Half A Hero

4

Ghwyr ran as hard as he could. To get away from the monster. He wasn’t sure if it has died from his attack or if he wounded it. Maybe, his attack didn’t even scratch the monster’s hide for all he knew. But he wasn’t standing there and wait around. He ran with the other humans, but unfortunately, they didn’t even try help him despite the feat he did.

They ran away without looking back and left him out there, fatigued and light-headed from the struggle he did with the vile water. His fatigue could most likely be attributed from the dirty water her accidentally ingested while he was drowning earlier. The toxins and manure were wreaking havoc on his body, and he was far away from the surface.

Regardless of what he felt, he wasn’t willing to give up and die just yet. It would be very anti-climactic for him to die, just before he got known as a hero. Or if the fates would be cruel to him, at the very least make him reach the surface and have a proper burial than be eaten by the rats and other dark lurkers in the sewer.

As he was running out of breath, he didn’t stop murmuring his prayer to Salidas, asking the goddess to give him the strength to make it to the surface or make it out of there alive.

He could feel himself burning with a fever. The water was very potent against him. It was poisoning his body. His stomach was cramping hard, making him stumble down as the pain crept in. He was puking bile and manure. He took another painful step, gnashing his teeth with every movement, but he had to do it in order to survive.

After puking some more, Ghwyr felt a worse. However, he couldn’t stop. He made his body move despite the pain and was able to run decently, following the path of the humans who left him there. He held his body against the mossy wall as his eyesight began to fade. Good thing his efforts didn’t came to waste. As he followed their trail, he could see the pathway lighting up even brightly than before. He was going the right track, now all he had to do was survive and he should be able to reach the surface.

He took a deep breath and walked faster, despite his knees almost close to giving up, he went ahead and pushed himself to run as fast as he could, chasing the men behind him when suddenly, he felt a cold shiver down his spine.

Just as he was about to catch up to the other men, he heard their horrible screams in the distance. His head throbbed violently as the screams sounded muffled. He knew immediately that the men had just faced their doom, and in about a few minutes from now, it would be his doom as well if he couldn’t find a way out.

His eyesight was getting worse. He could see spots floating everywhere and it was constantly fading as he tried to look at the dimly lit tunnel behind him. However, despite his failing eyesight, he could tell that someone was lurking in the shadows. He could feel the presence of the same monster he battled earlier.

He turned back to his path once again and noticed that the screams had already died down.

“This is bad.” He whispered to himself.

From the distance he could hear the monster growling while chomping on something. It sounded like tearing flesh off a bone. Those poor men had suffered their worse fates. He wasn’t planning on joining them.

With no other way to go to, Ghwyr thought of the impossible. He slowly lowered himself down to the waterway. The cold and slimy water clinging against his body once again, but he had no choice. With another threat heading his way, that was his only chance of survival.

The water’s miasma was overwhelming him. However, he needed to do the choice now or else, it would be too late for him. His heart was beating fast as he could hear the scratching sound the monster was making against the wall.

He could just imagine its claws tracing the stones to purposefully scare him, and somehow it did. But he needed to calm down and get on with his plan. He took a few deep breathes as he stared at the dark waters.

“Lady Salidas, please raise up my chance of living to another day.” He prayed and finally submerged himself into the water.

He swam blindingly from below. The stench from the water was too getting into him. It was disgusting and he felt like heading to the surface to puke. It didn’t help that his body was reacting badly to the vile liquid already.

His head throbbed as he tried his best to hold his breath. But he needed to hold it a little more. He swam as fast as he could underneath the muck and floating things that was passing by him, touching every part of his body.

He swam another few feet or maybe more, until he could no longer take it. He reached for the floor and surfaced still with his eyes closed. The murky water weighed him down and it took him a while to lift himself up to the floor, but when he did, he was up for a gory surprise. Just as he opened his eyes, Ghwyr saw the mangled body of the old man Logue.

The old man’s eyes were staring at him. He almost screamed at the sight of it. However, he was able to cover his mouth. He wasn’t sure what to do at that point, he wanted to puke and just lay there at the same time. But that proved impossible. He was still being pursued by the monster and he could feel its presence somewhere.

He stood up and ran once again but as soon as he made the first step, he felt a sharp object pierced on his leg. Ghwyr immediately stumbled down writhing in pain, as his body slowly stiffened. He tried to fight it, but his body wouldn’t listen.

He laid on the cold floor stiffed and unable to move. As he struggled with controlling his body, he could hear the monster’s claws scratching against the stone wall once again. His heart beat rapidly as he waited for his gory demise.

“This is it for me.” He thought.