The first rays of sunlight filtered through the open ceiling of the ruined chapel, painting the black stone walls in hues of deep red. The ancient symbols carved into the walls caught the light, their angular shapes standing out against the dark surface like old scars.

  Riven stirred, his eyes opening slowly. The ache in his body had dulled overnight.

  He sat up carefully, his hand instinctively checking the hilt of his sword beside him.

  Across from him, Lya was already awake, sitting with her back against one of the crumbling walls. She looked rested, the exhaustion from yesterday finally lifted from her features.

  No words passed between them as they gathered their belongings. The silence hung heavy in the air, broken only by the faint scrape of metal against stone as Riven picked up his sword.

  He stepped toward the entrance of the chapel, his eyes scanning the landscape beyond. The corrupted hands rose from the plains in the distance, their fingers now pointing straight toward the sky. Scattered bones jutted from the crimson earth, remnants of creatures long dead. The ruins themselves offered little in terms of cover, but the environment wasn't completely barren.

  He took a few minutes, his gaze moving from one feature to the next, weighing his options.

  Finally, he turned back to Lya.

  "Alright. I slow it down with obstacles. When it's close, you blind it with the black liquid. Then I finish it."

  Lya simply nodded, her expression caught between conflicting emotions. There was fear in her eyes, faint but unmistakable. Doubt, too—she didn't look entirely convinced by the plan. But beneath it all, she believed in him, even if she didn't believe in the odds.

  Riven had already started dragging the first large bones toward the intact section of the black wall, positioning them alongside the fragments already embedded in the earth. The effort didn't strain him as much as it would have days ago.

  His injuries had healed thanks to Lya's care, but it went beyond that. He couldn't quite explain it, but his physical condition had improved—he was starting to feel closer to what a normal man should, the lingering damage from captivity slowly fading.

  Meanwhile, Lya had moved away, climbing onto a small corrupted hand nearby. She pulled out the metal flask carefully and took her time emptying the water onto the ground below.

  Then, with steady hands, she drew her dagger and tilted it against the stone, letting the viscous black liquid ooze slowly down the blade and into the flask. The controlled flow kept her fingers clear of the substance, precise and deliberate.

  After half an hour of preparation, they were ready.

  Riven had built a makeshift killing field—a scattered array of sharpened bones jutting from the earth at harsh angles, backed by a crude wall of larger fragments for cover.

  Lya, meanwhile, had made several trips back and forth. She had also taken the time to carve out a large piece of bone, shaping it into a crude basin now filled with the corrosive black liquid. With careful effort, she had managed to climb to the top of the wall, the container balanced in her arms.

  From her vantage point, she had a clear view of their surroundings. The ground ahead of them rose into a low hill that cut off Riven's line of sight from below, but Lya could see beyond it. The rolling terrain stretched out in uneven waves, a series of rises and dips that broke up the horizon in every direction.

  Her eyes scanned the landscape carefully. There were creatures out there—several of them, scattered across the plains in the distance. Most were too far to matter. But one caught her attention, just beyond the hill ahead.

  "There," she called down. "Ahead. A few hundred meters out."

  Riven nodded, his fingers tightening around the hilt of his sword.

  Then he began.

  He slammed his blade against the black stone in rapid, brutal strikes, the sharp clang echoing across the plains. He didn't stop there—he added his voice to the noise, shouting into the open air to make sure the creature heard him.

  All the while, his eyes stayed on Lya above, waiting for confirmation that the beast had reacted.

  It came quickly.

  "Get ready!" she shouted, already bracing herself for what came next.

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  It didn't take long before he saw it.

  The creature charged toward him, its claws digging into the earth with every stride, closing the distance fast.

  The creature hit the field of bones at full speed.

  The first row shattered under its weight, splinters of ivory exploding outward as it barreled through. But the deeper it pushed, the more resistance it met. Jagged shards buried themselves into its legs, tearing through flesh and slowing its momentum with each brutal step.

  But it didn't stop. The beast slammed into Riven's makeshift wall with the force of a landslide.

  The structure groaned, bones shifting and cracking under the impact, but it didn't break.

  Riven drove his blade violently into the beast's eye while it staggered, still reeling from the impact.

  The steel sank deep into the soft tissue, meeting resistance as it punched through. He roared at the top of his lungs, "Now!"

  Immediately, he threw his weight backward, wrenching the sword free with all the strength he could muster.

  The creature was already screaming, thrashing wildly from the wound. But the moment the black liquid cascaded over its head and back, drenching its body in corrosive slime, its cries turned into something far worse—raw, guttural shrieks of agony that echoed across the plains.

  Riven didn't hesitate. He planted his boots into the earth and launched himself forward, closing the distance to deliver the killing blow.

  At the last second, he ducked his head sharply to the side. The creature's claws tore through the air where his skull had been a heartbeat before, close enough for him to feel the rush of wind.

  Using the momentum of his charge, he drove the blade deep into the beast's exposed throat with everything he had.

  The creature's shriek cut off instantly, turning into a wet, choking gurgle. It staggered backward, then collapsed with a heavy thud, its limbs twitching once before going still.

  Riven stood over the body, his hands still gripping his sword and his breath coming in ragged gasps.

  The rush of adrenaline began to fade, leaving him with a sudden, heavy silence.

  That's... that's it? Really?

  He had braced himself for another massacre. Every fight until now had nearly killed him. But this? It had been almost... easy.

  A satisfied smile began to spread across his face.

  From above, Lya's voice cut through the silence. "Riven?"

  He looked up. She was already climbing down from the wall, her expression caught between relief and disbelief.

  She hurried over to him, almost breaking into a run, a wide smile on her face. "We were amazing, weren't we?" She gestured toward the fallen beast. "I mean, look—everything went perfectly."

  Riven nodded and crouched down, driving his blade into the creature's flank. He glanced up at her, one eyebrow raised, then began carving out large chunks of meat, taking as much as they could carry to push off the next hunt for as long as possible.

  At least she doesn't look disgusted anymore.

  Her face no longer carried that deep revulsion from before. She still made it clear this wasn't her favorite task, but she was adapting.

  The same was true for Riven.

  As he struggled to carve through the thick muscle, Lya's gaze drifted toward the horizon, scanning the surroundings restlessly.

  Then she froze.

  Her face drained of color, her eyes going wide.

  "Riven..." She pointed ahead, her voice barely a whisper.

  He looked up, following her gesture.

  Four massive shapes were cresting the hill, charging at full speed, their hungry snarls already audible in the distance.

  For a second, his mind stalled, struggling to process what he was seeing.

  Then he shot to his feet. "Shit—run!"

  He bolted in the opposite direction on pure instinct, Lya a split second behind him. But even as they ran, he could hear the thunder of claws striking the earth, closing in far too fast.

  Shit. Shit. Shit.

  His eyes scanned the horizon ahead, desperate for anything that could save them.

  Then he saw it.

  Fuck—of all the damn options!

  He risked a glance over his shoulder.

  Lya had caught up, but so had the creatures. The first one was barely ten meters behind.

  "Jump!" he roared, his voice cutting through the chaos.

  She hesitated for half a second, then threw herself over the edge of the fissure.

  Behind him, claws tore into the earth—the creature closed the gap in a heartbeat and launched itself after him.

  Scarcely mid-air, a crushing weight slammed into his back.

  The creature had jumped with him, its limbs locking around his torso in a deadly embrace. Claws shredded his skin, dragging him faster into the void.

  Panic exploded through his chest

  No.If it lands on top,I'm dead.

  but that same tension snapped into a lethal reflex.

  He drove his blade between them, punching through the beast's chest. It shrieked, thrashing wildly, but its weight was already pulling him down, spinning them both in a deadly spiral.

  Riven roared, throwing every ounce of strength into twisting his body. He wrenched the blade sideways, using the momentum to force the creature beneath him. Its back rotated toward the ground, claws still tearing at his flesh as they plummeted.

  Don't let it crush me. Don't let it crush me.

  Then came the impact.

  The creature's body shattered against the stone with a sickening crack, the sound of breaking bone echoing through the fissure.

  The air exploded from Riven's lungs. His vision blurred into a red haze as he collapsed onto the ruined carcass.