“Don’t…
move.” The words barely escaped my lips as a trembling whisper.
Stephanie instantly covered her mouth with both hands, freezing where she stood as the heavy cadence of earth-shaking footsteps drew closer through the mist.
Then…
I heard it.
THUMP- THUMP- The Urban…
It was right behind me.
Slowly, I shifted my gaze toward Stephanie, intending to quietly ask what the creature looked like.
But the words never came.
My eyes widened.
Stephanie…
She wasn’t merely shivering.
She was trembling.
Her entire body shook uncontrollably, as though every muscle had forgotten how to obey her.
Tears streamed silently down her cheeks while she desperately bit down on her own hand to stop herself from making a sound.
She was…
terrified.
THUMP- Another step.
Closer.
Much closer.
Damn it…
I’d hoped the unnatural mist would conceal us from the creature’s sight.
But that hope had been nothing more than wishful thinking.
Urbans possessed senses that far surpassed those of ordinary humans.
Even the weakest among them, those bearing the deepest coloured spines, could rival or even surpass the senses of a First-Tier Superhuman.
No…
Simply standing still wasn’t going to save us.
I had to think.
No…
I had to find something.
Anything.
My eyes frantically swept across the endless sea of white until they finally caught it.
A few metres to my left rested a colossal boulder, easily the size of a small cottage.
Its dark silhouette barely pierced through the mist, but it was enough.
I didn’t hesitate.
“MOVE!” The instant the shout left my mouth, Stephanie snapped out of her daze.
I seized her hand and bolted.
Pain exploded through my battered body with every stride, but I forced my legs to keep moving.
Beside me, Steph matched my pace without a word as we sprinted blindly toward the enormous rock.
The distance felt endless.
Every heartbeat stretched into an eternity.
Then, at last, we threw ourselves behind the boulder’s massive frame.
I collapsed against the cold stone, breathing so hard it felt as though my lungs were tearing themselves apart.
We…
We made it.
Now all we had to do was stay completly qui- THUMP- The ground trembled beneath my body.
Cursing under my breath, I carefully leaned out from behind the boulder.
I needed to know what kind of nightmare we were dealing with.
The Elders had always said that the colour of an Urban’s spine determined its strength.
If I could just see its spine…
Maybe I could figure out whether we had any chance at all.
The creature lumbered forward.
The moment I laid eyes on it, my breath caught in my throat.
It…
It was grotesque.
Nearly three metres tall, the Urban possessed a vaguely humanoid frame wrapped in jagged black scales that reflected no light.
Its elongated arms nearly reached its knees, each ending in seven grotesque clawed fingers.
Its legs bent strangely, supporting its towering body upon six enormous toes that dug into the earth with every step.
Then…
My gaze drifted toward its head.
My stomach twisted.
It had no eyes.
No nose.
Nothing that resembled a face.
Instead, countless thin cracks spread across its scalp and continued where its features should have been.
Every few seconds, those cracks quivered and shifted beneath the skin as though something inside them was alive.
Just staring at them sent a cold shiver down my spine.
Then…
A sudden realisation swept through my mind.
Was…
was it blind?
As I was about to ponder on that thought however…
My gaze drifted toward its back.
A dark fear swept through me as all of the Elders’ warnings about Urbans came crashing down all at once.
Running down the length of its spine were enormous jagged dorsal fins that emitted a dim, ethereal dark orange glow through the mist.
Dark Orange.
My heart instantly sank.
From everything the Elders had taught me, the strength of an Urban was measured by the colour of its spine.
It began with Dark Red and steadily grew brighter with every rank.
Ordinary First-Tier Superhumans were expected to handle Dark Red and, if they were exceptionally talented, perhaps even Bright Red.
Dark Orange…
That was different.
Only Second-Tier Superhumans, or truly monstrous First-Tiers blessed with an exceptionally powerful Ability, stood a realistic chance against one.
As for a mundane human…
The fight would be over before it even began.
I looked down at my own bare feet.
At my battered body.
At the dirty bandages wrapped around wounds that still hadn’t closed.
At my malnourished, bone-thin structure.
Against that thing…
I wouldn’t survive a single heartbeat.
I yelped internally as the Urban slowly turned its head from side to side, its cracked face trembling as it searched for the source of the scream.
Then…
It suddenly froze.
As it did, I felt a sickening premonition.
Then…
To my horror…
The Urban moved its featureless grey head ever so slowly…
At the direction of the boulder.
My blood froze in my veins.
The creature took one heavy step forward.
Behind me, Stephanie leaned closer.
“…Brother?
What’s wr-” Before another word could leave her mouth, I lunged toward her.
My trembling hand clamped tightly over her mouth while my other arm pulled her firmly against my chest.
At the same time, I covered my own mouth.
No words came from my mouth, but the message was painfully clear.
Don’t move.
Whatever the f*ck you do…
DON’T MOVE!
Steph instantly stiffened.
I could feel her trembling against me as the Urban continued its slow approach.
THUMP- The ground vibrated.
A low growl rolled through the mist, vibrating through my very bones like icy fingers.
THUMP- Close.
THUMP- Closer.
THUMP- CLOSER.
Another growl rumbled through the earth.
It felt as though the creature was right behind me, breathing down my neck with its morbid breath.
That thought alone nearly made me throw up.
Neither of us moved.
Neither of us dared to breath.
Then…
I suddenly felt something warm trickling across my fingers.
Tears.
Stephanie was crying.
Her muffled sobs trembled against my palm as faint whimpers assaulted my ears.
I shut my eyes for the briefest of moments, silently cursing every god that had ever existed.
Then…
Every muscle in my body locked solid.
Slowly…
So slowly…
I turned my head.
The Urban…
Was peering around the side of the boulder, its eyeless face directed at our helpless trembling figures.
At this distance, I could finally see the flesh beneath its cracked skin.
The muscles beneath its featureless face writhed constantly, shifting beneath the thin membrane as though they were countless living antennae searching the air.
Beside me, Steph instinctively began turning her head.
Before she could see it, I pulled her deeper against my chest and covered her eyes with my other hand.
She didn’t need to see this.
I wouldn’t let her.
The Urban lingered there.
Seconds stretched into eternities.
Then it let out another low growl as its cracked face slowly parted.
Rows upon rows of pristine triangular teeth emerged from the darkness within its mouth, each one larger than my entire hand.
The vibration from its growl rattled through my ribs, making my grip around Stephanie tighten even more.
Its enormous claws scraped lazily across the boulder, making the stone crumble as grey dust drifted through the haze.
My lungs burned.
I’d forgotten to breathe.
As I instinctively inhaled…
I coughed.
“…!” The tiny sound echoed through the suffocating silence.
No.
No.
No.
Nonononononononono- WHAT HAD I DONE!
My mind went numb as every muscle in my body tensed.
Fight?
Run?
Against that?
What the hell was I supposed to do?
The creature’s face suddenly convulsed.
The flesh beneath its skin rippled violently as several of the cracks split wider, exposing twitching lumps of pale meat beneath.
Then…
Something deathly unexpected happened.
It paused.
Almost as though it had suddenly lost interest.
I watched in silence as the Urban slowly turned away from us.
Without warning, it threw back its head and unleashed a deafening roar that tore through the mist.
Pain exploded through my ears as I gritted my teeth to prevent myself from screaming out loud.
Then…
With a single earth-shaking step…
The monster burst into a sprint and disappeared into the endless white haze once more.