All was silent. He opened his eyes, and the huge, rotted head of the thing was resting next to his, its eyes closed, its long rows of teeth yellowed with age and decay. It was not breathing, but simply lay atop him with its thick, oppressing weight. The stench was almost unbearable. Barely visible over the creature's back was the sharp point of Aryn's blade. It had driven straight through the beast's chest.
Aryn tried to cry out, but his lungs were being slowly crushed, and the handle of his own sword was pressing sharply into his belly, pinning him beneath the creature's bulk. Through the pain and haze, he noticed that there was no wetness -- no blood -- coming from the creature's wound.
Then the creature opened its eyes. Aryn squirmed frantically, his vision fading, but the beast just looked down at him with sunken eyes. Slowly it rose.
Aryn gasped for air and wrenched at the long blade which was imbedded in the creature. It was lodged firmly. The thing growled and snapped down at him, catching his hair in its teeth.
Aryn tucked and rolled backward, wincing as his hair ripped under its jaws. Then he leapt forward onto the stunned beast's shoulder and landed back within the black building, drawing forth his Kira even as he landed. He turned to face the thing.
The beast stood for a moment, shaking its head slowly from side to side. Aryn backed toward the stairs.
"Kamella was right," he spoke to it. "You are a thing of necromancy, aren't you?"
The beast turned and came slowly after Aryn, the blade glinting where it had torn through the flesh of its back. The wound was apparently forgotten. This is a creature, Aryn thought, that cannot die. He turned and ran, skirting around the table. The stairs loomed before him and he skipped the first five, flying down the steps as quickly as he could.
He heard the thing behind him, bounding over the table and skidding down the steps, claws sharp on the stone, and he prayed that Kamella and the children had found some kind of shelter. The stairs were not long, and they ended at a barred gate which was opened, the dust marked by the children's passage. He threw his short sword to the ground and pulled his shirt quickly over his head as he kicked the rusted gate shut. Deftly he tied his shirt around the bars to keep it closed and snatched up his Kira, following the dust-prints Kam and the others had left.
The sound was terrible as the creature came up against the bars, throwing its weight onto the thin iron. The bolted hinges groaned and snapped from the stone walls, and the beast broke through the bars in a tangle of rotted flesh and rusted iron.
Aryn did not wait to see if it would free itself; he ran down the hall in the quickly fading light, trying to follow the dust-prints. They turned sharply down a right-hand corridor into darkness. Aryn ran on, his free hand in front of him, and cried out for Kamella. He could hear the thing disentangling itself from the gate and then running forward, its claws clicking on the floor.
His voice carried down the corridor, but there was no voice calling in return. Only the sound of the creature's footfalls. It rounded the corner and started down the hall.
Aryn stopped and turned. There was no choice, now, but to face it. He could see nothing in the blackness, and the Kira seemed a puny weapon against this unstoppable beast.
There was not even time for fear -- only the throbbing feel of his heartbeats, the surge of power through his muscles. The determination that if he were to die, he would at least fight until his body fell from underneath him.
The thing began running again, rushing toward him with terrible speed, and he shuddered as he sensed its size and power.
Then he heard his name.
He whirled desperately as the light from an opening door appeared a little further down the hallway. Framed in the light was Kamella's face, etched with a worry that transformed to horror as she saw the rushing creature.
Aryn glanced once back at the beast, saw that it was too close, and bolted anyway, sprinting toward the door. Kamella held the door open as he came upon it, and he heard the thing lunge at him as he plunged through the opening. He closed his eyes, and tumbled through the door.
Kamella shut it hard just as the beast glanced against it. Cracks shot through the dark crystal, and Aryn heard the children cry out.
Aryn shook his long hair from his face and got up quickly, peering around to take in the situation. They were in a small room that had no other exits. The children were backed up against the far wall now, Jon-Jon still held up by Teki and Acorn, and all of them were crying, their eyes wide and staring at the door. Kamella came next to the children as the creature's outline appeared through the darkly translucent crystal. One claw came up and scratched down the door's surface, testing its strength.
Aryn glanced over at her. There was only fear and hopelessness in her eyes. The silence was broken only by slight whimpers from the children as the claws grated again down the obsidian door.
The shadow moved. The beast reared back and tore one claw into the crystal, sending a long fissure down the length of the door. All around him Aryn heard screams. Jon-Jon was dropped as the children tried to climb over each other, scrambling to get as far away from the door as possible. All but Pell, who stepped forward and turned his tear-streaked face to Aryn.
"We must die like warriors, right?"
Aryn looked down at the boy. He would have made a brave warrior indeed. Aryn's eyes fell upon Pell's sword, and he realized that it would be much better if he himself had the longer blade. He opened his mouth to ask Pell to give it to him, and then suddenly thought better. This thing could not be killed anyway. Let the boy die with dignity and honor.
Another claw smashed against the door and this time it broke through, and the creature thrust its head into the opening, jaws snapping the air as it tried to widen the hole. Aryn leapt forward even as Kamella moved back with the children, and he slashed twice across the thing's muzzle. The cuts were deep and powerful, but the beast only thrust forward harder, and the door splintered into black shards under its weight.