The staircase felt endless.
Each step creaked under our feet like it was complaining about the weight of the world above… or like it was about to give out.
The sounds of battle were getting farther away, muffled by layers of earth, but you could still feel the tremor coming from up there.
Every now and then, a scream cut through the concrete.
And then silence.
The air down here was hot and humid. The light from Mei's staff cast our shadows on the concrete walls, making them look alive, shaking like they already knew this wouldn't end well.
I was still clutching the purple notebook in my fingers.
It felt warmer than the air… like it was pulsing along with me.
Raul came right behind, breathing hard, each breath more irritated than the last. Josh, panting, tried to keep up, gripping his crossbow with trembling hands. Sometimes he glanced back, like he was expecting something.
No one spoke—or rather, no one dared to.
Until Raul muttered, low enough that he couldn't pretend he didn't want to be heard.
"This isn't going to end well…"
Josh answered almost instantly, exhaling his exhaustion.
"Shut up and keep walking. Hell up there was enough. We still have to carry out the Counselor's request."
Raul just snorted and dropped it.
It was rare for him to shut up, which meant he was worse inside than he looked.
Eventually, the metallic ring of the stairs gave way to something hollow.
The last step appeared out of nowhere, and in front of us a big open hatch revealed an abandoned sewer tunnel.
The smell of rust and rot was strong enough to make my eyes sting, but not as bad as the hot gust of air seeping through the cracks above, a reminder of the hell we'd left behind.
The tunnel ended in a tight opening, and from it a thread of light slipped through.
Mei was the first to approach. She climbed slowly, pressed her face to the gap, and stayed still for a few seconds.
Then she whispered:
"We're outside."
We followed her one by one, and when I emerged, the cold night air hit me like a wave.
The sky was completely black, but dotted with stars so bright they barely seemed real.
And between them…
A purple aurora snaked across the sky, glowing in rippling bands, like the sky itself was… wounded and bleeding light.
It was beautiful and terrifying at the same time.
It didn't seem to belong to the same world as the torn meat creatures we'd fought.
"Stay together,"
Mei said, lowering the glowing staff.
"We're not safe yet."
"Safe?"
Raul grumbled, kicking a dead branch.
"That doesn't even exist anymore now that the city's gone. Let me guess… now we're the main course."
Josh cut him off, voice full of anger.
"Raul, if you're not going to help, shut up."
Mei turned slowly, her voice sharp:
"You two. Focus. One wrong sound and we're dead before we even realize it."
We moved on.
The forest was a graveyard of petrified trees. The ground was uneven, covered in ash and fossilized roots. The wind made a bitter, scraping sound.
In the distance, we could see the silhouette of the city… skyscrapers snapped like broken teeth.
The purple aurora lit the scene from behind, making it look like a scar trying to close.
It was almost beautiful, in a horrible sort of way.
The silence there was strange.
A silence so heavy it felt like it was listening to us.
That's when Josh, who'd been behind us, suddenly stopped.
"Wait…"
He murmured urgently.
"Did you hear that?"
I opened my mouth to say no, but I didn't get the chance.
A second later, I heard it too.
A thin, metallic sound, like blades vibrating in the air, and the pitch was rising.
Getting closer.
Mei lifted her hand, silently telling us to stay still.
The shadows between the trees started to writhe, stretching and twitching.
Then they appeared.
Tall, skeletal, deformed.
A mix of skin, bone, and fleshy feathers. Long skulls, crow-like but cracked, twisted, and rebuilt at impossible angles.
And the worst part:
Some still had human features.
Whole faces or pieces of them stuck to their necks, like eternal masks of terror.
"Ecorvos…"
Josh whispered, his voice fractured.
"It can't be… out here too?"
Mei tightened her grip on the staff, body tense.
Raul spat before reaching for his belt.
"Shit… this is wrong. This is really wrong."
They surrounded us in seconds.
Not just in some organized way, but like a swarm.
They keened like they were starving.
Mei raised the iron bar. Raul got ready, and Josh lifted his crossbow. In the middle of it all, they shoved me toward the center.
All I could do was clutch the notebook against my chest. I had no weapon and zero fighting instinct.
Just fear.
"Hold your ground!"
Mei shouted.
"Don't let them split us up!"
"Easy for you to say!"
Raul snarled.
The attack came from the left. One of them leaped out of the shadows with a shrill screech, and Raul spun, slashing its throat.
A jet of dark, almost yellowish blood sprayed through the air.
The creature staggered, but… didn't fall.
It roared and lunged again.
"Go down, you bastard!"
Raul roared, charging at it.
"Raul, NO!"
Mei yelled, but he didn't listen.
"Damn it!"
Another Ecorvo came crawling up behind Josh.
He was firing fast and frantic, trying to keep the ones heading for Raul at bay.
I moved on instinct.
I threw myself sideways and shoved Josh just seconds before the creature sliced through the air where he'd been.
Josh rolled, kicked the monster reaching for him and, without even looking at me, tossed me a short knife.
"Take it, kid!"
In the same heartbeat, he reloaded the crossbow and fired— the bolt sank into the neck of the creature charging at us.
With a dull sound, it fell, gurgling.
The first one that actually died, but no one had time to celebrate.
My heart was beating so fast it felt like it was about to explode.
Two more Ecorvos rushed in our direction, moving like broken animals, but way too fast.
Mei swung the bar and caved in one of their faces.
Raul, soaked in blood, shouted something incomprehensible, probably "DIE!"
Everything turned to chaos.
Blows, howls, arrows whistling through the air, metal clashing, all mixed with the stench of rotten meat.
I tried to breathe, but it was getting harder.
Then an Ecorvo jumped on me.
Its claws sliced the air like blades.
I rolled just in time, but felt a hot sting on my skin, so close it almost grazed me.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Then something hot splattered on my face.
Heavy.
Thick.
A body crashed down on top of me.
"JOSH!"
Mei screamed, and I felt my heart stop and restart.
When I opened my eyes, the world fell with me.
Josh's headless body was on top of me.
The crossbow still clutched in his hands was shaking like it had a life of its own. His blood ran down my face, my neck, my shirt collar.
His head rolled a few inches and stopped, turned toward me.
His eyes were still open, the determination frozen in them.
"Josh…"
I whispered, but my voice cracked.
The strong smell of his blood made my stomach flip.
I turned to the side and retched—or tried to.
My body was trying to throw up something that wasn't there.
Raul glanced over his shoulder and, for a second, the fury dropped from his face.
"…Shit."
He muttered, before slitting the throat of the creature in front of him.
Mei ran to the body, smashing another creature on the way.
"NO!"
Her scream split the air, and she dropped to her knees beside Josh.
"He… he saved you…"
Her face was a knot of rage, despair, and disbelief.
But the attack didn't stop. Raul roared:
"We need to get out of here, NOW!"
Mei took a deep breath, pulled Josh's body aside gently, like she could still protect him somehow, and grabbed my arm.
"Get up, Noah! NOW!"
I was shaking and almost collapsed. The notebook slipped from my hands, but Mei shoved it back against my chest.
"Don't lose it."
"People have died trying to save you. So DON'T YOU DARE lose that."
Raul kept hacking at the Ecorvos closing in, blood dripping from his shoulder.
"If we don't run, we're going to die just like him!"
He shouted, and Mei nodded, dragging me through the dead forest.
I looked back one last time.
The creatures were… playing with Josh's body.
Ripping it apart, fighting over pieces, screeching in twisted cries that sounded like laughter.
We ran.
I don't know for how long.
The night warped everything—seconds could've been hours. Hours could've been seconds.
When we finally stopped, Mei took a deep breath.
"I think we lost them… How are you two holding up?"
Raul bent over, hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.
"How am I?"
he said between nervous laughs.
"We lost the old man and almost became dinner. I'm great."
Mei shot him a cold look. Raul glanced away, kicking at the ground.
"Josh died to give us a chance, Raul."
Her voice came out rough.
"He died trying to save the kid."
"I know…"
he answered quietly.
"I just… what's the point? Why do we have to save him?"
I still couldn't talk.
The notebook felt heavier.
The blood on my face, my clothes, my neck… the sound of Josh's head rolling…
None of it would leave my mind.
Mei ignored Raul.
"We need shelter. They might come back."
The wind blew cold.
"And if they do?"
I managed to ask, my voice breaking.
"What do we… do?"
"We fight."
she answered firmly.
"Or we run. That's what we do."
Raul let out a dry laugh.
"Nice speech. But the Counselor's plan? 'Protect the kid'?"
He glared at me with disgust.
"Was it worth losing Josh for that?"
Before Mei could answer, I spoke.
"I… I didn't ask him to die."
Raul turned, hatred in his eyes.
"Shut up, kid! You think you're special? Everybody's dying because of you and you don't even know why!"
"Raul, enough!"
Mei raised her voice.
"This isn't the time."
"NOT THE TIME?!"
He screamed, eyes burning.
"Since this kid showed up, everything fell apart! The Counselor, Josh… and now we're going to die just like them!"
"I DIDN'T ASK ANYONE TO DIE!"
My voice came out loud, shattered.
"I don't even know what's going on!"
Raul stepped closer with his fist clenched, and for a second I thought he was going to hit me.
"Then figure it out. Fast. Before everybody ends up dead."
Mei sighed, exhausted.
"That's enough…"
"The Counselor gave us a mission. I'll see it through until—"
Her voice died in the air.
Something went through her.
A red arc.
Mei stayed standing for a second before her head hit the ground with a wet thud.
My body froze.
Behind her, a massive Ecorvo stepped closer.
Its torn wings beat slowly, making a harsh sound, and the bone blade that had replaced its arm dripped hot blood.
"SON OF A BITCH!"
Raul screamed, charging the monster and slashing its neck, but the thing didn't back off.
Others stepped out from the shadows.
Lots of them.
"SHIT! RUN, NOAH!"
Raul roared, his face covered in blood.
"RUN!"
Three Ecorvos pounced on him.
He still fought, still screamed, and even as he fell, he looked in my direction and, with a crooked, pained smile, murmured:
"Run… kid…"
The sound of flesh being torn apart swallowed everything.
I tried to run, but the ground spun.
My vision blurred, and then I saw something impossible.
I saw myself.
My body without a head, falling toward the ground.
And that's when time stopped.
The purple aurora swallowed the sky, the sounds disappeared, and the familiar screen appeared in front of my eyes:
MEMORY DEVIATION CORRECTED
INITIALIZING CYCLE RECONNECTION…
The ground opened up and the purple light swallowed everything.
And the whole world went black.