Page 10 of Monster's Maiden

A sudden rush of air brushes past my face, carrying with it the scent of soil and ancient stone. I stretch my arms wider, hoping to find something to grab hold of on the walls of this chasm. My fingertips brush against jagged rock for an instant before slipping away.

"Please," I whisper into the void, my voice trembling with helplessness. “Please… no…”

The cold bites at my skin, numbing my senses as I continue to fall further down into the dark abyss. My heart pounds vigorously in my chest, each beat a desperate plea for survival.

Memories of our laughter moments ago in the forest swirl through my mind, taunting me with their warmth and camaraderie. The promise of adventure had seemed so alluring then; now it feels like a distant dream slipping further from reach with each passing second.

In this abyss, I am alone—utterly and terrifyingly alone.

My thoughts turn inward, seeking some semblance of calm amidst the chaos. Focus on breathing. Focus on surviving. But even these mantras feel futile as I continue to descend into the unknown.

I don't know what awaits me at the bottom of this deep chasm—if there even is a bottom—but one thing is certain: I must find a way to endure.

The world around me blurs in a whirlwind of motion. My screams echo off the walls, swallowed by the oppressive darkness that engulfs my vision. The rush of air whips past my face, stinging my cheeks and tearing at my hair. Every inch of my skin prickles with cold. My arms flail uselessly, reaching for any ounce of stability. The void offers nothing but emptiness, a chilling reminder of how fragile life is.

How could we have been so careless? If only we hadn’t entered those ruins in the first place. The weight of regret presses down on me, heavier than the falling debris around me.

“Hold on! Don’t leave me!” I scream into the abyss, though there’s no one to hear. My voice sounds so small and insignificant against the vast emptiness.

The scent of wet rock invades my senses, mingling with the taste of blood and dust in my mouth. Each breath feels like inhaling ice shards, sharp and unforgiving.

Soon, the ground rushes up to meet me with a terrifying speed, a jagged embrace that promises pain. Every muscle in my body tenses, bracing for the impact that seems inevitable.

Then it happens. My body slams into the hard ground. A sickening thud reverberates through my bones, a jarring shock that ripples through every inch of me. Pain explodes in my side, radiating outward like fire. My breath leaves me in a whoosh, and for a moment, I can’t pull any back in.

I try to move, but my limbs feel like stone, too heavy and sluggish to obey my commands. Thoughts flit through my mind in disjointed fragments. Is this it? Will I ever see Aiden and Maya again?

My vision tunnels, the edges going fuzzy and gray. Sounds become distant echoes, muffled by the pounding of my heart in my ears.

Survive. The word floats to the forefront of my mind, a last desperate plea.

But it’s so hard to hold on. My eyelids droop despite my best efforts to keep them open. Each blink is longer than the last. A dull roar fills my ears—a mix of the crumbling ruins above and the blood rushing through my veins. The pain in my side throbs with each heartbeat, but even that starts to fade into numbness.

The darkness closes in tighter around me until everything goes black. The ground swallows me whole, pulling me into an abyss where consciousness slowly fades away like a dying ember.

Silence engulfs me, the world fading into oblivion. My thoughts scatter like leaves in a storm, the edges of my consciousness fraying.

How did it come to this? My mind latches onto the fleeting memories of my friends' attempts to save me—Aiden’s determined gaze, Maya’s desperate grip. Their faces blur, slipping through my grasp as darkness claims me.

I can’t move. Panic flares for a moment before ebbing into an eerie calm. This blackness is all-consuming, a cocoon that strips away everything but the faint pulse of life within me.

In this immense void, I float on the edge of awareness, suspended between reality and oblivion. Sensations dull to whispers—an ache here, a chill there—until even those fade into nothingness.

My thoughts fragment further, memories splintering like glass. All swallowed by this vast abyss.

I cling to one final thought before it too dissolves: I must live.

Then... nothing.

Complete silence. Utter darkness.

6

ZYRITH

The sounds I’m suddenly hearing disorient me for a moment. I pause, ancient instincts flaring to life. I tread cautiously over fallen rocks, brushing against the rough surfaces. As I round a corner, the ceiling gives way above me. A cascade of rock rains down. I shield myself with my solid arms.

“Something… Someone did this,” I wonder aloud, watching as the dust and rock continued to fall.

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