Chapter 3
Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle…
The gathered ghost-fire began to boil and bubble, as if something were being smelted.
I stared. Gradually, the flames dimmed.
The corridor plunged into total darkness. I couldn’t see a thing.
I had no idea what was happening.
But I heard a harsh scraping, like something heavy and metal being dragged.
It didn’t sound good.
“At least fifty kilos!”
Bashful Boy’s voice was solemn.
I blinked.
“What’s fifty kilos?”
He fell silent for a moment.
“Whatever it’s dragging. At least fifty kilos. From the sound of it, only part of it is touching the floor.”
“It’s…”
He shoved me violently before shouting, “A blade!”
The sound and the dark shape arrived almost together. Without that shove, the shape would’ve landed on me.
The darkness vanished in the same instant, returning to that murky gray.
Now I could see. It was an enormous horse-chopping saber, covered in reddish rust. It must have killed plenty of people!
The thing gripping it was a monster with a muscular man’s body.
Scars crisscrossed its muscles. Looking closer, it seemed to have been stitched together from countless human bodies.
But its feet were crow talons, and crow wings grew from its back.
It even had three crow heads. Six scarlet eyes stared at us.
Before I could think, the enormous saber swung again.
This time it swept sideways. Bashful Boy and I dropped flat.
The blade skimmed over our heads, its wind nearly stripping the hair off them.
I tried to run. Pain shot through my calf.
One crow foot had stamped onto my leg. Sharp talons pierced trousers and flesh, pinning me down.
It raised the saber, ready to cut me in half.
A swift black shape flashed behind it.
Bashful Boy roared, “I’ll bite you to death!”
He sank his teeth into a wing. With a bite like an African hyena’s, he tore away a huge clump of crow feathers.
The crow recoiled in pain and lifted its foot off me.
I rolled away, putting some distance between us.
I tried to stand, but agony tore through my leg.
I looked at Bashful Boy.
“Little idiot, run!”
He ripped out another big clump of feathers before jumping down and fleeing.
He went the other way, and the monster followed him.
I hurried off in the opposite direction, dragging my punctured leg.
I’d barely taken a few steps when I heard the heavy dragging behind me again.
I turned and nearly lost my soul.
The monster was coming back.
Fuck. Picking on me because my injured leg made me slow?
I kept urging myself on.
“Move, you useless fucking leg!”
But I couldn’t match its speed. A few steps, and it was almost on me.
The enormous horse-chopping saber rose again. My heart went cold.
Just as I thought it would fall, that black shape reappeared.
This time Bashful Boy leaped high and slapped a crow head across the face.
He turned and ran immediately. The saber slashed back, only grazing his clothes.
He even pulled a face.
“Stupid crow! Can’t catch me! Mad yet, monkey?”
The crow chased him again. I kept running.
Then… that heavy scraping came back.
I gritted my teeth.
“Give it a fucking rest!”
Along with the dragging sound came that same black shape.
This time Bashful Boy jumped up and farted on a crow’s head.
The crow had learned its lesson. It ignored him and brought the blade straight down toward my skull…