"Shit!" The word tore from Cel's throat as the ground vanished beneath him. 33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5KK3jYaSs7
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSU2PLbSu2u
For one suspended heartbeat, he hung over the void.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhmlUZ8nSau
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbjjCWzh0Fr
Then gravity took him.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlqdrCAMiQQ
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQu4fvpFtGf
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.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9VUUEhjpvn
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjdnCnrvK2k
Cel's legs kicked against empty air, finding nothing.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn4VgZnF2H6
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGb3Z4wTaG9
The maw snapped shut.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO050PQ80lw
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe2VvGvpEEW
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.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPXpeRpow0S
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMCnNJJNwxt
The walls contracted immediately. Heat pressed in from all sides, thick with the stench of decay and something acidic that burned his nostrils.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCsgWtu5E3g
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0PdlHR23mD
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.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwhr3YhNwxe
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn2aRUK5TqR
He drove it in with everything he had.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtaSScMHsdn
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxgnWlTWfjP
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. 33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhDHzYnQ3UT
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Zy0O54Qdc
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.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0MtYjVLfo2
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ79Xl1FeZOI
Then the creature moved.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeuX8GFQwk2
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZEKZdj8SND
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.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiOyoEK31AD
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbqzaJIIY2P
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. 33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCGgQnzm977
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPlZHRFFJB7
Something cracked against his ribs - sharp, sudden, stealing his breath. 33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7krfZtnVab
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCmSB8VxlPU
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.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOGVLxNUVUG
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ85fX85Dzml
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.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvpngDwPZqL
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbluYT1mAKE
Stone cracked against his shoulder. Another caught his hip—33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqsz7bORWE1
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPcClI3dM3x
His left hand tore free.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0RyYObTLGH
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR5NgMm7tQe
The world lurched as his body swung out into open space, held only by his right hand wrapped around the hilt. The shoulder screamed.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQE5ZoW0hPl
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtYzP0ZKn8Z
Panic detonated through him like wildfire. His arm was failing. One more violent twist and he'd lose his grip entirely—33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmxmoAY1cT0
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡplObBXseB6
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.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhe3LiGw9e
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxd135mtAKj
‘Frostmark.’ The thought came like lightning.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgoK7at1J0R
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfm5e7d6p8e
He didn't hesitate.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxgSNjzEYvA
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ZXUalMuHR
Cold exploded through his left palm.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1oCjzMjdQu
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV8ZvqeU9eC
Ice erupted from his left palm, racing over his right hand and sealing it to the hilt in a crystalline death grip. 33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbm0NK1T3Oc
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFEKhV5WJIE
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. 33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYw1mIQrlaE
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwYxLb97ANU
Then something massive struck his skull.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVl3bu5wT5m
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXxxJiL7py9
White light exploded behind his eyes. The world spun, tilted, shattered.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡndXZnW0EDP
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDOyz4OHVUQ
His consciousness fled.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJG5ErJ0iLx
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdLXukmSE8A
***33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX4Wmqop99w
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFfxTPWRyvH
Eventually, pain dragged him back.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoO2FdYeGLz
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaEUOBGjyDU
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.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeTjWUWPR4t
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkg8tQ3CznO
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.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRY5LeTU3zt
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNwiQuMNxYB
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.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRsq35WBeLE
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo5BdL2eRjU
Panic flared. He tried to flex his fingers.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlvZZwbQMkP
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk5osohDqR7
Nothing.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ45naMls6ON
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaRIkArq2QD
Numb. Dead. Frozen to the hilt.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPYpbp6sRls
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjeT4edKM9f
He tried his left hand. His fingers responded, flexing weakly against empty air. 33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXLdFzwv6jL
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE2vMSFK7B8
Relief flooded through him. At least one hand still worked.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDTHTSytXUo
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvY2BLHUw1o
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.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsayJBjp3Xg
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeM3o24n4os
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—33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq1ia5zBaaq
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYDQDedgMry
Understanding followed a heartbeat later, and with it came something very familiar.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnuisUhUrea
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqatEBaEWPJ
Rage.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCDYqC2PUQS
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuqsvM5fQeB
'Fucking worm.' 33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLiRWLFZDjM
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR9MjqalOx8
He'd thought himself lucky when the creature passed after devouring the fleeing one. Thought he'd simply gone unnoticed. 33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHG2tSsZdw8
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIoAsgu9zgB
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. 33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxttcGJJ1w5
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe3jzoU5ppA
Cel's jaw clenched so hard his teeth ached. 33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡflfsTmnNv0
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwklsjVfN4U
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.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuAFTmk7sis
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEYu9OxGR89
‘Stupid.’33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdefpkwGHGn
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWEaEjXCfCI
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.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbNrliILzN
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdZF3eKmreS
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.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx20iX1jfi1
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHrwxFT4vYC
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.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd32nYPOiQx
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlZ4AC5LK9W
He was alive. The ice hadn't broken.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9I14AmdwNq
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgI2KboYvMx
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.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmQ8P0C5QYe
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLlQvmdW4yM
The irony was bitter. 33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0zzuA0hFuy
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPebq96O5XC
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.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWOdKUTgbCv
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF4ewUePIaU
The disappointing, pathetic authority he'd written off as a joke had been the only thing standing between him and permanent death.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMSkqbvAsph
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvi532N8cac
His throat tightened. He didn't know whether to feel grateful or furious.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfT9xpAVeXl
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmlghBjZPT
A faint, rhythmic sound vibrated through the flesh around him. The creature's breathing, perhaps. Or its heartbeat. 33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXY41bPdx4b
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQjkMNx6eBr
He couldn't stay here. Hanging blind in the creature's gullet while frostbite ate through his hand.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfxLe1jJrLI
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlnDJZWruBf
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.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5R7qI8nXWs
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCFg6rIX6Yu
Cel braced himself, then wrenched Silent Moon free from the flesh.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJNwGvmhfS5
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzSjKK0rxag
The blade tore loose with a wet, sucking sound. His stomach lurched as gravity took him. 33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT8oEcNt25k
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ570kkW784z
He dropped through the darkness. Two seconds. Three. Long enough for panic to claw at his chest before— 33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQSqEmpTCs
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtAGgZJsxmb
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.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpYKBAAYPCi
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc7s3LbpIo2
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.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2BoE7fELH9
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj0xUdfYHkS
Cel braced the hilt against the ground and slammed his left fist into the ice encasing his right hand. 33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlaO1CoqJnP
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡco3pHUFXl7
The first blow skidded off at an angle, pain jolting up his wrist. He repositioned, aimed better. 33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5HstW0hPmx
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡORSlikMcSA
The second punch landed square - the frost shattered with a sharp crack, fragments scattering across the floor.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvxMFHXtcnX
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNx54vgn6cc
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.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3gyjXpkIuz
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj86UbGm4L2
Cel grabbed Silent Moon with his other hand and pushed himself upright, testing his weight carefully. 33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2OWifpmcgs
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuvHgFxXDrK
He needed to find a way out.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBBHQfvqgqG
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0lEnPZZryb
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.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlSsgas6A3o
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFs6JFm4Hdz
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.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHaD6q2yuSr
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDoe0On62h
That left the mouth.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi6nh9su9qp
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6xJEryareU
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?33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsaMUxIN3nL
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnC6qAZUkSk
His mind turned to Selina. He could enter his soul. Ask for guidance—33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6JkEWpocsG
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsnwk14L6ar
No.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjtk9hK0DBl
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFL0G47rw3V
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.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0pvXPJ2bWG
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU4sBWWbWiE
So he was trapped. Waiting in a living prison until the creature decided to surface.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCe2t7PwlZp
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpZmtacZqaT
His only chance came when it opened its mouth on its own. To hunt. To breathe. Whatever these things did.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjnIYay8UPi
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1YK8lS591i
But the teeth…33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfqHIrUNtuE
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpYQB7lmmd2
Cel's gaze swept across the throat again, and something white gleamed near. He squinted through the dim light.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLGMyH1jbjs
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDQThMqMLl7
A tooth. As tall as he was, maybe taller. Curved like a scimitar, serrated along its inner edge.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUfRiAx7ijR
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY5SUSCfgzT
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?33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8DV3Sjy4hD
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTPQtSz9y1K
The odds were worse.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtBIsLYs5wW
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAayGSiEgpL
Unless…33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpFsI2x7fMw
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnE8w2dbk4G
An idea struck. Cold. Brutal. Utterly insane.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7KHr92GJ1H
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb0ndGea5j7
What if the creature had no teeth?33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhuTPoN3pns
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx3xwWgg6T0
A grin spread across his blood-crusted face, wild and malicious in the blade's ghostly light.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHZTiBJd2PS
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXfswCr6qXX
"You swallowed the wrong meal, bastard."1234 copyright protection29ＰＥＮＡＮＡibb5kAHSZ5 尼

216.73.216.33