Cel's hand froze mid-thrust, blade still buried in the tooth's socket.125Please respect copyright.PENANATxeRBxiX2A
125Please respect copyright.PENANAngHoKSb5HZ
Another tremor. The walls around him contracted slightly, muscle tensing beneath slick tissue.125Please respect copyright.PENANA8p75DOscJD
125Please respect copyright.PENANADWLpyInmYs
'Shit.'125Please respect copyright.PENANANe9lhSWV9K
125Please respect copyright.PENANAs8P9KLuhyn
It was waking up.125Please respect copyright.PENANAHTpwj526ao
125Please respect copyright.PENANA4VVYfhcM0A
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.PENANAW164TpEXYN
125Please respect copyright.PENANARsUd5ID2jh
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.PENANAoqCXxYZ9T0
125Please respect copyright.PENANAenLcfBJxLR
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.PENANAGyOJ4otWde
125Please respect copyright.PENANAxPqDyRJSiZ
Three steps. He counted them in his mind as he scrambled forward on hands and knees.125Please respect copyright.PENANAxr9KGufP16
125Please respect copyright.PENANABHHFZvVJIB
The floor bucked beneath him.125Please respect copyright.PENANA9XZFd0W8wO
125Please respect copyright.PENANABc2c6RNlJL
With purposeful motion, the creature surged forward. Cel's body pitched sideways as the throat tilted at a steep angle.125Please respect copyright.PENANA2NfaXC810n
125Please respect copyright.PENANA919nhEhgEL
His fingers found the socket's edge.125Please respect copyright.PENANA5dWleHqE7z
125Please respect copyright.PENANADD8VO9KQM8
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.PENANAUjePS64hTa
125Please respect copyright.PENANAf1o5gu5dc1
Barely enough room. But enough.125Please respect copyright.PENANAf3DVJdTXyT
125Please respect copyright.PENANAFP09xCA3EL
The walls contracted around him.125Please respect copyright.PENANABdJhXjTaZn
125Please respect copyright.PENANAeOsaus2svl
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.PENANAwBp3CX8vqZ
125Please respect copyright.PENANA9Rw8fzUV2j
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.PENANAgBcVthhRUl
125Please respect copyright.PENANAgsmUR8rltQ
'Why did it wake?'125Please respect copyright.PENANAZ8UW6svpdn
125Please respect copyright.PENANAUjAbpwBYkn
Had it finally noticed the missing teeth? Felt the wounds in its jaw and realized something was wrong?125Please respect copyright.PENANADcBe37Fe7A
125Please respect copyright.PENANAbVSTeQ5jlT
Or was this unrelated? Had it simply finished digesting its previous meal and decided to hunt again?125Please respect copyright.PENANAJpeVZg2GDO
125Please respect copyright.PENANAbH7mGe2MLX
The creature dove.125Please respect copyright.PENANASkHoZ4KMwr
125Please respect copyright.PENANAoXwbYuyXpE
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.PENANA82y30UDzkd
125Please respect copyright.PENANARKukJX0dmH
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.PENANAjjbdORHprM
125Please respect copyright.PENANA1QKm0N5TB1
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.PENANAhs64lm3MOR
125Please respect copyright.PENANAp00ao7Wh7o
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.PENANAIGDbns90gm
125Please respect copyright.PENANAHtR8Mv1ORh
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.PENANADrdn9koYRD
125Please respect copyright.PENANAD4tQdAi7UA
But he was safe.125Please respect copyright.PENANAwNF5m3oPOC
125Please respect copyright.PENANAwCUYsHwKdn
Hidden in this hollow he'd created, protected by the very flesh he'd wounded.125Please respect copyright.PENANAQ5jLrm0r1C
125Please respect copyright.PENANAptMd9Krc1F
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.PENANATU0syDjFDP
125Please respect copyright.PENANAOHgU4y8hbC
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.PENANApkH2xwc29G
125Please respect copyright.PENANAzTSkXDHgey
But compared to hanging by a frozen hand while debris battered his skull?125Please respect copyright.PENANAYTbPJEyZ3q
125Please respect copyright.PENANALfSPe630hv
This was luxury.125Please respect copyright.PENANAWlkVNfDvUC
125Please respect copyright.PENANAucxhWDH33m
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.PENANAkvmpLOYweb
125Please respect copyright.PENANAWUY2rxiHyL
His mind drifted to the question he'd been avoiding. 125Please respect copyright.PENANApz1V4Lccd1
125Please respect copyright.PENANAdQU8JIkS3I
'What happens when it surfaces?'125Please respect copyright.PENANAiA2I4JKZHM
125Please respect copyright.PENANAvwGHJeZRMx
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.PENANA3z63Gkpi1b
125Please respect copyright.PENANA12FtYbr7yi
And when that happened, he'd have his chance.125Please respect copyright.PENANAeznWCPoSp5
125Please respect copyright.PENANAghNx9kqU8H
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.PENANAIYS2hHzYoc
125Please respect copyright.PENANAwqVmy5RUIs
If luck favored him for once in this cursed realm.125Please respect copyright.PENANAm5uOtZJAmW
125Please respect copyright.PENANAAnyAd2oaZQ
But should he try?125Please respect copyright.PENANAsd1HzDirUC
125Please respect copyright.PENANAU1Jy3lu9Yp
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.PENANAAwcY1Xwpzx
125Please respect copyright.PENANAjkjCIAm4Yg
The thought had its appeal.125Please respect copyright.PENANAyyJ5zS1JlH
125Please respect copyright.PENANAuQoYpNPBWP
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.PENANA4LZtOwQP2m
125Please respect copyright.PENANAdcQkIqUU42
He could wait. Survive. Endure until... what?125Please respect copyright.PENANA6SdUNLYevb
125Please respect copyright.PENANADUC93Lg5bS
'Until I perfect my technique? Until the worm dies of old age? Until I go mad from living in darkness?'125Please respect copyright.PENANAK7NMpM5Cuk
125Please respect copyright.PENANAdPNpbJnAnh
No.125Please respect copyright.PENANAmFLmEpW0Om
125Please respect copyright.PENANA5RuPWctC4i
His jaw clenched.125Please respect copyright.PENANAksSTD8AE32
125Please respect copyright.PENANATejF9hjoTr
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.PENANAI1qDy3qgPb
125Please respect copyright.PENANAfNL4OqUatV
The creature had given him shelter, yes. 125Please respect copyright.PENANAf87j5Qy1SD
125Please respect copyright.PENANA5yt8k5TeIm
But this wasn't living.125Please respect copyright.PENANAPa0uhbF59V
125Please respect copyright.PENANAnwVDaIbr4a
This was another kind of prison. Darker than the cell. Wetter than the cultists' stone floors. But a prison nonetheless.125Please respect copyright.PENANANlvO9F770Y
125Please respect copyright.PENANA2UEUdGTL0w
And he was done with prisons.125Please respect copyright.PENANAdHSvR6yJad
125Please respect copyright.PENANAMdnmsSAn3G
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.PENANAXrJN9UdF4J
125Please respect copyright.PENANArsRXEpZYgU
The decision settled over him like armor.125Please respect copyright.PENANARB7HbRAfeR
125Please respect copyright.PENANAr3nxO8ZKfC
Not because escape was safe. Not because his odds were good.125Please respect copyright.PENANA0o6lY69PX7
125Please respect copyright.PENANANKvgwSUsBc
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.PENANAvvBiqnHNMy
125Please respect copyright.PENANAMPLE9UE61X
The thought was unbearable.125Please respect copyright.PENANAPYfLTQy3xk
125Please respect copyright.PENANAF9wj47NsOc
His fingers curled against the socket's flesh, nails digging in slightly.125Please respect copyright.PENANAo0nVIeUMbD
125Please respect copyright.PENANA5j9PLwC3VP
'I'm coming for you. All of you.'125Please respect copyright.PENANAtDdrBjZbJm
125Please respect copyright.PENANAoREGYsWp3h
The creature's movement began to change. The diving motion shifted to something more horizontal. Leveling out.125Please respect copyright.PENANAij3yB2VP8c
125Please respect copyright.PENANA7FDgALvnro
Rising.125Please respect copyright.PENANAQQvOzwA3Jo
125Please respect copyright.PENANAJmrcanvj9Q
Cel's heart hammered against his ribs. His entire body tensed despite the confining space.125Please respect copyright.PENANAoTHM0Oc3Go
125Please respect copyright.PENANAZ1bxCOnAlH
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.PENANA8dn9alJ08n
125Please respect copyright.PENANAMBRBbpFKmS
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.PENANAczlmLXTU5s
125Please respect copyright.PENANA5bEJojUYdx
The pressure around him shifted as the throat angled upward more steeply.125Please respect copyright.PENANACCWgdP3whS
125Please respect copyright.PENANAMJ7hN6e5iy
Then they broke through.125Please respect copyright.PENANAAkzIWSq6uN
125Please respect copyright.PENANAJC5hzRzloD
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.PENANA85ApC9OAX9
125Please respect copyright.PENANALvsaQiC55V
Silver light.125Please respect copyright.PENANAQCeHhjaocq
125Please respect copyright.PENANAx45dAWdDwY
Moonlight.125Please respect copyright.PENANAcffNx8xbiS
125Please respect copyright.PENANAbS36bdTCTf
The realization struck him a heartbeat before the sensation did.125Please respect copyright.PENANAx5N8sb7Sow
125Please respect copyright.PENANAYDnUl51mF8
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.PENANA1Iv1WQ1r0h
125Please respect copyright.PENANAvitDxoXUft
His muscles didn't feel stronger. They felt eager. Ready. Like they'd been sleeping and had just woken hungry.125Please respect copyright.PENANALbzGMbucAG
125Please respect copyright.PENANACfeVqAMGSe
Lunar Vigor.125Please respect copyright.PENANAw0lbHYqBUo
125Please respect copyright.PENANAS3O2o4VJQo
The moon was nearly full.125Please respect copyright.PENANAdiexoDwRmX
125Please respect copyright.PENANAbY892DP4C0
Cel's lips pulled back from his teeth in a feral grin.125Please respect copyright.PENANAzWxjIAPO5L
125Please respect copyright.PENANATlhW03fEds
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.PENANAtczYPGGbci
125Please respect copyright.PENANAPadW0JYPAU
And in the center of it all, something fell through the opening.125Please respect copyright.PENANA9HbJjKwTKd
125Please respect copyright.PENANAvGLWHYmlRv
Fast. Thrashing. Screaming.125Please respect copyright.PENANAGGLAZzwsUm
125Please respect copyright.PENANA3eL3Tokqlc
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.PENANAqAUTyuVvSM
125Please respect copyright.PENANAGVz2CjipPo
The maw snapped shut.125Please respect copyright.PENANA6QkE3X5gPY
125Please respect copyright.PENANAPzrzrqVa1d
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.PENANAyUEUl7qrYR
125Please respect copyright.PENANAQRaYS5pILv
Cel froze in his socket, heart hammering, every muscle still coiled to spring—125Please respect copyright.PENANAQDNvHplSTj
125Please respect copyright.PENANAQNAEwX3SSB
A wet tearing sound, the scrape of claws on flesh, then a shriek - high and piercing, metal dragged across bone.125Please respect copyright.PENANA2lGFcWsRuI
125Please respect copyright.PENANAmWBr1Mt91V
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.PENANAQp13Fl3n8a
125Please respect copyright.PENANAkTO4uxtsiJ
But instead of sliding down with it, the creature caught itself. 125Please respect copyright.PENANAKPnkEUfN4U
125Please respect copyright.PENANAflL2QaENm8
Its remaining claws sank deep into the throat's walls - into the gap where Cel had carved away the teeth.125Please respect copyright.PENANAOadbRlyYj5
125Please respect copyright.PENANAHNwrvYc3W2
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.PENANAGz9MWd33Hb
125Please respect copyright.PENANAtQYdV83o0Z
But Cel had removed the grinder.125Please respect copyright.PENANAQ1RIbUQdns
125Please respect copyright.PENANAR8ieRcYxnw
Created a gap wide enough to slip through.125Please respect copyright.PENANA7rx7qIeert
125Please respect copyright.PENANAYuXyEsbfMS
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.PENANALDp8jhkX5Y
125Please respect copyright.PENANAcKE0U4zXAV
Blood sprayed. The throat convulsed.125Please respect copyright.PENANAXmt4jfMCon
125Please respect copyright.PENANAoJKaEacn8i
Cel pressed himself deeper into the socket as the violence exploded around him.125Please respect copyright.PENANAhcBQMtqYoh
125Please respect copyright.PENANA2ZHB6pMFrf
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.PENANAbfq5Retemh
125Please respect copyright.PENANA1foyYqUIM0
And even if he could fight—125Please respect copyright.PENANAczgZPGHHhT
125Please respect copyright.PENANAxsB3HhZxu9
The worm's entire body shuddered.125Please respect copyright.PENANAmQbm2nhsrv
125Please respect copyright.PENANALUfvZLJR36
Massive. Violent.125Please respect copyright.PENANA8r6Nd8VcZN
125Please respect copyright.PENANAEcAKLPXnl0
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.PENANAzeNV6T4gPW
125Please respect copyright.PENANAkpbYLp0Y3I
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.PENANARnqUDI0G0T
125Please respect copyright.PENANARUp7y6XrsB
But the creature held fast, shrieking and tearing with renewed frenzy.125Please respect copyright.PENANAVwE8Buiow2
125Please respect copyright.PENANAAjojnYTZbx
Cel's world became chaos. He was thrown against one side of the socket, then the other, as the worm thrashed. 125Please respect copyright.PENANAZonHt3QuX1
125Please respect copyright.PENANAF2cCWdWoL4
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.PENANAHlQ5KI8dgb
125Please respect copyright.PENANAEhYjPRJa8v
Fighting now would be suicide. Blind. Squeezed. While two creatures battled around him.125Please respect copyright.PENANAjfeZmYaGe2
125Please respect copyright.PENANAWdsNvWmqeQ
So Cel did the only thing he could.125Please respect copyright.PENANAz7PzdlJiqc
125Please respect copyright.PENANADm3RznxfDA
He held on. Pressed himself into the socket's flesh. Made himself small, still, invisible.125Please respect copyright.PENANAaYMxyeArcW
125Please respect copyright.PENANAEKBebcMa47
And waited.125Please respect copyright.PENANAbXYlXC8A1x
125Please respect copyright.PENANA5pjfoONrXr
The worm's movement changed.125Please respect copyright.PENANAN2E5qSWGe8
125Please respect copyright.PENANAbCThAiVAux
Rising again.125Please respect copyright.PENANAlHPhEvzCt0
125Please respect copyright.PENANATc4C14W1kX
Fast.125Please respect copyright.PENANAjtP2ytONmv
125Please respect copyright.PENANAumrLOa6P48
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.PENANAwoOA9wXY0c
125Please respect copyright.PENANAryjc92wV9b
Then they broke through.125Please respect copyright.PENANADZET7elXRO
125Please respect copyright.PENANA5JPMNwdslk
The maw flew open.125Please respect copyright.PENANAPyFwohKiO1
125Please respect copyright.PENANALuyZGo7oje
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.PENANAkGugKVmbNS
125Please respect copyright.PENANA98giMLplw3
But he barely registered it.125Please respect copyright.PENANAJnWvtr736i
125Please respect copyright.PENANAhCNFrcpWYq
Because the air had changed.125Please respect copyright.PENANARe6OaQbFrV
125Please respect copyright.PENANAYLA2Hr6vl2
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.PENANApq3W0gqedW
125Please respect copyright.PENANA0rAwcxZG8P
Red light ignited in the depths of the worm’s throat.
125Please respect copyright.PENANAQzDpaDqL0a

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