Chapter 3

I can't, Linh thought with anguish, keeling over to breathe. Placing her hands on her knees to steady herself, her whole torso arched as she heaved. I can't run anymore.

She needed to rest, a break from running. Her hands shook as much as her legs from the exertion. Her feet were killing her, and she was so hot she bet her face was blotchy. At this rate, she was going to break out in hives.

Once she'd stopped hacking up a lung, she pinched the neckline of her lavender Ao Dai garment so she could pull it away from her body. She flapped the dress, moving air inside it as well as fanning her overheated face.

She licked at her dry lips; it wouldn't be long before they started to crack. There was no point in reaching for the water sack, since it'd long been empty. Instead, she limped while pulling an apple from her bag, hoping to feed and hydrate herself at the same time.

Her gaze lowered to her slippers, and she grimaced at how muddy her socks were. At least the bottoms of her grey linen pants only had a few speckles on them, likely due to the internal ribbon keeping them snug around her ankles.

Supporting herself on a nearby tree trunk, she wiped the sweat from her forehead. Although her head pounded with heat and high blood-pressure, the air was cold. The tendrils of winter were still fading, and the constant shade of the forest didn't allow the earth to truly warm.

If I keep going like this, I'm going to vomit. She'd been running on and off for at least fourteen hours. The sun was past its highest peak, and she'd barely stopped moving.

No matter how far she ran, it didn't feel like enough.

An oppressive, dark energy nipped at her heels, pushing her forward in fear. The further she got, the more she worried her newfound freedom would be ripped away. Her anxieties weren't getting better, they only worsened. She thought it may be more painful if she tasted freedom, only to be barred back in a cage of tent walls with a new shackle at her ankle.

Her face drained of heat. If he catches me... Her stomach churned at the fate she knew awaited her.

"Don't think about it, Linh Nguyen," she told herself, throwing her apple core to the side. "Just keep going. Duneside is half a day's walk from here."

She refused to look west, knowing that her hometown, Ashpen Village, was directly that way. She was about halfway between the two towns, despite being far more east along the cape.

Every step towards Duneside only brought on more worry.

I thought I could go there, but... Shit, she hadn't thought about the bandit soldiers situated inside both towns, which were there for their ‘protection.'

Bragg's main camp was designed to keep humans from aiding them, and Demons from rushing through the middle of the two mountains. Safety at the cost of their freedom.

I'll have to forage. She could do that, since she'd been learning the trade her entire life. She could point out what was poisonous or edible just by looking or sniffing.

Why hasn't the northern Demonslayer guild sent people to help us yet? They were supposed to protect them, yet they'd been suffering for months at the hands of bandits.

Shaking her head once more, figuring they had good reason for abandoning them, Linh paused when she heard trickling. Her expression grew lax, then her eyes widened.

Is that...? Despite her aching body, she hobbled as she ran, chasing after the sound. Yes! Water! She followed the tiny stream's westerly flow.

Linh nearly wept when she came upon a small pond. Only a few metres wide, both sides of its oval mouth were collections of boulders and stone. The water dropped down as if it'd been made via a sinkhole, and she could see cracked earth through the grass surrounding it.

Linh didn't care how it was formed, only that it existed.

Rolling up her long sleeves, she dipped her hands into the water. It was clear, but she sniffed it to make sure it didn't have any pungent odours. As much as she would have preferred to boil it, she still sipped it. Refreshing and much needed, she scooped handfuls of it to her mouth.

Quenching the worst of her thirst, she opened the water sack and watched it bubble as it filled. As if she couldn't help herself, needing to gorge on it in case she didn't come across another water source in future travels, she scooped more to drink.

Her tired reflection rippled as she slurped, but she ignored the wispy strands of black hair that stuck out around her head. Her eyes shone a rich brown in the sunlight, glittering with the patterns of the water.

She washed her face, removing the grime and sweat from her skin from running. She even rinsed her neck.

Just as she scooped another handful, she hurled out a gasp and fell to her backside. I saw a face! Or something... like a face. Then again, it'd been rather pale, like a skull.

If there are dead bodies in the water, it'll make me sick. But it had smelt and tasted fine, and waterlogged bodies would generally leave a distinct taste in it. There would also be more bugs in the water, but she hadn't seen any.

With her eyes wide and stark, she leaned forward. Oh god, please let it only be a hallucination. Cautiously, she peeked over the rocky edge.

Nothing. She rubbed her eyes before checking once more. With the surface unmoving, she saw nothing in the deep darkness. The walls of the pond appeared to be made of stone, rather than mud, and nothing moved beneath the surface.

A sigh of relief fluttered past her shaking lips, and she sagged to the side. Just a hallucination. Unsurprising, considering she hadn't slept in what must have been over thirty-six hours. She'd stayed up all night to make sure she could escape.

I need rest. As much as she didn't want to, she crawled to the boulders to her right so she could lean against them. She soaked in the warmth cascading over her. I can't run forever. I need sleep.

Sitting upright, she rolled her head against the boulder to glance towards the water, a little spooked by it. At least the sun would keep her safe from any Demons. A bubble popped at the surface of the water, but she thought little of it as her exhausted eyes slitted with a heaviness before they started to close.

Just a few minutes. She could hopefully afford to close her eyes for a little while. Sitting upright would ensure she didn't sleep long, as the ground beneath her arse, the rock at her back, and the position she was in were all insanely uncomfortable.

Just a few...

Linh gasped when something tapped against the side of her cheek, and her eyes flung open. At the man's face in front of her, one that had a horrible smirk across it, she let out an ear-splitting scream.

She never got the chance to jump to her feet to run from one of Bragg's underlings, nor to truly settle from her shock. A cry ripped from her when he grabbed the ball of her braided bun and dragged her across the ground as she kicked her legs. She reached up and clung to his wrist, trying to take away the pain.

The area was shaded, dusk quickly descending upon them.

Her features twisted up in anguish when she realised she'd fallen asleep for hours. Her body ached from being in a seated position, and all her exhaustion made her too weak to truly fight back.

"We knew we'd find you," Glendil stated with a chuckle, his blond ponytail shifting side to side as he shook his head. He tossed her against the ground.

Randy then lunged for her, pinning her legs to the ground as he went to bind her hands. His long, auburn beard almost tickled her nose as she struggled to get away.

"You know he's pissed, right?" Randy stated, his blue eyes cold and unfeeling. "He warned you he'd cut one of your Achilles tendons next time you ran away. He doesn't care if you limp, only that you've got a pretty face and a warm–"

Linh belted out another scream as her struggles doubled. "Get off me! Leave me alone!" Tears instantly welled in her eyes, as a fear so harrowing bled into her veins like ice. "Please!"

She just wanted to be free! She'd rather die than go back there – to him.

"Shut the fuck up!" Randy yelled, slamming his fist into the dirt next to her head. She refused! She kicked harder and screamed louder, knowing he couldn't hurt her unless he wanted to experience Bragg's wrath. "Fuck, Glendil. Help me get a rag in her mouth."

A beastly, inhuman, hissing roar sounded from below her feet. Water sprayed through the air like a mighty wave. Then Randy was gone from above her.

Linh gasped as a gigantic black... something dived above her, tackling Randy to the ground in a swipe of claws. The sheer mass of it, the length of it, was so utterly daunting, and the end of its tail landed on her stomach.

When the breath slammed out of her due to the weighty limb, she retched, crossing her arms over her torso as her knees came up. Her entire body clenched as if she'd been punched in the stomach before it slithered off and away.

When she sat up and spun on her backside, Linh kicked her feet to get away from the monster that had unwittingly saved her. Her back met the boulders she'd slept against, and she brought her knees up to make herself smaller.

Oh my god, what is it?! It didn't look like a Demon. At least, not like any she'd seen! It was also so long and big – she'd never heard of such a large monster.

Glendil, brave but undeniably stupid to think he could take it on, charged with two hands firmly on the hilt of his claymore. While the creature ripped off an arm belonging to Randy, who yelled and screamed, Glendil sunk his blade through its torso until it came out the other side. He tried to yank it out, but his tugs proved futile.

A white serpent skull splashed in blood turned to Glendil with a bone-chilling hiss. Two long fangs dropped and lengthened as it removed the blade itself and turned. The monster lunged, diving for the man with such a swiftness he only had enough time to pull out a dagger. It sunk its fangs into the crook of his neck and shoulder as Glendil stabbed it multiple times. Anywhere and everywhere he could reach, dark-purple blood splattered as its side was opened.

The attacks did little to stop it, and Glendil eventually sagged the longer its fangs remained. The dagger fell to the grass with a quiet thud.

The third and final bandit had his battle axe prepared, but his eyes were stark and wide. He was too frightened to move.

So was Linh as she took in the enormity of its serpent body.

Its long tail, spanning metres in length, supported a humanoid torso. White bones protruded from its ribcage, the knuckles of its hands, and the hundreds of vertebrae down its spine and tail. Black serpent scales glinted with a rainbow sheen. Menacing claws tipped its blood-soaked hands, and it turned them towards the last man, who went visibly pale at having a set of crimson floating orbs upon him.

He screamed as he ran, heading for the shade of the forest.

Massive fins darted from its back, appearing out of nowhere to create one giant sail, as it gave chase with a roar. The last bandit barely made it into the tree line before he needed to swiftly turn. He sunk his axe into its chest, cutting deep, but it was too late.

In a singular swipe of claws, it tore open his throat and chest. He gurgled, cupping his throat to stem the bleeding.

Linh covered her mouth to stifle her whimper, shaking her head as the creature opened its maw and bit around the bandit's head. Her fearful tears from earlier fell faster, but she knew she had to steady herself.

Her gaze darted to the gloaming sky and then back to the monster, noticing the way the light glistened against the scales covering its back. Linh absorbed its snake skull, watching as the lower segments of its jaw separated so it could easily swallow an arm. It appeared it wanted to eat the man piece by piece before it just started trying to shove his limbless torso into its mouth.

It has a skull. Demons don't have skulls. Her nails dug into her cheeks. A Duskwalker?

How the fuck did a Duskwalker get to the northwest cape of Austrális? They would have known about it. It couldn't have wandered through the mountain gorge without Bragg knowing of it. Or maybe he did and considered it too big of a challenge to confront.

Finally removing her hands from her mouth, she cupped them to her chest. Breathe, Linh. Breathe. She tried to settle, to remove her scent of fear from the air. Closing her eyes, she ignored it eating the men, especially when it doubled back to eat Randy still bleeding out. Go numb.

Glendil, from what she could tell by his chest moving, was alive but paralysed, as if he'd been envenomed. He bled from the puncture wounds in his shoulder.

D-Duskwalkers are considered intelligent... right? One could even bargain for a bride by offering a protection ward. T-that means they can talk, and not kill humans if they choose it.

She winced and then recoiled at the sound of skin tearing and bones cracking, but shuddered in another breath. She let it out, and calmed her heart rate along with it, utilising a skill she hated to suppress her fear. She peeked open a singular eye.

It's not attacking me? She warily watched it, refusing to move or make a single noise in case she caught its attention. Cringing, she watched Randy's bag slip from his limbless body and crash against the ground when the Duskwalker split open its maw to swallow that too.

Once more, she thought, It's not attacking me. Her fear ebbed as hope bled into her veins. Did it hear me scream? Did it... protect me? She wanted to believe that was true. It was better than the alternative: that Linh had accidentally led a four-course meal to it, with her being the dessert.

Glendil, still alive but unmoving, was disposed of quickly.

For a long while, it moved its blunt snout towards the three pools of blood, its clawed hands opening and closing. With its tail coiled up underneath it, and its back to her, it just sat there, searching.

Then it quaked while crossing its arms over its torso. It dug its own claws into its shoulder blades, and sunk into itself, coiling its meaty tail over its torso. The Duskwalker continued to shiver and shudder as it wrapped itself into a ball.

Purple blood glistened against its scales, pouring from it in rivulets, and it hissed at nothing, only to whimper moments later.

When nothing seemed to give it what it wanted, it leapt out of its coil and slithered to the water's edge. With orbs white, it dipped a hand into the pond's surface, only to yelp and back up.

Something is wrong with it.

Either it didn't know she was there, or her existence had been forgotten amidst all the blood. Maybe it didn't care, like she was too small to be good prey. Less than a foot away, it was so close to her that she could have kicked her leg out and bashed at the base of its tail.

Should she move? She darted her foot away when the tip of its serpent tail brushed over the top of her ankle.

Snapping in her direction, the Duskwalker's skull loomed over her. One moment white, the next red, its orbs flickered between the two as it took her in. It towered ever closer, dauntingly blocking out the last of the sun.

Oh gods! She sprung to her feet when it looked like it was about to lunge and barely made it a step before she was tackled.

Her scream was instantly muffled by a writhing limb curling around her. Linh expected to be eaten. Instead, soft scales brushed over her as she was swallowed up by its body.

The quaking from earlier was far more intense now that she was in the middle of it. She felt it in the way muscles contracted, pulling and releasing in pulses. The Duskwalker tightened around her, but she never felt its head near her – not the puff of breath or the hardness of bone. Just a dense body trying its absolute hardest to envelop her.

Unable to help it, the constriction sent her heart racing. She struggled to breathe, unsure if that was due to her terror or her air being blocked.

A growl reverberated from the Duskwalker, seeming to travel down each of its protruding vertebrae to vibrate her. It squashed her until the pressure was constricting and painful.

"I can't breathe,"she choked out, unsure if it would care.

The tighter the pressure surrounding her from everywhere became, the less afraid she was. Gulping uselessly for air, her heart began to slow. It was squeezing her to death, and each decompress of her chest as she gasped for life only worsened it.

I'm going to die.