Chanyeol looks to the barren streets of the crumbling city. The sun is slowly setting, and the shadows grow larger. The sad buildings suddenly look ominous, and perilous. He pulls his scarf tighter, and puts a hand to the blade dangling at his side. The sounds of Night Lurkers grow louder, and he extinguishes his torch. It would have drawn too much attention.

Something large and black at the edge of his vision darts by, and he grips the handle of his blade tighter. Quickly he moves behind a wall, and calms the pounding of his heart in his ears. He inhales and exhales slowly, keeping his breathing in check.

There is a low growl only a few meters from him. His heart stops and he sinks back into the shadows away from the moonlight. He can hear the heavy pounding of paws, and the breaths of the creature. From his position, he can clearly see the massive silhouette. It is five times his size. The creature flexes its shoulder muscles, and swishes its rat-like tail.

Chanyeol inhales.

It whips its head towards him. Its eyes flash red, and it bares its teeth. They glint red in the moonlight. Chanyeol fixes his grip on the blade handle, and stands his ground. The creature readies its back legs, crouching low.

Suddenly, it's flying high straight towards Chanyeol. Ready, he whips out his blade, as long as his forearm, and swings it with all his might. The edge strikes the creature in the jaw and slices through its jaw. It jumps back, and a gargled whimper comes from its throat, but it is not done. Angrily, it extends its claws and slashes blindly, but Chanyeol swiftly evades it to the left. Then he brings his blade down on the unsuspecting creature’s neck and beheads it.

The body shivers one last time, and there is a loud thud as it collapses.

Hooking his blade back, Chanyeol wipes the blood from his face.

“Damn hounds.” he mutters and steps closer to the edge of the building.

Cautiously he peeks around the corner. The streets are filled with Night Lurkers. Some look almost human, others look like wild animals, and then there are ones that did not even seem like either. Possibly plants.

Chanyeol takes a deep breath and steps into the open streets. None of the creatures seem to notice him and continue to carry on. Feeling the coast is clear, Chanyeol walks down the center, slowly, as not to create commotion. He keeps the brim of his hat covering his face.

He sees a small building ahead, no larger than him, that has a wood door, and a single lantern hanging above it that, despite being broken, is still burning. He wonders how long ago the last traveler was there. Inside, he knew, it led down under the city to either sewers or tunnels, for he had entered a few before. As he nears the building, he spots a figure dressed in a ragged, black cloak. At first, he thinks it is another person, but he was wrong. When he saw the pale white arm, a fearsome scythe and the flash of white eyes, he knew it was not human. Not anymore.

A mourning killer.

Upon seeing Chanyeol, the mourning killer lunges at him, hissing and weapon up to strike. Chanyeol narrowly misses the blade, and makes a break for the building. The wind rushes past his ears. Closer. Closer. By now, he is so close he can touch the door. Without looking back, he smashes the door with his blade and jumps in, hoping there was a staircase.

But that is not the case.

He can feel his stomach drop, and he looks down. Nothing but black. As the light from above gets smaller, he can still see the glowing eyes of his chaser staring at him. Then the darkness swallows him. With haste, he clips his blade on and reaches out. His fingers brush against something cold protruding from the walls. He reaches out farther, until his hand hits metal bars one after another. They must have been ladder rungs. For a split second he contemplates his choices.

He could wait to see what he falls on, probably hard concrete, and die, or he could catch the ladder rungs, possibly break an arm, and survive. Needless to say, he chooses the latter. With his left hand, he crosses his fingers, and reaches out with his right hand, catching the cool metal.

His body jerks, and the force of his body stopping so abruptly pulls on his fingers. From the force, his fingers slip, but he is prepared and grabs the rung with his left hand, letting his right one dangle. Chanyeol’s jagged breath echoes off the walls, and he can feel the blood rushing to his feet. With difficulty, he pulls himself closer to the ladder and the wall, pinning himself against it.

Slowly but surely, he starts to make his way farther into the gloom. Right arm injured, but fortunately not broken, Chanyeol is forced to stretch his left arm to allow himself to step down the ladder. Then he lets go of the rung and quickly catches the one underneath.

Thirty minutes later, he can feel solid ground under his feet and steadies himself before letting go. Exhausted, he sits down and quickly relights his torch. As he does so, sharp pain shoots through his right arm, and he drops his lighter. It burns for a moment before sputtering out. He curses and takes the lighter again, this time putting the torch in the left hand.

Once the torch is lit, he swings it around to survey the area. There is not much to see, though. Just dirt, stone, and the occasional rat that scurries away from the light. Chanyeol stands up and brushes the dust from his pants, careful not to touch the blade.

He starts to walk. Best not sit like a vegetable. There would be many more Night Lurkers underground, and he was not planning on being attacked; it is better he do the attacking.

As he goes, he looks left and right, hoping that nothing would jump out and scare him. Fortunately it was all just walls around him and no open spaces. The next step he takes, however, is one that he immediately regrets. From farther than his torch light can reach came a high-pitched yell, and he covers his ear with his free hand, wincing. The sound reverberates off the stone walls. It dies after a few seconds, but it was enough to cause a brief deafness in his left ear.

His hand goes straight to his blade, but he hesitates. He does not have enough hands to hold both the torch and the blade. There was another high-pitched cry, and he abandons the torch in the spur of the moment. It clatters to the ground, flame diminishing. He stamps it out with his foot quickly, and moves forward slowly and carefully.

A few more steps, and Chanyeol can hear breathing that comes from a few meters away. His heart leaps into his throat, and he gulps. Left hand wrapped tightly around the blade handle, he pulls it from his belt and holds it in front of him. His hand starts to shake. The left arm was much weaker than the right, and he is forced to hold it steady from underneath with his right arm. Despite the slight pain he feels from the weight, he continues on.

The breathing continues, and he starts to smell a foul, dank odor in the hot air. By now, it is coming at him directly, and he reels back from the stench. As he walks backwards, his foot catches on a lump of concrete, causing him to trip. His blade clatters to the ground, echoing off the walls, and he uses his right arm to stop his fall. He screams in agony as he feels his forearm nearly snap completely. The pain was almost unbearable, and it felt as though someone cut off his limb.

That is as not the worst of his problems, however.

Whatever Night Lurker is in front of him is now aware of him and his position. Not too far from him, a pair of glowing yellow eyes float in the dark. They have no pupils, and look glazed over. Chanyeol shudders, and goes for his blade, but not fast enough. The creature screeches again, and starts to circle him. Sometimes, it closes in and sniffs him before retreating.

Normally Night Lurkers do not wait to attack their prey, especially one so vulnerable. Chanyeol is shaking by now, and he closes his eyes, just waiting for whatever it is to gobble him up for a tasty snack.

But nothing happens.

Suddenly a loud whistle pierces through the darkness, and the creature moved its head. No longer can Chanyeol see the yellow eyes. The creature must be alert now, he thinks, and rubs his thumb up the blade handle. He is ready to strike.

He senses the creature’s movements around him, but it is moving backward. Then in front of him, a floating light approaches followed by the sound of jingling bells. Uneven footsteps echo off the walls, and Chanyeol is on high alert now.

The light is getting closer.

Now Chanyeol sees it is only a lantern. The flickering candle inside illuminates a pale face with fierce, sharp eyes. He steps back and holds up his blade. He knew there was a body attached to the face, and there was a hand on the lantern handle, he could see it partially. But he could not help but feel a sense of dread.

“I won’t hurt you.” says a thin, raspy voice. As the pale stranger advances, a wicked smile crossing his face, Chanyeol takes careful steps back until his shoulderblades hit the corner of a wall. There is no where to run now. The pale faced stranger was getting ever so close. Then he holds out a frail hand.

“Please,” he says. “I do not plan on harming you, nor do I have the strength to if I did.”

Chanyeol stares at the hand, hesitant. The pale stranger could be lying. Chanyeol could be minced meat in the next thirty seconds. But despite warning bells going off in his head, he gently takes the hand.

With a smirk, and a whistle from the pale stranger, Chanyeol realizes that he is no longer underground.