Riven's chest heaved as he pressed his back against the cold stone. The crevice seemed to close in on him, suffocating, like he'd been swallowed whole by the ribs of some titanic beast. Every inch of him screamed in pain from his cracked ribs, his throbbing legs, the deep gash above his eyebrow where blood had reopened and now trickled warm and sticky down his face.
The pickaxe lay across his chest, the only anchor of reassurance in this black abyss.
"Calm down… calm down… calm down…" he whispered through clenched teeth, eyes screwed shut. His breath rattled in his throat. The air here was much heavier and denser than on earth and each inhale felt like dragging stone into his lungs. His heart thundered so loudly in his ears he was sure the thing outside could hear it.
And then the continuous sound of scraping rang out again.
Oh yeah, the grotesque thing was still there. Its wet, guttural croak vibrated through the stone, thick with hunger that he could feel in his soul. Riven froze. He could hear the saliva dripping as it slammed one of its stinger-like limbs into the rock near the gap. The entire wall shuddered. Dust rained into his hair, his eyes and his mouth but he didn't have the luxury to care.
"Think… think… think…" Riven hissed to himself, forcing his skull back against the stone until it dug into his scalp and the pain sparked behind his eyes. Panic clawed at his throat, but he shoved it down and made his hands move. He groped along the walls, feeling for weakness. There were only damp stone, sharp ridges. He then started knocking around and by some miracle he felt something.
A patch that felt… shallow and hollow.
He raised the pickaxe weakly and struck the section of the wall. Sparks flared but it didn't break. Although now his arms were trembling from the effort; his body no longer had the strength.
'Damn it… I'm not awakened. I don't have the force.'
His teeth clenched as his eyes flicked up. The creature's silhouette loomed over the entrance with saliva dripping from its mouth.
A massive leg stabbed inward again. By sheer, vicious chance, it struck the shallow patch.
The wall groaned a bit. Rivne's lips parted, realization searing through the haze of pain.
He shifted himself upward, pressing his body into a position where the stinger would keep hammering the weak point. And then it struck again and again and again. Every impact vibrated through his ribs, jolting agony through him but with each strike, cracks deepened across the shallow patch of rock.
The hours dragged and hunger began to make him feel light headed. But that was just a distraction at this point, Riven wedged himself against the back of the crevice, blood dried into a stiff crust across his body, whispering between his teeth:
"Almost… almost there… break, damn you, break…"
The creature croaked in frustration, then pulled back, shuffling in the dark. Riven didn't breathe or make a sound. Then suddenly the deviant came again with one final blow, and the weakened section of wall gave way.
The stone crumbled. Riven took the opportunity and started hacking like a madman with his pickaxe, tearing at the new gap, forcing his broken body through the splintering rock. Pain tore him apart, but he didn't stop until he spilled out into another section of the cavern.
The deviant screeched behind him, slamming itself at the wall, but its swollen bulk couldn't squeeze through. For now, he was free.
Riven staggered upright in pain, swaying, and locked eyes with its silhouette. His shirt clung to him, saturated with blood. He glanced at it, then the rocks around. A desperate idea began to form in his head.
He tore the shirt free, wincing as the fabric peeled from his torn flesh. But that wasn't enough. Gritting his teeth as tears welled up in his eyes, he pressed his hand to one of his deeper wounds until fresh blood welled up, soaking the cloth anew. The stench of iron thickened the air instantly.
The deviant perked up at once. Its croak deepened, frenzy flooding its movements.
"Come on, you ugly bastard," Rivne muttered, his voice raw and unsteady. "You want me don't you? Take the fucking bait you bastard."
He hurled the bloody shirt into a cluster of jagged rock pillars. The creature lunged without hesitation, ramming its grotesque body between them. Its stinger-legs scraped the cavern walls, stone splitting under its hunger. It was stuck
"Good… good…" Riven rasped, gripping his pickaxe. His gaze lifted to the ceiling. Above the trapped beast, the cavern bristled with jagged stone and one in particular jutting downward like a half-formed spear.
Breathing harsh and shallow, Riven began to climb. His hands slipped on the damp stone. Pain flared with every movement he made. Once, he lost his grip and crashed to the ground, the impact driving a grunt out of him. He clutched his ribs, groaning, before forcing himself up again.
"Move… damn you… MOVE."
He climbed again, inch by inch, until finally he reached the jagged stone. Exhaustion wracked his body, but he lifted the pickaxe.
He slammed it into the rock. Once. Sparks flared. Twice. His palms split, blood mixing with stone dust but he didn't care for he was going to kill that bastard for making him suffer, all that pent up frustration. Again, those stupid faces looking down at him as if it was his fault. Again, his stupid and pointless existence destined to be a defect to be nothing. Again, those stupid idiots always picking at him any chance they got and most all that stupid man's eyes always looking at him as if he wasn't enough.
Again.Again.Again. Each strike tore his hands raw, but cracks spidered outward from the stone's base.
The deviant shrieked below, writhing, sensing doom. Its eyeless face tilted upward toward him.
Riven's lip curled in a cruel bloodied smirk. His voice dripped with venom.
"Something this disgusting doesn't get to look up at me."
Then he roared, slamming the pickaxe down with everything left in him.
"BREAK!"
The stone spear tore free and Gravity did the rest.
It plummeted like divine judgment, impaling the deviant through the skull. The impact echoed like thunder. Its scream curdled into silence, body twitching once before collapsing in a pool of black ichor.
The cavern went still.
Riven sagged, collapsing to his knees. His pickaxe slipped from his hands, clattering to the stone. He pressed his forehead against the cold rock, laughter bubbling up in his chest ragged and half-mad.
"Trapped me, did you? Ugly bastard…" His voice was shredded, but alive. "…Not today."
The stench of blood and death filled the air. His wounds still dripped, his body was broken and beaten. But he had survived.
For now.
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