War and Survival

Ikem's frown deepened as he stared down the cliff repeatedly with growing despair.

He watched the movements of the swarming number of unrecognizable white creatures down below him.

It seemed utterly inhumane for a person to be sent to this forbidden dead zone. Even if it was as punishment by a Mysterious Organization.

He turned back as he stared at the four individuals behind him.

With these individuals his shot at life seemed even more bleak, there was no way there were going to survive. For sure, death seemed imminent.

'We are going to die', he groaned mentally.

Ikem's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching him. He turned to see one of the four individuals, a dwarfish boy with long brown hair, and glowing ethereal eyes walking towards him.

The boy stopped by the edge, just a few metres away from Ikem, he knelt, peering below into the great depth.

"That's a long way down", he whistled cheerfully, his voice a bleak contrast to the precarious situation they were currently in.

He turned to Ikem, his smile spreading wider.

"Isn't that so, friend. Makes one wonder how he is to survive, and with those things down there too".

He grabbed a handful of soil and shoved it down the cliff, whistling some more as it fell.

His eyes seemed to pierce through the veil of darkness and unrelenting fog, just like Ikem's. So he was able to keep watch, until the soil made contact with one of the abominations down below.

Ikem watched as the abomination raised it's head in return, it's chilling dark blue eyes seemingly piercing through the darkness and implanting itself onto the minds of those who beheld it.

It's body was a contorting humanoid mass of fog and white mist.

He looked away, there was a faint warning at the back of his head, that such sights weren't supposed to be gazed upon by him.

One thought was already able to form in Ikem's mind: 'Sentient and incredible deadly'.

The abomination's action seemed to spark off a chain reaction, as one by one, like a pile of falling dominos, the Thralls below all turned up to stare at them.

It was jolting.

One pair eyes was already capable enough to send shivers down the eyes of those who stared, now, an overwhelming number stared up, causing pangs of painful fear to etch unto the minds of Ikem and his dwarf comrade.

There was silence.

Only but for a few moments.

In the next second, the Aberrations all turned rabid. Each if them frantically clawing their way up the cliff.

Well, there were some who jumped, some who clawed, some who climbed, and..... some who flew.

"What have you done", a voice with a grave tone whispered.

This wasn't from Ikem, the voice was feminine and came closely from behind.

They both turned to look at her, with the expressions on both of their faces being polar opposites.

"What have you done Drey?", the feminine person asked again, walking towards them.

Her surmounting frustration was evident by the curt strides of her steps.

She stopped beside Drey, and slowly peered down the cliff.

She couldn't see through the darkness like Ikem and Drey, but she could see a dense clouding stampede of whiteness approaching.

Her senses, her acts of preservation, her honed instincts, they all warned her to flee: the approaching Aberrations, shouldn't be met by an Un-god.

She stumbled back a few steps.

Traces of doubt and of fear appearing on her stoic face.

"We need to leave", she muttered, her tone shaky as she turned towards Ikemefuna. Her fear growing more evident.

Ikemefuna stood; angry, his intuition had warned him that the dwarf was up to no good, and now watching the smile on Drey's s face widening, his anger and frustrations multiplied.

He ground his teeth forcefully for a few moments. Dangerous glimmers of purple manifesting in his eyes.

'Take it easy', he managed to caution himself, 'wasting time on him means sure death'.

His chest heaved as he slowly breathed out.

All five teenagers on the cliff top met each other's gaze for a split second. Their eyes carrying hints of their next choice of action.

And upon peering into each other's eyes, they found out that they all had similar thoughts running through their heads.

Ikem scowled at the thought, the decision had been made. 'Survival depends on who runs fastest'.

'Abandon the rest to the Aberrations, as I make race to any safe haven... not that I see any here'.

Then,

There was no then.

They all took to their heels, Drey included. Running away from the Hungry Creatures.

And, the very moment they did, The tide of swarming Aberrations encroached the cliff, leaving the clifftop in a dense covering of whiteness.

The cliff had stood at a height of ninety feet, with the Foggy Aberrations previously at it's base. The Creatures had ascended the cliff in the time gap of less than Ten seconds.

Such speed was monstrous, and it seemed that the chances of the five teenagers outrunning them were defiantly slim.

'There is no way... We are not going to live, we can't outrun them, I cannot outrun these monstrosities' Ikem's thought was a mess, his eyebrows furrowed casting a shadow in his eyes.

No doubt from the expressions on each of their faces, the same thought was running through the minds of his classmates.

Three out of the five teenagers had much darker thoughts. It was a bleak, moonless night, one without any stars in the sky.

They were devoid of any light to guide their paths as they ran, this resulted in stumbles all in a feeble attempt to catch themselves upon tripping in the rough, rocky clifftop numerous times.

They had to rely on the outline of Ikem and Drey's movements to guide them away from the doom approaching right behind them.

And it got worse because non of them could use any of their abilities, apart from the ones ingrained into their very being.

Death loomed closely. Like an ever foreboding shadow. It's Icy claws seemed to reach for the souls of the running teenagers.

Ikem felt it hone onto him, and like an experienced acrobat, he leaned to the side; falling.

Without a moments respite, he hurriedly picked himself up. But not before turning to look at what had missed him.

He shruddered.

He had closely dodged a long, foggy, white clawful appendage.

He muttered a silent thanks, to whatever had made him dodge on time.

His chest heaved as he ran. That short dodge had placed him at a disadvantage. He was now running behind his classmates, making him an easy target to those Creatures behind.

'I can make up for it, right?, I can still push forward'.

At that moment there was a shout from right in front of him:

"Jump over the Chasm!, The Creatures cannot follow", the voice had a childlike tone to it, it was Drey's.

Ikem peered foward, and indeed he did see an opening in the ground, he wondered for a few moments as to how Drey knew. But he put those thoughts aside as he strained to push onwards.

Drey jumped, his short figure sailing purposefully in the air for a few seconds, before landing eloquently on the other side.

He stood, waiting, his smile ever present, as if finding the entire situation amusing.

His eyes; gleaming like golden orbs, appeared to be one of the only source of light on the cliff top.

The others successfully jumped one by one after him.

They also chose to wait, across the Chasm, placing blind trust in his words.

Ikem rushed foward, the movements of the Atrocities behind him serving as motivation to increase his pace.

And in one defiant stride.

He leaped.

Yet,

Halfway through the air, an icy cold hand grabbed his left leg.

He froze.

His eyes dilated, as he turned his head around mid air.

He saw it, a single Aberration held unto his leg, following him as he sailed through the air. It's face a contortion of revolting degree, shapeless, featureless, yet harboring what seemed like a grin.

It's body that seemed to be made of fog and white mist, weighed tremendously heavily.

The result of this.... was Ikemefuna tragically falling into the chasm together with the Thrall.

'Curses'