Riven saw the deviant's muscles twitch, cords of flesh rolling under its mottled hide. His eyes tracked the subtle movements a heartbeat before the beast threw its head back and unleashed a roar. The sound was so violent, so sharp, that his ears split open in rivulets of blood. He almost fell from his position as his vision blurred, he fought the urge to clamp his hands over his head as the world vibrated around him.
His survival instincts forced him upward. He pulled himself onto the wide support structure, fingers trembling as he dragged his body across the rough stone until he found balance. The platform was broad enough to hold a small group, but its comfort was fleeting the entire structure groaned beneath him.
The Deviant wasn't done. With an animal snarl, it latched its hook like claws into the wall and began to climb, gouging deep furrows into the stone as it hauled itself up toward him. Its maw opened, rows of jagged teeth glinting in the fractured light.
For the first time, something in Riven snapped. His chest heaved, his heart hammered, but instead of shrinking back, he shouted, voice cracking with defiance, a mad howl at the monster.
'To hell with this.' He thought. "COME ON! I'M DONE BEING AFRAID!"
The sound shocked even him. It wasn't courage, not really it was desperation given shape.
Another pulse of light flashed across the cracked stone structure, bathing everything in a ghostly glow. Riven glanced back at the fractured portion, then at the beast closing in. His breath caught in his throat.
"If I'm dying here… then I'm taking you with me, you stupid Aberrant!" he spat, with a hoarse voice.
He then bolted for the exposed part, stumbling across the uneven stone. Each time he glanced back, the Deviant was moving higher, faster, its hateful eyes locked on him. His muttered curse, "Shit!" escaped as he tripped forward, just as something slammed into the underside of the beam.
The whole structure jolted. Riven tumbled, rolling across the stone, barely catching himself before sliding off the edge. He looked back just in time to see the Deviant tear a chunk of wall free and hurl it at him. His eyes widened and immediately threw himself aside. The impact struck where he had been, shattering the platform. Shards of debris clipped him, one jagged piece biting into his side and wedging deep. His scream ripped out of him, high and ragged, as blood pooled hot against his skin.
The Deviant growled, triumphant, and leapt onto the support beam with all its weight. The entire structure shook violently, cracks spreading beneath Riven's body. His vision wavered as the pain and blood loss made his head spin.
Then the pulse came again.
Through blurred eyes, he saw the stone structure just below, from up here he could see the faint and cracked portion properly, glowing with unnatural energy. He staggered to his feet, clutching his wound, staring at the Deviant barreling toward him. His lips twisted in a grim smile.
"If this is it… then we're going together!"
He ran, every step he took was laced with agony, but the monster was faster. Its massive body surged forward, covering the distance in seconds.
Riven looked back and eyes widened then skidded to a halt just as it tensed and leapt, the beast crashing down in front of him, cracking the stone on impact. He rolled away just as the floor beneath the creature spiderwebbed. Dust and fragments rained as the Deviant growled, jaws snapping at him.
"Come on then!" Riven barked, forcing the tremor from his voice, waving his bloody arm. "You want me? TRY HARDER YOU WRETCH!"
The monster lunged again. The cracked section gave way under its weight, just as the stone snapped loose with a deafening crack. Both man and beast plummeted down.
Riven twisted midair, flailing toward the glowing fracture. The Deviant wasn't about to let him go its claws struck the falling platform, propelling itself forward. Its jaws clamped around his leg, teeth tearing through muscle and sinking deep into bone.
Riven's scream tore out of him, a ragged animalistic sound wrenched from the deepest part of his chest. It was pain and fury braided together, raw and broken, echoing so violently it seemed to shake the cavern itself. His throat was shredded with the force of it, the sound climbing into a pitch that cracked as blood sprayed from his lips.
"AaaaaaAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—!"
It was unending, a howl that drowned even the thunder of stone collapsing around him.
And in that storm of agony, his bloody palm slammed against the glowing portion of the stone structure just as the light pulsed again.
BA-THOOM.
There was silence before the stone structure shuddered, fissures glowing green-black. The light rippled outward, no longer calm but violent, a surge of raw force. Energy exploded in every direction, a wave so powerful it rattled the air itself the pulse erupted.
Riven's eyes went wide, terror and awe flooding them in equal measure.
'What the…'
The pulse detonated.
He couldn't speak or finish his thoughts. His whole body dissolved into the roar of the detonation, as though the light itself had stolen his voice.
The cavern became a furnace. The walls split, ceilings folded like paper, every grain of stone illuminated brighter than fire. The Deviant shrieked once brief but was cut short as its body disintegrated, flesh and bone unraveling into ash and then into nothing.
And then… Silence.
The light swallowed everything. The cavern was gone. The beam, the walls, the Aberrant… all erased.
So too was Riven.
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