"Shit!" The word tore from Cel's throat as the ground vanished beneath him. 270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKssreOy5zE
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcsgWKio91v
For one suspended heartbeat, he hung over the void.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Fov00vqFg
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwDFro5JjVv
Then gravity took him.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqL9L8aKPSW
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXTgxe4lAiR
Above him, the maw yawned wide - concentric rows of teeth closing toward him like a trap sprung perfectly. The creature had erupted from below, swallowing upward, and he was falling straight into its gullet.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ7dGafouGX
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo58KglkZ3s
Cel's legs kicked against empty air, finding nothing.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgU8z1wOXlL
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNmMp3cHVV4
The maw snapped shut.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSFrlgxI2D2
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFu587HNb1L
Darkness swallowed the crimson sky. The teeth missed him - barely - their serrated edges scraping past inches from his skin. But the creature had him, trapped in the suffocating confines of its throat.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvDPgA0lqPv
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkn1xkXqrep
The walls contracted immediately. Heat pressed in from all sides, thick with the stench of decay and something acidic that burned his nostrils.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmOS0cfOcg6
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzpjNaF8SPb
His body still rotated from the momentum of his fall. The inner wall rushed toward him through the blackness. Silent Moon remained in his hand, angled forward by chance rather than design.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnV2NX5JbnL
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZlyT74oUf9
He drove it in with everything he had.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEdlrKxcSgh
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx3pxf2z2F3
The steel met flesh and stuck. Cel drove his weight behind it, feeling layers of tissue resist and tear as the blade sank arm-deep into the wall. Warm blood sprayed across his face, his chest, coating him in black ichor. 270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTfZydUQiOx
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhf7IsUvy9p
The creature didn't react. No shriek. No spasm. The walls continued their steady contraction, indifferent to steel embedded in them. He might as well have pricked it with a needle.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ27Gcn1TVyM
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm2wE17uzpf
Then the creature moved.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwvAX9pecFd
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6LWTn9gNGg
It plunged downward with violent force, diving into the earth like water. Cel’s body whipped back and forth as the creature twisted and writhed, tearing through rock and packed earth in its descent.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDWZZJjTQTV
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzaYj5DoyUs
His grip on Silent Moon's hilt was the only thing keeping him from being dragged deeper into the throat. His arms screamed, shoulders threatening to tear from their sockets as his body swung wild with each thrashing movement. The weapon held firm, anchored in flesh, but his fingers were slipping on blood-slick silk. 270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZELFR5VWiS
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg6eaavvGpV
Something cracked against his ribs - sharp, sudden, stealing his breath. 270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDY5buxyRZ
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeQ9GzqElMX
Debris poured through the open maw. Stone fragments, ash, chunks of earth torn free by the creature's passage, all funneling down this living tunnel in a deadly stream.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94CJPPMWBh
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV8pTvNqhwo
He twisted away, pressing himself against the slick inner wall, trying to predict trajectories he couldn't see. But the blackness turned every impact into surprise, every dodge into desperate guesswork.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡivbPlme4UC
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvQHGU6Iu5i
Stone cracked against his shoulder. Another caught his hip—270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRrIUhgawJf
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOdgiq5Mrsb
His left hand tore free.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ89y0a4YzuL
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCNkABuBB7H
The world lurched as his body swung out into open space, held only by his right hand wrapped around the hilt. The shoulder screamed.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMjeOYO7uf8
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaAjRbEzu1V
Panic detonated through him like wildfire. His arm was failing. One more violent twist and he'd lose his grip entirely—270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM1CuemZ3ES
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW30kH6zVah
His left hand shot up again, fingers wrapping over his right in a death grip. Both hands locked on the hilt, knuckles white with strain. But it wasn't enough. The blood, the thrashing, the angle - he was still slipping.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwo5GNJdCFR
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgkfz8ob7O8
‘Frostmark.’ The thought came like lightning.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFSEbEO7MtK
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgYbUAMgCee
He didn't hesitate.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4oozJxybnx
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeFZhYV5O8a
Cold exploded through his left palm.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpta0O20y9Z
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhd4k5DcqK1
Ice erupted from his left palm, racing over his right hand and sealing it to the hilt in a crystalline death grip. 270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2AgEbopb4N
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9K4znyKchD
Frostbite hit instantly - a searing, vicious cold that punched the breath from his lungs. The pain spread up his wrist in waves of agony worse than any blade, any flame. Like winter itself was devouring him from the inside out, eating through muscle and bone alike. 270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRSSV28e0W0
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLG34CmYUbH
Then something massive struck his skull.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuTzGa7uvwV
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyzaBdo4mNX
White light exploded behind his eyes. The world spun, tilted, shattered.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjMjW30Aihg
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7wZQWG0RuU
His consciousness fled.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwRIF33HoqU
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqbQFMGW8n9
***270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUjtExBpJf3
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0On2OiQ30d
Eventually, pain dragged him back.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD8qle9vjrt
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyBKGVQyetf
Not the sharp agony of an open wound, but a dull, throbbing ache that pulsed through his skull in time with his heartbeat. Each throb sent fresh waves of nausea through his stomach.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrM1L72m8rJ
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPF4a4jvcf6
Cel's awareness returned in fragments. First the pain. Then the darkness - so complete it might as well have been solid. Then the smell - rot,acid and something else, something organic that made him want to retch.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5r2nfzaLTJ
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8mIsoXB4BD
His body hung loose, suspended by his right arm stretched overhead. Blood had dried on his face in a crusted mask, pulling tight against his skin with every small movement. His right hand felt... wrong. Not painful. Not cold. Just absent, as if it had been severed at the wrist.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLbH6aH4QhG
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHPHvgzCIOe
Panic flared. He tried to flex his fingers.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ83S0tnThdN
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOnvygf69o7
Nothing.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUEibxo1cHC
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkQokwZy6SQ
Numb. Dead. Frozen to the hilt.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIQoK1wpxAR
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQsnhZ3gp7n
He tried his left hand. His fingers responded, flexing weakly against empty air. 270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkYHYRzSold
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYRdBueo0BS
Relief flooded through him. At least one hand still worked.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhKeELokb5K
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Xi4eFGCfo
He blinked, but the darkness remained absolute. No crimson sky. No ash-covered wasteland. Just black so complete it pressed against his eyeballs like a physical weight. The air was thick, heavy with moisture that clung to his skin.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ39NigTgzco
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbT1lH8DrmX
Memory crashed back in vivid detail. The collapsing ground. The maw snapping shut. Silent Moon plunged deep into yielding flesh. The creature diving into earth. Debris striking him until—270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6QG1VR3RMR
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGS48UJRAs2
Understanding followed a heartbeat later, and with it came something very familiar.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPqykfEMInS
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwBzAOe0AI7
Rage.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfWdYOSS9BU
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYXBgi4XaDy
'Fucking worm.' 270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpXj4ttFYk4
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6vG9BSpmlr
He'd thought himself lucky when the creature passed after devouring the fleeing one. Thought he'd simply gone unnoticed. 270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ03lwDQnmsI
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOmnNCgrytp
But this thing had seen him perfectly. It had simply been patient. Watching. Waiting. Playing dead while he stood there distracted by its first kill, lowering his guard, thinking himself safe. Then it had struck with perfect precision. 270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcTpmh2yoUC
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwFmnWkT839
Cel's jaw clenched so hard his teeth ached. 270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJc0Jo0yyUx
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK7bVZqDuq4
He'd been deceived. Made to believe the rules were different than they were. That he was somehow invisible to these creatures. And he'd believed it - because he'd wanted to believe it. Because it would have made survival so much easier.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGu9qrArR5b
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnCjYbauWvX
‘Stupid.’270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpYkSJg3woQ
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCpbVONEsqa
The fury settled in his chest like hot coals, steady and sustaining. Good. He'd need that anger. Need it to get through what came next.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgiuBgc0YTs
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtPBkh1C7A2
The creature had stopped moving now - settled deep beneath the earth, probably digesting its first meal while waiting for its second to die in its gut.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwmIST8TLED
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbvU2W6H9MQ
Cel hung there in the suffocating darkness, trying to orient himself. His body dangled loose, arms stretched toward what he assumed was up. Gravity pulled at his legs, his torso, everything pointing down into the black.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTbStzMA4Jl
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtwnHlMQ1Cb
He was alive. The ice hadn't broken.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz5MChwo8nk
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyQGKG915aB
Frostmark had saved him. The fragile frost that shattered from a single punch had actually held where his strength would have failed. It had kept him anchored while debris battered his skull unconscious, kept him from sliding into the digestive acids waiting below.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc6fRSiSY7N
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr3FM0Ou6yh
The irony was bitter. 270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUdeU1IM5iy
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyezC6dHHnn
Not even Unbroken Succession would have saved him here. That divine gift required moonlight to reach his corpse during a full moon. But buried in the gullet of a creature deep beneath the earth? The moon's light would never be able to touch his remains.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdzWpqQan0Q
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeiK3HXxTeZ
The disappointing, pathetic authority he'd written off as a joke had been the only thing standing between him and permanent death.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5QgpEnrQze
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT1ZALhW3ed
His throat tightened. He didn't know whether to feel grateful or furious.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZLNi7EZvR
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkUyyTd3H4a
A faint, rhythmic sound vibrated through the flesh around him. The creature's breathing, perhaps. Or its heartbeat. 270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMEVWkosIf7
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYho6w5aPV6
He couldn't stay here. Hanging blind in the creature's gullet while frostbite ate through his hand.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqZn1085Uoc
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9YXFA0391P
The way his body hung - arms overhead, legs pointing down - meant the creature had to be horizontal, stretched out like a snake at rest. Which meant he wasn't dangling over a void. There was ground below. Somewhere.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSV2CkGSTDl
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5F5u3YqmzD
Cel braced himself, then wrenched Silent Moon free from the flesh.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡabq2kpt1a4
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2yOKFftQpF
The blade tore loose with a wet, sucking sound. His stomach lurched as gravity took him. 270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqXky20AZJ5
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXSOTPgomon
He dropped through the darkness. Two seconds. Three. Long enough for panic to claw at his chest before— 270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxtQAU3yjfn
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzdQ54iVLYA
His body slammed into yielding flesh with a wet thud that drove the air from his lungs. Not ground. Not stone. The soft, slick floor of the creature's throat cushioned his fall.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5A0wNf8dQP
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO4UUb56MtJ
Cel lay there gasping, his frozen hand still locked around Silent Moon's hilt. The blade lay across his chest, free of the wall but bound to him by ice. Four crescent phases glowed along its length, piercing the darkness with soft white radiance. The glow painted his immediate surroundings in ghostly relief - ribbed walls glistening with mucus, organic ridges pulsing with the creature's rhythm.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ99F5MOz7H
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡckRZfH0g9f
Cel braced the hilt against the ground and slammed his left fist into the ice encasing his right hand. 270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdWoPjeWVH6
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHwTuEgmJ6r
The first blow skidded off at an angle, pain jolting up his wrist. He repositioned, aimed better. 270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwv06rhzvbB
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1hztOAv2VU
The second punch landed square - the frost shattered with a sharp crack, fragments scattering across the floor.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYnOSo9lV6Q
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡztVjnlUAbb
Yet his right hand remained numb. Dead weight at the end of his wrist. He tried to flex his fingers - nothing. The frostbite had gone too deep.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGVyqY6gXSx
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFz2UItJiQf
Cel grabbed Silent Moon with his other hand and pushed himself upright, testing his weight carefully. 270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNZ59OGzKwC
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpUpzPdiiMh
He needed to find a way out.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgCZhu8J8VB
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmG1k0Q6NB5
Going deeper would accomplish nothing. The creature's digestive system waited that way. Even if the acid didn't kill him, he'd simply be trapped in an even worse position.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJibCHLP8Dd
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXAKAfdhLsR
Carving his way through the flesh was impossible. Those obsidian-hard plates he'd glimpsed covered the creature's exterior - armor that had probably turned aside a thousand claws and fangs. He doubted Silent Moon could pierce them.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH9WbyVkJnN
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKoEqWT6fDn
That left the mouth.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9439W2yWRY
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoyvXcS8FdK
But the maw had snapped shut when it swallowed him. He'd felt it close like a trap, and he couldn't possibly force it open. And even if he managed that miracle, how far down had the creature dived? How much earth lay between him and the surface?270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIZnS0D080Q
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs99rTqJITx
His mind turned to Selina. He could enter his soul. Ask for guidance—270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNhdT96LDXl
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡus7YFKoyFC
No.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy0L6rhifBA
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ6tp9GiWKy
If the creature moved again - and it would, eventually - he needed to be conscious. Needed to be ready to drive Silent Moon deep and hold on for another violent ride through stone and earth. Entering his soul now was suicide.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdEPVqNnXXK
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj56WwoHh2P
So he was trapped. Waiting in a living prison until the creature decided to surface.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD7ePr847p1
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEKukRI7MQh
His only chance came when it opened its mouth on its own. To hunt. To breathe. Whatever these things did.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMEQ1CJVmFV
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb7jtBMbxkv
But the teeth…270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAt1fZDFiyK
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyzwcoeUmk4
Cel's gaze swept across the throat again, and something white gleamed near. He squinted through the dim light.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbXqONbFs1C
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUiW5dpa4ul
A tooth. As tall as he was, maybe taller. Curved like a scimitar, serrated along its inner edge.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbB4aoJSewC
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlb9ZfMqsj8
His stomach clenched. Getting past those teeth had been luck. Pure, stupid luck when the maw had snapped shut and missed him by inches. Trying to slip through them consciously, while the creature was active and aware?270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWbbxGvjKUI
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡan8SUp00SB
The odds were worse.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQIcpk3j0lC
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5FWu8jUa6y
Unless…270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEC7whTd9Yj
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLHmVlz9S5J
An idea struck. Cold. Brutal. Utterly insane.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBNeY3csS1S
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ6Rgll9vGG
What if the creature had no teeth?270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV7CTwNLjYp
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUAZZ9jYN7k
A grin spread across his blood-crusted face, wild and malicious in the blade's ghostly light.270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOe8QBuOQpr
270Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcCNxq5wqSo
"You swallowed the wrong meal, bastard."1234 copyright protection266ＰＥＮＡＮＡhxBKsm53T4 尼

216.73.216.136