Cel's hand froze mid-thrust, blade still buried in the tooth's socket.134Please respect copyright.PENANAnZdsylBijS
134Please respect copyright.PENANAC5tHMpfAay
Another tremor. The walls around him contracted slightly, muscle tensing beneath slick tissue.134Please respect copyright.PENANAUqEedMzwpX
134Please respect copyright.PENANAUmMNkaB3Xr
'Shit.'134Please respect copyright.PENANAHhf9AGyX6y
134Please respect copyright.PENANALzSpfh71qo
It was waking up.134Please respect copyright.PENANAmSUGGeuSNa
134Please respect copyright.PENANAhAgdTfzyLD
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. 134Please respect copyright.PENANARbo1jIGiKz
134Please respect copyright.PENANAipzrqwokVJ
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.134Please respect copyright.PENANA4PaP7fFofN
134Please respect copyright.PENANAAGufgTUhug
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.134Please respect copyright.PENANABtpxx3Qprn
134Please respect copyright.PENANA9x0JXOvwkX
Three steps. He counted them in his mind as he scrambled forward on hands and knees.134Please respect copyright.PENANAtbeNz5ghhv
134Please respect copyright.PENANAluSDWRX1Wz
The floor bucked beneath him.134Please respect copyright.PENANAUX3GSHy6st
134Please respect copyright.PENANA4ccWdzMks9
With purposeful motion, the creature surged forward. Cel's body pitched sideways as the throat tilted at a steep angle.134Please respect copyright.PENANAO38vPRO6BF
134Please respect copyright.PENANAIgJTNvg8rI
His fingers found the socket's edge.134Please respect copyright.PENANAZiINyagmoe
134Please respect copyright.PENANASJjAD1gSCQ
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.134Please respect copyright.PENANAfkVJzwmqNj
134Please respect copyright.PENANAlXTiyHuFgz
Barely enough room. But enough.134Please respect copyright.PENANANKqGWiXeHd
134Please respect copyright.PENANATOCvuhblNj
The walls contracted around him.134Please respect copyright.PENANAuGEru7mU8G
134Please respect copyright.PENANA9aq1d41R4S
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.134Please respect copyright.PENANAidkQ9vICWM
134Please respect copyright.PENANAK0ZZp0IrSq
Cel forced himself to breathe slowly through his nose. Unease clawed at the edges of his thoughts, but he shoved it down.134Please respect copyright.PENANAd4faiw0Wer
134Please respect copyright.PENANAOG2k9uAdeT
'Why did it wake?'134Please respect copyright.PENANAn83YYFa1wr
134Please respect copyright.PENANA5t2rhkX5hx
Had it finally noticed the missing teeth? Felt the wounds in its jaw and realized something was wrong?134Please respect copyright.PENANA1jFHK5YTME
134Please respect copyright.PENANAu1n65SDQrw
Or was this unrelated? Had it simply finished digesting its previous meal and decided to hunt again?134Please respect copyright.PENANAZJKIV994Eg
134Please respect copyright.PENANAJbhxxsCkEp
The creature dove.134Please respect copyright.PENANAVKFdP4hnUT
134Please respect copyright.PENANAFIQ4mKb1pn
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.134Please respect copyright.PENANA0D7s24PIyN
134Please respect copyright.PENANAuIjVxdH7Aa
Through stone. Through earth. The same terrifying descent he'd experienced before, except now he wasn't dangling by a frozen hand.134Please respect copyright.PENANAj5fVebFDLE
134Please respect copyright.PENANA9AlJRRaujc
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.134Please respect copyright.PENANANEevi3TMHi
134Please respect copyright.PENANAt9zkDdKTHz
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.134Please respect copyright.PENANARaZ37ImPKy
134Please respect copyright.PENANA0aYIzZ7mJG
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.134Please respect copyright.PENANA2UlGOX0PiY
134Please respect copyright.PENANAnpbSkTnnlh
But he was safe.134Please respect copyright.PENANAM53UagNE04
134Please respect copyright.PENANAzLcStrZ9GT
Hidden in this hollow he'd created, protected by the very flesh he'd wounded.134Please respect copyright.PENANAcsnnDJkmVF
134Please respect copyright.PENANArYNVNFKgNq
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.134Please respect copyright.PENANA8LCauPyZMy
134Please respect copyright.PENANAVGGdGF1bZn
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.134Please respect copyright.PENANAnP9HlONMG0
134Please respect copyright.PENANAeyixAgxfm7
But compared to hanging by a frozen hand while debris battered his skull?134Please respect copyright.PENANAXIpfRzcBEu
134Please respect copyright.PENANAIPK7cBfoXe
This was luxury.134Please respect copyright.PENANAOBPBpNpadu
134Please respect copyright.PENANAp53bOhvKbA
Time stretched. The journey felt endless - the creature diving deeper, then leveling out, then diving again in patterns Cel couldn't predict or understand.134Please respect copyright.PENANAyZrTubTx2E
134Please respect copyright.PENANAY6f1naXdeu
His mind drifted to the question he'd been avoiding. 134Please respect copyright.PENANAzslFG3c2ER
134Please respect copyright.PENANASAR9jzLTsi
'What happens when it surfaces?'134Please respect copyright.PENANA6fBl1tNKP3
134Please respect copyright.PENANA7aWMCANYqn
The creature would open its mouth eventually. To breathe. To hunt. To do whatever massive predators did when they emerged from their lairs.134Please respect copyright.PENANAgW7JRPgtbf
134Please respect copyright.PENANABtk2ZOwlgY
And when that happened, he'd have his chance.134Please respect copyright.PENANA3lB4GPBmr2
134Please respect copyright.PENANAlWtqiGRQnE
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.134Please respect copyright.PENANAoVirQxGZfX
134Please respect copyright.PENANArWveQPhqL6
If luck favored him for once in this cursed realm.134Please respect copyright.PENANADgFv0LDS1L
134Please respect copyright.PENANAfixLDQak1s
But should he try?134Please respect copyright.PENANAF8T1l1gEOT
134Please respect copyright.PENANAj8Oo3qLWvV
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.134Please respect copyright.PENANAvqGPfo3aFu
134Please respect copyright.PENANAsI3AEWF5pJ
The thought had its appeal.134Please respect copyright.PENANAFexXqVt3tM
134Please respect copyright.PENANAeiJm3ZzOi0
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.134Please respect copyright.PENANAkuCMmohpWf
134Please respect copyright.PENANAjZhnHH9CPp
He could wait. Survive. Endure until... what?134Please respect copyright.PENANAlJOdoa9gnT
134Please respect copyright.PENANAany51eBpK2
'Until I perfect my technique? Until the worm dies of old age? Until I go mad from living in darkness?'134Please respect copyright.PENANAw5iXqqYeR3
134Please respect copyright.PENANAiLLqHOj28D
No.134Please respect copyright.PENANABMOobsobUo
134Please respect copyright.PENANA6P6B3a6uoL
His jaw clenched.134Please respect copyright.PENANALASTTW9zMn
134Please respect copyright.PENANAeHzEb2PNge
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.134Please respect copyright.PENANAMYU4ptnYNI
134Please respect copyright.PENANAq5Dv3Jeklc
The creature had given him shelter, yes. 134Please respect copyright.PENANAyea9MiPNz3
134Please respect copyright.PENANA9C8W3847I5
But this wasn't living.134Please respect copyright.PENANAYfWrajbMu5
134Please respect copyright.PENANAdJG90MpSfW
This was another kind of prison. Darker than the cell. Wetter than the cultists' stone floors. But a prison nonetheless.134Please respect copyright.PENANAOsrnEkwH97
134Please respect copyright.PENANAWol3S7A3ah
And he was done with prisons.134Please respect copyright.PENANAkdCjpLFckh
134Please respect copyright.PENANAOqWcDzNplO
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.134Please respect copyright.PENANAXmL0J6yySF
134Please respect copyright.PENANApYtnMVq6ye
The decision settled over him like armor.134Please respect copyright.PENANAPJ9j0KLuLq
134Please respect copyright.PENANAqqXF6LD9pt
Not because escape was safe. Not because his odds were good.134Please respect copyright.PENANAxpdEmqMDW5
134Please respect copyright.PENANA4o5mMtafs0
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.134Please respect copyright.PENANAOYaGqlZTpF
134Please respect copyright.PENANAPnRwVIAGmi
The thought was unbearable.134Please respect copyright.PENANAfq2ywHnFlT
134Please respect copyright.PENANAjUynSDYILM
His fingers curled against the socket's flesh, nails digging in slightly.134Please respect copyright.PENANAgXRWaFiuxN
134Please respect copyright.PENANAvro5RcTZv0
'I'm coming for you. All of you.'134Please respect copyright.PENANASW5VqTvz3X
134Please respect copyright.PENANAHfuC4emJLP
The creature's movement began to change. The diving motion shifted to something more horizontal. Leveling out.134Please respect copyright.PENANAcOg1gxIcqf
134Please respect copyright.PENANAVW5SzioVMi
Rising.134Please respect copyright.PENANAdUwvhpAxjD
134Please respect copyright.PENANA4LLbqY9RmH
Cel's heart hammered against his ribs. His entire body tensed despite the confining space.134Please respect copyright.PENANAtyg2r8nnUp
134Please respect copyright.PENANAkzVTNnzu0w
The ascent felt different - smoother, more controlled. Not the violent plunge he'd experienced before. Just the steady rise of something ancient and assured.134Please respect copyright.PENANAw0p8eHSbvI
134Please respect copyright.PENANAq2pSMkoOSR
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.134Please respect copyright.PENANAvJMJyvQ7zn
134Please respect copyright.PENANAYimgkYnV02
The pressure around him shifted as the throat angled upward more steeply.134Please respect copyright.PENANAdhvs9hWI6l
134Please respect copyright.PENANAx05W9quy6j
Then they broke through.134Please respect copyright.PENANAqYiuWGcDwg
134Please respect copyright.PENANAH3d6Hqq8kt
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.134Please respect copyright.PENANAgkE8uSvx1a
134Please respect copyright.PENANAgFnOOOpFJF
Silver light.134Please respect copyright.PENANACjGdhk5Tj9
134Please respect copyright.PENANA1M3kESuBLV
Moonlight.134Please respect copyright.PENANA3almHn6IlO
134Please respect copyright.PENANAxv0tJRhJpH
The realization struck him a heartbeat before the sensation did.134Please respect copyright.PENANAVjBvwOjB2P
134Please respect copyright.PENANAAQhVK8sGwP
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.134Please respect copyright.PENANA0SgMAnBA5v
134Please respect copyright.PENANAcbhbD4l3Jx
His muscles didn't feel stronger. They felt eager. Ready. Like they'd been sleeping and had just woken hungry.134Please respect copyright.PENANAnuNm1CG3Dp
134Please respect copyright.PENANA10ChbJ3rpd
Lunar Vigor.134Please respect copyright.PENANA9PIfA6Zldf
134Please respect copyright.PENANA3dNdPQ4f2q
The moon was nearly full.134Please respect copyright.PENANAoMaqHJHk9z
134Please respect copyright.PENANAMbDWLvnTLa
Cel's lips pulled back from his teeth in a feral grin.134Please respect copyright.PENANAlSxrIDpkr6
134Please respect copyright.PENANAN1nzf8x3hY
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.134Please respect copyright.PENANAEC5DOiyjAz
134Please respect copyright.PENANAncHFgBdf6c
And in the center of it all, something fell through the opening.134Please respect copyright.PENANAtbtjA6CCk4
134Please respect copyright.PENANAdK1QxUJWsp
Fast. Thrashing. Screaming.134Please respect copyright.PENANAImUGLusa3E
134Please respect copyright.PENANAw6nBez8esd
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.134Please respect copyright.PENANAV5jr9ZcQyx
134Please respect copyright.PENANApAzkJPd1Ae
The maw snapped shut.134Please respect copyright.PENANABV9cWDfRrz
134Please respect copyright.PENANAchl1Iy755q
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.134Please respect copyright.PENANAgJRGOx2xQV
134Please respect copyright.PENANA2yvksbz8yd
Cel froze in his socket, heart hammering, every muscle still coiled to spring—134Please respect copyright.PENANAz1MNeTyE6D
134Please respect copyright.PENANAVub44Bp6oc
A wet tearing sound, the scrape of claws on flesh, then a shriek - high and piercing, metal dragged across bone.134Please respect copyright.PENANAJYfLPOjtu5
134Please respect copyright.PENANAgSaD2ZJBBy
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.134Please respect copyright.PENANAT7iwJxEJJE
134Please respect copyright.PENANATGohcyIY6j
But instead of sliding down with it, the creature caught itself. 134Please respect copyright.PENANA5nKYtol4WK
134Please respect copyright.PENANA9TDYupxIMr
Its remaining claws sank deep into the throat's walls - into the gap where Cel had carved away the teeth.134Please respect copyright.PENANAb0tpcf82F5
134Please respect copyright.PENANAiCt4ah7TZW
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. 134Please respect copyright.PENANAvNuYKeJhHK
134Please respect copyright.PENANAkZjv4gnBUM
But Cel had removed the grinder.134Please respect copyright.PENANAkFXMIKjOpb
134Please respect copyright.PENANAyQoONxiUwp
Created a gap wide enough to slip through.134Please respect copyright.PENANAmi06u0jb3c
134Please respect copyright.PENANAXl310ElCuG
It shrieked again, louder, and began tearing at the flesh that held it - ripping, clawing, destroying everything within reach in blind animal panic.134Please respect copyright.PENANAQEafvdbW5K
134Please respect copyright.PENANApoDoU09Lk0
Blood sprayed. The throat convulsed.134Please respect copyright.PENANAzd5ZwP0xbx
134Please respect copyright.PENANA3BpLIG95Nd
Cel pressed himself deeper into the socket as the violence exploded around him.134Please respect copyright.PENANAl9jUYrw2PS
134Please respect copyright.PENANAJ7DLw8Ply1
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.134Please respect copyright.PENANA739e5MpxrF
134Please respect copyright.PENANA42D8ubYP4I
And even if he could fight—134Please respect copyright.PENANAU4fbKcbYwi
134Please respect copyright.PENANAu8KUZm0Q8C
The worm's entire body shuddered.134Please respect copyright.PENANAgsdUJO6zr7
134Please respect copyright.PENANAeqrVOQgizb
Massive. Violent.134Please respect copyright.PENANAn58oDmsH3Y
134Please respect copyright.PENANA4ZKRFeREIA
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.134Please respect copyright.PENANALpSpKg8el7
134Please respect copyright.PENANAhOcC0X8E9q
The throat contracted. Expanded. Contracted again in peristaltic waves that tried to force the prey deeper, to crush it, to end the assault.134Please respect copyright.PENANAA19IlMHUHB
134Please respect copyright.PENANANzeV62Fwey
But the creature held fast, shrieking and tearing with renewed frenzy.134Please respect copyright.PENANAb4CzfOFJJz
134Please respect copyright.PENANA5uBrCM9GpW
Cel's world became chaos. He was thrown against one side of the socket, then the other, as the worm thrashed. 134Please respect copyright.PENANAINFRgHUTbN
134Please respect copyright.PENANAQiyyMHHTt0
The smaller creature's violence echoed through the darkness in layers of sound - shrieks, wet tearing, the grind of claws on flesh.134Please respect copyright.PENANAbusRTK60Np
134Please respect copyright.PENANAruaKFL5j2O
Fighting now would be suicide. Blind. Squeezed. While two creatures battled around him.134Please respect copyright.PENANArwCCtIvHAn
134Please respect copyright.PENANAMWEfKlK4LY
So Cel did the only thing he could.134Please respect copyright.PENANAz354723QKs
134Please respect copyright.PENANAsjaomTDojn
He held on. Pressed himself into the socket's flesh. Made himself small, still, invisible.134Please respect copyright.PENANA2EGDMpxl4c
134Please respect copyright.PENANAy4d3qHfe7g
And waited.134Please respect copyright.PENANAkZepEuoD5s
134Please respect copyright.PENANAFHwWQyssKP
The worm's movement changed.134Please respect copyright.PENANAOTNYKxETid
134Please respect copyright.PENANAoaMUUQPRGk
Rising again.134Please respect copyright.PENANAaMMPdAz4qA
134Please respect copyright.PENANAPIJzG9Gn7a
Fast.134Please respect copyright.PENANAkbwpC9kSvL
134Please respect copyright.PENANAYY6rZ8uPHv
The throat tilted sharply as the creature rocketed upward. Acceleration hammered through Cel's body. The smaller creature shrieked, claws tearing frantically at flesh.134Please respect copyright.PENANAlh899VDSxI
134Please respect copyright.PENANAKZc0BaFqR7
Then they broke through.134Please respect copyright.PENANAMdAWmK5HJr
134Please respect copyright.PENANAll2QFNwddA
The maw flew open.134Please respect copyright.PENANARNgJnjxNzP
134Please respect copyright.PENANACbDYcNWRhV
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.134Please respect copyright.PENANAAGyof2YenH
134Please respect copyright.PENANA35g9xWWkCO
But he barely registered it.134Please respect copyright.PENANAq4ZOHBKq6v
134Please respect copyright.PENANABzwe5ceK0d
Because the air had changed.134Please respect copyright.PENANAVbnUksARPW
134Please respect copyright.PENANAMDaxDQjbB3
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.134Please respect copyright.PENANAZuRjemZMPk
134Please respect copyright.PENANA0iPLPjzzf4
Red light ignited in the depths of the worm’s throat.
134Please respect copyright.PENANApqpP2F0Qzc


