Leading Jackie along with one hand, Alistair stepped through the rotting halls of the ruin. It was built in a style unlike the majority of others, with wooden walls and a sloped roof; most of its doorways stood empty, but a few bore the torn remnants of sliding paper doors. The entire building smelt of decay, and it creaked as the breeze flew through the pores of its wooden skeleton.

Alistair carefully peeked out one of the doorways leading out onto the left half of the road, the direction from which the Krimling seemed to be originating. Seeing no sign of them, he quickly cleared the opening. Loid followed close behind him.

Only a few moments had passed since they departed from Jacqueline. Alistair knew sorting through his thoughts would do him no good now; he needed to distract himself by moving forward.

He’d wanted so badly to muster a retort against her. To scold her for putting her life at risk. To call on his authority as her father and demand that she abandon her foolish thinking.

But, even if he refused to admit it, she was right. If all of them ran away together, their chances of escaping were slim. It would be all too easy for the Krimling to track the group down again. In under an hour, they could produce enough scouts to scour the wasteland a mile around twice-over.

Trying to escape together—boldly declaring that he wouldn’t let a single person die—was naive. The correct course of action was to leave someone as bait, and Jacqueline was also correct to volunteer herself for the job.

It was all logical. It was the correct course of action. In a way, this outcome was inevitable.

The thought made him furious.

Jackie: “...Al, are you okay?”

Just as he was about to step out of the ruin, Jackie called out to him, their red eyes open wide in a blank stare.

Alistair: “...Yeah, kid, I’m fine.”

Jackie: “But you’re squeezing my hand really tight.”

He blinked, loosening his grip, and then quickly pulled his hand away. “Guess I was. Sorry, kid.”

It was then that Loid placed a hand on his shoulder. “You aren’t a good liar, Al. I’ll do it.”

Alistair spun around to face him. “Do what?”

Loid: “Bring her back, obviously.” He took a deep breath and adjusted his glasses. “It’s not like I’m happy with this, either. And I can tell you want to go after her.”

His eyes widening, Alistair stared back at Loid for a moment. Then he clenched his fist, letting out a frustrated sigh. “You can’t… I should be the one to… We need to—“

Loid: “If you’re followed, you’re the only one who could protect Jackie from these things. I can handle myself.” He spoke firmly, meeting Alistair’s eyes. “We just need to hold out until the swarm starts. The two of us can manage that much, and then we’ll slip away and meet back up with you.”

Alistair paused, giving the suggestion serious consideration. He sucked in a sharp breath and then cast his head down, closing his eyes. “Fine.” Looking back up, he seized Loid by the shoulders. “We’ll gain some distance and leave markers for you. Don’t take any unnecessary risks. And please…”

Loid: ““Bring her back alive?” You don’t need to tell me that, old man.”

Alistair: “The hell’re ya callin’ old?” He cracked a grim smile and released Loid, then took a deep breath. “Get moving. Meet back up as soon as you can.”

Loid nodded and turned, but just as he was about to leave, a crash shook the building to its foundation, dust pouring from the dilapidated ceiling. Alistair dove away from the door, pulling Jackie with him against a wall and hissing out a hushed “Down!” to Loid, who quickly joined them.

The walls groaned under the weight of an interloper, and the scratchy tone of many bony fingers scraping against the tile roof was mixed with the sharp taps of those same fingers as they rapped against the surface.

???: “Where..? Where are you..?” The voice of a young girl called out from the rooftop, shaky and sobbing. “Where are you!? I’m looking, looking, looking looking looking, but I can’t find you!”

As the child wailed, Alistair placed a careful hand on the hilt of his sword.

???: “Where are you!? Just come out..! Where are you, where are you, where are you where are you where are you whereareyouwhereareyouwhereareyouwhereareyou WHERE ARE YOU!?”

Its voice rose, its words coming faster and faster until it let out a bloodcurdling roar, rocking the building again as it struck the ceiling, shattering the ancient tiles. It cried for a moment, and then its voice rose again in a desperate murmur,

???: “Please… I’m hungry… Where did you go!? Where are you!? I’m just hungry! I just want to eat!”

As it shouted again, it dug its fingers into the roof, and, shaking the building a final time, leapt off. It hit the muddy road with a loud thud, stumbling a moment before beginning to gallop away.

The creature had landed on the same road they were about to escape on, but on the opposite side of the building, rushing in the direction of the Krimling. Through the cracks between the rotting walls, Alistair could see brief glimpses of its body—long, disproportionately large skeletal arms protruded from the back of a child’s body, on which it scuttled down the road like a great insect.

The three waited with bated breath until the creature rounded the hill. Finally Alistair stood with a relieved sigh, offering a hand to Jackie to pull them up. Beside him, Loid rose, looking to the door.

Loid: “It’s already starting… worse things than a Kumori will arrive before long.”

Alistair: “Aye…” He sighed. “Shit. Stay safe, Loid.”

Loid: “I will. We’ll be back soon—both of us.”

Both men nodded to each other and turned in opposite directions. Loid ran back to the doorway through which they’d come, leaping over the brush and back onto the path; Alistair peered outside carefully before leading Jackie out onto the path, hurrying down the road at a hasty jog.

He grit his teeth, praying that Loid would make good on his promise.

⁂ ⁂ ⁂

Jacqueline ducked, sliding across the mud as a Krimling shot just inches above her in a headlong lunge. Having missed her, it slammed head-first into a stone wall instead. She quickly clambered up to her feet, more Krimling at her heels as she broke into a sprint.

As she entered a small alleyway between two ruined walls, the wave of Krimling bunched together, violently clawing at each other and climbing over each other’s bodies as they rushed after her. One particular Krimling, larger than the others, managed to clamber atop the others, crushing them underfoot and tearing its claws into their heads to fling itself forward.

Jacqueline slid to slow herself as she whirled around, raising one leg in a roundhouse kick. She caught the lurching monster with her downward heel, sending it crashing back into the mob of its brethren, which promptly trampled it. With the beasts encroaching ever-closer, she resumed her sprint.

She quickly came to a four-way intersection between several ruined buildings. The path straight ahead was clear, but a Krimling approached from either side. She grit her teeth and shot forward at top speed, both monsters leaping at her in unison. One fell short, tumbling into the mud, but the other managed to rake its claws across her shin, drawing blood.

It wasn’t the first wound she’d accrued in these ruins. She ignored it like the rest.

The location she’d found herself in was a grand crossroads. A large complex of interconnected ruins—small, rectangular buildings and rows of short pillars, most of which had partly crumbled, some of which still held up flat pavilion roofs—formed a large flat area betwixt the rolling hills of trash. At least six different roads intersected the complex.

If Jacqueline was lucky, it would turn out to be a high-traffic area.

She emerged from the tight alleyways and made a sharp left turn, leaving a thin trail of scarlet in her wake. A small band of Krimling awaited ahead, perking up with exaggerated shrieks as they saw her. They made to charge at her, forming a pincer attack with the mob behind her; for the second time, their attempt would fail.

In a motion she’d already repeated once before, Jacqueline leapt up onto one of many shattered stone pillars that jutted out of the ground. In this particular row, three of the crumbling pillars stood at progressively higher heights, allowing her to climb them with a series of quick jumps and land atop one of the remaining pavilions at the end of the row.

Two Krimling awaited her—they must’ve been waiting since after she’d climbed here the first time. They only noticed her at the sound of her boots striking the stone, so she was able to catch the first by surprise, punting it over the edge with a sweeping kick.

The second was able to get its bearings more quickly, and it lunged at her. She raised an arm to block it, but it latched on with a hungry desperation in its eyes, opening its gross maw and sinking its gnarly fangs into her skin. Biting her lip to suppress a pained grunt, Jacqueline raised her other arm and slammed a dagger into the top of the beast’s head, its skull deforming like putty under the weight of the attack.

The beast died instantly, but even in death its fangs held tight to her. Jacqueline swung her arm in a panic, but as it held tight still, she was forced to slip her fingers between its jagged teeth and pry it off of her.

The Krimling fell limp to the platform, and she kicked its corpse off the edge in frustration. She quickly took a dagger to the bottom of her shirt, cutting a large hole in it and tearing a strip free. She wrapped the cloth tight around her newest wound, taking the moment to catch her breath. It would take a minute or so before the Krimling managed to follow her up; once they did, she’d jump down and repeat the cycle, let them chase her around the ruins before climbing back up here again. She could only hope they weren’t smart enough to leave a large force waiting for her atop the platform.

The moment she volunteered herself as bait, she’d resolved to die at the hands of the Krimling. Even so, she had no intention of going down without a fight, and for that matter, she still wanted to live if it were at all possible. She knew she had no chance of ever winning the battle—the Krimling would multiply much faster than she could ever kill them, and before long their numbers would swell high enough to completely overwhelm her. The most she could hope to achieve was to keep their focus here while the others escaped as far away as possible.

Yes, defeating a group of Krimling was impossible; Jacqueline did not delude herself into thinking she could do so.

But escaping from them? That was possible, if barely.

All she had to do was last until the swarm began.