2024-11-15 14:06:59Rain lashed down in relentless waves, drenching them all as they fought their way through the ruins. Lyra's clothes were slick on her; her skin prickled with the cold as the storm strengthened. Each raindrop seemed to be a needle, sharp and unyielding, piercing her skin. The wind whipped through the crumbling stone structures, howling between the ancient columns and shattered walls. The noise was something that resonated not just in the ethers, but the very ground, sending vibrations down to the rocks around them, as if something underground was moving back and forth uneasily, waiting.
Rhett was leading the way, water dripping from his hair which was sticking to his forehead, and was narrowing his eyes against the rain.
“I can't see a damn thing!” he voiced out, annoyance beginning to show in his tone.
He turned back to look at Lyra and shook his head.
"This is insane! I never signed up for this."
Lyra found herself struggling to keep up, her boots sinking into the mud on every step.
"None of us did! But we're stuck here!" she yelled back, her breath coming in ragged gasps. The ground was a mess of slippery muck, and every step felt like the ruins themselves were fighting to keep them there.
She could hear the squelch of her boots as she pushed forward, slipping every few feet. “We need to move faster!”
Ahead of them, Harrison and Ivy pressed on, huddled close together, their faces etched with fear. Ivy, normally so self-assured, was pale and tight-lipped, glancing nervously over her shoulder as if expecting the ruins to swallow them whole. The eerie sensation that they weren’t alone gnawed at them all. Something about this place felt wrong, like it was holding its breath, waiting for them to make a fatal mistake.
“This place is cursed! I’m telling you!”
Ivy’s voice wavered as she tried to sound casual, but her eyes betrayed her fear. “We should have never come here!”
A flash of lightning illuminated the sky once again, and a roar of thunder followed that ruptured the very ground. The sound wasn’t just from the storm. It was deeper, more primal, as if the very bones of the earth were shifting beneath their feet. Lyra shivered, despite the cold. This wasn’t just a storm—it felt as if the ruins were waking up, the ancient stone groaning under the weight of something long buried.
Harrison slowed, raising his voice above the storm. “We’re almost out! Just a little further!”
There was something admirable about his resolve, yet for some reason, Lyra could not wrap her head around the idea that they would pull through. There was something deep inside of her that urged her to retreat, to dash, however, there was no escaping. In that ancient structure, where the walls were falling apart and the mud seemed menacing, there was nowhere to run. The storm wasn’t letting up, and neither was the sense that the ruins themselves were trying to trap them.
All of a sudden, a deafening sound invaded the atmosphere and Lyra was able to turn around just in time to notice Zarekth’s enormous stone sword free from the grasp of the statue. The ancient weapon came down hard on the ground, slamming on the surface with such brutality that it sent shockwaves all over the ruins. Clouds of dust and other particles exploded, creating a large disturbance and hindering their sight.
Lyra felt her heart rise to her throat, and her heart beat accelerated. “Oh, hell no.”
“Run!” Panic laced Rhett’s words as he dashed off. “Move, damn it!”
The ground lurched under Lyra’s feet, nearly sending her off-balance and forward. She almost fell into the muddy ground but managed to stop herself.
Ivy screamed, but the sound got lost in the din of cracks of stones and wailing winds. Harrison caught her and dragged her to him just before they ducked out of the way of falling wall debris.
It was no use, Lyra’s limbs felt like fire from the effort of pushing herself to move quickly. Every step forward only deepened the danger present, as though the very ruins had come to work with evil forces.
The mud imprisoned her boots menacingly with each step forward to take her down while the winds battled her clothes and smacked her hair on her wet face.
Ahead, Ivy looked back, her eyes wide with terror. “Lyra, hurry!”
However, when Lyra advanced yet another step, the earth shook once more, and she heard that familiar sound of stone grinding. Panic engulfed her. The wall adjacent to her began to move and then collapsed in a split second shower of rocks, isolating her from the rest of the people.
She bent down expertly in an effort to dodge the crumbling wall but felt it quickly block her escape.
“Lyra!” While hunting through the wreckage, Rhett’s voice was full of disbelief and fear. “Where are you?”
“I’m here!” Lyra attempted to scream, although her voice was gone in the storm. She could hardly even hear herself amid the pounding wrath and the tiresome downpour. There was no clear way out; the panic welled in her throat. The ruins were closing in on her. Every way out was sealed, by boulders tumbling down or by earth that was shifting.
Rubble tumbled down once again, protruding even more between her and the others. The floor that she stood on felt precarious, threatening to buckle and crumble without warning. Her heart raced as she stepped back, an inner panic seizing her.
“I’m fine!” she cried again, but she had no idea if anyone even heard her.
The weather was horrible; the sound of the wind racing inside the remaining walls like an angry beast was unbearable. Rhett, Ivy, and Harrison tried to call her, their voices rife with concern, and she recognized them but they were faint, lost in the elemental din.
In the midst of the chaos, Lyra glanced back at the statue of Zarekth.
A momentary lull voice, low and ancient, seemed to whisper through the storm. She felt a prickling of her skin as she strained for it, but the voice drowned in the rumble of falling stone.
"Lyra!"
Rhett's voice was closer, now, and through the swirl of rain and dust she saw the faint glow of his flashlight. "Just hang on, I'm coming!"
Lyra's legs shook beneath her as she tried to push herself up. The ground was slick beneath her; the rain pounded against her like it would beat her into the earth. She wiped mud from her eyes, only to see more debris falling from the walls above her. She managed to duck the worst of it, but a sharp pain exploded in her head as something struck her from behind.
The world slanted, and Lyra fell, her eyes blurring. Rain pounded against her face, mingling with the thin thread of blood seeping from her forehead. Rhett's voice was speaking to her, muffled and indistinct, like talking from under the water.
Ivy and Harrison were shouting too, their voices growing more remote and quieter second by second.
The last thing she saw, before darkness claimed her, was the flicker of Rhett's flashlight, bobbing in the storm as he fought his way toward her. Then all went black, the world swallowed by the silence of unconsciousness.
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