Ivana huffed viciously as she ran through the dark for her life.
She stopped to catch her breath only for a second before sliding down one of the walls in the cave.
"Shit! Shit! Shit! "
She cursed as she landed on the ground with a thud. Debris crunched under her boots as she ran as fast as her legs could take her.
She could smell them. The ugly creatures, which were twice her size, and chasing after her.
It was dark in the cave, but thanks to her 'useless' beast, she could see. Even though everything looked green.
She could hear the chittering of the Bronze-Ranked monsters in the distance. Like a hundred knives drumming aggressively on glass. She could also hear their wings. Buzzing so fast it created a hum that made her head hurt.
"Fuck, I'm gonna die! I knew these escapades would kill me one of these days. I just didn't expect it to be so soon!" She groaned as she began to run out of breath, but the end of the cave was nowhere in sight. She wasn't even close to it yet.
She finally got to a small opening in one of the walls, and she stopped.
She remembered how easily she had squeezed herself through on her way in, but now… due to the maddening fear inside her, the hole suddenly seemed smaller. Whispering threats of betrayal of leaving her stuck for the beast to find and devour her.
But it was the only way to the exit.
She quickly removed her worn leather bag and shoved it through the hole first. Then, she got on all fours and prepared to crawl through the opening.
With her palms on the floor, she could feel the vibration created by the creatures chasing her. Their spiked legs drummed against the ground with a rhythm that made Ivana's skin crawl. It sounded like bones snapping repeatedly.
Every rapid step they took sounded like claws drumming on stone. Fast, erratic, and eager.
To think she was supposed to be at the match-making ball her mother threw for her. Yet here she was in a cave on forbidden territory about to be devoured by a brood of Hollowbacks.
Just as she prepared to press herself through the hole, she felt it… the vibration changed. Sharper. Closer.
Ivana's head snapped around, and her heart froze in her chest.
One of them had caught up. A young Hollowback. It wasn't as big as the others, but it was fast… And hungry.
Its powerful beetle wings buzzed with insane speed, kicking up dust as it skittered across the cave wall, making its way to her.
Ivana scrambled back in fear. Her hands sinking into the dry soil, and that's when she felt it. Just there. Under the soil. What she hoped would be her miraculous shot at survival.
Her fingers curled around the hard thing she found, and when she pulled it out, it was a bone.
A long, dry human fibula.
Her skin crawled at the sight of it, but it was the only weapon available.
"Sorry, dead person," she whispered, heart pounding, as she readied herself for impact.
"I'm not ready to join you." She added as the young hollow back got closer. She gritted her teeth and swung.
The bone gave a satisfying crack as it clashed against the Hollowback's side.
The creature shrieked and fell to the ground. Its spiked limbs twitching, but that wasn't enough. Ivana struck again, this time aiming for its glowing eyes. The bone shattered and as the creature shrieked louder, Ivana knew it was calling out to the rest of the brood. She had to leave.
Immediately.
The creature hissed and snapped at her, and Ivana spun, kicking it square in its face out of annoyance.
She threw what was left of the bone away and made her way back to her escape route. She was about to squeeze through when she heard the unmistakable cry of an adult hollowback just a distance away.
She turned, pale with fright, and then she saw it.
The creature's triangular head came into view first, and Ivana's blood ran cold. Now, she couldn't move. Giving up her position would be fatal, but she wasn't hidden either.
The creature was twice her size and would kill her in a single breath if she let it get close enough. She had to think fast.
Its spiked mandible split open into three jagged-edged parts, as it raised its head and let out another shrill, chittering cry.
Its glowing white eyes scanned the space before it, and Ivana held her breath in her lungs as she moved slowly towards the hole.
The creature's long, hair-thin antennas twitched constantly, as it sensed vibrations and searched for signs of her.
It wasn't the fact that this beast was after her that terrified her the most. What terrified her was that this monster usually moved and hunted in broods. And the smallest Hollowback broods had at least five members with a queen that was usually at least a quarter size bigger than this one.
She was already in trouble, and now she had hurt their baby. Double trouble.
Ivana had just squeezed her lower body through the hole when the creature suddenly looked in her direction, and a terrified gasp escaped Ivana as its glowing white eyes locked onto her.
Its front, sharp legs dug into the walls of the cliff as it crawled down, with the remaining four, cricket-like legs that aided insane jump coverage, following behind. It let out a higher-pitched cry this time, and Ivana knew that was its signal to the others.
It had found their prey.
"Oh, shit!" She cursed as she forced the rest of her body through the hole. Scraping her elbow in the process.
Without waiting to look behind her, she grabbed her bag, which held the cores and treasures she was able to acquire before these monsters started pursuing her, and she kept running.
Some may have stopped to fight the rest of the brood, but not her. Not with a beast lower than Stone rank, which only gave her nothing but a weird appearance, occasional claws, and night vision. It didn't even help her in her fight against the baby hollowback.
Trying to fight a brood of Hollowbacks with a beast like that was a suicide mission.
And Ivana wasn't ready to die yet. Not without joining the Academy and becoming a member of the Gilded Watch army.
She could hear the monsters in the distance, but one thing Ivana had been good at from a very young age was running. She was so good at it that she even ran faster than some stone-ranked tamers in the kingdom.
Ivana's legs and lungs were getting tired, but she couldn't stop. How would she when death was following so closely behind?
If she died now, how would she explain to her ancestors that she died because she got eaten by a brood of beetle and cricket hybrids on an island her father strictly forbade her or anyone else from going to?
Finally, she saw light, and she let out a breath. She clutched her bag tightly as she willed herself to run faster. Now was not a time to relent. Those black creatures were hot on her trail, and who knew what else was on this island?
Immediately she got out, she saw Knox. Her pet Florynox, which has always been by her side since her aunt Evie gifted it to her last year.
Its little fox-like head popped up from the canoe Ivana came with, and Ivana quickly tossed her bag into the canoe as the little creature flew towards her.
"We have to go, girl." She panted as she hurriedly untied the canoe, and the red, little creature with butterfly-like wings stared at the cave in wonder.
"Hurry, Knox. I'm sure you don't want to be beetle food!" She called as she began to row the canoe away from the island shore, and Knox flew to rest in Ivana's lap.
They had gotten a distance away when the hollow backs began to crawl out of the cave. Five of them. Some crawled up the cave walls as they watched Ivana leave. Their queen, the terrifyingly massive black creature, stood at the cave's entrance. She gave a loud, defeated cry, and Ivana began to thank her stars that the creatures were scared of water.
"Next time I might just go to the damn ball." She breathed dramatically, and the adorable red Florynox cub looked up at her with its massive golden eyes.