Resonance Unbound

Ezra pressed his back against the cold stone pillar, every muscle in his body taut, his heart pounding so loudly he thought the creature could hear it.

Shirley, crouched beside him, whispered, "Stay put. Don't move, don't breathe, don't even think loudly."

Ezra resisted the urge to retort. Think loudly?Really?But now wasn't the time for snark—not when a bird-demon the size of a horse was wailing like it had just failed an audition for a horror movie.

The creature stood a few paces away, its skeletal frame cloaked in patchy black feathers. Its talons scratched at the stone floor with a sound that made Ezra's skin crawl as it prodded a lifeless, skinned chicken with its razor-sharp beak. Its glowing yellow eyes flickered like dying streetlights, filled with something unnervingly human grief.

Ezra squinted. "Wait, is it… mourning the chicken?"

Shirley scratched the back of his head, his expression somewhere between guilty and sheepish. "Uh… so, funny story."

Ezra's eyes widened. "Don't you dare."

"I might've… killed its kid. Thought it was dinner," Shirley admitted, his voice barely a whisper.

Ezra stared at him, mouth agape. "You're telling me that thing is mad because you turned its baby into rotisserie nightmares?"

"How was I supposed to know?" Shirley hissed back. "It's not like it was wearing a name tag that said, 'Hi, I'm Junior.'"

Ezra pinched the bridge of his nose. This was how he was going to die—courtesy of Shirley's culinary incompetence.

The creature let out an ear-piercing screech, its voice a haunting blend of sorrow and rage, like a banshee that had stubbed its toe. The sound rattled Ezra's bones, and an eerie vibration settled into the air, making the stone beneath him feel alive.

Ezra peeked around the pillar and immediately regretted it. The thing moved in a jerky, unnatural way, like a broken marionette controlled by a puppeteer on a caffeine binge. The air around it shimmered faintly, distorting the space with a dark, oppressive energy that pressed down on Ezra's chest like a weight.

"I hate this," Ezra muttered, more to himself than anyone else.

"Could be worse," Shirley offered.

"How?"

"You could be the chicken."

Before Ezra could respond, Shirley slipped out from behind the pillar, his movements unnervingly smooth, like he'd done this a thousand times. Ezra's jaw dropped. One second Shirley was crouching; the next, he was dodging talons the size of scythes, his body twisting and spinning with impossible precision.

Ezra blinked. "What the hell?"

Shirley ducked a swipe from the creature's beak and rolled to the side, pulling a dagger from his belt. He moved like someone had turned off the laws of physics just for him.

"How are you doing that?!" Ezra whisper-shouted, his voice high-pitched with panic.

"Doing what?" Shirley called back, throwing the dagger mid-spin.

Ezra gestured wildly. "Those moves!"

"No idea what you're talking about!" Shirley dodged another attack, his voice casual, like he wasn't fighting a nightmare come to life.

Ezra groaned, sinking back behind the pillar. "Of course you don't."

The dagger hit its mark, sinking into the creature's wing with a sickening crunch. Ezra felt a flicker of hope—until the monster barely flinched. Instead, it screeched louder, its mournful wail now fully upgraded to audio torture mode.

Ezra's hands flew to his ears. "What is it doing? Summoning more nightmare chickens?"

Shirley ducked under another swipe, his tone somehow still calm. "Pretty sure that's just bird for, 'I'm gonna murder you.'"

"Great. Fantastic. Love that for us."

Ezra peered around the pillar again, watching as Shirley danced around the creature, his movements impossibly quick, almost otherworldly. For a second, Ezra forgot about the whole about-to-die thing. Shirley wasn't just moving—he was predicting, reacting before the creature even struck.

The air grew heavier, thicker with a menacing pressure that seemed to pulse in time with the creature's erratic movements. Ezra's skin prickled as a wave of icy dread swept over him. The oppressive aura emanating from the beast seeped into his very bones, making it hard to breathe.

"Stay put," Shirley growled, his voice cutting through the suffocating tension.

Shirley dodged another swipe, his feet gliding across the stone as if the very vibrations guided him. Ezra's breath hitched as he noticed tiny particles of dust dancing around Shirley's boots, rippling in time with each step. The air itself seemed to bend to his movements, as though he was attuned to something Ezra couldn't comprehend.

"What are you doing?" Ezra whispered, more to himself than to Shirley.

The creature screeched again, its glowing yellow eyes locking onto Shirley with a mix of fury and grief. Its skeletal frame jerked unnaturally, the distorted energy around it growing thicker, almost suffocating.

Then it charged.

The monster's talons slashed through the air, aiming for Shirley's chest. Shirley sidestepped at the last possible second, his dagger flashing upward in a clean arc that tore through the creature's wing joint. Black ichor sprayed onto the floor, sizzling as it hit the stone.

The monster reeled back, letting out a deafening wail that made Ezra's head pound.

"Nice," Ezra muttered, his voice shaky. "Maybe we've got a chance."

But his hope was short-lived.

The creature crouched low, its skeletal frame convulsing as its patchy feathers began to rise. The oppressive energy in the room intensified, the temperature dropping sharply. Frost began to creep across the stone floor, spidering out from the monster's claws.

Shirley glanced at the ground, his jaw tightening. "It's adapting."

"Adapting?!" Ezra's voice cracked. "What does that mean?!"

"It means," Shirley said, dodging another swipe, "this thing's getting smarter. Or angrier. Either way, it's bad news."

The creature lunged again, this time faster than before. Shirley barely managed to dodge, his movements no longer as fluid as they had been moments ago. The vibrations beneath his feet grew sharper, more frantic, as if even the resonance was struggling to keep up.