Cel's hand froze mid-thrust, blade still buried in the tooth's socket.155Please respect copyright.PENANAO4DyO2plda
155Please respect copyright.PENANAsTpM5WcI8u
Another tremor. The walls around him contracted slightly, muscle tensing beneath slick tissue.155Please respect copyright.PENANAnvwTDn4Q6E
155Please respect copyright.PENANAbEuIkgmRMT
'Shit.'155Please respect copyright.PENANAd5LP0xZFTt
155Please respect copyright.PENANAxdXna2Jdxr
It was waking up.155Please respect copyright.PENANAu8NCTk1Olc
155Please respect copyright.PENANAqu7XgK7cEa
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. 155Please respect copyright.PENANASsyP7OUuhN
155Please respect copyright.PENANAuHLiIxuLsq
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.155Please respect copyright.PENANA2xOnsiLCqK
155Please respect copyright.PENANAQC4RXaHoZg
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.155Please respect copyright.PENANAmLiueQMQUz
155Please respect copyright.PENANAz7LQkFkML3
Three steps. He counted them in his mind as he scrambled forward on hands and knees.155Please respect copyright.PENANAy15xCjeSH4
155Please respect copyright.PENANAzP7O2wR5q4
The floor bucked beneath him.155Please respect copyright.PENANArSqInoatjU
155Please respect copyright.PENANA3B6s6tGuEI
With purposeful motion, the creature surged forward. Cel's body pitched sideways as the throat tilted at a steep angle.155Please respect copyright.PENANAL2RKVO2iMk
155Please respect copyright.PENANAMgp3h1EPtL
His fingers found the socket's edge.155Please respect copyright.PENANAMb1qdlIOxx
155Please respect copyright.PENANAYDNplk0trb
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.155Please respect copyright.PENANAGqbTzaBEad
155Please respect copyright.PENANAv4gstXvZ8a
Barely enough room. But enough.155Please respect copyright.PENANAkUgPc3IUGo
155Please respect copyright.PENANAL2UfOh4zzP
The walls contracted around him.155Please respect copyright.PENANACGdVAtNUQg
155Please respect copyright.PENANAlGREZ3xNU2
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.155Please respect copyright.PENANAePBRWMKwFF
155Please respect copyright.PENANAfAdEs4CAE3
Cel forced himself to breathe slowly through his nose. Unease clawed at the edges of his thoughts, but he shoved it down.155Please respect copyright.PENANAJ0lr1iOkTJ
155Please respect copyright.PENANAjovlHE7kxk
'Why did it wake?'155Please respect copyright.PENANAmfylpyc8NV
155Please respect copyright.PENANA8fmDpi8Rqg
Had it finally noticed the missing teeth? Felt the wounds in its jaw and realized something was wrong?155Please respect copyright.PENANAkyeg7ceGXt
155Please respect copyright.PENANAj9r9s3HtaH
Or was this unrelated? Had it simply finished digesting its previous meal and decided to hunt again?155Please respect copyright.PENANA7G3LsIRcwF
155Please respect copyright.PENANAxeVd81tOnv
The creature dove.155Please respect copyright.PENANANIrWXPvPcC
155Please respect copyright.PENANAJYOt4oSdo1
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.155Please respect copyright.PENANAnYLllWOQB5
155Please respect copyright.PENANAAtp72Wartv
Through stone. Through earth. The same terrifying descent he'd experienced before, except now he wasn't dangling by a frozen hand.155Please respect copyright.PENANAflsIKwkIuB
155Please respect copyright.PENANAkUmUImDaw1
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.155Please respect copyright.PENANArLUMep5ghO
155Please respect copyright.PENANAy8CBK7SXUO
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.155Please respect copyright.PENANAg3z3Lh1tRO
155Please respect copyright.PENANAnQ35mExBSJ
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.155Please respect copyright.PENANAllMSQNCl2a
155Please respect copyright.PENANAlS0QuGGXkJ
But he was safe.155Please respect copyright.PENANAxkgWKKo99Y
155Please respect copyright.PENANAR4oT2iQFwE
Hidden in this hollow he'd created, protected by the very flesh he'd wounded.155Please respect copyright.PENANAw1EPUdep5q
155Please respect copyright.PENANARZEKY58YVA
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.155Please respect copyright.PENANAcCcfRyaCAS
155Please respect copyright.PENANARCWRXzVvY0
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.155Please respect copyright.PENANAeFY8WlFuWH
155Please respect copyright.PENANA8zY1uzneYi
But compared to hanging by a frozen hand while debris battered his skull?155Please respect copyright.PENANA4p16J1L2tR
155Please respect copyright.PENANAfMfWHqT1QZ
This was luxury.155Please respect copyright.PENANAbCUHANwsRa
155Please respect copyright.PENANAvYABVCCqCO
Time stretched. The journey felt endless - the creature diving deeper, then leveling out, then diving again in patterns Cel couldn't predict or understand.155Please respect copyright.PENANA13CGTzEvfx
155Please respect copyright.PENANAlkTY3SpFRl
His mind drifted to the question he'd been avoiding. 155Please respect copyright.PENANAF57LVpTsMj
155Please respect copyright.PENANAUignMTaG6d
'What happens when it surfaces?'155Please respect copyright.PENANAwvx9ltde2v
155Please respect copyright.PENANAZN2qZAq2NE
The creature would open its mouth eventually. To breathe. To hunt. To do whatever massive predators did when they emerged from their lairs.155Please respect copyright.PENANAHojxSLMqxp
155Please respect copyright.PENANANvLlywhO4h
And when that happened, he'd have his chance.155Please respect copyright.PENANAOi9gIjD4EN
155Please respect copyright.PENANAlz2jMKG6JA
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.155Please respect copyright.PENANAxd7eM56EGL
155Please respect copyright.PENANADwhwhepAfM
If luck favored him for once in this cursed realm.155Please respect copyright.PENANAG7Ny6kndEG
155Please respect copyright.PENANAFSdivlI79G
But should he try?155Please respect copyright.PENANABMMuFxGLo2
155Please respect copyright.PENANAQyOW5TaVs6
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.155Please respect copyright.PENANAWPpW82Jfhr
155Please respect copyright.PENANAmC8BAFENMW
The thought had its appeal.155Please respect copyright.PENANAcjm4jURrIj
155Please respect copyright.PENANAo5uLlEAzi7
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.155Please respect copyright.PENANAi0MnlVMSuF
155Please respect copyright.PENANAYMhRk4hPMU
He could wait. Survive. Endure until... what?155Please respect copyright.PENANAbf6u74IT3l
155Please respect copyright.PENANA8Rcl7YqhRF
'Until I perfect my technique? Until the worm dies of old age? Until I go mad from living in darkness?'155Please respect copyright.PENANARQsvNw9FOu
155Please respect copyright.PENANAPzyQ9PsZTT
No.155Please respect copyright.PENANAinGkI3Xb0J
155Please respect copyright.PENANAvjT6PbVbBH
His jaw clenched.155Please respect copyright.PENANAfSVI0LzMXd
155Please respect copyright.PENANAVbRakMVO51
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.155Please respect copyright.PENANA28UINCTcoL
155Please respect copyright.PENANAt7g2noa0fO
The creature had given him shelter, yes. 155Please respect copyright.PENANAKzqSp7hXXA
155Please respect copyright.PENANA1eQi1a6cxj
But this wasn't living.155Please respect copyright.PENANAvj3UxOjiqp
155Please respect copyright.PENANA1nkQbaHCDm
This was another kind of prison. Darker than the cell. Wetter than the cultists' stone floors. But a prison nonetheless.155Please respect copyright.PENANAM4rjvtrPKQ
155Please respect copyright.PENANA9xvk9Bm5rl
And he was done with prisons.155Please respect copyright.PENANAh2pTHOPjzQ
155Please respect copyright.PENANADedAaqBaSv
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.155Please respect copyright.PENANAXmgWfui5jz
155Please respect copyright.PENANAPkumj12BBB
The decision settled over him like armor.155Please respect copyright.PENANAgDKd0d1wus
155Please respect copyright.PENANA9R8zSlkdBH
Not because escape was safe. Not because his odds were good.155Please respect copyright.PENANAA1qRReFJQT
155Please respect copyright.PENANAzlB7s7MAjl
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.155Please respect copyright.PENANAsHmf2DLxFa
155Please respect copyright.PENANAdto6YyzumW
The thought was unbearable.155Please respect copyright.PENANAaH8QT9s2BQ
155Please respect copyright.PENANAsXhcCg6Wpe
His fingers curled against the socket's flesh, nails digging in slightly.155Please respect copyright.PENANAuhpgfK9ftu
155Please respect copyright.PENANAwNmM5soEMf
'I'm coming for you. All of you.'155Please respect copyright.PENANA8gEQjjxNCG
155Please respect copyright.PENANA4rMig2hBW8
The creature's movement began to change. The diving motion shifted to something more horizontal. Leveling out.155Please respect copyright.PENANAsEvdrDPtlp
155Please respect copyright.PENANA6mIwGe2uPs
Rising.155Please respect copyright.PENANAHFfS5gnhiE
155Please respect copyright.PENANAaK1hqqFY61
Cel's heart hammered against his ribs. His entire body tensed despite the confining space.155Please respect copyright.PENANA2eMG5kikEN
155Please respect copyright.PENANAQ0TAGyVDZD
The ascent felt different - smoother, more controlled. Not the violent plunge he'd experienced before. Just the steady rise of something ancient and assured.155Please respect copyright.PENANA5omsPZD6Jx
155Please respect copyright.PENANAbYyRdzUbmX
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.155Please respect copyright.PENANAxLFfo1jzg7
155Please respect copyright.PENANAUDPb4efA7x
The pressure around him shifted as the throat angled upward more steeply.155Please respect copyright.PENANAejmFhhlCo6
155Please respect copyright.PENANAHKHEmkWZwe
Then they broke through.155Please respect copyright.PENANAWHkGYs3d53
155Please respect copyright.PENANAxjH1XV7g07
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.155Please respect copyright.PENANAe1KfsQA7Ca
155Please respect copyright.PENANAPZibJ9vkyk
Silver light.155Please respect copyright.PENANANYlIrjAYkb
155Please respect copyright.PENANAzaEuCERJVQ
Moonlight.155Please respect copyright.PENANAPRC19ja9R9
155Please respect copyright.PENANAauiC3cWmis
The realization struck him a heartbeat before the sensation did.155Please respect copyright.PENANAqVEZNvCtyM
155Please respect copyright.PENANAU96FANEk2m
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.155Please respect copyright.PENANAOkkU8nONAC
155Please respect copyright.PENANAtbCKY0zhYf
His muscles didn't feel stronger. They felt eager. Ready. Like they'd been sleeping and had just woken hungry.155Please respect copyright.PENANAoD9zfszlxm
155Please respect copyright.PENANAP2vu2OzIii
Lunar Vigor.155Please respect copyright.PENANADpYtrJ1kC0
155Please respect copyright.PENANA28HGGxH80N
The moon was nearly full.155Please respect copyright.PENANAxuQdAUEpBN
155Please respect copyright.PENANAunUh1sfyjS
Cel's lips pulled back from his teeth in a feral grin.155Please respect copyright.PENANAMJrQgs9c6E
155Please respect copyright.PENANA4GgiPEVzEh
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.155Please respect copyright.PENANAtz5Ks4bgWh
155Please respect copyright.PENANAT3Px5CQFLb
And in the center of it all, something fell through the opening.155Please respect copyright.PENANAomAr2zdSyf
155Please respect copyright.PENANAoxU7j0BWcS
Fast. Thrashing. Screaming.155Please respect copyright.PENANAl4hv90nw2m
155Please respect copyright.PENANAY1eNZusbMI
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.155Please respect copyright.PENANARXMNmMEQ2c
155Please respect copyright.PENANAQzaR6lv2eO
The maw snapped shut.155Please respect copyright.PENANAIqiy5FceUC
155Please respect copyright.PENANA8uEBrPOsC0
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.155Please respect copyright.PENANA3F26DIX7mP
155Please respect copyright.PENANA51XbD7WGer
Cel froze in his socket, heart hammering, every muscle still coiled to spring—155Please respect copyright.PENANAF8Gz1niE7S
155Please respect copyright.PENANAFkZ4kVYEcQ
A wet tearing sound, the scrape of claws on flesh, then a shriek - high and piercing, metal dragged across bone.155Please respect copyright.PENANAMP4u8NW1I9
155Please respect copyright.PENANAAt2nCy2tEA
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.155Please respect copyright.PENANAU4FSXV8q9F
155Please respect copyright.PENANAf8OyWy0qAQ
But instead of sliding down with it, the creature caught itself. 155Please respect copyright.PENANANxKVwjLZNQ
155Please respect copyright.PENANAohJiUnO6o9
Its remaining claws sank deep into the throat's walls - into the gap where Cel had carved away the teeth.155Please respect copyright.PENANAHlqHK2GQ4J
155Please respect copyright.PENANASOiq8RUR0H
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. 155Please respect copyright.PENANAJe941jS5VX
155Please respect copyright.PENANAu9P8hHClqI
But Cel had removed the grinder.155Please respect copyright.PENANAWavgFOMl5d
155Please respect copyright.PENANAwkkwJcH5o9
Created a gap wide enough to slip through.155Please respect copyright.PENANAVVbIvqj0xt
155Please respect copyright.PENANAcmH5FoDGOQ
It shrieked again, louder, and began tearing at the flesh that held it - ripping, clawing, destroying everything within reach in blind animal panic.155Please respect copyright.PENANAwM94dvuP35
155Please respect copyright.PENANALjtWxs5JiT
Blood sprayed. The throat convulsed.155Please respect copyright.PENANAGVLhleMvGk
155Please respect copyright.PENANARyvbg8dViL
Cel pressed himself deeper into the socket as the violence exploded around him.155Please respect copyright.PENANAN5o1ANrfhM
155Please respect copyright.PENANASNqWUO6BlL
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.155Please respect copyright.PENANAGVUC0DHzrR
155Please respect copyright.PENANAvAwZRjuGnF
And even if he could fight—155Please respect copyright.PENANA0anQZTQgBj
155Please respect copyright.PENANAhimsTNgpO0
The worm's entire body shuddered.155Please respect copyright.PENANAc6nhg4s12b
155Please respect copyright.PENANAGHPK5N7SF6
Massive. Violent.155Please respect copyright.PENANAVAbvTjE3SO
155Please respect copyright.PENANAs38fJCN4RY
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.155Please respect copyright.PENANAw44pLJOUKh
155Please respect copyright.PENANA9LWupcCBAm
The throat contracted. Expanded. Contracted again in peristaltic waves that tried to force the prey deeper, to crush it, to end the assault.155Please respect copyright.PENANA1VnXxV5r0C
155Please respect copyright.PENANArKj68m23L4
But the creature held fast, shrieking and tearing with renewed frenzy.155Please respect copyright.PENANAOmGIfWPpDf
155Please respect copyright.PENANAl7vyodDg2Q
Cel's world became chaos. He was thrown against one side of the socket, then the other, as the worm thrashed. 155Please respect copyright.PENANARRgZr7nC3x
155Please respect copyright.PENANAmob2TXFEmi
The smaller creature's violence echoed through the darkness in layers of sound - shrieks, wet tearing, the grind of claws on flesh.155Please respect copyright.PENANACSNnFo5gcN
155Please respect copyright.PENANA1CTw5j0JWX
Fighting now would be suicide. Blind. Squeezed. While two creatures battled around him.155Please respect copyright.PENANAy9L6WBuch7
155Please respect copyright.PENANAWzrLFfrq2D
So Cel did the only thing he could.155Please respect copyright.PENANAfjuvTHOVrx
155Please respect copyright.PENANAIbg02TnclL
He held on. Pressed himself into the socket's flesh. Made himself small, still, invisible.155Please respect copyright.PENANARSPZHFDDaj
155Please respect copyright.PENANAHKSG1S4oBo
And waited.155Please respect copyright.PENANAgJBYFJkRvI
155Please respect copyright.PENANAAytOhHU3fk
The worm's movement changed.155Please respect copyright.PENANA2gpjXIum6q
155Please respect copyright.PENANAPBvChZkciv
Rising again.155Please respect copyright.PENANA3FSBqLeHql
155Please respect copyright.PENANANBHG8cjBWI
Fast.155Please respect copyright.PENANAGIYxt8Quf4
155Please respect copyright.PENANABErREskefV
The throat tilted sharply as the creature rocketed upward. Acceleration hammered through Cel's body. The smaller creature shrieked, claws tearing frantically at flesh.155Please respect copyright.PENANAjRC6QHYUWV
155Please respect copyright.PENANAW6PhC9yxRr
Then they broke through.155Please respect copyright.PENANAuzEqaHyeZT
155Please respect copyright.PENANALz0crapB2s
The maw flew open.155Please respect copyright.PENANAglCSjaCU0k
155Please respect copyright.PENANAlSHrHgeS3B
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.155Please respect copyright.PENANAefADCWWVU5
155Please respect copyright.PENANAvKsllzq1g0
But he barely registered it.155Please respect copyright.PENANAWMrcGVzn2r
155Please respect copyright.PENANA4spNuosdnD
Because the air had changed.155Please respect copyright.PENANAtp54w5Pool
155Please respect copyright.PENANAMHLECQa3wY
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.155Please respect copyright.PENANAqi1ue276Ln
155Please respect copyright.PENANA3znOBjkHce
Red light ignited in the depths of the worm’s throat.
155Please respect copyright.PENANAFwiW8lYGbn


