. Intrigued by the town the boy decided to explore for a while, looking back at Mono for a moment before wandering off. The boy picked up on the fact that the snow in the village was more a thin sheet, rather than the layers upon layers piled on top of each other out in the tundra. Nonetheless Grey couldn't care less as long as he was warm and safe.
The sound of snow crunching could be heard as he walked around the village, observing it carefully. Finally, he came across a building that looked slightly different from the others. It looked less like a house and more like a… Grey couldn't seem to recall what the type of building was called. Letting out a sigh the boy walked up the steps to the building and put his hand on the knob. Lingering for a moment Grey allowed himself to collect his thoughts before twisting the knob. However it wouldn't open, rather it couldn't. The door was locked.
'Odd. Why would the door be locked if the residents left in a rush?'
The kid picked up his left leg and attempted to kick down the door, but before his foot could reach the side of the knob he felt a subtle change in the environment. He stopped his leg and let it hover right in front of the door.
He listened for any unusual noises, yet he heard nothing. Grey's thoughts were racing, his eyes darting around the area. He couldn't put his finger on what was wrong, he only had this subtle feeling of unease… and then it clicked. There weren't any unusual noises because there wasn't any sound in the first place. He called out for Mono but his voice didn't even come out. Some creature was probably causing this, meaning the more sound he tried to make the more alert the creature would become. With no safer option left, he hurriedly attempted to kick down the door, hoping he could get into the house in time.
***
Mono had let Grey out of his sight for only a couple of minutes and yet, he had completely vanished. It's a shame really, he would've loved the sweet apples left behind by the villagers.
'How did they get apples in a tundra?'
Mono decided not to think too hard about it and took another bite out of the juicy peach. He couldn't help but enjoy how sweet the fruit was. Mono started thinking about how far they had to go to arrive at the imperial capital when a stray worry interrupted his thoughts. Wasn't he eating an apple and not a peach?
Mono immediately spit out what he was eating and bolted outside of the house. His head was spinning in confusion and he could barely tell what direction was which. What had he just eaten? Mono had no time to think about a trivial matter such as that, he had to find Grey before he got himself into danger. He opened his mouth to yell, yet no sound came out. After a moment he realized that he couldn't hear anything either. The young man slowed down his pace and checked his surroundings. He saw a shadow start to loom over him, the surrounding buildings, all plunged into darkness. His stomach sank, and in the next moment, so did his heart, which wasn't a feeling he was used to. He looked up to see the overarching figure of an avian-like creature. The abomination had three prong-like spikes at the end of its wings as if they were claws. Mono had lost his train of thought completely as the vile creature appeared before him.
"What the hell is that!?"
The man pinched himself in hopes that what he was witnessing was a mere dream, yet to his horror, he was wide awake.
The revolting avian stood impossibly tall, towering over the meager human.
'That's incredibly… large!'
As the thought crossed his mind an interface appeared that promptly gave him an answer.
Numbers flashed on the interface, as well as a measurement. It read four meters.
'The hell is this? Since when have I had a status screen!?'
The man thought in a panic. Had he finally gone insane?
With that thought the young man decided to worry about the threat in front of him rather than the odd status screen.
Yet before the creature Mono froze, his breaths became short and ragged, he found it very difficult to inhale but even if he had felt fear, he didn't let even one detail of the beast escape his mind. In the place where its eyes were supposed to be, lay empty sockets of darkness, its feet and legs curved to an unnaturally long forty-five-degree angle, maggot-like tentacle appendages coming out of its chest. A visible rib cage that the rotting flesh could not hold, pitch black feathers that absorbed the light around them, and pale scales to contrast the darkness.
'What is this thi-'
That thought was cut short. Mono had picked up on the unnatural movements of the abomination. It seemed like it was inhaling as if it were preparing to let out a mighty roar. Instead, the terrible beast let out a shrilling screech, which popped the young man's ears in an instant. Mono felt nauseous, and in a pathetic attempt to shield his ears, he brought his hands up to cover them, as he did a warm thick liquid ran down his fingers. The man grimaced in pain. He couldn't even hear himself think over the ear-piercing roar the beast was letting out. His knees buckled due to the vibrations, and now the abomination truly towered over him. As the sound let up he let his head tilt upwards. The abomination was "staring" at him, only it had no eyes. Mono watched as a thick black liquid oozed out of its sockets. The man's palms were wet now, a combination of sweat and blood. With any chance of victory out of sight, the walking cadaver let the unstoppable feeling of despair seep through his veins.
***
With a strong thud, the door finally came down after multiple kicks. However as Grey stepped into the cabin, the ambient noise had suddenly returned. Confused, he focused on the sound surrounding him to catch anything odd. Yet nothing odd or unusual had made a sound. Just as Grey let his shoulders fall into a relaxed position, an excruciating shriek rang out. Grey's legs started to shake, and in the next moment, one of his knees caved in on itself. He stretched out his arm, reaching out to a wall in an attempt to regain his balance.
Grey pulled himself up.
'Mono is definitely in danger but… how can I help him?'
***
Lying flat on the floor, Mono gave up on trying to resist the potent cry of the fiendish figure. He felt every single ounce of energy leave his limbs, one by one as if the raptor was feasting on it. He remembered the odd interface and how it had popped up before, informing him about the predator's height.
'Tell me what you know!'
The interface once again appeared, however this time with a text box that read,
"Not enough information has been gathered, no additional information can be received at this time. Would you like to scan this life form?"
Mono forced himself to speak, replying with a weak voice yet full of resolve,
"Yes."
The young man looked towards the monster towering over him, he saw the interface scanning the strange life form. His lips crept upwards forming a weak smile on his face. Yet his hopes were immediately crushed, the interface gave an approximate time for the scan completion, and it read:
"Four and a half hours until completion."
Truly, Mono had begun to curse his situation, regretting waking in an era where beasts such as this could manage to exist.
***
Grey watched Mono as he lay flat on the floor in front of the overwhelming beast. He couldn't find any way to help that wasn't immediate suicide.
The gears in his head which were stuck, started up again.
'Hold on… the ion disperser!'
The thought of it gave fruition to a new plan, and thus Grey ran towards the beast screaming at the top of his lungs.
The vile raptor tilted its head towards Grey's direction. Its chest puffed up, accompanied by its stomach shrinking. The child more or less had an idea of what its next move would be, which is why he had to be quick. Mono stared in disbelief at the boy's sudden action. As he ran, Grey pointed to the man's pockets where the sleek pistol resides. The man instantly understood, no longer letting the dread of the battle shackle him, Mono forces himself to stand up. Once again the beast releases a devastating shriek, although this time it creates a force strong enough to blow Grey away. The powerful shockwave sends the delicate child into a spiral of motion.
The landing wasn't so graceful, Grey landed on his leg at a bent angle, causing his leg to dislocate. He yelped in pain.
The disgraceful fiend advances in Grey's direction forgetting about his original prey.
'Thanks Grey.'
Mono didn't waste even a single moment, the ion pistol had to be charged, wasting precious seconds that could cost both Mono and Grey their lives.
'Five seconds until release.'
The abomination creeps towards Grey.
'Four seconds until release.'
The beast widens its beak.
'Three seconds until release.'
The sweat on Mono's face runs down to his chin.
'Two seconds until release.'
The vile raptor cranes its neck back, preparing to strike.
'One second until release.'
The sweat off Mono's chin drops onto the snow.
'Release!'
Mono let his finger off the trigger. The ion pistol fires a translucent blue beam, the laser traveling faster than the abomination can strike with its beak. With a shining brilliance, the laser pierced through the chest of the vile raptor, setting it off of its course. Its beak swerved to the left, completely missing Grey, lodging itself into the snow and beneath it the dirt.
The shot's recoil sent Mono reeling back, landing in an awkward position making it difficult to get back up. Planting his feet on the ground, the man prepares to make his next move. However, before he could get up, the abomination dislodged its beak from the ground.
Without winding up, the abomination released a powerful screech, knocking Mono back five feet. As the man attempted to land he hits his head, putting him into a dazed state. With no one left to save him, the beast stands before Grey.