Chapter 257: A Sneeze Away From Death

Silence enveloped the ruined temple, settling over its crumbling halls with such oppressive stillness that even the faintest rustle of crimson leaves seemed deafening.

Across the chamber, dozens of Ratchyrs stared towards the intruders, their enormous ears twitching as they tried to identify the disturbance that had interrupted their scavenging.

Knowing they navigated by echolocation rather than sight offered little comfort; because this merely implied that they did not need to see their prospective victims to find them. Also, the group had already made enough noise to compromise any hope of remaining undetected.

"Don’t move," Aelric whispered, the warning barely more than a breath.

A bead of sweat glistened on his forehead as he raised one finger, his emerald eyes fixed upon the creatures. His expression discouraged argument, and everyone understood that this was no time for foolishness.

Even Veyrath, who seemed constitutionally incapable of resisting an opportunity to complain, suppressed his customary commentary.

Nobody dared move. Their hearts hammered against their ribs like imprisoned birds, while every muscle strained against the instinct to flee.

It was not that they were frightened of the beasts themselves; rather, Aelric had made it abundantly clear that fighting them would be futile, especially within their own territory. Regaleon could feel apprehension radiating from his companions through the stagnant air.

Valmyr stood rigid, his broad hands hovering uncertainly beside his thighs. His imposing physique, so useful against lesser threats, now seemed like a liability; because one careless movement might turn him into the first course of an unpleasant banquet.

Caelestra kept her breathing shallow, while Kaeloris stared at the creatures with the miserable fascination of a scholar who had finally discovered a subject best left unstudied.

Sylveris looked from Aureleah to Regaleon, searching their faces for reassurance and finding very little. Even Veyrath seemed to recognise that a sarcastic remark would be a spectacularly poor contribution to their survival.

At the front of the group, Aelric watched the Ratchyrs’ ears, twitching whiskers, and restless claws, evidently calculating their possible reactions. Whatever conclusions he reached did little to improve his expression.

For several agonising seconds, the temple remained still...

Then the creatures gradually resumed their activities, apparently deciding that the disturbance posed no immediate threat. Some rummaged through the rubble, while others scurried along broken pillars, their leathery wings fluttering as they negotiated the uneven stone.

Their clicking gradually returned, restoring the peculiar cacophony that had filled the chamber before the door closed.

Relief crept through the group. Perhaps, Regaleon thought, the Ratchyrs had reacted only to the noise without identifying its source. If everyone remained motionless until their interest faded, they might escape without provoking a confrontation.

Unfortunately, optimism had never enjoyed a long life in the Nether Lands. Every gathering had its exception, and this colony was no different.

While the others returned to foraging, one Ratchyr abruptly stopped. Its oversized ears rotated, and its pointed snout lifted as it emitted several sharp clicks. Then the creature scuttled towards the group.

Vaelorin’s eyes widened. As it turns out, of all the people in the chamber, the beast had chosen him.

Its short, dark-grey fur bristled along its back, and its leathery wings stayed folded against its sides. Its elongated head swayed from side to side, whiskers sweeping through the air as though searching for an elusive scent.

Please keep walking, Vaelorin thought desperately. There are eight other people here. Surely one of them smells more appetising.

The thought was absurd but extraordinary situations had a way of bringing out the most weird thoughts from people at the brink of death.

The Ratchyr stopped directly before him. Vaelorin could scarcely breathe. Its tiny eyes revealed nothing, but its enormous ears angled towards his face as it released a rapid succession of clicks.

The echoes apparently told it everything it needed to know about the unfamiliar presence before it. Then it leaned closer, bringing its pointed snout within inches of Vaelorin’s face.

A foul odour rolled from its nostrils, carrying the stench of rotting flesh, stagnant water, and something resembling a carcass left to decay beneath the summer sun.

Vaelorin’s stomach lurched. He had endured many repulsive creatures since his exile, but being personally inspected by a sewer-dwelling monstrosity was an indignity he would gladly have traded for almost anything.

The Ratchyr sniffed his cheek. Vaelorin fought the urge to recoil, controlling each shallow breath as sweat trickled beneath his collar. His fingers twitched with the desperate desire to summon flames and incinerate the abomination.

Yet Aelric had forbidden them to attack, and Vaelorin had no intention of discovering whether a swarm of Rank One Netherytes could devour a man faster than he could scream.

Unfortunately, the inspection continued. The Ratchyr’s whiskers brushed his cheek, tracing irritating lines across his skin before creeping towards his nose. The sensation was unbearable, like insects crawling over his face. His nostrils twitched.

No... Vaelorin thought in horror as his eyes began to water. Absolutely not.

The whiskers grazed the entrance to his nostril, provoking an itch with the precision of a torturer who had discovered his victim’s most inconvenient weakness.

A sneeze gathered deep within his sinuses, growing more insistent with every passing second. Vaelorin clenched his jaw, pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth, and summoned every scrap of self-control he possessed.

The urge receded, barely.

At last, apparently satisfied that the motionless human posed neither an immediate threat nor an appetising meal, the Ratchyr withdrew its snout. It turned away, ears swivelling towards the ruins as it prepared to rejoin its companions.

Vaelorin nearly wept with relief. He had survived an encounter with a Ratchyr without losing a drop of blood. Against all reason, he might actually escape this wretched temple alive.

The creature took one step away, then another. Vaelorin’s shoulders relaxed by the smallest fraction, and the pressure inside his nose abruptly became impossible to suppress.

"Ah... ah..." His eyes widened in horror. No, you treacherous body! Not now!

"ACHOO!"

The sneeze exploded through the temple, ricocheting from the broken walls with all the subtlety of a thunderclap inside a mausoleum. For one suspended instant, Vaelorin remained frozen, his expression vacant as the consequences of his betrayal settled upon him.

Then he slowly lifted his head.

The Ratchyr had stopped. Its enormous ears pointed directly towards him, and its elongated head turned with unnerving deliberateness. Its snout lifted, revealing prominent incisors glistening beneath the dim light.

Vaelorin’s blood ran cold.

Before he could comprehend what was happening, the Netheryte lunged.

Its claws scraped against the stone as it shot forward, leathery wings flaring for balance and jaws opening to reveal jagged teeth grotesquely oversized for its skull.

Vaelorin barely had time to widen his eyes before the creature was upon him, those terrible incisors flashing towards his throat.

Death had never felt so immediate, so brutally tangible, or so indifferent to a man’s desperate efforts to survive. In that dreadful instant, Vaelorin could almost feel the teeth piercing his flesh and tearing through his neck as the Ratchyr began its grisly feast.

He had survived the Crimson Forest, endured the horrors of exile, and faced creatures capable of slaughtering ordinary men without a second thought. Yet now, after all those ordeals, he was about to become a snack for an oversized rat.

What an utterly disgraceful way to die.

Just as the Ratchyr’s gaping jaws descended towards his exposed throat, a wet squelching sound suddenly filled the temple...