Awakening Domination System: But I'm a Slave?-Chapter 344: Shit!

"Shit!"

Alaric scrambled to his feet, his legs protesting after the massive essence expenditure.

"I can’t fight them all."

Rustle! Rustle! Rustle! Rustle!

The sounds were getting louder.

More of them than he could possibly count. A swarm rather than a pack. Dozens, maybe more, all converging on his location drawn by the shrieks of their dying kin.

Run.

He bolted in the direction that seemed to have the fewest approaching sounds. Sprinting through darkness with arms outstretched to avoid slamming face-first into stone walls.

And then he realized—

I can see.

Not clearly though. But he could make out shapes. The outline of rocks. The curve of the passage. The difference between solid wall and empty space.

Rustle! Rustle! RUSTLE!

Alaric’s breath caught as instinct screamed warning—

He ducked.

SPLAT!

Acid blast passed through the space where his head had been milliseconds before. So close he felt the heat of it. Felt droplets graze his hair and start to burn—

He slapped at his head frantically while still running.

Scalp stinging where the acid had touched. Hair dissolving with acrid smell.

"Damn it!"

The passage ahead branched.

Right continued straight. Left opened into what looked like wider space.

He went left.

Threw himself into the opening. Stumbled as the ground suddenly sloped downward. Barely caught himself before tumbling completely.

Behind him, the sounds of pursuit continued. Multiple Crawlers skittering along walls and ceiling and floor. Their wet breathing. The click of spike-limbs on stone.

They’re way too many.

At least a dozen. Maybe twenty. All focused on him with single-minded predatory intent.

His legs were screaming. His lungs burned. His vision swam from oxygen deprivation and essence depletion. Every step was agony. Every breath a struggle.

Can’t keep this up.

The cavern in front of him opened up. Much larger space. His vision caught fragments, stalagmites rising from the floor, stalactites descending from unseen ceiling, rocky outcroppings that created natural cover.

There!

A gap between two large rock formations. Narrow. Barely wide enough for him to squeeze through but too small for the Crawlers’ bulk.

Alaric dove for it.

Scraped his shoulders squeezing through. Felt stone tear his clothing, scratch skin. But he made it. Pressed himself into the tiny space, wedging his body as far back as possible.

Making himself small and hidden.

The Crawlers poured into the cavern seconds later. Their sounds filling the space, rustle-click-rustle, wet breathing, the scrape of spike-limbs searching.

Alaric held his breath. Pressed against cold stone. Watching through the narrow gap as green shapes moved past his hiding spot.

One Crawler passed within inches of his hiding spot. So close he could smell it, acrid, chemical stench that made his eyes water. Its spike-limb scraped against the rock formation concealing him.

Don’t...

It moved on. Continued searching elsewhere.

More Crawlers spread through the cavern. Checking every possible hiding place.

Then, before he could think anything...

ROAR!

The sound exploded through the cavern.

Louder than before.

Coming from somewhere deeper in this same space.

Every Crawler froze.

Complete stillness. Twenty predators suddenly statues, their four eyes all tracking toward the source of that terrible roar.

Then, slowly, carefully... they began to retreat.

Not fleeing. Just... withdrawing. Backing away from the deeper darkness of the cavern with movements that suggested fear, suggested recognition of something higher on the food chain.

Within seconds, they were gone. Scurried back through the passage Alaric had entered from. Disappeared into the tunnels beyond.

Leaving the cavern silent.

Empty.

Except for Alaric in his hiding place.

And whatever had made that roar.

SLCH!

And suddenly, a wet sound echoed.

SLCH.

Flesh tearing.

Alaric’s blood went cold.

Something was feeding.

In the darkness of the cavern. Close enough that its sounds carried clearly to Alaric’s hiding spot.

Something that made the Crawlers flee in terror. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

What the hell is down here?

He pressed further back into his hiding spot. Made himself as small and still as possible.

And tried very, very hard not to make any sound that might draw attention.

SLCH! SLCH!

The feeding continued.

Then, suddenly, the sound stopped.

Silence.

Complete and absolute.

Alaric’s entire body went rigid.

Then... he heard.

Thud! Thud!

Heavey sound.

Slow and deliberate. Each one echoing through the cavern with terrible clarity.

Thud!

Thud!

Not the skittering of Crawler limbs. Not the rustle of chitin on stone.

Footsteps.

Every hair on Alaric’s body stood on end. His heart hammered so hard he was certain it would give him away. Cold sweat dripped down his spine.

The footsteps grew closer.

Thud!

Thud!

Closer.

THUD!

And then... they paused.

Right in front of his hiding spot.

Alaric held his breath. Didn’t move. Didn’t blink. Every muscle locked in place.

Then suddenly—

CRACK!

The upper portion of the rock formation sheltering him tore away.

Just ripped free like paper. Stone that had probably stood for centuries, gone in an instant.

And Alaric looked up.

Into eyes that burned like molten gold.

The creature towered above him, easily twice his height. Its form was vaguely humanoid but wrong in ways that made his mind recoil.

Muscles rippled beneath skin that seemed to shift between scales and flesh, dark as midnight with veins of luminescent amber pulsing beneath the surface.

But it was the face that froze him.

Angular, almost aristocratic, with high cheekbones and a sharp jawline.

Beautiful and horrifying in equal measure. Those golden eyes studied him with an intelligence.

This thing was thinking. Deciding.

Its lips pulled back, revealing rows of serrated teeth that gleamed wetly in the faint luminescence of the cavern.

Alaric couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t even tremble.

The creature leaned closer, close enough that he felt the heat radiating from its body. Close enough to smell the copper tang of blood on its breath.

Then it inhaled.

A long, deep breath that seemed to draw the very air from Alaric’s lungs.

Tasting his scent.

One massive hand reached toward him, claws longer than daggers extending from fingers that could easily crush his skull.