Here's the next installment of our Metallum Nocturne story. If you need to catch up on any of the previous episodes, click here.
Episode Thirty-Seven
"Get behind me."
Claire backed away, moving back up the ridge as Sancha stalked forward. Even if she could somehow defeat the creature, she'd still have Abe with his pistol to worry about.
"Why are you doing this?" asked Elle.
"Money, food for my companion, and the thrill of killing another stupid mage," said Abe derisively.
The strange looks Claire had received when they left Big Dave's became more clear. The locals probably suspected Abe wasn't the guide he said he was, but a killer in disguise.
"I checked your background," said Elle, breathlessly. "There wasn't anything about you being in the Halls."
"It was only a year and that bitch Adele kicked me out when I accidently convinced an ur-bear to attack one of my fellow first years. I changed my name and worked for the Phoenix Corporation for a while, but then I found Sancha and made her my hunting companion. The Undercity has been the perfect killing grounds."
The creature let out a low growl that reverberated in Claire's chest.
"Don't try running," he said. "I'll put a bullet in your back."
"Elle," she whispered.
"Yeah?"
"I'm going to do something really stupid. Run when I say and I'll try to keep you from getting shot."
"You're right, that is stupid."
"One, two...run!"
Claire broke up the ridge, following Elle as she scrambled over, heading towards the waterfall. The punch hit Claire in the back before she heard the shot. A second impact sent sharp pain through her mind and she lost control of her legs, landing hard on the stone. She was bleeding, but didn't know how bad. The dark metal had only partially protected her.
As she spun around, Sancha came bounding over the rocks, fangs extended. Claire had dropped the blade in her fall. She searched around, but the creature reached her first, landing heavily on her chest and trying to sink its teeth into her chest. The pain was unreal. It felt like her entire chest was in a vise. She worried ribs would crack.
Claire reached around for the knife. She found a rock and smashed it against the creature's head, releasing her for a moment. As the creature shook off the impact, she spotted the glint of metal in a crack. She found the blade, miraculously avoiding slicing her fingers, and as it tried to bite her again, she jammed the sharp end under its jaw. The tender flesh parted, spilling blood over Claire as she shoved it deep. The creature collapsed atop, crushing her with its weight. She was trapped.
"No! Sancha!"
Abe appeared above her, searching the creature for signs of life, but her blade had gone into its brain. He listed about, cursing under his breath. It was only a matter of time before he put a bullet in her head since it was the only thing exposed. The dark metal wouldn't save her like it had from the teeth. Claire hoped Elle was using the distraction to escape.
"You bitch, you killed my friend."
"She tried to eat me," said Claire, wheezing.
Her hand was still on the knife, trapped in the creature's throat. Claire tried to push the weight off but even her newfound strength wasn't up to the task. She strained unsuccessfully.
"You don't deserve this," he said.
Abe pointed the gun at her head. She could see nothing but the barrel as she tried to leverage herself from beneath the dead body. Claire managed to get a leg free, but it wasn't enough.
He tipped forward momentarily as something bounced off his head and landed out of sight. Abe spun around firing his weapon into the darkness while his other hand was on his head, revealing blood from the impact.
"Show yourself or I'm killing her!"
"Don't Elle! He'll just kill us both. Run back to Big Dave's for help!"
Abe laughed as he searched the darkness with his headlamp. "You think anyone there will help you? That's why I hunt here. There are no police, no good Samaritans. This is the Undercity. The only rule is might."
While he was focused on trying to find Elle, Claire managed to get her left arm out from under the creature which gave her the room to wiggle the blade from its throat. She worked furiously.
Abe fired two more shots into the darkness. He moved away briefly. It appeared Elle was hiding over the ridge, throwing rocks whenever he gave her the opportunity.
"I'll kill you next!" he shouted into the darkness.
With a herculean effort, Claire yanked the blade from the creature's throat and managed to free her upper body. She lunged forward to put the blade in his calf, but Abe turned at the last moment.
"Shayut!"
A wave of magical energy slammed into Claire, stunning her long enough for Abe to kick the blade out of her hand. She heard it land somewhere behind her, clattering between the rocks.
"This ends now."
As he pointed the pistol at her motionless body, Claire heard a rising cry from behind. He half-turned, too late as Elle slammed into him from behind. They went flying. His headlamp landed somewhere away, turning off in the impact.
Claire struggled to move. The magical mark had knocked the wind out of her, but as she heard Elle fighting with Abe, she found new energy. With no light in the cavern, she found them unerringly, grabbing Elle and pulling her away from Abe before he could kill her.
A flash exploded from the gun barrel, the bullet whistling between them, followed by multiple clicks. As Abe cursed, quickly reloading the clip from his hip pocket, Claire led Elle the opposite way, finding the cavern wall and setting her against it.
"Stay here," she whispered.
Elle tried to grab her to keep her from going back, but Claire had a debt to settle and the voice in her head made it clear that someone had to die today. Creeping across the rocks as silently as possible, she watched as Abe found his feet. He kept swinging around, pointing the gun in random directions, blind to her advance. She found the area the knife had been knocked away and carefully retrieved it, making sure she didn't create any unnecessary sounds that would give her position away.
With the blade in her hand, she approached Abe from the side. She felt giddy with anticipation and also revulsion. The former coming from the voice. As she neared, the ritualistic chanting she'd heard when she first awoke had returned.
Kill him for me.
Abe didn't see her coming. She was right behind him, blade poised to plunge into his back. Fighting off the creature in self-defense had been simple, but now she was purposely executing someone. It would be easy enough to slip away in the darkness and leave the Undercity and his murderous ways behind, but if she did, the voice would demand another sacrifice.
This one is easy. Take him now. Take him.
She'd never killed anyone. Never even considered it, but now that she was about to, the horror of it left her hand frozen in mid-air.
Abe spun.
He must have heard her breathing. Before he could point the gun at her, she plunged the blade into his chest. It went right through the bone and into his lungs. She startled when he squeezed off a round, but it'd bounced off the rocks, soaring into the darkness. He sunk to his knees and with the blade in his chest, tipped over onto the rocks.
Claire stared at his body as blood pooled around him. She couldn't believe what she'd done, but the pressure in her head had been released. She felt herself entirely again, then she took two steps and the entirety of her stomach came up, splashing between the rocks. When she finished retching, she wiped her mouth and found Elle huddled against the wall.
"He's dead."
Elle switched on her headlamp. The light speared her, forcing her to recoil. As she brought her hand up to block, the blood covering her hand was revealed.
"Did you?"
"I had no choice," she said, even though she knew it wasn't true.
"No, you didn't. He would have killed us. Or if we'd fled, he would have killed others."
Claire didn't know where her headlamp was, but didn't care. Elle took charge of their recovery, pulling out a first aid kit and cleaning up the blood. When she checked the bite wounds, she found the fangs had only partially broken the skin, but the flesh between the striations were already bruised purple, turning her side into a motley mess.
The pair of them made a sorry return to Big Dave's Town. Claire's stomach ached but she had no desire to eat. No one gave them a second glance as they headed up the long ramp to the surface. Claire kept rubbing her hands against her jeans trying to remove the blood that was no longer there. When they reached the city, it was night. A storm raged to the west, sending rumbles and flashes of light across the sky, but it was dry in the eighth ward outside the Goblin's Romp. Neither of them said a word for a long minute. Elle stared at her feet. Claire sensed a barrier between them.
"I have an article to finish," said Elle, jabbing her thumb towards the city center.
"Wait. Is everything good between us?"
Elle gave her a strange look. "Of course, but I'm going to need some time to process what happened. Thank you for saving us."
"You saved us too."
Elle looked like she wanted to say something else, but raised her hand in a weak wave before wandering down the sidewalk leaving Claire empty inside.
