Sheah shadowed her teammate closely, sticking to her heels as they carefully crept along the lane of the underground village. Even with her torch held high, its meager light only managed to illuminate the barest details of the surrounding structures, just enough to reveal their decrepit, decaying state. Kaelis led onward, swinging her sights to and fro, studying the ruins for a spot worthy of plunder. Alas, nothing at all seemed to draw her eye.

  Then, at last, Kaelis perked up, her attention locking onto a point in the middle distance. There, nestled between the dilapidation, stood an undisturbed edifice: a sumptuous structure, still largely intact, its sloping shape broken up by curving lines like insect wings.

  Kaelis silently signaled—that was the one. Sheah nodded in return. Picking up their pace, she clung behind her crewmate, and together the two women made their way over to the structure’s ragged entrance.

  Pushing aside the creaking door, the pair peered into the building. Inside they found what looked to be a long and lofty room which stretched on beyond the bounds of Sheah’s torchlight, receding into an all-consuming darkness. Sheah increased her torch’s power to its maximum setting. Faintly, the contours of a grand plaza faded into view.

  It was a vast space, with a vaulted ceiling and rows of long tables standing in various states of disintegration. Columns of sagging shelves and counters lined the walls. Sat upon them was a collection of various shiny objects, glinting in the torchlight, unmoved and undisturbed.

  Sheah’s eyes widened, an allayed smile growing on her lips. “What a selection!” she exclaimed.

  “See, what’d I tell ya?” said Kaelis, self-satisfied. “Big loot.” She quickly split off and moved towards the right side of the room.

  Sheah made her way over to the opposite wall, avidly imagining what treasures and jewels might await her there. But as she drew nearer to the shelves, her bright grin gradually inverted.

  “Oh…” she muttered, stricken with immediate disappointment. Lamentably, the room’s collection of relics were anything but fantastical. Peppered across the tables and shelves were unrecognizable objects, all forged of simple brass and colored glass, vaguely medical in their design—hardly the stuff of dreams. Even so, they would have to do for now.

  Selecting the very shiniest of the objects, Sheah began packing them into her bag—there was still good money to be made from the odds and ends of the ancient world. And who knows, perhaps some of the more eccentric collectors might even jump at the chance to own some instrument once belonging to a long-dead cult. Yes, with these curios, along with that tapestry, she should be able to turn quite a tidy profit—enough to fuel the company for another quarter at least, more than sufficient to last until the summer rush. Maybe she needn’t be so disappointed after all.

  As she moved deeper into the hall, Sheah shot a glance towards Kaelis, who appeared far more euphoric at the trinkets on display. She was excitedly scanning the shelves around her, seemingly overwhelmed by their numerous curiosities. Suddenly, Kaelis turned her attention to something on the floor. She bent down and picked up a large, flat object swaddled in moldy cloth. Peeling back the wrapping, she gleefully shivered.

  “I wonder what this stuff was used for?” Kaelis asked, gesturing to the bevy of artifacts around her.

  “I have doubts it was for anything pleasant…” replied Sheah as she scoured the shelves, studying a collection of various fleshy lumps pickled in jars. “I do not wish to linger.”

  “Well, let’s just grab what we can and get out.”

  “Yes, right. Grab.” Sheah quickened her pace, moving down the row of shelves towards the far wall. She stuffed her satchel full of anything and everything that might be of interest to the various collectors of the Southlands: detailed statuettes of human forms, complex looking scientific instruments, and collection of finely crafted flasks. She smiled triumphantly to herself as she reached the end of the row, her bag nearly stuffed to the top with simple treasures.

  With space enough for one last object, Sheah turned her attention towards the head of the room. Standing there, caught in the fringes of the dark, was a rotting table with a plain wooden box resting on top of it. Sheah lifted her brow inquisitively and moved in for a closer look.

  “I think this place might’ve been a research hall of some sort,” Kaelis theorized from across the room, examining the minute details of the space while being far more selective with her plundering. “Or maybe a library.”

  Sheah ignored her, transfixed by the wooden box. She cautiously approached it, maneuvering around piles of loose stone and debris that appeared as she crept in closer. Upon reaching the box, she placed her silk-gloved hands on the lid.

  “Please don’t be cursed…” she whispered to herself as she delicately lifted the top.

  A wondrous look befell her. Inside the box, resting on a bed of black velvet, was a small, hollowed-out sphere, intricately laced with patterns of purest gold. Within the center of the orb floated a jagged star of shimmering platinum, suspended in the air by an unknown force. Sheah removed the object from its cradle and studied it, enchanted. She raised up her torch to get a better look, her light casting deep into the back of the room, breaking through the shade.

  “What do you think this is?!” Sheah shouted, turning towards her companion.

  “Let me see,” said Kaelis. She put down a broken shard of pottery and glanced over at her teammate.

  All at once, Kaelis seemed to freeze, as though stricken by a sudden, vivid fear.

  “Is… something the matter?” asked Sheah.

  Kaelis began to gesture her hands around wildly, poorly articulating whatever it was she was trying to say.

  Suddenly, Sheah heard a noise cut through the silence behind her: low and rasping, rumbling like a falling tree. Realization shot up her spine, followed by a shuddering terror. Her eyes grew wide; her shoulders dropped. Timidly, she turned around to face the shadows.

  Resting in the back of the room, barely lit by her torch, was a wall of glistening skin and crooked branches, softly breathing. It was a behemoth of an Unbound: a sinewy, horned corpse of an animal coated in husks of bark, with a snarl of roots dripping down its flesh, burrowed into the floor. Slowly the beast began to stir, awaking from what must have been a months-long slumber.

  Sheah stood paralyzed. The sphere gently slipped from her hands. By the time she had realized it, the object had already rolled off her fingers. It landed on the ground with a single, plosive ting.

  The beast lifted its head, alerted by the sound. Fully roused, it lumbered upright, its bones creaking, its roots snapping, its jaws trembling out a deep groan. Sheah grimaced. With the utmost caution she backed up towards Kaelis, moving as slowly and soundlessly as she was able. The two women stifled their breath as the creature heaved itself to its feet.

  The Unbound was a towering beast several meters in height, its bony, lopsided frame supported by a single meaty arm laced with bark and tendons. Swinging around its neck, it scoured the room, searching for the intruder in its midst. Then, with a sudden jerk, it locked its bulbous, misshapen eyes straight on the two women.

  Kaelis grabbed her rifle.

  “Run!”

  She and Sheah took off. The creature instantly lunged after them, bellowing a ghastly, ravenous shriek.

  Bolting through the door, the two women raced back down the lane, full-tilt towards the entrance stairway. With a thunderous crack, the Unbound erupted through the facade behind them, sending chunks of wood and plaster sailing into the blackness.

  Kaelis whipped around and planted her feet, leveling her rifle at the beast. She fired off a shot—Thwack! A small spray of blood burst from the monster’s chest. The Unbound snarled impassively, barely affected. Kaelis cursed under her breath and resumed her flight.

  Sheah bound up the stairs two at a time, desperately clutching her loaded satchel of loot. Ripping the radio from her pocket, she brought it up to her mouth as the explosive, crashing gallop of the Unbound echoed out behind her.

  Jira leaned against the wall of the bridge as her radio trembled to life.

  “Captain! Must leave! Ahhh!!” Sheah screamed through the other end, her voice followed by the sound of a gunshot and a deep, unsettling roar.

  Jira pulled out her radio and focused her attention on the static that followed. Her brow furrowed.

  “Roger that,” she confirmed. Springing into action, she marched over to the intercom with military conduct. “Dez. Fire it up,” she called into the receiver.

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  Down in the engine room, Dez dashed over to the intercom. “On it!” he answered, wiping a layer of grease from his hands. Grabbing the rod-shaped ignition key off the wall, he jogged over to the far side of the room, coming to a cylindrical port sticking out of the main engine block. Inserting the key into the cylinder, he forcefully twisted its half-moon handle. The engines of the Redland Runner roared to life.

  Back on the bridge, Jira felt the ship pulsate beneath her feet. She dashed over to the crane mounted to the rear deck and hovered her hand over the machine’s largest lever, ready to extract her teammates.

  Sheah and Kaelis sprinted down the tunnel and burst back into the domed room, bearing full speed towards the hook dangling above the pile of debris. The thrumming sounds of the Unbound’s labored footsteps reverberated against the walls around them, growing louder.

  Jira’s voice rang through Sheah’s radio. “I’m at the winch. Waiting on your signal.”

  Sheah clambered up the mound of rubble and onto the hook, firmly planting herself atop its circular base. Clutching the cable, she waited tensely on her teammate.

  A great howl blasted into the atrium. Seconds later, a rumble of reciprocating shrieks echoed out of the many surrounding corridors. Sheah chewed her lip—the horde was on its way.

  “Kaelis, please hurry!”

  “I’m doing that!”

  Kaelis hurtled into the room. She whipped around to fire another shot at the Unbound, pulling the trigger. Her bullet sailed blindly into the dark. She squeezed the trigger again. Click—out of ammo. Cursing, she slung her rifle over her back and scampered up the mound of stone, jumping onto the hook beside Sheah.

  The atrium rumbled. The shape of the beast appeared through the darkness, scraping its way down the hall, moving in for the kill.

  Sheah shouted into her radio. “Now, Captain!”

  An instant later, the hook lurched, zipping up towards the hole in the ceiling. Gripping the cable tightly, Sheah and Kaelis stared up at their swiftly-approaching exit. In just a few short seconds, they would be safe.

  Suddenly, the line shivered, grinding to a violent stop. Squealing with surprise, the two women braced themselves as the cable jerked and swung and finally settled. They shot fearful looks up towards the hole, and then at each other.

  That wasn’t supposed to happen.

  At once, a rancorous roar flooded through the room. Kaelis whirled around to face it. The Unbound’s meaty fingers burst out of the narrow tunnel and anchored into the wall. With a final pull, it heaved itself from the shadows. Staggering into the sun-lit chamber, it let out a hiss, its lidless eyes stabbed by the sudden glare. Half-blinded, the creature pushed past its pain, lurching towards the pair of women that dangled in front of it at head-level.

  Kaelis shrank into herself, staring at the beast in horror.

  “Oh, ass…”

  Jira’s satisfaction crumbled as the mechanics of the winch died with a sad whir. Her concern curdled to full-blown worry. She kicked the machine in frustration and marched over to the dashboard.

  “What’s going on?” she buzzed into the intercom. “Did we lose power?”

  Hearing Jira’s voice through the radio, Dez lifted his head from his work.

  “Power?” he squeaked, looking over towards the fuse box on the engine room wall. Thin wisps of light smoke were filtering through the cracks in the panel, wafting up towards the ceiling. “Angels above!” Dez shouted. He rushed over to the fuse box and threw open its door.

  “Dez. Status.”

  Dez fanned away the cloud of fumes and examined the damage. “Uhhh… Got a dud fuse!” he coughed towards the wall intercom, dodging a burst of sparks. “I’ll need to replace it!”

  Sheah’s incomprehensible screams crackled through Jira’s pocket radio.

  “Make it quick,” Jira replied.

  “Roger that!” Dez raced over to a steel cabinet in the corner. He scanned the various labels taped to the drawers until his finger landed on one that read ‘electrics’. He yanked it open, only to be greeted by an empty bin.

  Dez anxiously ran his hand over his bald head.

  “Well that’s a sour note…”

  The Unbound reared back and lunged its jaws at the two women’s legs. Its needled, gnashing teeth clamped down, barely missing them, catching instead on the satchel dangling in Sheah’s hand. With a flick of its body, the beast tore the bag from her arms and tossed it across the room, its relics spilling out as it sailed through the air.

  “No, the big loot!” Sheah shouted, watching in horror as her spoils tumbled out and smashed onto the floor.

  The creature pounced at the pair once more. Kaelis and Sheah swiftly lifted their legs, dodging the beast as it wrapped its mangled jaw around the hook’s edge. With a powerful heave, the Unbound reared back, dragging the hook and the entire line with it. The two women held onto the cable for dear life.

  Sheah shrieked as the beast began to violently jerk the line around, twisting and flexing its veiny neck. Bracing herself against the motion, Kaelis reached into her holster and whipped out her revolver. She began to blindly fire at the beast’s head, unable to connect a shot through its ceaseless thrashing.

  The cable at the stern of the ship snapped taut. The crane’s metal arm began to groan and ache as the front two wheels of the Redland Runner lifted from the ground. Slowly, the entire ship began to tip back towards the well.

  Jira dashed to the helm, tossing away her bulky jacket and jumping into the driver’s chair. She threw the ship into gear and slammed her foot down on the gas pedal. The Redland Runner lurched back onto the ground, its tires shredding up dirt and rock as it struggled against the strength of the Unbound.

  Down in the engine room, Dez continued to frantically hunt through the various drawers while the ship heaved. He threw open bin after bin, only to find nothing but junk. Exhausting the final drawer, he slammed it shut and rubbed his eyes in frustration.

  Suddenly, Dez perked, an idea dawning on him. Rushing back to the fuse box, he tossed open the door and ran his finger down the list of fuses: ‘Crane’, ‘Headlights’, ‘Bridge’, ‘Galley’. He tapped on ‘Galley’ and cocked an eyebrow.

  “Yeah, alright.”

  Dez ripped the ‘Galley’ fuse from the wall and thrust it into the ‘Crane’ position. He hammered back the master switch. The lights flickered with power.

  On the deck, the crane mechanism jolted back to life. Jira glanced over her shoulder, her scowl softening with relief. The high-pitched whine of the machinery grew in volume as the line began to rapidly spool once more.

  Kaelis and Sheah felt the cable shudder with energy. They heard the sound of the winch laboring from above. With a forceful tug, the metal hook loosened from the Unbound’s jaw, scraping horribly against its teeth. The beast fought back. It dug its knobled feet into the ground and tightened its neck, biting down harder, keeping the hook from slipping.

  Kaelis fired off another pair of shots. Each hit nothing but air. One bullet left. She steadied herself, taking in a deep breath, letting the world slow around her. Leveling her pistol, she carefully aimed at the creature’s head.

  Kaelis pulled the trigger. Her last shot rang through the room—Thwack! The bullet punched into one of the Unbound’s bulbous eyeballs. With a great shriek, the beast recoiled, releasing the hook from its jaws. The two women held on tightly as the line swung back and was instantly yanked upward. They watched the creature regain its composure just as they jolted past the bottom edge of the hole.

  The two women flew up and out of the well, narrowly clearing its rim, and zoomed straight through the air towards the Redland Runner’s stern. An instant later, the whirring of the winch ceased. The line finished spooling, the hook lurching to a stop a few feet below the head of the crane arm. Dangling meters off the ground behind the ship’s rear, Kaelis and Sheah held the cable tightly as it rocked and swayed before settling to a gentle rest.

  A muted breath passed. The pair let out a long sigh of relie—

  Wham!—The well abruptly burst open, erupting into a fountain of debris. With a deafening roar, the Unbound exploded out of the ground, sending shards of cobblestone sailing into the air. Latching its numerous limbs onto the earth, it hoisted itself out of the hole and began to clumsily claw after its fleeing prey.

  Sheah let out a shriek.

  Jira set her sights on the monster growing in her rearview mirror. “Eszarr,” she cursed, scowling with agitation, and slammed down on the gas. The Redland Runner took off like a cannon shot, hurtling out of the town and into the open, grassy field.

  Scrambling to its feet, the Unbound galloped after the ship. Sheah continued to scream in terror as the creature gained on them. Splaying wide its jaws, the beast snapped wildly, its teeth scraping at the two women’s feet.

  Jira shifted gears. The engines revved, the tires tore against the dirt. Gradually the ship picked up speed. Inch by inch, the Redland Runner crawled forward, pulling just ahead of the beast.

  The Unbound roared, refusing to let its prey escape it. In one final effort, it reared back and pounced, claws out, teeth bared. It leapt through the air and slammed its jaw shut with a sickening crunch. Sheah clenched her eyes, the beast’s bite missing her head by mere inches.

  The Redland Runner accelerated. Outpaced, the beast began to lag behind. As it shrank into the distance, it unleashed one last furious howl. Its voice was quickly joined by a chorus of nearby screams. From all around the village emerged dozens of twisted creatures of shifting shapes and scales. Spilling onto the field, stampeding after their fleeing meal, the Unbound crushed together into a thronging, murderous horde. They gave chase in vain, flailing their claws and screaming to the sky, until at long last they all faded into the dusty desert haze. Little by little, their harrowing cries were replaced by the rhythmic thrumming of the motor.

  The two women swayed on the hook, gently tousled by the winds as the ship rolled through the empty plains. Sheah stared off into the distance, shaking with adrenaline, dumbstruck.

  Kaelis let out a breathy exhale and casually pulled off her helmet, spilling her tuft of short, messy hair over her eyes. She let the breeze of the day wash over her face and softly smiled. Glancing over, she couldn’t help but notice the look of shock and horror frozen in Sheah’s eyes. She flashed her young teammate a reassuring grin.

  “Don’t worry, Boss,” she said. “You’ll get used to it.”