Dion almost missed it. He felt it more than he saw it. Every one of his senses strained to find the source in the abyss. Alarm bells rang in his head, and his hair stood on end. He could barely make out the sound of his own heartbeat in his ears, Atty’s breath under his hand, the sound of crumbling rubble, the muffled chaos in the street, the…

Taktaktak…

It was like a clicking pen.

Taktaktaktak…

It was getting louder.

Dion grabbed Atticus by the wrist, pulling him into a sprint toward the light. The hole was a bad idea; it wasn’t too late to find another way out. 

Atticus didn’t say a word as he ran up beside him, matching his pace. It was hard to tell if he had noticed something wrong as well, but Dion was thankful that he didn’t need to waste time with instructions. 

Sharp pain stabbed at his chest with each step. Dizziness overtook what little vision he had. He could feel himself starting to sway, no matter how hard he fought himself to stay focused. Atty seemed to notice, he had slowed down and moved closer without a word.

Dion’s foot caught on a large and unseen piece of rubble hard enough that he fell forward. He managed to catch himself on a wall, but it felt like someone had driven a shard of metal into his ribs. He wheezed and panted like he’d been running a marathon, holding his side as though that would somehow stop the pain. It didn’t. Atty pulled him back onto his feet, but he couldn’t find the energy to move on his own.

Taktaktaktaktaktak!

A black mass blotted out the little light the opening in the roof offered. There was a vague, glowing silhouette of something crustacean-shaped.

Dion hissed under his breath, pushing Atty back in the opposite direction again. 

With a loud shriek that echoed through the cavern, the beast charged toward them, blocking the last remnants of light. At least, that’s what it sounded like; Dion had absolutely no visible reference for where the thing was. It was there one second, and the next it was too dark to see.

He fired once at the emptiness. The laser bolt illuminated the airborne dust as it flew past the monster. The creature was closing in fast. Faster than Dion could run in his condition. He fired once again, but the thing had moved out of the way. Without a visual reference, he had nothing to aim for.

Taktaktaktaktaktak!

Atty had stopped running only a few metres away, waiting for him to catch up. 

Run, you idiot! Dion couldn’t get the words out through the sharp breaths. His pulse throbbed in his ears as he aimed at nothing, hoping against all odds that lady luck hadn’t forsaken him yet.

He was surprised when Atticus fired at the beast from behind him. Over and over again, laser bolts illuminated the room. The aim was clumsy and missed by a long shot each time. Dion had only taught him the bare basics in firearms. Interdimensional monsters were a far cry from the stationary targets at a shooting range. There was no way Atticus was going to hit his mark. But he didn’t need to. Dion could see it. 

He took a deep, pained breath and fired. The creature didn’t so much as stumble as the laser bolt sizzled into its shell. It was too fast. He fired again, each bolt landing in the creature’s head. It stumbled and slowed, much to Dion’s relief. Another few rapid shots from both of them and the beast collapsed.

SKREEEE!

“Dion!” 

Teeth. There were so many teeth. Wet, glistening and glowing. A million needles, each one set to rip his flesh apart. It had come out of nowhere.

The laser light winked out. 

Crack!

Dion was ripped backward by his collar. He landed against the wall. When his eye adjusted to the dark again, Ember stood in front of him, holding the creature’s jaw open with his metal pipe. “Shoot!”

The pistol was already in the thing's mouth, along with Dion’s arm. He fired several times, only stopping when he was sure it was dead as well.

“Two more coming,” Ember stated quietly, heaving the dead beast out of the way. He didn’t take a moment to pause or catch his breath, leading the way into the dark again with only a hand gesture to follow him.

Dion was about to object when the sharp pain shot through his chest again. But it didn’t stop in his chest; it was in his arm as well— the one that had been in the monster’s mouth. Their escape route was right there, yet there was no chance he could climb out of a hole faster than a monster could catch him. Even with Atty’s help, the odds were against him. Despite himself, he gave Atty a permissive nod, urging him to follow the lunatic as well.

Taktaktaktak…

They were so fast Dion was sure he could practically feel the monster’s breath on the back of his neck. Atticus didn’t leave his side, even when Dion was slowing down. A part of him wanted to tell him to run faster, but he was afraid that he couldn’t help his brother if the distance grew too quickly. For all he knew, they could be running straight into more of those things. They had been blindly following Ember’s barely visible sprint far ahead of them.

After a few turns, they found their path blocked by rubble. Ember was gone. He’d disappeared like a ghost. There was no sign of him in the pitch black. Dion used the mana gauge to light the wall of debris, confirming that there was no way through. They were cornered. To make things worse, his mana gauge was only at 42%.

SKREEEE!

Atty whirled around, aiming into the darkness. His mana gauge was at 7%. It wasn’t enough to try the same tactic again. 

The cold realisation that they might never return home sank into Dion’s bones. It was all his fault. He was the one slowing them down. It was his poor decisions that led them to their deaths.

Dion took a long, pained breath and leaned against the collapsed wall for support. He should have felt scared, or desperate, or angry… Instead, he felt relief. Relief that it would be over soon. That thought spooked him more than the monster in the dark. He’d worked his whole life to keep them safe. No. He wasn’t ready to give up. There must be a way.

Ember whistled nearby. At first, it was impossible to tell where he was, but Dion’s eyes eventually found him low to the ground. He was crouched in the middle of a hole in the wall, beckoning for them to follow him. Atticus silently refused to go first until Dion flashed his pistol’s mana gauge to make a point. 

Taktaktaktaktaktaktaktak!

He could hear the extra footsteps. It sounded like a lot more than two. They shrieked at each other, getting louder as they approached. Dion still wasn’t sure if they could see down there. It was better not to risk it. As soon as Atty had cleared enough of the tunnel entrance, Dion squeezed himself in, ignoring every inch of his body that screamed in agony at putting weight on his shoulders. Firm hands pulled him the rest of the way in.

Taktaktak…

The footsteps faded away almost as fast as it took Dion to process what had happened. The three of them were crammed so tightly into the tiny space that it was suffocating. A suit wrapped in plastic hung next to him and when he tried to stand up properly, Dion’s head struck a bar that ran overhead. It was a closet. A big one, but still too tight for three fully grown men to hide in without touching.

“That was close,” Ember chuckled playfully. The mana gauge on the breather mask that hung around his neck shone in his gold eyes. It had fangs painted on it, though the design had been scratched up pretty badly.

Guilty silence ate away at Dion’s words. They’d been so busy fighting for their lives that he didn’t even realise why he’d been able to see Ember in the first place. What do I even say now?

“Thanks,” Atticus said softly, rubbing at his implant, “and… I’m sorry.”

Ember curiously tilted his head to the side. “Why? What did you do?”

Atticus opened his mouth, closed it, then cleared his throat awkwardly. “Y-your… I mean Echo… I didn’t mean to… I just felt like I should say something.” He gestured to the mask around Ember’s neck.

“Ah, don’t worry about it. This thing has been repainted a million times. Scuffs aren’t a problem.” Ember shrugged, taking it off to look at the paintwork. “Echo can’t breathe well without it, though. We need to look faster.”

Atty’s eyes met Dion’s, questioning what had just happened. Wordlessly, all that he could offer as explanation was a look of pity and a grimace. 

“We need to focus on getting out alive,” Dion said, putting his hand on Atty’s shoulder as firmly as he could. A large gash ran down his forearm where the monster’s teeth had grazed him. It was more obvious with all three mana gagues in the tiny space. It wasn’t a deep wound, but he knew he had nearly lost his arm entirely. Lunatic or no, Ember had saved their lives. That didn’t sit well with Dion. 

“Wait!” Atticus hissed, grabbing Ember’s arm. The giant was already halfway out of the hole again. “What if they’re out there?”

“Can you see them?”

Atticus frowned and shook his head. “No.” It was impossible to see anything at all in the infinite darkness beyond the tunnel.

“Then let's go before they come back!” Ember scrambled out, leaving them both dumbstruck. 

Before Atticus could follow him, Dion grabbed his wrist. “Atty, where are you going?” He demanded, watching the darkness for more movement. Ember was gone. His glow vanished around what Dion assumed to be a corner.

“To help look for Echo,” Atticus replied. Though his voice was croaking, the determination in his tone was unmistakable. 

Dion winced, holding his side again. Atticus shook him off easily. He didn’t have the strength left to argue. 

Mother Earth, save us.