Another unholy roar shakes the inn, this one so powerful it makes the wooden beams above us creak in protest. I've never heard anything like it, primal and unnatural at the same time.
"Get dressed, now," Skara barks, already grabbing her discarded clothes from the floor.
I scramble for my pants, fumbling with the ties as another earth-shattering bellow reverberates through the walls. My hands tremble, making the simple task of dressing nearly impossible.
"Faster," Skara hisses, somehow already fully clothed and strapping that massive sword to her back.
"I'm trying," I mutter, yanking my shirt over my head. "Not all of us can dress at superhuman speeds."
The floorboards beneath us vibrate with whatever's happening outside. Distant screams filter through the windows, punctuated by crashes and splintering wood.
"Your boots," Skara reminds me, pacing by the door like a caged predator.
I jam my feet into them without bothering to lace them properly. "Ready."
Skara's hand locks around my wrist, the curse activating instantly. "Stay behind me at all times," she commands, her wild blue eyes intense with something that looks suspiciously like genuine concern. "If I tell you to run, you run. Understand?"
"Yes," I answer automatically, the curse compelling truth from my lips.
She pulls the door open and we rush into the hallway. Other patrons stumble from their rooms in various states of undress, faces pale with terror. The innkeeper stands frozen at the top of the stairs, her mouth hanging open in a silent scream.
"What's happening?" Skara demands, practically dragging me toward the staircase.
The woman just points toward the windows, her hand trembling violently.
We push through the panicked crowd and burst outside onto the street. The morning sun illuminates a scene straight from a nightmare. For original chapters go to novel~fire~net
"Holy fuck," I whisper, my knees nearly buckling at the sight.
It towers over the buildings at the far end of the street, a monstrous great white shark, its massive jaws stretching wide enough to swallow a horse whole. But that's not even the most disturbing part. Beneath its pale belly, where fins should be, hundreds of human legs kick and thrash in grotesque unison, propelling the abomination forward through the air as if it's swimming through invisible water.
"What the actual fuck is that?" I choke out, my voice barely audible over the creature's deafening roar.
I turn to Skara, expecting to see the same terror I'm feeling reflected on her face. Instead, she looks oddly... disgusted? Her nose wrinkles as she stares at the monstrosity, more like someone who's stepped in something foul than someone facing a nightmare creature.
Skara shakes her head, her wild blonde hair whipping around her face. "I have no fucking idea," she says flatly. She squints at the creature, then lets out a surprised huff. “I thought this was going to be much worse."
"Worse?" I sputter, gesturing wildly at the shark with human legs. "How could anything be worse than…"
My words die in my throat as a high-pitched cackle cuts through the chaos. My eyes snap to the top of the shark where a figure stands triumphantly, arms raised to the heavens. It's a woman with wild, unkempt hair that sticks out in all directions like she's been struck by lightning. She wears what looks like a patchwork lab coat made of mismatched leathers and fabrics, stained with substances I don't want to identify. A pair of bizarre glass contraptions cover her eyes, magnifying them to insect-like proportions.
"FINALLY!" she shrieks, her voice carrying over the screams of fleeing townspeople. "MY TICKET TO POWER AND RECOGNITION!"
The woman spins in a circle atop her creation, dancing with manic glee as the shark-thing continues its rampage through the street.
"THEY ALL SAID IT COULDN'T BE DONE!" she continues, jabbing an accusatory finger at the crowd below. "THE FOOLS AT THE ACADEMY LAUGHED WHEN I PROPOSED SHARK LEGS! CALLED ME INSANE! WHO'S LAUGHING NOW?"
I glance at Skara, who's pinching the bridge of her nose like she's dealing with an annoying child rather than something that looks like an eldritch horror.
"I'm going to take care of this," Skara says with a sigh, rolling her shoulders like she's preparing for a mildly strenuous workout rather than battling a nightmarish shark-legged monstrosity. "Wait here."
"Wait, you're just going to…" But she's already moving, her powerful legs carrying her toward the chaos with terrifying speed.
I stand frozen, torn between self-preservation and morbid fascination as Skara charges straight at the creature. The scientist spots her approach and points dramatically.
"ANOTHER NONBELIEVER APPROACHES! WITNESS THE POWER OF SCIENCE MADE FLESH!"
The shark thing pivots, its countless legs churning in unison as it faces Skara. Its massive jaws open wide, revealing row upon row of razor-sharp teeth.
Skara doesn't even break stride.
With a single fluid motion, she draws her massive sword from her back. The blade catches the morning sunlight, flashing like lightning as she leaps impossibly high into the air.
The scientist's manic laughter falters. "WAIT, WHAT ARE YOU…"
Her words transform into a strangled shriek as Skara's blade moves faster than my eyes can follow. The massive sword becomes a silver blur, slicing through the shark's flesh like it's made of paper. Blood erupts in a crimson fountain as the creature seems to explode from within, splitting apart in dozens of places simultaneously.
The shark's roar becomes a wet gurgle as it collapses, its human legs twitching spasmodically before going still. Gore rains down on the street in meaty chunks, splattering buildings and cobblestones alike. The scientist tumbles from her perch, landing hard on the blood-slicked ground.
Skara lands gracefully beside the twitching remains, barely a drop of blood marring her armor. She stalks toward the fallen scientist, her blade still dripping with viscera.
"You," Skara snarls, pressing the tip of her massive sword against the scientist's throat. "You scared my lover, you stupid cunt."
I can't help but let out a long, exasperated sigh as I approach the bloody scene. "Ah, so we've reached the 'lover' phase already. Wonderful." The words escape under my breath, dripping with sarcasm as I watch Skara defend my honor.
The scientist's magnified eyes bulge even wider as she stares up at Skara's blade. "You... you killed my shark!" she wails, her voice cracking with genuine heartbreak. "Do you have any idea how many human legs it took to perfect that formula? The research! The trial and error!"
I feel something tug at me, like an invisible hand pulling at my consciousness.
"Skara, wait," I call out, my voice carrying across the blood-soaked street.
She turns to me, her wild blue eyes narrowing with clear annoyance. "Why?" The single word carries enough irritation to make me second-guess myself.
I step closer, my boots squelching through puddles of shark gore. The scientist is still pinned beneath Skara's massive blade, her magnified eyes darting between us frantically.
"How many human legs was it, exactly?" I ask, surprising myself with my own morbid curiosity. "For the shark, I mean."
The scientist's face contorts with indignation. She draws herself up as much as possible with a sword at her throat. "THAT'S A TRADE SECR…”
Before she can screech another word, Skara lazily shoves her massive sword forward, the blade sliding through the scientist's throat with sickening ease. Blood bubbles from the woman's mouth as her magnified eyes go wide with shock, then dim.
"What a fucking bitch," Skara says, casually withdrawing her blade with a wet sound that turns my stomach.
I nod, watching the scientist's body slump to the gore-soaked cobblestones. "She probably just didn't know the count, right?”
Skara wipes her blade on what remains of the scientist's patchwork coat. "Yeah, I don't think she did either."
The townspeople begin to emerge from their hiding places, staring at the carnage with expressions ranging from relief to horror. A few approach cautiously, keeping a respectful distance from Skara and her blood-drenched sword.
"You saved us," an elderly woman says, her voice trembling with emotion. "How can we ever repay you?"
Skara's hand clamps around my wrist like a steel trap. The curse activates instantly, freezing my muscles as that familiar purple glow fills my vision.
"Just shut the fuck up and forget we were here," she growls at the gathering crowd, her wild blue eyes blazing with sudden intensity.
The elderly woman's mouth hangs open mid-word as Skara drags me away from the bloody scene, my paralyzed body following helplessly in her wake. The townspeople stare after us, as confusion replaces the gratitude on their faces.