CHAPTER 69: CHAPTER 69; UNDER ATTACK 1

"Run down the stairs and evacuate this entire floor! Everyone should get off this floor." Shuyin commanded, positioning herself between the door and Lu Yuze. She grabbed a heavy IV stand, ripping it from its base and wielding it like a staff. "Don’t stop, don’t look back, just GO!"

Lu Yuze hesitated for only a heartbeat, his instinct to protect warring with his instinct to stay and fight. But Yuyan was stirring in his arms, frightened and disoriented, and that made the decision for him. He ran.

Shuyin slammed the ward door shut behind him, buying precious seconds. The falcons were already converging on her, their shrieks piercing and otherworldly, a sound that seemed to bypass her ears and stab directly into her brain.

The first one dove at her face.

She swung the IV stand in a brutal arc, connecting with the falcon’s body and sending it careening into the wall with a sickening crunch. But three more immediately took their place, attacking from different angles with coordinated precision that spoke of supernatural control.

Talons raked across her left arm, tearing through her sleeve and opening three parallel gashes that immediately began bleeding. Another falcon went for her eyes, and she barely managed to turn her head, feeling the rush of air and the scrape of its beak against her temple.

The water was rising faster now, already at her thighs and climbing. And it wasn’t just water anymore.

Dark shapes moved beneath the surface, sinuous and wrong. Something brushed against her leg, scales, she realized with horror. Actual scales. A serpentine form broke the surface briefly, revealing a creature that looked like a hybrid between an eel and something prehistoric, its mouth ringed with needle-like teeth.

"What the hell is this?" Shuyin hissed, backing toward the window even as more falcons poured through it.

She needed to close that opening, cut off the source. But the birds were relentless, attacking in waves that forced her to keep moving and keep defending. One latched onto her shoulder, its talons digging deep, and she felt the warm gush of blood soaking into her clothes.

With a snarl of pain and rage, Shuyin grabbed the falcon with her bare hand and crushed it, feeling bones snap beneath her enhanced grip. She hurled the broken body at two others, knocking them off course.

The machine wire. She’d seen it earlier, coiled near the monitoring equipment, thick industrial cable meant for securing medical devices. Shuyin lunged for it, her hand closing around the coil even as a falcon struck her back, talons scoring down her spine.

She screamed, the sound raw and primal, but didn’t stop moving. Yanking the wire free, she channeled her energy into it, condensing and hardening it until it became a weapon, a makeshift whip that sang through the air with lethal intent.

The first crack caught three falcons mid-flight, their bodies exploding in bursts of dark feathers and something that looked disturbingly like ash rather than blood. These weren’t normal creatures. They couldn’t be.

Shuyin fought her way toward the windows, the wire dancing in her hands like a living thing. Each strike was precise, born from years of training she’d tried desperately to leave behind. But muscle memory never truly forgets.

The water was at her waist now, icy cold and carrying an unnatural current that tried to knock her off balance. More creatures emerged from its depths, things with too many legs, with eyes that glowed phosphorescent green, with mouths that opened impossibly wide.

One latched onto her calf, its bite sending a shock of agony up her leg. Shuyin kicked viciously, feeling its grip break, but another immediately took its place. The falcons were using the distraction, diving in coordinated attacks that left her bleeding from a dozen wounds.

A talon caught her cheek, opening a gash from her eye to her jaw. Blood ran hot down her face, mixing with the cold water now reaching her chest. Her vision blurred red on one side.

"Not today," she growled through gritted teeth. "Not. Today."

With a surge of desperate strength, Shuyin pushed forward through the maelstrom of wings and water and nightmare creatures. The window was closed now, just a few more steps. Falcons dove at her in a final, frenzied assault, and she swung the wire in a wide defensive arc, creating a momentary opening.

She reached the window frame, her hands slick with blood, it was a combination of hers and theirs. More falcons were trying to enter, a black cloud of them hovering just outside like they were waiting for orders.

Behind her, something large moved through the water, creating a wake that sent smaller creatures scattering. She didn’t have time to look.

Shuyin grabbed the window frame and pulled, her muscles screaming in protest. The mechanism was broken from the initial explosion, but there were emergency shutters, she just needed to trigger them. Her fingers found the manual override, a small lever concealed in the frame.

A falcon struck her hand, its beak driving through skin and muscle, trying to prevent her from reaching the lever. Shuyin screamed but didn’t let go. With her other hand, she drove the wire like a spear straight through the bird’s body, pinning it to the wall.

She grabbed the lever and yanked.

Metal shutters began descending from hidden compartments above the windows, their descent agonizingly slow. The falcons outside shrieked in what sounded like fury, diving faster, trying to force their way through the narrowing gap.

Dozens made it through. But dozens more were cut off as the shutters sealed with a heavy, definitive clang.

The immediate influx stopped, but Shuyin’s relief lasted only seconds. She spun to face the room, and her heart sank.

The ward was nearly flooded now, the water at shoulder height and still rising. At least twenty falcons still circled inside, their patterns tighter now, more vicious in their confined space. And the water creatures, she could see at least five distinct forms, each more alien and disturbing than the last.