Chapter 13
Jayden wasted no time as he pulled Eira by her arm, her legs were locked in place the moment the mutated beast emerged. Liam on the other hand, stood still while his thoughts spun in disarray. This was real. Erin wasn't lying about the creatures that wandered this wasteland. He stood frozen, his lungs were tight, as though rooted to the ground. Jayden called out to him in a voice dipped with urgency but Liam's mind was far too clouded to hear.
The beast's eyes, dark and unblinking, remained fixed on Erin. Yet there was something strange in its stance. Even as its legs were still cracking the ground with every slight shift, it hadn't attacked yet. Erin's breath quickened and her senses sharpened as she studied its movements.
Its gaze wasn't aimed at her face, but at her arm. Realizing this, Erin's eyes trailed downward, at the the mark and it glowed faintly, pulsing in sync with her heartbeat. The crab twitched as its antennae trembled, as though it was drawn to the rhythm.
A chill ran through her spine as she realized.
'It's drawn to the mark…'
The distance between them was still fair and reasonable, enough for her to make a run for it, but she wouldn't be fast enough. Keeping her mark from pulsing might just be the way to keep the ugly looking thing at bay. Erin knew if she kept calm, if the mark remained steady, maybe they could escape without provoking it.
But this beast was intelligent. It recognized the energy from where it stood, it was also studying Erin as much as she was studying it. Then the ground shook underneath as the beast advanced slowly, each step it took left spiderweb fractures across the ground. Erin stole a glance behind her, only to find that Liam was still standing there, transfixed by the sight and uselessly frozen.
"Liam! Get out of here!" she shouted, her voice sharp with panic.
Now Jayden had been nursing a theory about her mark, though he was yet to voice it to the group. Erin herself, she only understood fragments of it, that the glow only flared when her emotions spiked. Severe emotions like fear and anger.
What she didn't know was that it wasn't just limited to these emotions. The hormones rushing through her body also fed the mark's pulse.
Her sudden outburst to Liam carried fear and desperation and the mark flared violently, veins of light running hot under her sleeve. The beast reacted instantly with a loud screech and it lunged forward, its speed doubling as it locked onto her like prey.
Erin's body seized as adrenaline surged through her veins, it was like every nerve was on fire. Her chest rose and fell in shallow gasps as she tried to control her breathing.
'I can't fight this thing! I don't even know HOW to fight.' Erin's thought raced. 'I gotta chill out first.'
Then, by sheer will, she slowed her breathing. Inhaling and exhaling rhythmically. Her muscles softened and her heart steadied, and as her fear subsided, the giant crab faltered, then it slowed its advance, matching her calmness.
'It's reading me… feeding off the energy of my mark. If I stay calm then it stays calm.'
But Erin knew her composure wouldn't hold forever. Sweat traced down her brow, her lungs ached for more breaths and the slightest flare of fear would betray her. And then an idea came to her thoughts. The monolith.
'If I can touch that thing again, maybe I can channel whatever's inside me.' Her pulse quickened at the thought. 'My powers are unstable though, things will get messy'
Behind her, Liam, Jayden and Eira had put distance between themselves and the ruins. Erin sighed in relief, then she turned back to them, keeping her tone steady.
"Take cover," she mouthed. Jayden's eyes locked on hers, he managed to read her lips and he immediately got an idea of what she was about to do. Then he tugged Eira further into the shadows.
Her relief shattered in an instant, as a fresh round of rumbling shook the floor, more violent than the last. The ground split open with another deafening crack, and a second claw burst from below, carving through the ground like paper. A piercing screech ripped right through the air, a kind of sound that stabbed into Erin's ears and made her flinch in pain.
'Another one. There's two of them now?!' Erin screamed in her head, making her mark fluctuate, flaring crimson now. The color bled through her sleeve in jagged lines. Both beasts locked onto her, their antennas quivering, and hunger rolling off them in waves.
'No more time. It's now or never' Erin bolted, sprinting toward the nearest monolith, her boots pounding the already fractured ground.
"AHHHH!" Her scream tore from her throat as she clenched her fist and slammed it against the cold black stone.
The moment her fist touched it, her body convulsed. Then, like the first encounter, her mind was pulled from body and sucked into another wave of visions and echoes.
Energy surged through her veins, raw and unstoppable. Purple light formed all around her, crackling like wildfire and filling the air, making the space around her toxic and dangerous.
The first blast surged outward, lashing toward the first beast. Seeing this, It screeched and raised its massive claw in defense, but the crack of impact echoed across the ruin.
The shell fractured as lines started spreading like broken glass.
The creature stumbled backwards, this time letting out a painful growl that made Erin's mind distorted.
Her body radiated energy and the haze around her filled the air with static that prickled on the skin.
Her breath was ragged as her veins alight with power she herself wasn't strong enough to contain. Then, her body tensed for another blast.
The two beasts recognized the danger they were facing and they retreated into the endless wasteland, with their screeches fading into the distance.
Erin's strength drained as quickly as it came. Her knees buckled and her body collapsed against the monolith. She didn't even have the strength to pull herself free.
Energy still pulsed faintly off her body even as she was barely breathing. Once again, she was drained of her energy.