The Akashic Mandate

Chapter 5

Elijah checked his body for his weapons. His heavy iron sword was gone. His belt of iron spikes was gone. Even his small carving knife was missing. He was completely unarmed, stranded in a nightmare world wearing nothing but wet clothes and heavy boots.

Suddenly, a sound broke the eerie silence.

Snap.

It was the sound of a dry branch breaking under a heavy foot.

Elijah froze. His survival instincts, trained by years of fighting the Hollows in the ruined cities of Earth, kicked in instantly. He dropped into a low crouch, hiding behind a large, jagged boulder on the shoreline. He held his breath and listened.

The sound came from the line of dead, twisted trees about fifty yards away from the river.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

Footsteps. But they were not human footsteps. They were too heavy, too deliberate. The sound of four heavy paws pressing into the dry, black leaves.

Elijah slowly peeked around the edge of the boulder. The purple light from the cracked moon illuminated the tree line. At first, he saw nothing but shadows. But then, one of the shadows began to move.

It stepped out from behind a massive dead tree.

Elijah’s heart slammed against his ribs. He pressed his hand against his mouth to stop himself from making a sound. He had fought breathing corpses. He had seen the horrors of the Ever-Blight. But he had never seen a monster like this.

It looked like a wolf, but it was the size of a fully grown lion. However, it had no skin, no fur, and no normal flesh. Its body was a cage of thick, sharp, perfectly white bones. Wrapped around the bones, holding them together, was a thick, swirling mass of black smoke and dark shadows. The shadows moved like liquid, forming the shape of muscles and tendons.

Its head was a bare, pointed skull. Two rows of jagged, broken black glass formed its terrible teeth. But the most terrifying part of the creature was its eyes. Inside the empty eye sockets of the skull burned two bright, fiery red coals. They glowed with intense heat and endless malice.

It was a Lesser Hellhound. A beast born from the darkest parts of the Crucible.

The Hellhound stopped at the edge of the tree line. It lifted its bony snout into the air and sniffed. The swirling black shadows around its neck flared outward, making it look larger and more threatening.

It smells me, Elijah realized with a jolt of pure fear. I am covered in the blood from the river, but it can smell my human scent underneath.

The creature’s glowing red eyes suddenly locked directly onto the boulder where Elijah was hiding. A low, vibrating growl started deep within its bony chest. The sound was so deep that Elijah could actually feel the rock against his back vibrating.

There was no point in hiding anymore.

Elijah quickly looked around for anything he could use as a weapon. There were no swords, no spears, no iron. The only thing around him were rocks. He grabbed a stone the size of a melon. It had a sharp, jagged edge. It was a pathetic weapon against a monster like this, but he refused to die without a fight. He had survived the end of the world. He had survived the sickness. He had survived the Angel’s spear. He was not going to let a demon dog eat him on his first day in this new hell.

Elijah stepped out from behind the boulder, holding the heavy rock in both hands.

"Come on then!" Elijah roared, trying to make himself look as big and dangerous as possible. "Come and get it!"

The Hellhound did not hesitate. It let out a terrifying, screeching howl that sounded like metal tearing apart, and it charged.

It was incredibly fast. Much faster than any Hollow. It covered the fifty yards in less than three seconds. As it ran, its bony claws dug deep into the black dirt, kicking up chunks of earth.

When it was ten feet away, the massive beast leaped into the air. Its jaw opened wide, showing the rows of black glass teeth. It aimed straight for Elijah’s throat.

Elijah waited until the very last second. He threw his body to the left, diving hard into the black mud. The Hellhound flew through the space where Elijah’s head had been just a moment before. Its massive jaws snapped shut on empty air with a loud clack.

The beast landed heavily on the rocky shore, but it immediately spun around, its claws scratching against the stones. It did not lose its balance. It lunged at Elijah before he could fully stand up.

Elijah swung the heavy rock with all his strength, aiming for the side of the creature’s skull.

CRACK!

The sharp edge of the rock slammed hard against the Hellhound’s bony head. The force of the blow traveled up Elijah’s arms, jarring his shoulders. But the beast’s skull did not break. The rock simply chipped a small piece of bone away.

The Hellhound barely flinched. It swung its massive right paw, swiping its sharp claws across Elijah’s chest.

Pain exploded across Elijah’s ribs. Four deep, bloody lines appeared on his chest, tearing easily through his wet shirt. The force of the hit threw Elijah backward. He landed flat on his back in the mud, gasping in pain.

“I can bleed,” Elijah thought wildly. “I can feel pain. That means I can be killed here. True death is real in this place!”

The thought terrified him, but it also fueled a deep, burning anger inside his gut. He was tired of being a victim. He was tired of being helpless.

The Hellhound leaped onto him, pinning his legs to the ground with its massive weight. Its bony front paws pressed down on Elijah’s shoulders. The creature lowered its terrible skull, aiming its black teeth right at Elijah’s face.

Elijah dropped the rock. He brought both of his hands up and grabbed the Hellhound’s upper and lower jaw, holding its mouth open with all his might.

The beast pushed down. Elijah’s elbows bent under the immense pressure. The jagged black glass teeth were inches from his nose. Hot, foul-smelling air blew from the creature’s mouth, smelling like sulfur and rotten meat.

Elijah strained every muscle in his arms. His biceps screamed in agony. The swirling black shadows that made up the beast’s flesh touched Elijah’s bare hands. It burned like dry ice. It was freezing cold and searing hot at the same time, blistering his skin.

"Get... off... me!" Elijah gritted his teeth, pushing upward.

But he was losing. The beast was too strong. Its glowing red eyes stared directly into Elijah’s eyes, filled with cruel, empty hunger. The teeth moved an inch closer to Elijah’s face. One of the sharp glass fangs cut into his cheek, drawing a line of warm red blood.

Elijah realized he could not beat this monster with pure strength. He had to use his brain. He had to use his environment.

He stopped pushing straight up. Instead, he twisted his upper body violently to the right, using the beast’s own heavy, forward momentum against it.

The Hellhound lost its balance. It stumbled to the side. Elijah immediately brought his knees up and kicked the beast right in its bony chest, launching it away from him.

The beast tumbled backward, and Elijah did not wait for it to recover. He scrambled backward like a crab. He looked behind him. The blood river was only five feet away. The dark, thick crimson liquid flowed fast and deep.

The Hellhound recovered quickly. It shook its skull and let out another terrible roar, angry that its prey was fighting back so hard. It charged again, its claws digging deep into the mud.

Elijah stood up, waiting right on the edge of the steep, rocky drop-off.

When the beast leaped at him again, Elijah did not try to dodge out of the way. He opened his arms wide. As the massive monster slammed into him, its jaws snapping shut around Elijah’s left shoulder, Elijah wrapped his arms tight around the beast’s neck.

The force of the tackle pushed them both over the edge.

They fell backward into the dark, churning blood river.