Squelch!
Skeee!
Paul cried in pain as the monsters teeth sank into his flesh. He felt a pressure press down on his torso but couldn't tell anything further, since the pain was to intense for him to focus.
Everything happened so quickly, that for a second he didn't even realize the danger he suddenly found himself in.
But as the pain continued, he knew something had to be done or he would die.
In a desperate and instinctive struggle for survival, Paul activated one of his kindred skills. Heat gathered in his mouth as his Fey condensed into flames and in one swift exhale, he shot a fireball down the monsters throat.
The reaction was immediate, as it spit him out and continued belching, trying to expel all the damage it suffered. It wriggled and shook without stopping.
Meanwhile Paul slumped on the ground in immense agony, his body feeling weaker and unable to move. His only saving grace was that [Budding immortality] kicked in and started reducing the pain to a more manageable point. Smoke arose from his wounds, in what looked like cauterizing from the outside. But to him it was a pleasant warm sensation that spread through, easing his struggle.
(Haha, that's what you get idiot!)
Paul sneered at it, his mind attempting to distract him from the reality of his current state, slipping between consciousness and unconsciousness. His body was barely hanging on by a threat, only thanks to the intervention of his skill. He wasn't able to move without making his injuries worse and thus all the energy his body could muster was channeled into his skill, to regenerate as fast as possible. Unbeknownst to him, his Phoenix physiology acted in self-preservation and keep him alive, despite the lethal wound he suffered.
Unlike him, the shadow stalker had no regenerative capabilities to speak of and continued its futile attempts to escape its pain, to no avail. However its thrashing around had garnered the attention of the others.
A dozen shadow stalkers slowly poke their heads out of the shadows to inspect what all the noise was about. As ambush predators they lived by the rule of 'first come, first served' and so if one of them failed to take down a prey, it was fair game for the others. Thus they cautiously approached in case of danger.
The first thing they saw was one of their kind rolling around in pain but there was no danger in the vicinity, which seemed strange.
So why was this one making a ruckus?
They left the shadows and walked closer to inspect what happened, only then noticing the small dying creature lying on the ground.
One sniff and they could tell there was something absolutely delectable about it. This bird like monster they didn't recognize, was different from other monsters and even if they couldn't comprehend the reason for it, they knew instinctively that consuming this one would be extremely beneficial for them. However this came as an animalistic feeling rather than logical understanding, which triggered their competitive spirit.
This led to them standing still, refusing to make the first move, since that might cause all the others to gang up against that one in particular. Thus they remained in a momentary standoff, the only movement came from the shadow stalker wriggling in pain, who was ignored by the others.
Unable to stand and barely awake, Paul watched on, as his body continued healing on its own.
He tried to make himself less noticeable, not making a single sound, now that the shadow stalkers were focused on each other.
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!
They started hissing as soon as one of them got to close to another, which caused them to shuffle around, waiting for the first to attack.
In between all the tension, one shadow stalker moved. It was the one that first attacked Paul and than had been ignored. Once the pain somewhat faded a little, it attempted to eliminate the threat that caused it so much suffering. Before the others could do anything, it closed in on Paul and lifted one of its legs to skewer him.
The man in question laid on the ground, still unable to even stand up, when he noticed one of the shadows approaching. This entire time he had not been able to see properly because of the darkness, but the massive beast coming to end him was quite obvious despite despite the lack of sight.
He would die unless he acted now, but considering how painful even the smallest of movements was, he wasn't going to evade anything. Thus he did the only thing he could think of and took a deep breath. The movement of his chest put pressure on the wounds in his torso and created an influx of pain that nearly knocked him out cold. He pushed through with sheer willpower and stubbornness, as heat gathered in his mouth and puffed up his cheeks. In one swift motion he spit out a fireball that flew straight at the shadow stalkers face.
Boom!
[Fire attack leveled up]
The fireball itself wasn't particularly big or strong, but the effectiveness it had was massive.
The shadow stalker that was about to attack reeled back and crashed into the other beast behind it.
The two fell down dramatically and all the others stepped back in reaction to seeing fire. Their attention shifted to the dying bird on the ground, considering it at least a minor threat.
Paul watched it all and a shiver ran down his spine. Until now he had managed to use a mix of skills and smarts to overcome whatever difficulty he encountered, but this time was different. There was no room for error and even his effective [Fire attack] skill didn't deal enough damage. His body refused to move and he barely perceived the monsters within the darkness.
Nothing came to mind, as his every breath prolonged his suffering further.
The shadow stalkers didn't wait for Paul to move and they didn't take any chances. Each of them grabbed on to the shadows, pulled and threw them. The shadows stretched into long curtains and gently landed on top of Paul.
At first he panicked when he saw this new attack, but the fear quickly turned into confusion. There was no pain, as the shadows stacked on him like thin blankets, so he didn't understand what they were trying to do. Until a second later he started sinking into the darkness all of sudden.
The sensation was strangely and expectantly soft and even a little comforting, like laying on a waterbed.
However he knew that at the end of that sinkhole there were a bunch of claws and fangs, waiting to tear him apart.
(Shit! Shit! Shit! I need to do something, anything quickly- Yes, this is it)
[Fire attack]
Level 3 – Fire mantle
Paul saw the notification of his skill leveling up, which he missed before due to being overwhelmed by pain, immediately activating it in a desperate attempt to make a difference.
His body lit up in flames and created something of a small bonfire.
The shadows inflated, as the light of the fire pushed them away until they popped like a balloon.
He sighed in relief, feeling solid ground beneath him once more, but that didn't last long.
Keeping the skill active spent his limited Fey every second and once he runs out, he'll be left truly helpless. And to make matters worse, he felt his regeneration slow down, as his Fey was funneled to his [Fire attack] skill.
Some of the Shadow stalkers threw another shadow at him, only for their attacks to fail.
This left him in a bind. He needed to maintain his fire skill to ward of the beasts but doing so meant he would take longer until he was back in a state, where he could move again and he had to do so before he ran out of energy.
Luckily he had filled up and was at maximum capacity, however seeing his energy drop every second made was nerve wrecking to say the least.
The only thing giving him hope, was seeing the monsters shuffle nervously from one side to the other. The results of his fire had been obvious and this made him consider the implications.
Why did they react so much to fire? Why didn't he see them outside of this tunnel?
The monsters in front of him were specialist, that was the simple conclusion.
(They are like nocturnal animals on earth)
Paul wasn't particularly knowledgeable about, he had never even kept a pet. However the bits and pieces he knew, were enough to draw comparisons to these monsters and understand how they operate.
(They don't leave the tunnels, so if I get past them and reach outside they won't follow)
With this he now had a plan of action, once he finished healing.
His bleeding had stopped already but it would take another half a minute until his wounds healed to the point where they wouldn't reopen easily.
But the Shadow stalker weren't just going to let him be.
One of them used its skill to stick a shadow to a rock, creating a makeshift sling. It didn't have hands and thus it used its mouth, which made its throw rather clumsy.
Paul couldn't see it coming from within the darkness, he just saw some kind of shadow move rapidly and all of sudden he felt the rock smack his tail feathers.
Skreee!
He let out a shriek in surprise more than pain, as he realized that he didn't have the luxury of waiting for the wounds to fully close.
Forcing himself to stand up on shaking legs, he looked in the direction where the rock came from. Sounds could be heard from there and it became clear to him that the other monsters were about to do the same. Having seen it work, they were copying the method from each other.
Paul took a step forward and nearly fell over, but he knew that he couldn't afford to stop moving. Thus he utilized his momentum from falling to take the next step and wobbled, each step faster than the last.
The fire from his skill turned to small embers, once he fully focused on escaping. He maintained the skill at its lowest intensity to scare off the monsters. So long they hesitated, that would be sufficient.
Several stones flew over his head, but he didn't bother paying them any attention. Instead he acutely observed any movement in front of him.
The Shadow stalker reacted once Paul reached their range and attempted to stab him with their spider legs.
Having expected this, Paul activated his fire skill to the maximum for a single moment. They became stunned due to the sudden flash, which allowed him to duck under one of them.
He ran beneath one of their own, preventing the others from targeting him any longer.
Their bodies being much greater in size made them a clear threat before, but now it turned into their detriment and so they saw no choice but to rip through the body of one of their own to get to him.
Paul ran beneath a second one, dodging the snapping of its mouth, once they started tearing into the first one. Without stopping, he escaped towards the exit.
He didn't look back and simply raced to safety at full speed, unintentionally letting out a scream.
Skreee!
In response he heard something that he really hoped was his imagination.
Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!
The tunnel echoed the sounds of the many footsteps involved, as the chase continued and every second felt like hours to Paul. The sound of his heartbeat resounded in his ears, a painful and constant reminder that eventually his legs would give in.
The adrenaline coursing through his body, could not numb the pain, which made his exhausted body ache with every step.
His only saving grace was that his wounds didn't reopen.
After what felt like multiple hours, despite being minutes at most, he saw the literal light at the end of the tunnel.
It was finally in sight, his goal.
Overcome by emotion he felt a small measure of his strength return. He ran one last spurt, not realizing that by the time he reached the exit, footsteps could no longer be heard behind him.
Tears streamed down his cheeks, as he remembered certain words he had only heard in jokes before.
He lifted his wings high above his head and posed, before collapsing to the ground.
Skreee!
(Praise the sun)