The Last Esper [BL]-Chapter 41: The creature of the river

The creature descended a little further. It glided slowly, making no sound. It passed close to the bushes, its black mist brushing against the branches, which withered upon contact.

Then he turned, very slowly, towards the rock where they were hiding.

Rhys held his breath. The creature came to a halt. It didn’t look directly at them, but Rhys was certain it could sense their presence, that it knew something was hiding behind the rock.

One more second and it would find them.

Then an idea flashed through Rhys’s mind: run. Get out of hiding, lure the creature away, and distract it before it discovered the others.

Be the decoy.

His body was already beginning to tense, every muscle ready to propel himself into the undergrowth, when a barely audible sound made his skin crawl.

The rustling of leaves moved by something more than the wind, just behind him.

Rhys instinctively turned, his heart wrenching with urgency, and then he saw Eun-woo. He was running.

His silhouette glided through the trees, moving quickly away from the group, without looking back. The mist closed in around him, swallowing him up little by little. For a moment, Rhys couldn’t move.

He was going to sacrifice himself.

But Eun-woo had gotten there first.

The mist around the creature stirred, reacting to the movement. Without a sound, without violent jolts, it simply followed Eun-woo, gliding in a straight line.

"Shit!" Rhys cursed and ran off too, ignoring Jae’s screams behind him.

Eun-woo ran without looking back, dodging roots, jumping over rocks, without stopping. He knew the creature was chasing him. The energy emanating from the creature made the air thicker and tightened around his chest.

A few feet behind, Rhys was also running, his breath ragged, he forced his body through the pain with every step. He panted as he picked up rocks, branches, anything he could throw at the creature, and threw them furiously, shouting to get its attention.

"Hey! Here! Look at me, damn it!"

But the creature didn’t stop. Nothing, not the screams nor the projectiles, could divert its attention. Its crimson eyes were fixed on Eun-woo, as if everything else had disappeared from the world.

Eun-woo ran deeper and deeper into the forest, until the trees began to thin out. Then he heard it. A constant, wild roar. The sound of water. Lots of water.

The river.

Eun-woo suddenly saw it before him: wide, swollen by the storm, a raging mass of gray, foamy water, thrashing wildly like a creature. The current was swift and dangerous, splashing against the banks with force.

Eun-woo paused for a moment, his body trembling and his breathing ragged.

It was then that he felt the creature’s breath behind him.

The creature emerged from the mist behind him, a few meters away.

Eun-woo didn’t hesitate, he jumped into the water.

"No! EUN-WOO! " Rhys shouted, but it was too late.

Eun-woo was immediately swept away by the current. The water wrapped around him tightly, twisting, pushing, and swallowing him. He didn’t know how to swim. His arms thrashed the surface desperately, more instinct than technique, more fear than control.

Rhys didn’t hesitate.

And he launched himself after him.

The water was icy, the cold taking his breath away. The current immediately shook him, dragging him in a spiral and slamming him against submerged rocks. Rhys felt the impact against his ribs, the burning on his skin, and the ringing in his ears.

He opened his eyes underwater, blinded by the mud and foam.

He saw Eun-woo, struggling, his arms flailing in desperation, gulping water between gags, each movement weaker than the last.

He was about to sink.

Rhys swam with all his might, ignoring the pain in his injured arm and gasping every time he broke the surface.

He had only one thought: to reach him.

He reached out his hand.

His fingers brushed against Eun-woo’s.

And finally he caught it.

But just as he grabbed it, the current pushed them hard against a rock. Rhys felt a flash of pain. Then, nothing. Just darkness and the dull echo of the water enveloping him.

Eun-woo felt the pull and firm pressure of Rhys’s hand gripping his own. For a moment, he thought they’d succeeded. But something wasn’t right. The grip was weak. Rhys’s body was no longer resisting the current.

"Rhys!" he shouted, between gulps of water, unsure if his voice could be heard over the roar of the river.

There was no response.

The current continued to drag them downstream.

***

Rhys woke up with a violent spasm. He coughed violently, arching his back as he spewed water again and again.

"You’re okay... you’re okay..." A voice whispered near his ear.

He felt cold hands cup his face. He opened his eyes with difficulty, blinking between gags and shivers, until the mist in his pupils dissipated enough for him to make out Eun-woo standing in front of him.

"We’re safe now," Eun-woo said, his voice shaking with relief.

Rhys barely managed to nod as he wrapped his arms around him, still coughing, burying his face in his shoulder. His clothes clung to him, soaked through, the rain pounding his face, and Eun-woo’s skin as cold as his own. He struggled to breathe, but in that moment, the only thing that mattered was that they were both still alive.

Until something else moved in front of them.

Rhys looked up slowly and saw the creature. Shrouded in that same dark mist, hovering a few feet away, as if it had been waiting for them all along. His pulse raced again. He instinctively tightened his arms around Eun-woo, like a shield.

"It’s here," he murmured. "The creature... it’s still here. This time I’ll distract it."

"No need," Eun-woo replied calmly.

Rhys stared at him, stunned. Eun-woo broke the hug and stood up, unsteadily. Then he reached out toward the creature, as if he wanted to touch it. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel-com

"What are you doing? Are you crazy?!" Rhys shot up, grabbing him by the wrist and yanking his arm roughly away. A jolt of pain shot through his injured arm, and when he looked at the bandage, he saw it was tinged with red. He gritted his teeth, but he didn’t stop. "Did Rong Ye pass on his suicidal instincts to you?"

Eun-woo smiled at him with a serenity that didn’t fit with the threat floating in front of them.

"It was the one who pulled us out of the river."

Rhys blinked, as if he hadn’t quite understood.

"What?"

"It saved us. When you lost consciousness, it was the one that dragged us to the shore."

Rhys turned his gaze back to the creature, which was still hovering in front of them. The mist around it no longer seemed dark. It pulsed with a faint light, as though it were breathing. And yet it remained there, still, watching them.

Eun-woo took a step towards the creature.

"It’s like he knows me," he said, more to himself than to Rhys.

The creature descended slowly, swirling in the air with smooth movements, wrapping itself around Eun-woo. It slithered around him, brushing against his shoulder without quite touching, like a puppy seeking its owner’s closeness. There was no aggression in its movements.

"That thing definitely came out of a Rift," Rhys said, pointing at the creature without getting too close.

"I know," Eun-woo replied, still staring at the creature. "But I don’t think it’s out of the one that opened recently. I feel like its energy is already mixed with this world. As if it’s been here for years."

Rhys circled around them, still cautious. The creature never took its eyes off him.

"And it doesn’t hurt you?" he asked, suspiciously.

"No," Eun-woo replied firmly. Then he turned to Rhys and extended a hand. "Do you want to try?"

Rhys stared at his hand for a few seconds, hesitating. Then he took a deep breath and took it.

Eun-woo carefully guided his hand toward the creature. Seeing the movement, it stopped floating and stopped in front of Rhys, its red orbs glowing brightly. As if assessing him.

Rhys swallowed.

And he touched the mist.

At first contact, he felt a warm tingle run through his hand, up his arm. It wasn’t electricity. It was more like a chill... but pleasant. Welcoming. As if the creature recognized something in him.

A surprised smile tugged at his lips.

But then, something struck him like a bolt of lightning.

Everything went blurry.

The voices came first, distorted echoes, like distant screams drowned in water. Voices he didn’t recognize and others that seemed strangely familiar, crossing his mind without form or direction.

Then came the images: fleeting lights, sharp shadows, indistinct silhouettes that dissolved into thin air before he could make sense of them. He felt as if his head was about to explode.

The world around him spun, slow and heavy, as if the ground beneath his feet were shaking. Rhys put a hand to his temple, but he was no longer aware of his body.

A wave of emotions washed over him: first a sharp stab of pain, then an icy emptiness of sadness, followed by a burst of luminous happiness, so intense it brought a tear to his eye, and then... rage. Rage drowned in despair.

And then, as if someone had paused a movie, everything stopped.

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