Chapter 36: Now Who’s the Monster?

#Bonus Chapter

The creature lunged before Zarek could properly test his newfound strength. He slipped past its reaching arm and drove his fist into its side, forcing the enormous body to stagger.

The ease of the movement surprised him. The strength coursing through his body was no illusion; he really was faster and stronger than before.

He barely had time to enjoy the discovery before the creature’s claws caught his shoulder. Pain shot down his arm, and he stumbled into the wall hard enough to knock the breath from his lungs.

"Goddamn it!"

He pushed himself away before the next blow could land. His ribs protested with every breath, and blood trickled down his side. The surge of strength hadn’t magically healed him.

If he let the creature pin him down again, he might not get another chance.

His sword lay a short distance away.

Zarek rushed for it, grabbed the handle, and turned just as the monster came after him.

The blade met its descending arm with a harsh metallic scrape.

For the first time since the fight began, Zarek held his ground.

His grin widened.

"Come on, then. Show me what you’ve got!"

The two faces answered with another furious chorus of screams.

Zarek moved first, slashing at the creature’s arm before it could bring its weight to bear against him. His sword cut through the pale flesh, opening a deep wound, but the resistance caught him off guard. The blade sank farther than before, then stuck.

He had to wrench it free.

The delay nearly cost him his head. The monster’s other arm swept toward him, forcing Zarek to twist away as its claws scraped across the wall. Broken plaster rained down his back while he retreated.

It came after him immediately, both faces screaming as it charged down the corridor. Zarek waited until the creature committed to its attack, then slipped aside and slashed at its ribs.

His sword carved through the creature’s flesh.

Black blood splattered across the floor.

The monster lurched, and Zarek almost laughed at the sight. Now he was finally making the bastard pay for it.

But the creature still had plenty of fight left.

It turned with startling speed and smashed its forearm into Zarek’s chest.

The impact sent him stumbling backward. His shoulder struck a doorframe, and agony flared through his injured ribs. For a moment, his grip loosened around the sword.

The monster noticed.

It lunged, reaching for him with both arms.

Zarek threw himself sideways. The creature’s claws tore through his shirt and scraped his skin, but he escaped its grasp. He landed awkwardly, nearly dropping his weapon, and had to scramble back to his feet before the monster could turn around.

"You’re one ugly motherfucker," he muttered, breathing hard. "And you hit like a truck."

The creature answered by trying to smash him into the floor.

Zarek jumped back, narrowly avoiding the blow. The impact cracked the tiles beneath its fist.

His ribs were aching, his arms were tiring, and the monster showed no sign of slowing down. If he kept trading blows like this, his new strength wouldn’t save him.

Zarek stopped trying to match the creature’s aggression and began watching its movements. It was powerful, but its anger made it reckless.

Whenever one of the faces screamed, the monster seemed to lose what little control it had left, throwing itself at him with enough force to shatter the corridor but leaving openings whenever its attacks missed.

Zarek waited for one of those openings.

The larger face let out a furious roar. The creature swung its arm, trying to catch him against the wall.

Zarek ducked beneath the blow and moved inside its reach.

His sword drove into the side of its neck.

The blade sank deep.

Black blood ran down the steel, and the monster shrieked so violently that Zarek felt the sound in his teeth. He tried to pull the sword free, but the creature thrashed, forcing him to abandon the attempt and retreat before its claws closed around him.

The monster staggered after him, one hand clutching its wounded neck.

Zarek looked at the damage he’d caused.

The wound was ugly, but the head remained firmly attached.

"Seriously? After all that?"

He tightened his grip on the sword. His arms were beginning to tremble, and his breathing had grown ragged. The fight had dragged on long enough that even his excitement couldn’t keep him from feeling the strain.

Still, he had learned what he needed to know.

The creature could be injured. It could be forced to stumble. And if he struck hard enough, in the right place, he could kill it.

Zarek stepped forward.

The monster came to meet him.

This time, Zarek went straight for its neck.

He swung with both hands, putting his entire body behind the blow. The sword bit deep into the wound he’d already opened, but it didn’t cut through.

The resistance traveled up his arms.

Zarek wrenched the blade free and narrowly avoided the creature’s claws. His next strike landed deeper in the existing wound, drawing another furious scream from both faces.

He kept attacking the same spot, but the creature thrashed so violently that he could barely maintain his footing. Each time its arms came close, he had to retreat; each time it stumbled, he rushed back in before it could recover.

His shoulders burned, and his injured ribs protested whenever he twisted. Still, he forced the sword deeper, grinding through flesh and connective tissue until the blade finally broke through.

THUD!

The severed head struck the floor with a wet impact.

Zarek stumbled back, sucking in air. For half a second, he thought it was over.

Then the remaining face screamed.

The stump of the severed neck convulsed. Black blood spilled across the creature’s chest as pale flesh began bulging outward, twisting and stretching beneath the skin. Something hard pushed through the swelling mass, followed by a mouth, a nose, and two sunken eyes.

The remaining face began to swell, its features stretching as pale flesh and bone pushed outward from the creature’s neck.

A new skull gradually formed beneath it, lifting the face away from the shoulder until a second head stood where the original two-faced head had been.

The newly formed head opened its mouth and screamed directly at him.

"You’re fucking kidding me!"

Its arm swept across the corridor before Zarek could recover. He stumbled over broken tiles, caught himself against the wall, and barely managed to raise his sword before the monster lunged again.

He slipped past its claws and swung at the remaining neck, but the blade only cut partway through. The creature twisted, nearly tearing the sword from his hands.

Zarek staggered with the movement, then forced himself back into position. His arms were trembling now, and his ribs hurt with every breath. He couldn’t afford another prolonged exchange.

As the monster turned toward him again, he struck the same wound with everything he had left. The blade finally tore through, and the second head fell beside the first.

The monster lurched forward a few more steps before its legs buckled. Its enormous body crashed onto the tiles, shaking the corridor. Black blood spread beneath it, and the screaming stopped.

This time, it stayed down.

Zarek remained where he was, sword in hand, waiting to see whether the bastard had another surprise left.

Nothing moved.

He bent forward, resting one hand against his thigh while he struggled to catch his breath. Every part of his body hurt, and his arms felt as though they’d been filled with lead.

"Fucking finally."

He straightened slowly, looking at the two severed heads.

Then he started laughing.

He’d nearly died fighting this thing. It had crushed him in its grip and brought him closer to death than anything else he’d encountered since the apocalypse began.

And he’d killed it anyway.

The satisfaction was worth every bruise.

As his breathing settled, something among the remains caught Zarek’s attention.

Two crystals lay near the severed heads.

Zarek approached the corpse cautiously, keeping his sword ready until he was certain nothing else was moving. Only then did he crouch and pick them up, finding one beside each head.

Zarek turned them over in his hands, examining their unfamiliar surfaces. He couldn’t make much of them from their appearance alone, and the creature’s black blood made it difficult to tell where the crystals had come from.

He looked from one crystal to the other, then glanced at the enormous corpse.

"What the hell are you supposed to be?"

The dead monster offered no answer.

Zarek slipped both crystals into his System Space, then wiped the blood from his sword. His body ached, his clothes were torn, and the corridor was covered in black blood.

At least the bastard was dead.

He turned toward the corridor, leaving the two severed heads behind.

Whatever those crystals were, he would deal with them later.