Chapter Text
Smash!
Girath crashed into the wall with all his strength, and the thin plywood gave way beneath the rough armored plates of his shoulders. Stumbling through the splinters, he fell into the opening. For a moment, he just lay there, exhausted and bleeding.
Then, the inevitable sound of invisible footsteps echoed across the parking lot pavement.
With hidden reserves of strength even he didn’t know he possessed, Girath crawled the rest of the way into the odd structure. He paid no heed to the strange, soft-skinned creatures that gaped at him in surprise, although his ears reflexively cringed at their high-pitched squeaks.
Limping on his now-wounded leg – he must have caught it on a jagged edge when he came through the wall – he shoved his way through the crowd, grateful that they parted before him in respect for his superior size.
The light seemed hopelessly dim to his dark eyes, and the chill of this world once more settled into his scales. Nevertheless, he plunged ever onward in his desperate attempt to escape.
The footsteps behind him had slowed down now. They knew he was wounded, so there was no need to keep up the full chase. Eventually he would tire out, and…
Girath’s eyes squeezed shut for a second, pulling on his unshakeable desire to survive. He couldn’t let it end, not like this, not when…
He stumbled into a staircase, and his weary feet skittered out from beneath him. Every step seemed to jar right into his spine as he fell and fell and fell. A rib snapped, a wrist. The wound in his leg was bleeding again, leaving a trail of viscous, black liquid behind him. Finally, with an ungraceful crash, he landed at the bottom.
For a moment, he was too dazed to register anything. And then his sharp ears picked up the slow, relentless approach of those footsteps. Like the endless tide they approached, slowly withering him away further and further, until finally he broke into nothing…
He felt his ankle snap beneath him, but still he ran.
Now, beneath the gray, armored plates, razor-sharp claws, and massive horns, Girath was actually more of a thinking sort of demon. His kind had many faults, but a lack of intelligence didn’t happen to be one of them. So, despite the blinding pain, Girath was very much aware of the fact that he was in no shape to escape his pursuers on his own. And capture was not an option. That left…
Squinting against the horribly dim light in this world, Girath scanned for something – anything – that could possibly help him. The creatures of this dimension seemed useless, though. Obviously a prey species of some sort. Intelligent and with good survival instinct, it seemed, but all in all too fragile for a real battle.
And, yet, when he looked at their strange, lean forms… Something just seemed oddly familiar about them. It was impossible to tell in the darkness these creatures seemed to endure, however. And he had much more important things to worry about.
A clawed fist caught hold of a corner as he pulled himself around it. The plaster crumbled in his grasp, but he didn’t even notice. His focus was entirely on a new sensation that was creeping up into his consciousness. Something he had barely dared hope for. Power.
Drawn to it like a moth to a flame, Girath half-walked, half-fell across the room, seeking the four bright presences that stood out in this land of darkness.
If he squinted his eyes very hard, he could make them out among the crowd now. The four of them all had an exceptionally slim appearance – the smaller sex of their species, he guessed. However, despite their shockingly diminutive size, they were obviously the most powerful beings present.
All four had that odd, tissue-thin hide that seemed so characteristic of this dimension. The one in the center seemed darker than the others, her hair black and skin a deep tan. To her right stood the tallest of the four, although even she barely passed his waist. A dark fiery color seemed to light up her hair. Flanking them were two paler creatures – one short with hair the color of Velik sand and one waif-thin and so light that he could almost see through her. His eyes were almost relieved to come across another being that radiated; the dismal lighting made it almost impossible to focus on anything else.
The four all wore wide-eyed expressions that he assumed were surprise. However, as he continued to stumble towards them, the darker ones eyes narrowed, and he would have sworn the pupils changed shape before his very eyes, transforming from perfect circles to thin, vertical slits.
Keeping his eyes upon this one who he assumed was the leader, he finally collapsed at their feet, the fight draining from his weary body. Behind him, the persistent footsteps moved closer.
“Help me!” he gasped out in Standard Demonic before his world faded to black…