"Shit!" The word tore from Cel's throat as the ground vanished beneath him. 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFYn6msYqXG
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlHMMSfvtk7
For one suspended heartbeat, he hung over the void.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdpYM7jpPF1
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsdaWbqqI6A
Then gravity took him.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn1SbWWCIsA
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3MC64wJx0P
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF1rl88x4dn
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRxIB1qfUTQ
Cel's legs kicked against empty air, finding nothing.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM2LGDxJluY
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI7NjJIkJJ2
The maw snapped shut.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgkQMW8loO5
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwsjX9Iv9Oc
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIX9dim9ukF
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxeNkf7bWUP
The walls contracted immediately. Heat pressed in from all sides, thick with the stench of decay and something acidic that burned his nostrils.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTutSRtIJCb
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeCfF6JnlCg
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡARTJnGCZWN
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡihpGyDDrWC
He drove it in with everything he had.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIaPVV8qSe0
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFx9EhcLpNh
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. 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwNAx7uVfuD
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrnBXEA0QUy
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCHpIO9Osys
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYrI62s1C4f
Then the creature moved.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPNqMMLDXwk
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfrSphMANYF
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSbNn9Jz4H8
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiCULnFqC6a
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. 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPlMRATH9Qk
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoUh4W8bv9L
Something cracked against his ribs - sharp, sudden, stealing his breath. 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡviGmJpqXLF
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx2ilBZcD3S
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFZFfLW4q5y
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD9X2zHoRV6
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmyXDxBHFoB
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxgCbeYmgrG
Stone cracked against his shoulder. Another caught his hip—180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrFJ69YSNdL
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOywszHzrue
His left hand tore free.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzfRqjDu1QI
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdmi1c5m2jJ
The world lurched as his body swung out into open space, held only by his right hand wrapped around the hilt. The shoulder screamed.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKSw5WSiSAI
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg90UhOIWmQ
Panic detonated through him like wildfire. His arm was failing. One more violent twist and he'd lose his grip entirely—180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrciSIhGTAd
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBBs7Q9Lsp5
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPR60qZtmsU
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh5997Qi0v8
‘Frostmark.’ The thought came like lightning.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0m6nNhjSbo
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8OhcrFtw0S
He didn't hesitate.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ85hLvZc9eC
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhxkeJEwjdA
Cold exploded through his left palm.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡabaRy7EyXR
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCz2a9bcWIj
Ice erupted from his left palm, racing over his right hand and sealing it to the hilt in a crystalline death grip. 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡToafewDR17
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAc7XcRAPzm
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. 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVg7ulx6l2P
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ZRiwKFIfA
Then something massive struck his skull.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyk8WNsULtw
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv1xrfBgzcc
White light exploded behind his eyes. The world spun, tilted, shattered.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwox1MUVjOq
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4KlCYjMrq5
His consciousness fled.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg7OUDhfYZs
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo4raC9afXX
***180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzciyz1AC4W
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDDplkLRnWF
Eventually, pain dragged him back.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6KdLByg0F9
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0DyILBcfaf
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV3bLA01RbK
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6RmDImABtS
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY2QLwciy9E
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB1QZXaQnQm
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkRSKCpEUb7
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo38YtxHgwp
Panic flared. He tried to flex his fingers.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEVlPtt8PkW
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6OGv3jgHvj
Nothing.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmDkfvtknB1
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOa9nBUZt3r
Numb. Dead. Frozen to the hilt.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEqWyWu0cqj
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgwzIAUBF6T
He tried his left hand. His fingers responded, flexing weakly against empty air. 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7wKdWMcBTa
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGf73a92I14
Relief flooded through him. At least one hand still worked.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRyzxOS9sOQ
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDWqItdwR3q
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl149TGUWUx
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYT3fq9xvkt
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—180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCxpQO7651s
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0qaFthjzx4
Understanding followed a heartbeat later, and with it came something very familiar.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV8krN7OHkx
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEwAf2ngU2q
Rage.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWqyBAlkMTc
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNjw26ULd6M
'Fucking worm.' 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNTKeSdEHAy
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPlRtWF9hAF
He'd thought himself lucky when the creature passed after devouring the fleeing one. Thought he'd simply gone unnoticed. 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9rfawKNpMM
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCq18pO6qEw
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. 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxbnoktBDpo
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFLZN106Wli
Cel's jaw clenched so hard his teeth ached. 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqRoLmb4yMb
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9RBk005DtN
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Emk3zMiIK
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT4xXO89bY4
‘Stupid.’180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzdpIw2UyYW
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAlRgI1Ai9Z
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV3VwJhj2VK
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcSGfCITesr
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6HZ0JK6ZDo
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLqcCApeB08
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTR0pC9FDNs
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU3hZ8OBm2Q
He was alive. The ice hadn't broken.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXtLnthHtWl
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Yl85VHIid
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRIeHe21dmj
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAcAbmajXoc
The irony was bitter. 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2tggbLiJvi
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGzhEwTwXDO
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVWHqGOdHhZ
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBWq2oM0X6j
The disappointing, pathetic authority he'd written off as a joke had been the only thing standing between him and permanent death.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡha1WzZUAsQ
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtHfzNn7QXD
His throat tightened. He didn't know whether to feel grateful or furious.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGuxhJkUkDu
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnHoJJzBnw0
A faint, rhythmic sound vibrated through the flesh around him. The creature's breathing, perhaps. Or its heartbeat. 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDTOOcFYa0J
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCPwxwDPJ3p
He couldn't stay here. Hanging blind in the creature's gullet while frostbite ate through his hand.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyAz5Y4ojFo
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD5xitiCqFG
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSCsYQATYPQ
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8YK0FqEwA
Cel braced himself, then wrenched Silent Moon free from the flesh.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFO8PDkgIU2
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKo4gZb0kw8
The blade tore loose with a wet, sucking sound. His stomach lurched as gravity took him. 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4OMgv0Fdqd
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡITT91YXEUJ
He dropped through the darkness. Two seconds. Three. Long enough for panic to claw at his chest before— 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDvczUS3uHO
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpFDtRJ8OJw
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwbbbWrsi28
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3gdwvQvvwa
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTEsNFqfOne
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZFCoeQvzI
Cel braced the hilt against the ground and slammed his left fist into the ice encasing his right hand. 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0iAtvrrTMf
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDlZh5Wx18f
The first blow skidded off at an angle, pain jolting up his wrist. He repositioned, aimed better. 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3p6YBBvdAX
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxaAS0k1LzV
The second punch landed square - the frost shattered with a sharp crack, fragments scattering across the floor.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfRE0e6hY6e
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyc8gkNKbcJ
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8kP607Nwc1
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLCd69do6y5
Cel grabbed Silent Moon with his other hand and pushed himself upright, testing his weight carefully. 180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEystLizTFi
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiYS4jbuL7c
He needed to find a way out.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQJWH7hLKaz
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5sEVTWCwQX
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFNJfzzbAmS
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkgVrtPF4yp
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEHiVDaTpY2
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxNWE2YppUC
That left the mouth.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfdlTv9FECQ
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWs69muOpnU
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?180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOLRz1Ief2z
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxMy6kbK0zL
His mind turned to Selina. He could enter his soul. Ask for guidance—180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMmmdST1y5o
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2wLMXUm9BK
No.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIPjYXmAJto
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0oT2XWzgR7
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.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2a76tOZgtm
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS7bmVYsNao
So he was trapped. Waiting in a living prison until the creature decided to surface.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKrmjyDBgiG
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuSLeJCtzlt
His only chance came when it opened its mouth on its own. To hunt. To breathe. Whatever these things did.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8rycGUk46s
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBb3P1biQ3N
But the teeth…180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2w5iMXhyPr
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBqLT3ZFR1f
Cel's gaze swept across the throat again, and something white gleamed near. He squinted through the dim light.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ04JeL8HG7j
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0nRheg6rq
A tooth. As tall as he was, maybe taller. Curved like a scimitar, serrated along its inner edge.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcTEaEQozej
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0qa98bOdEm
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?180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7vcYXrywn2
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbaK1BbVolq
The odds were worse.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFuJWqgrTeo
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQjNdM8sqLh
Unless…180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGPB6iZ1Vs
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmoX5EHEPXO
An idea struck. Cold. Brutal. Utterly insane.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK1dDYMW3qI
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe4ZUPfWIbn
What if the creature had no teeth?180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAbEI6T9AVh
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA5QRtzsadt
A grin spread across his blood-crusted face, wild and malicious in the blade's ghostly light.180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Gab0STwDW
180Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIl6xVc8pTc
"You swallowed the wrong meal, bastard."1234 copyright protection176ＰＥＮＡＮＡYcyy1PrkZZ 尼

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