Taking a deep breath, Theon approached the abominations cautiously, his mind hyper aware of the abomination's grotesque form looming ahead.
In one fluid motion, he lashed out. Time seemed to slow as the chains sailed through the air, his focus narrowing until the entire world reduced to the arc of their trajectory.
SWISH.
The chains struck true. They pierced the abomination's flesh, drawing out oily, pitch-black blood that splattered on the stone floor, hissing as it hit the cold surface. The ground trembled beneath Theon's feet as the abomination stirred, letting out an unearthly wail that reverberated through the cavern, shaking loose dust and pebbles from the ceiling.
For a moment, there was silence.
Theon's cold, lifeless eyes locked onto the creature's. For a heartbeat, confusion flickered across its twisted face. Then, realization.
Rage.
Theon didn't wait.
He moved.
The moment his boots left the ground, the abomination lunged after him, its massive form crashing through the tunnels with reckless abandon, no attempts to change its orientation. Theon didn't need to look back to know it was there—he could feel it. The stench of rotting flesh, reminiscent of the decaying corpse of an addict found in the severs, the ragged, uneven breaths, the way it smashed through obstacles like a mindless force of destruction.
His body thrummed with lightning Lu, the energy coursing through his meridians, sharpening his reflexes to inhuman levels. Theon ducked, twisted, and leaped with uncanny agility, narrowly avoiding the abomination's grasping claws.
Yet something strange was happening.
The abomination was faster—yet it wasn't closing the gap.
Every time it neared, it lashed out blindly, claws gouging stone instead of flesh. Each missed strike cost it momentum, each roar more furious than the last.
It wasn't chasing him.
It was trying to catch him.
Though catching up to him and catching him may seem like the same goal, the abomination wasn't smart enough to realize the best way to catch him was to catch up to him. This led to it lashing out to catch Theon whenever it got within striking distance, causing it to lose its momentum and expend its strength. These continuous and failed attempts to catch Theon combined with its reckless approach to the chase lead to a significant drain on the abomination's stamina and a significant build up on its frustration.
Every few minutes, Theon triggered one of the pre-formed firewall formations he had set up throughout the cavern. Flames erupted behind him, licking at the abomination's skin. The smell of burning flesh filled the air as the fire left deep, charred wounds across its grotesque body. Each time the creature roared in anger, the sound growing more feral and unhinged with every failed attempt to catch Theon.
But time was running out.
The tunnel's end loomed ahead—a shimmering exit veined with crystalline light.
Theon burst out from the tunnels into the clearing, followed moments later the abomination burst out onto the same clearing, making an explosive entrance by smashing through the previously human-sized tunnel.
Theon stood motionless across the chamber, his gaze locked onto the abomination.
To an outsider, he might have appeared unnervingly calm—back straight, breath steady, mind sharp as a blade. But beneath that icy exterior, every nerve was alight, every muscle coiled like a spring. He knew better than to let panic take hold. In battles like this, clarity was the difference between survival and slaughter.
He was very much on full alert, ready to respond however the abomination acted, which Theon hoped was according to his estimations that the abomination would angrily wander back to original clearing deep in the mountain so that Theon could take it on another goose chase and wear it down with his formations.
But this time—it didn't stop.
With a guttural roar, the abomination charged, shattering its own territorial instincts in a blind, frothing rage. Its massive limbs flailed, claws rending the air as it barreled toward him.
And Theon—he was left with no choice but to fight.
The chamber became a battlefield, the abomination fighting like a madman, mindless and oppressively strong, like a charging bull. Theon fought like an insect, quickly dodging attacks and dealing small damage whenever he could.
Lightning Lu surged through his arms, gathering in his palms before threading along his crystalline daggers. A corona of white-blue energy crackled around the blades—Formless Lightning, not the fire he would have preferred. But it was better than nothing.
The abomination's first attack was a frenzied swing of its twisted limbs, aiming to crush Theon with sheer brute force. Theon ducked under the swing, feeling the rush of air and the sheer power behind the strike as it missed him by mere centimeters.
He knew the moment he got hit it'd be game over.
Theon's chains snapped forward like striking vipers, coiling around the abomination's seared flesh with a sickening sizzle. Black blood welled up where the links bit deep, the stench of burning rot thick in the air. The creature's answering roar shook dust from the cavern walls, the sound waves pounding against Theon's ribs like physical blows.
Releasing the chains, Theon rolled as the abomination's fist cratered the stone where he'd stood. He sprang up and darted around the chamber, his movements fluid and precise. The abomination, enraged and in pain, recklessly charged at him. Its massive body slammed into the chamber walls, sending chunks of rock flying. Theon came up sprinting, using falling debris as cover, striking when openings flashed—a slash here, a kick there—always moving, never stopping.
The abomination swung wildly, its six claws raking through the air. Theon leaped over a sweeping arc of claws, landing on the abomination's back for a split second before springing off and landing a sharp kick to the back of its head. The impact staggered the creature, but it quickly recovered, spinning around and lashing out with all six limbs. Theon twisted his body, narrowly avoiding a direct hit but still feeling the sting of a glancing blow across his side. The pendant around his neck pulsed, healing the wound almost as quickly as it was inflicted.
As Theon rolled to his feet, drawing his dual daggers, their blades glinting in the dim light of the cavern. He charged at the abomination, his movements a blur. The daggers sliced through the air, aiming for the burn wounds and any exposed flesh with deadly precision. Each hit drew more of the foul-smelling blood, and a roar of pain from the abomination reverberated through the chamber.
Growing ever more frustrated at its losing stance, the abomination charged headlong into one of the chamber walls.
BOOM!
The impact was catastrophic.
The ground shook violently, the ceiling above groaning under the strain, as loose stones rained down and a fine cloud of dust filled the air. A sudden jolt of dread shot through Theon, freezing the blood in his veins.
'Fuck.'
His eyes darted—cracks spiderwebbed beneath his feet, the ground groaning like a dying beast.
'Hollow underneath.'
Each of the abomination's thunderous steps sent tremors through the chamber, spider-webbing cracks across the floor with terrifying speed.
'We're both getting buried alive.'
The abomination, massive and enraged, stood between Theon and the exit.
No time to think. Only to act.
He moved—feinting left in a flash of calculated deception. The creature took the bait, its grotesque head snapping toward the false retreat as Theon pivoted, muscles screaming as he threw himself right, slipping past the abomination's bulk so close he gagged on its putrid stench. Rotting skin grazed his shoulder—a hair's breadth from death.
The world exploded behind him.
The abomination's enraged strike shattered stone, the shockwave punching through Theon's ribs as debris hailed around him. He didn't look back—couldn't afford to—as the ceiling screamed its final protest. Massive slabs of rock plummeted like falling stars, missing him by less than a breath as he twisted through the chaos.
The floor beneath the abomination began to buckle and split under its weight. Cracks radiated outward from its massive form, spider webbing across the chamber. The abomination roared in fury and confusion as the ground beneath it gave way, its six limbs flailing in a desperate attempt to regain balance. Theon's heart thrummed as he saw the floor rapidly breaking apart, the cracks racing towards him, faster than thought, faster than hope..
'This is it.'
Adrenaline burned through his veins like wildfire. He launched himself forward—every tendon, every fiber screaming—as the world collapsed beneath his feet. Stone turned to dust. Solid ground became a nightmare of falling, of grasping at nothing—
—and then there was nothing at all.
For one eternal, breathless instant, Theon hung suspended in the void.
Then he fell.
Straight into the abyss.