Three hours.

  It had been three hours since Roman and Eve left to explore the corridor. Everyone had been silent since they departed, and Alex was in the throes of boredom.

  ‘Ah, what would I give to play some poker right now,’ Alex thought to himself, trying to pass the boredom, making scenarios in his head. Leo had settled by a tree, resting on a root, carving something from the sticks in the area. It looked like a crude figure of someone.

  Alex approached Leo and asked, “Who are you carving?”

  “Somebody dear to me,” Leo responded.

  “A lover?” With a broad grin, Alex said, “I wouldn’t have pegged you the sort to have one being a workaholic.”

  Leo shook his head and smiled back at Alex, “Like you're one to talk with your long list of ‘romantic’ pursuits.”

  The two started bickering. The bagboys continued their small talk for a time. Alex was mid-sentence when he felt a slight tremor. The ground kept shaking, getting stronger with each second. Alex turned to the Hunters, and they had all drawn their weapons.

  “What’s happening?” Alex asked, panic creeping into his voice.

  “A monster’s coming,” Bill responded curtly.

  Wordlessly, the group formed into a circle with one of the Hunters beckoning Alex and Leo into the center. Alex pulled out a knife, gripping it so hard his knuckles turned white. He knew he was a Soul Walker, but death still scared him.

  Alex thought, ‘At least it can’t be a Soul Eater, right?”

  In that moment, a monstrous being tore through the trees, barreling right towards the group. It had two sets of teeth and bloodshot eyes that darted back and forth. It resembled a spider if you enlarged it, gave it fur, and put it through a blender. Right before crashing into their circle, Bill swung his hammer in a wide arc, slamming the creature's head into the ground.

  With practiced movements, the other Hunters surrounded the creature and began carving it up. They severed its limbs while Bill held his hammer firmly, crushing its head into the dirt.

  “Bastards resilient, I’ll give it that,” Bill shouted.

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  “Stop playing around and finish it off already.” One of the Hunters scolded. She was as tall as Bill but had a build similar to a professional boxer. She had brown hair and golden bronze skin. Her entire body oozed strength as she held a bow in her left hand and a knife in her right. The light surrounding her seemed muted for some reason, Alex wasn’t sure of.

  “It’d be my pleasure, Crimson Hunter,” Bill responded as he hoisted his hammer above his head and then slammed down with thunderous might. The creature's head exploded, covering Bill in chunks of meat. “Well shit there goes my clothes.”

  The others chuckled as they regrouped.

  “Hey, bag boys, collect the core.” One of the Hunters shouted.

  Alex and Leo hesitantly walked towards the creature. Approaching its belly, Leo pointed and said, “Most creatures have a soft belly. Be careful cutting through, cause you could cut some of the organs, which could hold nasty surprises.”

  Leo patted Alex on the back and pointed for him to get to work. Alex grumbled and began cutting away. Alex had to put all his effort into cutting the monster's belly.

  ‘This is the soft part?’ Alex thought in shock.

  As Alex delivered another slice, the stomach split open, spilling guts onto the ground, splattering on Alex’s boots. A foul odor wafted out from its stomach, making Alex gag. Gritting his teeth he sucked in a deep breath and dove in trying to reach the core.

  …

  Leo chuckled as he watched Alex nearly barf once the creature was open. He walked towards the hole in the Castle wall and sat down. Looking at the wood carving in his hand, Leo smiled as he looked at a sculpture of his wife. It had been five years since he had seen her.

  ‘I wonder if she moved on. I couldn’t blame her if she did.’ Leo thought to himself.

  Pulling a simple knife from his bag, he continued whittling down the wood to capture the details of his partner. As he worked, his hand nearly slipped when another tremor shook the ground.

  Leo looked towards the treeline and saw them swaying as if something was moving in them. The thumping continued rhythmically, making the hair on his arm stand on end. Putting the sculpture away, he looked at the Hunters and saw they were already in fighting positions. However, looking back at the corpse of the spider monster, he saw that Alex was still inside.

  …

  ‘I’ll be damned if I let Leo rope me into this again.’ Alex grumbled.

  His senses were shot, but he could finally see it. The monster's core was a small, bluish crystal with streaks of orange, situated where its heart should have been. It was the size of Alex’s palm and pulsed with cool light, surrounded by rigid muscles that connected it to the body.

  Reaching out, Alex cut the muscle from around the crystal and grasped it in his hand. With a sharp tug, he pulled the crystal, and it came loose with a pop. Alex admired the gem in his hand, studying its intricacies, when he heard yelling. Worried, Alex tried backing out of the creature, but it was slow. The flesh of the monster sagged, making it hard to climb out with the weight pressing on his back.

  Suddenly, Alex felt air rushing at his face and could see light pouring in. In front of him was another spider abomination eating half of the corpse he had just been in. Eyes bulging, he hurriedly tried to move further back, but he was still slowed. The monster's eyes all swiveled towards him, looking with a hungry fervor.

  Swallowing the meal it had been eating, the spider lunged forward to consume the rest of the corpse Alex included. Screaming, Alex pushed himself out of the corpse and stumbled onto the dirt. Blood splattered around him, dripping off his clothes. The monster snapped its mouth closed with a harrowing crunch, consuming the rest of the corpse.

  Alex could feel his body starting to freeze up. His breathing became ragged, and his heart was pounding. Through pure will, he forced himself to stand, and he ran towards the Castle wall. Alex felt the ground begin to rumble as what he assumed was the creature barreled towards him. Looking back, Alex nearly fainted as he saw the beast scuttling towards him at immense speed.

  Feeling adrenaline coursing into his veins, everything slowed down. Alex could tell nothing had changed, but he could perceive everything as if it were in slow motion. Looking around, he saw the others were fighting several of the abominations. One Hunter was lying on the ground, severed in two. Another was severely injured but fought anyway. Alex couldn’t tell where Leo was in the commotion and didn’t have time to find out. Looking ahead, he saw the corridor leading into the Castle of Hell. Running faster than he ever had before, Alex dove into the hole and ran into the corridor.