[Comm (Coins)] (5) Predator's Gallery

The door at the end of the low hall led to a new chamber, this one crowded with columns of stone, with stalactites and stalagmites thousands of years old. A cold, wet ugliness permeated the air, and made me shiver. This was no natural cold of stone, but a chill of evil which seeps in and clings to the ribs. The kind that warns instinct.

Khaos’s hackles rose as well and he glanced around warily.

“Does anyone else feel like we shouldn’t be here?” Arctic whispered quietly.

Gravity answered with a gulp. “I feel like something’s watching me.”

Even Daydream was unsettled, her ears taut and flickering with worry. “The air feels wrong.” She voiced what I couldn’t.

I looked up, but the stone pillars were too tall to see the tops, each one rising into shadows so deep the ceiling itself wasn’t visible. The light was dimmer here, the blue veins on the floor rather than the walls and fading into a pale grey.

Gravity shuddered. “Why is the ceiling that tall? What needs that much room?”

A soft sound answered her. A thump, not from the floor but from above them.

Turning wildly, Arctic thrashed in body around in search of the origin of the noise. “That was overhead, I do NOT do overhead.”

Another thump interrupted him, then a slow dragging sound echoed, like something heavy was shifting its weight across the stone.

We all froze, barely breathing. Khaos’s eyes sharpened, reflecting the bare slivers of grey light.

“That must be what followed Aska. Or if there are multiple, there could be one chasing him right now.”

Even I had no reassuring words for them as we braced for whatever IT was, circling with our heads in the center and hindquarters out. If only it would come down, I knew we could defeat it. But if it remained up there…stalking us? Fear settled behind my ribs.

A deep, low scrape vibrated along the pillars above them

“Don’t break the circle,” Khaos nickered quietly. “As long as we stay close together and don’t run, we can fight it.”

A pebble dropped from the darkness and struck the ground near my hoof. Gravity squeaked and Arctic bit down a scream.

Daydream’s breath floated in a thin mist. “It’s moving.”

We looked up. Between two pillars, a massive shape shifted. Not horse-shaped. Not anything recognizable. A sleek form with long limbs and claws that clinked softly against the stone. Too many joints. Too much silence for its size. Then it disappeared into the dark.

“Alright, new plan. We have to get out of here,” Arctic hissed. “What do you suggest. We can’t stay huddled and move at the same time.”

“You’re right,” Khaos whispered, “spread out. Move quietly. Don’t bunch up. If it drops, it must choose one target.”

Arctic gawked at her. “WHAT did you say?! No! Bad plan! Terrible plan!” But Khaos was off and didn’t slow down.

He moved forward into the hall, silently placing his hooves. Nervously, I followed, glancing over my shoulder to see if the others would do the same. Although I agreed with Arctic, I knew that Khaos was the best horse to advise us.

Reluctantly, they followed, trembling, eyes and heads flicking upward every other second. We spread out carefully, no more than two lengths from each other. The air grew colder as we moved forward, warmth also lost because we no longer moved closely with each other.

A whisper of breath overhead was our only warning before the creature landed behind us. Its dropped was so soft, so intentional that only the faintest gust of wind gave it away.

Arctic kicked up his heels so fast he nearly fell over. “RUN!”

The creature lunged at him, shadowy paws outstretched. Only a blinding flash of Daydream’s frost fox, who suddenly appeared in a burst of cold shards, stopped it from skewering Daydream with a hooked forelimb. The tiny fox hissed, glowing brightly, and throwing ice between the predator and its target.

Gravity screamed and bolted after Arctic. I slowed in shock as I watched Khaos charge it, even as the predator swiped again, talons carving sparks from stone.

He darted in low, slamming his shoulder against its chest, the impact cracking through the hall. The shadow snarled, a bone-rattling howl like wind through a dead cavern, and stumbled back while clutching its limb to its chest in pain.

“Khaos!” I whinnied at him and pranced backward, toward where the others were running. “It will kill you, we have to outrun it!”

“Move” He shouted back. “Find the exit and keep going!”

Arctic and Gravity lurched forward, stumbling between pillars. I pushed them onward, eyes wide, heart racing. Daydream followed, her fox streaking beside her like a comet. But Khaos was running around and around the monster, teasing it and keeping it too busy to chase us.

As I glanced back, I saw it lunge again. Khaos dodged with the precision of an Andalusian, dancing away from each slash. But it was faster than any predator He had ever encountered, and a talon grazed his flank, slicing into muscle.

He hissed and darted sideways as I saw dark blood pour down his flank. I began to turn toward him, knowing he couldn’t fight it alone.

“Here!” Gravity screamed through the sounds of the fight, and I turned to find her standing in the doorway of the exit.

Hearing her, Khaos took off, dodging between pillars but headed our way.

“We have to block the exit somehow,” I whinnied desperately, looking around.

Arctic kicked at a massive pillar next to the exit. “Look! It’s already cracked, if we can topple it over the doorway…”

Daydream and Gravity joined him, kicking hard at the pillar, at the crack of the base. I shot one last glance at Khaos, who darted and feinted, keeping the monster’s attention on him. Then I joined the others, slamming into the pillar of the opening. It began to tilt, and then with a loud crack, began to slowly fall.

“Khaos!” I screamed as we scrambled under the pillar and stood in the exit-way, watching helplessly as he sprinted the last few meters to the door.

Daydream’s fox barked sharply, its tail bursting into light. The temperature suddenly plunged, and ice crawled across the floor, momentarily freezing the creature’s talons as it reached for our bleeding friend.

Dipping his head, he skidded through the doorway at full speed, barely ducking beneath the pillar as it crashed to the ground behind him, stone sealing the predator inside with a thunderous, earth-shaking slam.

Dust billowed around us as the hall went silent. None of us dared to breathe.

Arctic swallowed. “What even was that thing?”

Khaos answered as he pinned his ears back and glanced at the chamber behind him. “Something the Gate fears.”

Ahead of us, Aska’s hoofprints continued… fresher than before. But also followed by larger, shadowy prints like those that would have been left by the same monster we just sealed in a stony tomb.