Cel's hand froze mid-thrust, blade still buried in the tooth's socket.125Please respect copyright.PENANAfcxHocLDYx
125Please respect copyright.PENANA0kci8kzLdu
Another tremor. The walls around him contracted slightly, muscle tensing beneath slick tissue.125Please respect copyright.PENANAeJ0yMC8S95
125Please respect copyright.PENANAklbfBJqAFW
'Shit.'125Please respect copyright.PENANAmTGA0YeCAG
125Please respect copyright.PENANAwxRPIKITWB
It was waking up.125Please respect copyright.PENANA15XyfOsGsc
125Please respect copyright.PENANAl6E0BI2bVh
He wrenched Silent Moon free and scanned the darkness, mind racing. The plan he'd formulated while carving teeth - what to do if the creature woke - crystallized with sudden urgency. 125Please respect copyright.PENANAjFCRQx0o3h
125Please respect copyright.PENANANrE53UMdAR
The nearest empty socket gaped perhaps three steps away, a hollow wound in the creature's flesh where he'd torn free a tooth. Dark. Deep enough to wedge himself in.125Please respect copyright.PENANAMOdZxLFx0s
125Please respect copyright.PENANAcklrGeWPNg
Cel dismissed Silent Moon with a thought. The blade dissolved into moonlight threads that unraveled and vanished, plunging him into absolute darkness. His left hand shot out, fingers finding the slick floor, using touch alone to orient himself.125Please respect copyright.PENANAjj5RfvcOt0
125Please respect copyright.PENANAJ0si5o7SqS
Three steps. He counted them in his mind as he scrambled forward on hands and knees.125Please respect copyright.PENANAt6Un74H2MR
125Please respect copyright.PENANAMpEkIuVGtJ
The floor bucked beneath him.125Please respect copyright.PENANAVdc0nZx3Uq
125Please respect copyright.PENANA5U75G2ETt1
With purposeful motion, the creature surged forward. Cel's body pitched sideways as the throat tilted at a steep angle.125Please respect copyright.PENANA6PqXJeFUHV
125Please respect copyright.PENANA4eAwFs5uCY
His fingers found the socket's edge.125Please respect copyright.PENANAkyN7s7mbYr
125Please respect copyright.PENANAjH9e4ao5qT
Without hesitation, he pulled himself up and into the hollow wound. Wet flesh yielded around him as he squeezed into the space where bone had once anchored. The socket was deeper than expected - he had to wedge himself in completely, pressing his back against one side while his knees dug into the other.125Please respect copyright.PENANA4vGPFkNl69
125Please respect copyright.PENANAradjX0fu8g
Barely enough room. But enough.125Please respect copyright.PENANAQzxkW1CSz7
125Please respect copyright.PENANAbj5R2N4LMu
The walls contracted around him.125Please respect copyright.PENANAu8YoobFLfz
125Please respect copyright.PENANAI58n1unVz8
Pressure built from all sides as the creature's muscles tensed, squeezing the socket closed like a fist. The meat pressed against his chest, his shoulders, his skull - not crushing, but confining. Holding him in place with suffocating firmness.125Please respect copyright.PENANA3aVi7pWLEi
125Please respect copyright.PENANAt4C5TnsT70
Cel forced himself to breathe slowly through his nose. Unease clawed at the edges of his thoughts, but he shoved it down.125Please respect copyright.PENANAtMWtxV88KE
125Please respect copyright.PENANAyMLgAn8ezg
'Why did it wake?'125Please respect copyright.PENANA3MnzrZinpM
125Please respect copyright.PENANAwYgHMyV0aw
Had it finally noticed the missing teeth? Felt the wounds in its jaw and realized something was wrong?125Please respect copyright.PENANAl0Of2MAfCv
125Please respect copyright.PENANAf15tH5wraC
Or was this unrelated? Had it simply finished digesting its previous meal and decided to hunt again?125Please respect copyright.PENANAuSslEGTwX3
125Please respect copyright.PENANA5L5qlh3siV
The creature dove.125Please respect copyright.PENANAHL0C7NGFrz
125Please respect copyright.PENANAi1h8XBPJ8P
The motion was immediate and violent - a massive lunge that sent Cel's stomach lurching. His body compressed further into the socket as momentum pressed him backward, the flesh around him flexing and shifting with each powerful movement.125Please respect copyright.PENANAxLVlvgMCXr
125Please respect copyright.PENANAi7GfkQxWu0
Through stone. Through earth. The same terrifying descent he'd experienced before, except now he wasn't dangling by a frozen hand.125Please respect copyright.PENANAtph0FSgBM3
125Please respect copyright.PENANAFJn1kDqyQL
The teeth he'd carved free tumbled past his hiding spot. Their weight was insignificant to the creature, but Cel heard them clattering down the throat like massive dice thrown by something vast and indifferent.125Please respect copyright.PENANACnHMQQzZNh
125Please respect copyright.PENANAhgLyzigAOE
Debris began to flow - stone fragments, packed earth , ash torn loose by the creature's passage through the Ashlands. All of it funneled through the open maw in a deadly stream, whistling past the socket where Cel pressed himself as flat as possible.125Please respect copyright.PENANAVfatru0LH9
125Please respect copyright.PENANAkfqms2qxCf
A chunk of stone struck the tooth next to his hiding spot with a crack that made his ears ring. Another grazed the socket's edge, so close he felt the displaced air against his face.125Please respect copyright.PENANACgxkebJ15E
125Please respect copyright.PENANASCvvep6Tbo
But he was safe.125Please respect copyright.PENANAV0j69tyaDd
125Please respect copyright.PENANAQ4bJ5ZMs0e
Hidden in this hollow he'd created, protected by the very flesh he'd wounded.125Please respect copyright.PENANA7p6IQCvGEU
125Please respect copyright.PENANAq8odHR5alx
The creature twisted violently, spiraling through some obstacle. Cel's world became pure sensation - pressure from all sides, the sickening lurch of his stomach as gravity lost meaning, the thunder of debris cascading through the throat around him.125Please respect copyright.PENANA72UYf2H1OU
125Please respect copyright.PENANA5JVuQW3hMp
His ribs ached where the socket walls compressed them. His left hand throbbed where the hilt's friction had worn through skin. Even breathing required conscious effort as the confining space limited how deeply his lungs could expand.125Please respect copyright.PENANA3Im16siw9C
125Please respect copyright.PENANAvZfRbNqzuU
But compared to hanging by a frozen hand while debris battered his skull?125Please respect copyright.PENANAb7KRv1LcQX
125Please respect copyright.PENANAXwZhidFA6u
This was luxury.125Please respect copyright.PENANAKnNGoS8mqh
125Please respect copyright.PENANACVrz09kay6
Time stretched. The journey felt endless - the creature diving deeper, then leveling out, then diving again in patterns Cel couldn't predict or understand.125Please respect copyright.PENANAXAfHfKc9lv
125Please respect copyright.PENANAHqooQbelys
His mind drifted to the question he'd been avoiding. 125Please respect copyright.PENANAltNoUVSjOr
125Please respect copyright.PENANABE4BSMEjaH
'What happens when it surfaces?'125Please respect copyright.PENANAtmTsKeQ8QX
125Please respect copyright.PENANA67QSBtQpcM
The creature would open its mouth eventually. To breathe. To hunt. To do whatever massive predators did when they emerged from their lairs.125Please respect copyright.PENANAqgD7CyRarl
125Please respect copyright.PENANAo5nMYfFsdU
And when that happened, he'd have his chance.125Please respect copyright.PENANAuEEHh1fOFa
125Please respect copyright.PENANAoiJfHi2ZcU
The gap he'd carved was wide enough now. Not comfortable, not safe - but passable. He could squeeze through those remaining teeth if he was careful. If he was fast.125Please respect copyright.PENANA0fc4K4xcgf
125Please respect copyright.PENANAo4RJ55LHvz
If luck favored him for once in this cursed realm.125Please respect copyright.PENANA7vDLRBRccJ
125Please respect copyright.PENANAKOVEeRUMai
But should he try?125Please respect copyright.PENANAaX9lqnjKX4
125Please respect copyright.PENANAgoohtPTyCi
He could stay. Carve out more teeth - another ten, maybe twenty. Make the gap wider, safer. Or use the time differently. Master the strength he couldn't yet control. Learn to wield Silent Moon properly.125Please respect copyright.PENANAxAFEc0Ba7o
125Please respect copyright.PENANAGzw1hjWyRl
The thought had its appeal.125Please respect copyright.PENANA9Vhk6l82mO
125Please respect copyright.PENANAjNi6GmtnJy
As crazy as it sounded, he had everything here. Meat from the walls whenever hunger struck. Ice from Frostmark whenever thirst clawed at him. Safety from every possible threat that prowled the Ashlands above.125Please respect copyright.PENANAjZwM9845wK
125Please respect copyright.PENANAStpAAr9bNM
He could wait. Survive. Endure until... what?125Please respect copyright.PENANA6N6wIN78KS
125Please respect copyright.PENANAXoONmR2zur
'Until I perfect my technique? Until the worm dies of old age? Until I go mad from living in darkness?'125Please respect copyright.PENANAhVx6onBQEg
125Please respect copyright.PENANA4AuCq06luW
No.125Please respect copyright.PENANAnWeR6rOSzg
125Please respect copyright.PENANACXRElkClqX
His jaw clenched.125Please respect copyright.PENANAzkt29XJiPh
125Please respect copyright.PENANA5nUiXcZid3
He hadn't survived a year of torture, hadn't endured the crystal maze's horrors, hadn't destroyed his own reflection and died beneath the moon - all just to rot away hiding in a worm's mouth.125Please respect copyright.PENANAqZ6M3oAbFm
125Please respect copyright.PENANAjAY9KAsVJd
The creature had given him shelter, yes. 125Please respect copyright.PENANAHnqIxuBaV4
125Please respect copyright.PENANALqi7gnbZZS
But this wasn't living.125Please respect copyright.PENANAYvGH46F7gI
125Please respect copyright.PENANAyxE4GLZZtb
This was another kind of prison. Darker than the cell. Wetter than the cultists' stone floors. But a prison nonetheless.125Please respect copyright.PENANASmE4KisCWk
125Please respect copyright.PENANAUuSA3wskTb
And he was done with prisons.125Please respect copyright.PENANAuFV4Ter2Uk
125Please respect copyright.PENANAIeIWn0LBiv
When the creature surfaced, he would run. Escape through the gap he'd carved with his own blood and blade. Take his chances with whatever waited in the Ashlands rather than rot in this living tomb.125Please respect copyright.PENANAtHpiWQELvk
125Please respect copyright.PENANAfkPcUDj0cu
The decision settled over him like armor.125Please respect copyright.PENANAGS7hTTuiah
125Please respect copyright.PENANASrYDTGWLRg
Not because escape was safe. Not because his odds were good.125Please respect copyright.PENANAvFGdBImT13
125Please respect copyright.PENANA9g2SMKVN9R
But because his father still drew breath. Because Darian still wore the family crest. Because his mother still pretended she'd been helpless. Because the cultists still walked free. Every moment spent cowering in this living tomb was another moment they lived unpunished for what they did.125Please respect copyright.PENANAeT3WZKK7DG
125Please respect copyright.PENANAme338QdZuJ
The thought was unbearable.125Please respect copyright.PENANAOU1DbLuPIE
125Please respect copyright.PENANA6It7hAwN4J
His fingers curled against the socket's flesh, nails digging in slightly.125Please respect copyright.PENANAJNvG5xbgPM
125Please respect copyright.PENANA8uXCF2lsb6
'I'm coming for you. All of you.'125Please respect copyright.PENANAQzBur1XmD1
125Please respect copyright.PENANAy7wGi0sz7R
The creature's movement began to change. The diving motion shifted to something more horizontal. Leveling out.125Please respect copyright.PENANAkUdyjgilEM
125Please respect copyright.PENANAzqkDmmJLTZ
Rising.125Please respect copyright.PENANAPZkHyfGaWh
125Please respect copyright.PENANAs7cIljdVOh
Cel's heart hammered against his ribs. His entire body tensed despite the confining space.125Please respect copyright.PENANAnlRAwuoHE9
125Please respect copyright.PENANAcNORxk6Uq2
The ascent felt different - smoother, more controlled. Not the violent plunge he'd experienced before. Just the steady rise of something ancient and assured.125Please respect copyright.PENANAvf9hkVA6Oj
125Please respect copyright.PENANAbFdL6oY1dS
Muscles coiled tighter with each passing moment. His left hand flexed, testing his grip despite having nothing to hold. His legs pressed harder against the socket walls, ready to push off the instant freedom appeared.125Please respect copyright.PENANAXGickpuPm7
125Please respect copyright.PENANA86xFUJPuXN
The pressure around him shifted as the throat angled upward more steeply.125Please respect copyright.PENANABx8tiTLZmT
125Please respect copyright.PENANA9nttoq2rFt
Then they broke through.125Please respect copyright.PENANAffjdWvB1GM
125Please respect copyright.PENANAbKVIKHcveg
Cel felt it through the flesh surrounding him - the massive jaw unhinging, circular muscles relaxing their death grip. Faint light filtered through the gaps between teeth, growing brighter as the opening widened.125Please respect copyright.PENANAMPQlt7ebbz
125Please respect copyright.PENANAr5sAyeg8t4
Silver light.125Please respect copyright.PENANA9IQ8Cr7MN5
125Please respect copyright.PENANAsJT3ROF910
Moonlight.125Please respect copyright.PENANA5NktqPUm7K
125Please respect copyright.PENANAZ2uDaHLVoM
The realization struck him a heartbeat before the sensation did.125Please respect copyright.PENANAZKRpeBTRPb
125Please respect copyright.PENANAMp1gwazzDh
Something ignited in his chest - not burning, not painful, but spreading. Like liquid lightning replacing blood in his veins. The exhaustion that had been pressing down on him lifted, simply gone, as if someone had cut the strings of a puppet and replaced them with something that didn't break.125Please respect copyright.PENANARjN3vNUtX9
125Please respect copyright.PENANA87HhClp39G
His muscles didn't feel stronger. They felt eager. Ready. Like they'd been sleeping and had just woken hungry.125Please respect copyright.PENANA4yUCDORZIL
125Please respect copyright.PENANA7PzdYjpfBe
Lunar Vigor.125Please respect copyright.PENANAtj06Tc8egr
125Please respect copyright.PENANAOkqAI1kWtE
The moon was nearly full.125Please respect copyright.PENANAOJFAHDKE7H
125Please respect copyright.PENANAB0QV1lx89i
Cel's lips pulled back from his teeth in a feral grin.125Please respect copyright.PENANA40LMseuRut
125Please respect copyright.PENANAiFTZPoE6BW
The maw yawned wider - light flooding in, bright enough now that he could see the throat's ribbed walls, the remaining teeth like pillars framing the exit to freedom.125Please respect copyright.PENANAeMx3TMqHWc
125Please respect copyright.PENANAJE3Hf5buY3
And in the center of it all, something fell through the opening.125Please respect copyright.PENANAMC5sJu1s1x
125Please respect copyright.PENANAcQool3YTD0
Fast. Thrashing. Screaming.125Please respect copyright.PENANAlhhyqx3s0J
125Please respect copyright.PENANAcqmfzMZjKF
A smaller creature - stone-like skin and too-long arms - tumbled into the maw in a tangle of limbs. Its eyeless head whipped side to side, needle teeth flexing in panic as it realized where it had landed.125Please respect copyright.PENANAyZFQNZ3MY9
125Please respect copyright.PENANAmijtl076Jn
The maw snapped shut.125Please respect copyright.PENANA5GiacPZ8kM
125Please respect copyright.PENANA1zA2nz4AHc
Darkness slammed back down like a fist. The silver moonlight vanished behind rows of teeth, leaving only the faintest ghostly glow filtering through the gaps.125Please respect copyright.PENANACNaKGLQmib
125Please respect copyright.PENANAg2Xk9gWUaH
Cel froze in his socket, heart hammering, every muscle still coiled to spring—125Please respect copyright.PENANAA1QVowS3Ox
125Please respect copyright.PENANAgG2bsp9CTN
A wet tearing sound, the scrape of claws on flesh, then a shriek - high and piercing, metal dragged across bone.125Please respect copyright.PENANAe49cQR5T9G
125Please respect copyright.PENANA8UhYQrYkOk
Through the dying light, Cel glimpsed movement - a silhouette thrashing wildly. One of its grotesquely long arms was torn away, spinning through the air before disappearing into the stomach below.125Please respect copyright.PENANA7xBSAioGFb
125Please respect copyright.PENANA3yBi5WZXCu
But instead of sliding down with it, the creature caught itself. 125Please respect copyright.PENANANC36yfynoH
125Please respect copyright.PENANATbHm6hdoiP
Its remaining claws sank deep into the throat's walls - into the gap where Cel had carved away the teeth.125Please respect copyright.PENANAAW7EvuyNYG
125Please respect copyright.PENANA1cuQQ8wahB
If those teeth had still been there, the creature would have been shredded. Ground between hundreds of interlocking bone pillars as it tumbled toward the stomach - just like the other creature before. 125Please respect copyright.PENANAykvVmGBjHa
125Please respect copyright.PENANAPLDQapGnNx
But Cel had removed the grinder.125Please respect copyright.PENANAePhKwS6wcd
125Please respect copyright.PENANAgN2aGEJBia
Created a gap wide enough to slip through.125Please respect copyright.PENANArubqzORCRa
125Please respect copyright.PENANAX0ooD6k8eh
It shrieked again, louder, and began tearing at the flesh that held it - ripping, clawing, destroying everything within reach in blind animal panic.125Please respect copyright.PENANAHEKYgLAdHa
125Please respect copyright.PENANAsypyFWK1Xh
Blood sprayed. The throat convulsed.125Please respect copyright.PENANAdwBkXegxsa
125Please respect copyright.PENANAMqKsxPKYkj
Cel pressed himself deeper into the socket as the violence exploded around him.125Please respect copyright.PENANAu6fSDgtcAk
125Please respect copyright.PENANADwxkNXnaVA
He couldn't summon Silent Moon. The socket squeezed too tight - there wasn't room to wield a blade. His arms were pinned. His legs compressed.125Please respect copyright.PENANA87A4PONmJ2
125Please respect copyright.PENANARYAcVbLxzO
And even if he could fight—125Please respect copyright.PENANAdC0QMuybYb
125Please respect copyright.PENANA0ANUeDvM4I
The worm's entire body shuddered.125Please respect copyright.PENANAU2GJCbBGue
125Please respect copyright.PENANAbkkBKquaLR
Massive. Violent.125Please respect copyright.PENANA9eLeM62Nkc
125Please respect copyright.PENANAG5ggR8auK3
The pain from the smaller creature's claws had finally registered. The predator that had swallowed stone and earth without reaction, that hadn't even noticed twenty missing teeth, was writhing from wounds carved into its inner flesh.125Please respect copyright.PENANAHs5KVEiJMA
125Please respect copyright.PENANAbFekppRPx1
The throat contracted. Expanded. Contracted again in peristaltic waves that tried to force the prey deeper, to crush it, to end the assault.125Please respect copyright.PENANAPsq4TFhpOC
125Please respect copyright.PENANAjAC0vFihe0
But the creature held fast, shrieking and tearing with renewed frenzy.125Please respect copyright.PENANAE1jfRoGLFV
125Please respect copyright.PENANAlMTZMbfpFb
Cel's world became chaos. He was thrown against one side of the socket, then the other, as the worm thrashed. 125Please respect copyright.PENANA5Ps9D8VLd2
125Please respect copyright.PENANAu1V38KoGpY
The smaller creature's violence echoed through the darkness in layers of sound - shrieks, wet tearing, the grind of claws on flesh.125Please respect copyright.PENANAkv2fBGsXeX
125Please respect copyright.PENANAbdUu2gY8vP
Fighting now would be suicide. Blind. Squeezed. While two creatures battled around him.125Please respect copyright.PENANA6J7ztuSTYi
125Please respect copyright.PENANAuhMgTDevRv
So Cel did the only thing he could.125Please respect copyright.PENANAthbsKlOPVh
125Please respect copyright.PENANAbvPDKXdrkG
He held on. Pressed himself into the socket's flesh. Made himself small, still, invisible.125Please respect copyright.PENANAN1irtmTmqP
125Please respect copyright.PENANApzBQ5BPEFW
And waited.125Please respect copyright.PENANAyg83Y1Re9h
125Please respect copyright.PENANAir5LvmbhqX
The worm's movement changed.125Please respect copyright.PENANAboNKdA9tKn
125Please respect copyright.PENANAjdmTNUAC1C
Rising again.125Please respect copyright.PENANAglC63NGYhw
125Please respect copyright.PENANA3iBizoweFJ
Fast.125Please respect copyright.PENANAz98QMxvlfl
125Please respect copyright.PENANAvIsxCfv2EN
The throat tilted sharply as the creature rocketed upward. Acceleration hammered through Cel's body. The smaller creature shrieked, claws tearing frantically at flesh.125Please respect copyright.PENANADS0rAu6kQ4
125Please respect copyright.PENANAJzZxB374BA
Then they broke through.125Please respect copyright.PENANAgJGOGO22qn
125Please respect copyright.PENANAq5euMD8G8p
The maw flew open.125Please respect copyright.PENANARTPZZyEql6
125Please respect copyright.PENANAz7UaBFvEkB
Silver moonlight flooded in like a waterfall, so bright after the darkness that Cel's eyes watered. The night sky stretched above, stars scattered across black, and that nearly-full moon hanging like a pearl.125Please respect copyright.PENANAcx12xsMA5r
125Please respect copyright.PENANAhJrTj43qNd
But he barely registered it.125Please respect copyright.PENANARwIhhfoUdZ
125Please respect copyright.PENANAuYEQuM06zL
Because the air had changed.125Please respect copyright.PENANAw808MSEgXB
125Please respect copyright.PENANA9VDKGHcxRW
Heat rolled up from below - thick, chemical, wrong. The kind of heat that didn't come from fire but from something older. Something that dissolved rather than burned.125Please respect copyright.PENANA0rFPlb5jcg
125Please respect copyright.PENANAbwmlgaVwSO
Red light ignited in the depths of the worm’s throat.
125Please respect copyright.PENANALCxz0NdKd1


