His grip on her was firm as he thought about the best way to move her off the muddy ground. She was tired of being handled and prodded, but the warmth was welcome against her cold skin.

“Are there still EMTs on site? We really need a stretcher,” he said to Julia before mumbling something to himself about rib fragments puncturing organs.

Image: Phoebe is on her side, with Bluebell kneeling behind her. He is nervously talking to Julia who is standing next to them. The gash in Phoebe’s midsection is partially visible under her clothes. It is pitch black with streaks of blood outlining it. One of Phoebe's hands is also limp and bloody. End description.

“It won’t kill me,” Phoebe mumbled.

Meanwhile, the monster had attempted to run, jolting out towards the marsh. But Yuli blocked every route it took. Every way it tried to turn, Yuli was right there. Its path arced and curved back towards the strip of woods. It jumped and whirled. It struck at Yuli with its tail and attempted to roll them over. Again and again, Yuli was undeterred. Dry grass rustled against fur and paws splashed in shallow water as the two tussled.

Image: Yuli is chasing the monster through the marsh. They are running nearly side-by-side and Yuli is growling. The monster’s paws are landing in a small pool, causing water to splash up. End description.

Not only was Yuli faster, but the monster was weakening. Its limbs weren’t carrying it as far as they had last night. The blows it tried to land weren’t as heavy. After only a few minutes of back-and-forth chase its breathing became harsh, its movements became wobbly, and the relentless Yuli continued to snap their jaws.





-

10.28.20
-

Hello, I have an announcement to make about Kata’s update schedule: There kind of won’t be one for the rest of the chapter.

The long and short of it is that I’m busy with graduate school and research, and working on those things plus Katabasis was beginning to negatively affect my health. I thought skipping an update would be enough of a break, but no. I definitely was not expecting things to get so bad so quickly. Unfortunately right now is just a hectic time. Also, if it wasn’t already obvious, my buffer has definitely been eaten up and my attempts to replenish it haven’t gotten very far.

There are only a few pages left for this chapter, and updates will happen when they happen. Probably still on Wed on Sat but not as often. I don’t plan on updating at all next week, but will try to get things started up again after that. It’s disappointing for this to happen so close to the end, especially since Kata will be taking a longer hiatus after chapter I is completed (there will be more info on that when the time comes). And especially since it was something I tried to avoid. But… it is what it is. I love Katabasis, but my degree and my wellbeing both come first. Thank you for understanding.