Chapter 9: Blood in the Dark
For a moment, Xino forgot how to breathe.
The creature filled the cave entrance like a nightmare forcing its way into reality. The bull's head lowered slightly, the heavy horns scraping against the stone as it stepped deeper inside. Its body moved with the silent grace of a predator, muscles rolling beneath thick dark fur.
And those tentacles.
They twisted slowly across its back, sliding across one another like living ropes, tasting the air.
Xino's stomach turned.
A sharp spike of panic surged through him. His hands trembled on the branch and his mind screamed one simple truth.
This thing is going to kill you.
The cave suddenly felt too small. The air felt thick, heavy in his lungs. His heart pounded so hard it made his ears ring.
The creature took another slow step forward.
Then another.
It was close enough now that he could hear its breathing, deep and wet through the wide nostrils of its bull-like face. The glowing eyes never left him.
His mind raced.
Move.
But his legs refused to listen.
The creature leaned forward slightly, and one of the tentacles lifted, stretching toward him like a curious snake.
That movement broke the paralysis.
Xino sucked in a sharp breath.
"Move!"
He lunged forward suddenly, thrusting the sharpened branch toward the creature's chest with everything he had.
The point shot forward.
But the creature moved faster.
Far faster than he expected.
The monster twisted its body to the side with frightening speed. The branch stabbed into empty air and scraped uselessly across the cave wall.
Before Xino could recover, the creature snapped its head toward him with a violent motion.
A horn passed inches from his face.
He stumbled backward, barely keeping his balance.
His mind raced with a horrifying realization.
It's faster than me.
Stronger too.
The way its muscles moved under its fur made that obvious.
If it rushed him head-on, the fight would last seconds.
Maybe less.
The creature stepped closer again.
Slow.
Patient.
Its glowing eyes watched him the way a person might watch an insect struggling in a jar.
Another tentacle slid forward.
Then another.
They stretched outward, curling through the air, moving closer to him.
Xino raised the branch again, but his arms were shaking now.
His first attack had failed.
And now the creature knew exactly what he could do.
His mind raced desperately.
Think.
Think!
The creature suddenly lunged.
Not with its jaws.
With the tentacles.
Two of them shot forward with terrifying speed.
Xino tried to jump back, but one brushed across his arm. The skin felt slick and cold, like touching wet leather.
The contact sent a wave of pure disgust through him.
But it also sparked something else.
An idea.
A desperate one.
The creature pulled the tentacle back slightly, preparing to strike again.
And this time, Xino didn't retreat.
As the appendage whipped forward again, he moved toward it instead of away.
He grabbed it.
The moment his hand wrapped around the tentacle, the creature reacted violently. The appendage thrashed in his grip, incredibly strong, trying to rip itself free.
But Xino held on with everything he had.
"Got you," he gasped.
The monster jerked backward, trying to pull the tentacle away, but the narrow cave limited its movement.
That moment of restriction was all Xino had.
With his other hand, he drove the sharpened branch down.
The point sank into the tentacle with a wet tearing sound.
The creature roared.
The noise exploded through the cave like thunder.
The tentacle writhed violently, nearly ripping the branch from his grip, but Xino stabbed again.
And again.
And again.
Each strike drove the wood deeper into the thick flesh. Dark blood sprayed across the cave floor, warm and sticky against his hands.
The creature thrashed wildly, its bull head slamming against the stone walls as it tried to pull away.
But the narrow tunnel worked against it.
It couldn't turn properly.
It couldn't escape.
And Xino didn't stop stabbing.
His arms moved in frantic bursts of violence, the branch rising and falling over and over.
The creature's roars turned to choked snarls.
The tentacle in his grip weakened.
Then suddenly the entire monster collapsed forward.
Its body slammed against the cave floor with a heavy thud that shook the stone beneath his feet.
The tentacle went limp in his hand.
Xino staggered backward, breathing hard.
For several seconds he simply stared.
The massive body twitched once.
Then went still.
Silence filled the cave again.
Xino's chest rose and fell rapidly as he looked down at the corpse.
He had done it.
He had actually killed it.
His hands were shaking violently now, covered in dark blood.
For a moment, relief washed through him.
Then he remembered something.
The system had said multiple dangers.
Slowly… slowly… he turned toward the cave entrance.
Moonlight spilled into the tunnel.
And within that pale light, shapes began to move.
One stepped forward first.
Another behind it.
Then another.
One by one, the creatures revealed themselves.
Each one was just as monstrous as the first.
Wolf bodies.
Bull heads.
Curved horns.
Tentacles writhing slowly along their backs.
They stood outside the cave entrance, watching him silently.
Counting.
Waiting.
Xino's stomach dropped.
He counted them.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Five more.
Five pairs of glowing eyes stared into the darkness of the cave.
And slowly, one of them stepped forward.