MTLNOVEL Chapter 279: Bone Takers
Ren ran, water thundering behind them like a furious god. The roar of it shook the maze, that even the splashing of their footsteps was lost under the deafening crash of the approaching torrent.
"Faster!" He shouted over his shoulder, his voice almost drowned in the noise.
The group sprinted behind him. Lilith and Elias at his heels, Thorn slightly lagging with Zuzu beside him. Her eyes scanned the glowing moss along the walls even as she ran.
"Ren!" She called out, breathless. "I think I know what the moss patterns are!"
"What?"
"The wave patterns! They're tidal paths! I didn't see it before, but they show where the current flows!"
Ren spared a glance as they turned a corner. The lines of glowing moss curled and curved like water dancing in rhythm.
The warning had been there for them to see right from the beginning. All they needed to do was just find a corridor with no wave patterned moss. Unfortunately, they were surrounded by the pattern.
Zuzu gasped as she ran. "Everything here is in the water's path. We're not escaping it."
Ren's mind raced. He glanced at the nearest curve in the moss, and it pointed straight into the corridor they were charging down.
If their path was where the torrent would pass, then, they needed something that would block the water. Like a wall. His eyes widened as he realized just what could help.
He turned sharply. "We need a trap! Something that seals off the room!"
Thorn barked a laugh even as he panted. "What, you wanna get caught on purpose now?!"
"Yes!" Ren shot back. "It's the only way to stop the flood!"
"To the right!" Zuzu yelled and Ren followed her instructions without hesitation.
They turned another bend and burst into a wide courtyard. This one was far larger than the last one they'd been in.
It stretched high above them, the moss climbing like vines up the wall. Five arched doors led in and out.
The roar of water was closer now. It howled down the corridor behind them, a beast with no body but immense, unstoppable force.
"The doors won't close!" Elias said, sword in hand, eyes scanning. "No trigger?"
"We need one!" Ren looked around wildly, until he saw it.
A skeleton.
It stood at the center of the courtyard, propped upright like a scarecrow. Its arms were outstretched, and there was no hint of moss covering it.
Ren's eyes locked on it. "That's the trap."
He ran.
"Ren!" Lilith called, but he didn't slow.
As they followed, the flood came into view.
The wave slammed down the corridor like a wall of death. The wall of water was more than twice their height, churning with debris and broken fragments of the maze.
Ren roared and launched forward, channeling his Push resonance into his legs.
He zipped across the courtyard.
His fist collided with the skeleton's ribcage, and it exploded.
The sound of cracking bone filled the air, and shards flew, the impact echoing like the tolling of a bell.
The doors finally rumbled, and one by one, the massive stone walls grinded shut as if a tomb was being sealed.
And a breath later, the flood slammed against the outer walls.
The ground shuddered.
Cracks snaked across the wall stopping the water, and the roar outside dimmed, muffled now behind solid stone.
The group collapsed into the knee high water, gasping as their lungs burned.
"That... was way too close." Thorn wheezed.
Elias clapped a hand on Ren's shoulder. "Well played."
Ren nodded, chest heaving. "Zuzu deserves most of the credit. She directed us here."
"I just felt the flow of the water with my legs and guessed." Zuzu panted.
"You still did good." Ren nodded at her. "But we're not done. This is still a trap room."
Thorn's grin faded. He looked around. "Right. So... what does the Deep want us to fight this time?"
That was when a ripple appeared on the surface of the murky water.
Then another.
The scattered bones from the shattered skeleton twitched.
One by one, bones appeared around the room and began to shift, rattle, and roll through the water.
"Everyone up." Ren said quietly.
Zuzu stood quickly, watching the water with wide eyes.
The bones didn't float.
They slowly assembled.
Twelve figures rose from the water, looking humanoid but grotesque, created from the scavenged bones.
Their arms were too long, fingers sharpened into stabbing tools. Ribs and spines formed armor. None had eyes or faces. Just smooth skulls and rows of sharp, clicking teeth.
"Bone takers." Ren whispered, his eyes widening as he recognized them. They were meant for a different part of the Deep but the Calamity had brought them here especially for him.
Lilith froze. "What?"
"They're sound hunters." He explained, keeping his voice low. "No eyes. No smell. They track prey by sound. And they're vicious. Thank goodness it's not an actual swarm of them."
One of the creatures tapped its fingers against a rib it held, producing a click-click-click rhythm like a broken metronome.
All twelve answered, repeating the code.
"What does that mean?" Zuzu whispered.
Ren held a finger to his lips. He didn't dare speak. Just mouthed the words, 'Don't talk.'
The bone takers turned in unison towards the sound of Zuzu's voice.
Lilith slowly drew one throwing knife, and Zuzu reached for the water at her sides.
The first bone taker stepped forward.
It raised a femur, tapping it against its ribcage. More clicking.
Thorn mouthed, "Now?"
Ren gave the smallest nod.
Elias struck first.
His sword swept through the creature's arm, slicing bone clean. It turned with eerie smoothness, not reacting to pain.
Then Lilith moved.
Her knives flashed in the air, pinning one bone taker's foot to the floor. Another blade impaled its shoulder. It screeched, not in pain, but as a signal.
Chaos erupted.
The bone takers swarmed. They were surprisingly fast and silent, making no other noise except for the clicking they used to communicate.
Ren activated Push and slammed into two of them, his fist shattering their ribs. Zuzu formed a ring of swirling water blades, slashing at their legs.
Thorn swung his sword wide, its edge elongating until it circled one enemy, locking it in place like a whip.
Fire whoosed to life around Elias' sword as he activated his bloodbinding. He fought, aiming for their joints and severing them.
Lilith ducked beneath a clawed swipe and retaliated by burying a knife in a bone taker's jaw, ripping it sideways.
One of them lunged for Zuzu from behind.
Ren appeared in a blink, shoulder checking it into the wall.
Another tried to leap at Thorn. Elias intercepted midair, sword blazing. Their bones clattered, and their limbs flew.
And still they came.
Zuzu yelled as she raised both hands, the water around her swirling into massive spears. She hurled them forward.
They pierced through three bone takers, skewering them against the wall.
Ren dashed past her, grabbed a broken femur from the ground, and drove it through a bone taker's skull from behind.
Lilith fought with frightening grace, the two knives in her hands dancing like the fangs on a snake.
Finally, it remained just one bone taker. Thorn's extended blade wrapped around its neck, and he yanked.
Crack.
And it was over. They stood in the silence, most of them trying to catch their breath.
Thorn exhaled. "We all still alive?"
Ren looked around the group as the bones sank into the water. "For now."
From where she was panting, Zuzu spoke. "Who was the Deep trying to counter this time? Or did it just want to see what we'd do when we can't speak?"
"No idea." Ren said. "But we know it's learning more about us every time we fight."
"And adapting faster." Elias added.
Ren frowned as he glanced toward the walls. No exits had opened. Why?
Then, the surface of the water covering the courtyard began to ripple again. Everywhere they looked, there was a ripple. Much more than the amount of bone takers they'd killed
"Ah, shit."