Page 30 of Akur

The scratching grew louder. Closer. Something skittered across the wall above, sending small rocks pattering around them.

The alien’s palm left her face, and he gripped her shoulders instead.

“Listen, human. You’re going to turn around, and you’re going to run.”

“Wh-what are they?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, his heat became almost scorching as he pressed his face into hers, forehead to forehead. Their breaths mingled. Hers frantic and uneven, his steady and measured.

“You don’t want to know. Now run. And whatever you do, don’t stop running until you no longer hear a sound.”

He released her so suddenly that she almost stumbled. When she reached out, he was gone.

“Akur!”

“Run, human!” It was a command this time, and only a moment before a sound came from the darkness that made her blood run cold. It was a low, wet chittering that spoke of teeth and hunger and crawling things that should stay buried.

As Akur’s roar echoed through the tunnel, followed by a deafening screech that made her teeth vibrate, Constance raised the blaster and took off running. Whatever was in that darkness with them, she wasn’t going to make it easy for them to catch her.

She just hoped she was running toward safety and not straight into their nest.

8

Constance

Run.

Faster.

She pushed her feet to do what her mind told them to, but it was hard. Not even adrenaline could counter the complete weariness or the fact her body had been through so much.

And yet she tried. Her feet pounded against the tunnel floor as she ran, each breath burning in her lungs. The darkness pressed in around her like a living thing. Suffocating. Unholy.

Behind her, the screeching sound and Akur’s roar had devolved into sounds of battle that echoed off the stone wall—the clash of metal, inhuman screeches, and Akur’s deep-throated roars that sounded more animal than sentient.

He was fighting the things, whatever they were, even as he chased after her. He was keeping them back so she could find a way to safety.

But the creatures’ chittering grew closer, then farther, then closer again. She couldn’t tell if they were gaining on her or if the tunnel’s acoustics were playing tricks on her mind. Couldn’t tell if she was heading toward more danger or away from it. And when her muscles screamed for rest, she forced herself to keep moving. Thin leather shoes beating against hard stone.

The command Akur had given her rang in her ears: “Run, and don’t stop until you can’t hear anything.” Run. All she had to do was run.

A rush of air swept past her face, carrying with it a stench like rotting meat and stagnant water. Something massive moved in the darkness beside her. Before she could react, a form brushed against her arm—smooth and cold andwrong. It felt like touching wet leather stretched over something gelatinous, with ridges and protrusions that caught at her skin. The texture alone made her stomach heave.

She screamed, stumbling sideways as razor-sharp edges—claws or teeth or both—raked across her upper arm. The pain was immediate and intense, but the adrenaline coursing through her system pushed it to the background. All that mattered was running, staying ahead of whatever horrors lurked in the darkness.

Behind her, Akur’s footsteps thundered closer. She could hear his labored breathing, punctuated by grunts of exertion as he fought. The screech of his blades cutting through something solid made her flinch. Whatever had touched her let out a wet, gurgling shriek that echoed off the walls.

“Keep running, human!” his voice boomed through the tunnel even as she heard him grunt in pain, followed by another inhuman screech.

The darkness was now a physical thing. Like a dark force she had to push through. The walls themselves felt like they were closing in, and her heart dropped when she realized that was exactly what was happening. The tunnel was getting narrower. She didn’t know if that was a good thing or—well, just another sign that this was the worst lucid nightmare she’d ever had.

Pushing her legs faster, she didn’t even wince when her shoulder slammed into the wall at her side. Adjusting herself slightly, she kept going, even as something skittered across the ceiling above her. She could hear the click-click-click of what had to be claws on stone. The soundsurrounded her now—ahead, behind, above. How many were there?

“Akur?!”

A particularly loud clash of metal on something hard came from behind her, followed by Akur’s pained shout. She wanted to look back, wanted to make sure he was still fighting, still alive. But looking back meant slowing down, and slowing down meant death. Death in the dark when she couldn’t see anything, anyway.

The tunnel floor began sloping upward, making each step harder. Her legs burned with the effort, and her lungs were working overtime. How long had she been running? It felt like hours, but it couldn’t have been more than a minute.

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