Cel stared down past the thrashing creature, past the torn flesh and pooling blood, into the stomach far below.57Please respect copyright.PENANAnEFRdmV4Bw
57Please respect copyright.PENANAq2qG7Aqxo1
The glow was spreading. Rising.57Please respect copyright.PENANANMDMjO16B4
57Please respect copyright.PENANAXNG2cefNPW
Something hot and ancient stirred in those depths - corrosive fire that promised to turn everything in this throat to ash.57Please respect copyright.PENANALqkVltlOpv
57Please respect copyright.PENANAqStzMnUX9x
Red light painted the ribbed walls in hellish hues. The stench hit his nose - sharp, acrid, burning with each breath.57Please respect copyright.PENANAQvuEamEz0V
57Please respect copyright.PENANAFZrpOHE6CU
The smaller creature shrieked in rising panic. Its claws gouged frantically at the throat's walls, shredding flesh in its desperation to escape.57Please respect copyright.PENANAxvPoW0doBh
57Please respect copyright.PENANAgUWrmAiBic
Heat flooded upward through the worm's body - not seeping, but rushing like water through a broken dam. The flesh around him began to cook. The organic walls steamed, moisture evaporating in seconds.57Please respect copyright.PENANAlqnsPzPSHx
57Please respect copyright.PENANAAP8Z5x8i32
Instinct screamed at him before understanding caught up.57Please respect copyright.PENANAXu5mZqNrpy
57Please respect copyright.PENANAfWvxCVPHww
The worm was going to breathe fire.57Please respect copyright.PENANAI4lBkneajO
57Please respect copyright.PENANATPjbcxzM79
And there was nowhere in this entire throat that would protect him from it.57Please respect copyright.PENANAja66BpRaLO
57Please respect copyright.PENANAFG5RkTI654
The socket wouldn't save him. The walls offered no shelter. The teeth were his only exit - but the thrashing creature blocked the way, a whirlwind of claws between him and freedom.57Please respect copyright.PENANAnpMGcqxluG
57Please respect copyright.PENANAQV0tT7vmnJ
Cel's mind raced through options with crystalline clarity.57Please respect copyright.PENANAxljlczWjAQ
57Please respect copyright.PENANAu4JnP01xT9
He could try to slip past. Risk those claws tearing him apart while the molten breath rose behind him.57Please respect copyright.PENANAFdA2qgFghk
57Please respect copyright.PENANAOiDcf5nDKG
Or…57Please respect copyright.PENANA58dWQNOpIM
57Please respect copyright.PENANAuoyW2etmY4
His gaze locked on the creature's stone-like back.57Please respect copyright.PENANAFCkY3yTiaJ
57Please respect copyright.PENANAbVjscckb9k
'Use it as a shield.' The thought arrived cold and certain. 57Please respect copyright.PENANAQVYZOPTTRu
57Please respect copyright.PENANAmmFNNnE2hs
The smaller creature was already dead - it just didn't know it yet. But its body could shield him. Give him a chance to survive the coming inferno.57Please respect copyright.PENANAZQnHMWCsMZ
57Please respect copyright.PENANAiPrAUItdoo
But would its flesh hold against that heat?57Please respect copyright.PENANA9DhBQcl56v
57Please respect copyright.PENANAGQr40GCyvS
Doubtful.57Please respect copyright.PENANAB9ZlQxnRGO
57Please respect copyright.PENANARnbOza9Lsu
If he reinforced it though…57Please respect copyright.PENANA3nXGV1inQQ
57Please respect copyright.PENANAQ5P8Y9aclG
Cel threw himself out of the socket.57Please respect copyright.PENANA6NWlm6dLuJ
57Please respect copyright.PENANAaAIh0sEFu3
His feet hit the slick floor and he immediately launched forward - not toward the exit, but toward the thrashing nightmare between him and freedom.57Please respect copyright.PENANAXQGWQFWQQ7
57Please respect copyright.PENANAlrsWzcMIZa
The creature was a whirlwind of violence. Its claws tore at the throat's walls with mindless fury, ripping away chunks of flesh in sprays of blood. Its serpentine body coiled and writhed, every movement driven by pure animal panic as the red light grew brighter below.57Please respect copyright.PENANAKI1yT0s4Yo
57Please respect copyright.PENANAfUIlGGVh9U
Cel dove into that chaos.57Please respect copyright.PENANA9YW12DL83j
57Please respect copyright.PENANA1ZQ7zyGDeA
A claw swept past his face - so close he felt the displaced air. He twisted, using momentum to drive his shoulder into the creature's side. The impact jarred through his already wounded body, but it gave him what he needed.57Please respect copyright.PENANAvvDsdn3yZ1
57Please respect copyright.PENANAVqqMrewzKG
Contact.57Please respect copyright.PENANAN5o9apPRis
57Please respect copyright.PENANA86U29jPYbe
His left hand slammed flat against the thing's stone-like back, and frost spread across its skin in a spreading wave.57Please respect copyright.PENANA8jOteUPs0j
57Please respect copyright.PENANAQiGzmnG5Fg
It shrieked - metal dragged across bone - and whipped its entire body around with murderous intent. The thing that had been panicking about the worm was now focused on a new, immediate threat: whatever was touching it needed to die.57Please respect copyright.PENANAafRIboNTDH
57Please respect copyright.PENANATU4hhE1eqi
Its remaining claws found Cel's chest.57Please respect copyright.PENANA0HfmlGU5bq
57Please respect copyright.PENANAIVt0iRogNE
Four lines of white-hot agony opened from collarbone to ribs. Blood sprayed across both of them. The creature twisted in his grip like a serpent, trying to tear itself free, trying to reach his face with those needle-ringed teeth.57Please respect copyright.PENANA8pHfVqh2lj
57Please respect copyright.PENANAtiU3v1C6Rw
Cel grabbed it with his left arm and squeezed it against his body despite the pain.57Please respect copyright.PENANAwmdC1JC2U8
57Please respect copyright.PENANAs1P1iFgmYO
He wasn't trying to restrain it completely - that would be impossible. The creature was too strong, too frenzied. But he could redirect it. Turn its ice-armored back toward the depths below while keeping his own body behind that frozen shield.57Please respect copyright.PENANAmVWFATqVFQ
57Please respect copyright.PENANAl73eMy0qrm
The creature's assault became even more vicious. Claws raked his arms, his shoulders, his jaw - anywhere they could reach. Each strike opened fresh wounds.57Please respect copyright.PENANARWbMHuFcQ1
57Please respect copyright.PENANAMfdz14JbZI
But Cel held on.57Please respect copyright.PENANAeiERYzMM6S
57Please respect copyright.PENANAdjvxwTpbae
Held his living shield between himself and the approaching death.57Please respect copyright.PENANAOpxmIKX60b
57Please respect copyright.PENANAtLLiAdBWCP
The red light reached blinding intensity.57Please respect copyright.PENANAaKAq07OfEn
57Please respect copyright.PENANAWHK8MHyPxy
Heat slammed into the ice-armored back with the force of an avalanche. The frost cracked, shattered, reformed under his intent in rapid succession as impossible temperature met divine cold in explosive conflict.57Please respect copyright.PENANAf77pch2aR6
57Please respect copyright.PENANAcTEZbwCImk
But heat bled through anyway. The creature shrieked - not just fury now, but agony. The heat was cooking it from behind despite the frost, charring flesh the ice couldn't fully protect.57Please respect copyright.PENANAi1Nkocp0DB
57Please respect copyright.PENANAHh9uJAt7Pq
Cel's skin reddened, then blistered, then began to char under temperatures meant to melt stone. 57Please respect copyright.PENANAAMxSojoAPu
57Please respect copyright.PENANAIYie6FLwiE
His left arm, wrapped around the creature to anchor the ice against its back, suffered worst. With no frost between flesh and hide, the heat had direct access. The burn went deep, sustained, eating through skin with methodical cruelty.57Please respect copyright.PENANAJRq70orRSb
57Please respect copyright.PENANAMJCuAxptBy
Then the pressure wave hit.57Please respect copyright.PENANAa9LulcvzTK
57Please respect copyright.PENANAMj23PJv0QW
They were launched from the worm's maw like stones from a catapult - hurled into the night sky with such violent force that Cel's vision went white. The creature's weight became meaningless. His grip broke and they tumbled through empty air, spinning, separated by sheer momentum.57Please respect copyright.PENANA3mq4gQ7P2u
57Please respect copyright.PENANAeMBkTah11R
The world spun in chaotic fragments - ash, moonlight, obsidian stones vomited from the worm's stomach alongside them. Massive fragments larger than his entire body flew through the air in a deadly storm, their razor edges catching silver light.57Please respect copyright.PENANAXKgfZppX6U
57Please respect copyright.PENANAl48nPHHojD
Cel's back slammed into ash-covered ground with bone-crushing force. The air exploded from his lungs. He rolled, tumbled, limbs flailing as momentum carried him across the wasteland.57Please respect copyright.PENANAeOOyslzSKM
57Please respect copyright.PENANAi7O2qtZOnE
Obsidian stones rained down around him.57Please respect copyright.PENANAMP4vPZb9Et
57Please respect copyright.PENANAnORJzyGh0c
One struck his leg - a glancing blow that sent fresh agony lancing through already burned flesh. Another whipped past his face, close enough to feel the heat of its passage, before it slammed into the ground somewhere behind him in his spin.57Please respect copyright.PENANARK8gykbopQ
57Please respect copyright.PENANADfRfDke5Ud
He hit the ground three more times during his uncontrolled tumble before finally stopping, sprawled face-down in ash that clung to his wounds like salt in open cuts.57Please respect copyright.PENANA5n1luq8yp1
57Please respect copyright.PENANAjJPP09AUga
For several heartbeats, he couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. His body simply refused to obey, overwhelmed by accumulated damage.57Please respect copyright.PENANABRS8Lc3kOQ
57Please respect copyright.PENANA2LAN5y4jFb
Then his lungs remembered their purpose.57Please respect copyright.PENANAH61LY7NQdH
57Please respect copyright.PENANAmfxJIp7b4p
Air rushed in - painful, burning, but real.57Please respect copyright.PENANAUhMs9JuzaU
57Please respect copyright.PENANAQuJdByncNS
Cel pushed himself up slowly, ash cascading from his back in gray streams. The air was thick with it - choking clouds stirred up by the worm's breath and the rain of obsidian. 57Please respect copyright.PENANAyCxZEzwpP4
57Please respect copyright.PENANAWafwWPU4xd
He blinked hard, trying to clear his vision.57Please respect copyright.PENANASFdgPoj7Oh
57Please respect copyright.PENANAfMbR2VW9CF
Movement in the distance caught his attention.57Please respect copyright.PENANAw5dCSjAX0a
57Please respect copyright.PENANAJGYyZK1th6
The massive worm.57Please respect copyright.PENANAeL82k32xnT
57Please respect copyright.PENANAAVh2fUs6NF
Still surfaced. Its enormous body writhed above ground, steam rising from its open maw where the molten breath had scorched even its own flesh. For a moment it remained there, coiled like a conqueror surveying its domain.57Please respect copyright.PENANAseqD18XvSe
57Please respect copyright.PENANA96AsbcKHj2
Then it began to sink.57Please respect copyright.PENANAuwTMsKAWay
57Please respect copyright.PENANAxHyyO0P508
Slowly at first, then faster. The ground opened beneath it - not violently, but as if the earth itself welcomed the creature home. Within seconds, nothing remained. Stone sealed behind it like water closing over a dropped pebble.57Please respect copyright.PENANAThaNKQnuS9
57Please respect copyright.PENANA2u9JLsrSUq
Gone.57Please respect copyright.PENANA9dKw1EXxNh
57Please respect copyright.PENANAFvgF1wDFaf
Cel's gaze swept across the wasteland.57Please respect copyright.PENANAkpjABZ7U6P
57Please respect copyright.PENANAXHWi9wQEl4
The destruction was absolute. Where the breath had touched, the ground was scorched black, cracked like dried clay. Obsidian stones littered the landscape - some still glowing faint red with residual heat, others already cooling to dull black. Ash drifted through the air in lazy spirals, settling over everything in a fresh gray shroud.57Please respect copyright.PENANAImItbPpMbG
57Please respect copyright.PENANALvahHHmpnb
Then he saw it.57Please respect copyright.PENANAgx0mVomYq4
57Please respect copyright.PENANAzy3rP96Wtq
The smaller creature lay perhaps fifteen steps away, broken and steaming. Its body was shattered - body bent at an angle that shouldn't exist, its remaining arm twisted beneath its torso. Parts of its stone-like skin had cracked from extreme temperature shifts—frozen, then cooked, then frozen again.57Please respect copyright.PENANA10umoYhFOI
57Please respect copyright.PENANAgcJFR7srMe
But Cel's gaze didn't linger.57Please respect copyright.PENANA8191l6w9RH
57Please respect copyright.PENANAtWHOeLAblv
Movement behind the creature caught his attention - something massive shifting on the horizon.57Please respect copyright.PENANA5yZY31Ah3Y
57Please respect copyright.PENANA0WSuMtr9az
His eyes traveled past the broken body, past the scattered obsidian, to what lay beyond.57Please respect copyright.PENANAaMTjjUhmOg
57Please respect copyright.PENANATaQgIQ7kJI
Ice flooded his veins.57Please respect copyright.PENANAfhzPCxGOCM
57Please respect copyright.PENANAJPJJWMs3u3
A wall of ash rose in the distance - impossibly tall, impossibly wide. Not drifting lazily like the settling dust around him, but spinning. Churning. A massive tornado of gray and black that devoured everything in its path, advancing across the wasteland with relentless purpose.57Please respect copyright.PENANAd0winO3Yjj
57Please respect copyright.PENANA4L4xxs7tyQ
The sound reached him a heartbeat later - a low, hollow roar that seemed to come from the earth itself.57Please respect copyright.PENANAiw23OoPp3W
57Please respect copyright.PENANAgLy6oINpra
Cel spun around, scanning desperately for shelter.57Please respect copyright.PENANAsPMMnbxepv
57Please respect copyright.PENANAo775Gj6YMU
Distant shapes jutted from the wasteland - ruins, their crumbling walls half-buried in ash. Ancient, crumbling, but they offered something better than standing exposed in the open.57Please respect copyright.PENANAmo1cOkinYr
57Please respect copyright.PENANAl3w6Rd26OL
He ran.57Please respect copyright.PENANANSXfyrdtD6
57Please respect copyright.PENANALE6qPvFOKe
His enhanced legs launched him forward in powerful, uneven strides. Each step carried him farther than expected, his burned and clawed body protesting the abuse, but fear drove him harder than pain ever could.57Please respect copyright.PENANAw9eIfGwplS
57Please respect copyright.PENANAEcYuDqG0wr
The roar grew louder behind him. Closer.57Please respect copyright.PENANAX75B72TRd6
57Please respect copyright.PENANA6KELaoR6WT
Movement flickered in his peripheral vision.57Please respect copyright.PENANAFA3MXQFald
57Please respect copyright.PENANAJSTxqP6kP4
Cel's head snapped sideways.57Please respect copyright.PENANAUVKYXlnh78
57Please respect copyright.PENANATYV2KQtanq
The smaller creature had risen.57Please respect copyright.PENANAkc6MBUOABl
57Please respect copyright.PENANATukj5sZZOp
Its shattered body dragged itself forward with impossible determination, stone-like skin cracked and bleeding, leaving a trail of dark ichor through the ash. But its eyeless head tracked him with perfect accuracy.57Please respect copyright.PENANAHNTjMts8mF
57Please respect copyright.PENANAeBY5YKITZn
It was following him.57Please respect copyright.PENANAdymJRkRiIm
57Please respect copyright.PENANAzpegoV0YPE
'You've got to be kidding me.'57Please respect copyright.PENANAs7wRRDHf8q
57Please respect copyright.PENANA4ZOJqhILF5
The thing launched itself forward, its single arm clawing at the ground in desperate pulls, dragging its broken body in a lurching charge driven by pure animal rage.57Please respect copyright.PENANAVaTzbRdNVQ
57Please respect copyright.PENANA01BEPYVXWj
The frost. The burns. Being used as a meat shield - the creature remembered. And it wanted revenge.57Please respect copyright.PENANAuqiO6cvx1w
57Please respect copyright.PENANAXbRHTZqCXk
"Mindless bastard!" Cel snarled, pushing harder. "That's going to kill us both!"57Please respect copyright.PENANA0FXV19hpwp
57Please respect copyright.PENANAe1dbv8Dgju
But the creature didn't care. Didn't even glance at the approaching tornado. Its needle-ringed mouth opened in a shriek of pure fury, focused entirely on the one who had hurt it.57Please respect copyright.PENANABjyP8uShpP
57Please respect copyright.PENANAfqnddo5qTD
And that was Cel.57Please respect copyright.PENANAbuMfvZHbsf
57Please respect copyright.PENANAmZb5DavGfY
The ruins grew closer. Twenty steps. Fifteen.57Please respect copyright.PENANAfhXxdCbdvn
57Please respect copyright.PENANAomwsNC8DBf
Behind him, the creature was gaining. Its broken body moved with terrifying speed, driven by something beyond reason.57Please respect copyright.PENANAUNNvaOMEG4
57Please respect copyright.PENANAlRvebeXMBv
Ten steps.57Please respect copyright.PENANARGWqj02Tp8
57Please respect copyright.PENANAvFaUZoUxGc
The roar became deafening. Cel felt the air pressure change against his back, a physical force that pushed him forward even as it pulled ash into spiraling chaos around him. 57Please respect copyright.PENANANluy1kZZZY
57Please respect copyright.PENANANS38Tk8NGQ
Five steps.57Please respect copyright.PENANASjFCbxZhhu
57Please respect copyright.PENANAIwkXDoztAw
Behind him, the creature lunged.57Please respect copyright.PENANAZWRLzxLJ1q
57Please respect copyright.PENANAybZbrEqycR
Cel threw himself forward in a desperate dive.57Please respect copyright.PENANA0g4XyqRcgD
57Please respect copyright.PENANAmZCBpyk4xF
The creature's claws whistled past his head as he plunged through a gap in the crumbling wall, his shoulder slamming into ancient stone as he tumbled inside. 57Please respect copyright.PENANArxkb7LZmer
57Please respect copyright.PENANA7TbQsSRkwB
Then the ash storm hit.57Please respect copyright.PENANAv9HceubdUE
57Please respect copyright.PENANAaYq1hQz5jS
The creature's silhouette vanished - consumed by the gray wall that crashed over the ruins like a wave. Its shriek cut off abruptly, swallowed by the hollow roar.57Please respect copyright.PENANA0ww4oYlVJH
57Please respect copyright.PENANAg82IGtGCYl
The world disappeared.57Please respect copyright.PENANAb0ay8UvlpD
57Please respect copyright.PENANAXYbnnYqEwZ
Cel's chest heaved, relief flooding through him.57Please respect copyright.PENANA5woJh4R943
57Please respect copyright.PENANA8bz2pPb5Yv
But that relief was short-lived.57Please respect copyright.PENANAsY9WWc0u56
57Please respect copyright.PENANACDbKV4pJks
Ash poured through every gap in the broken walls, thick as water, choking and absolute. The ruins offered shelter but not sanctuary - wind howled through the structure's wounds, carrying stinging debris that tore at exposed skin.57Please respect copyright.PENANA9Z8tADtJGY
57Please respect copyright.PENANApGDDf2qJQH
Cel curled against the ground, arms wrapped over his head, trying to make himself as small as possible. Stone fragments and ash hammered against his back.57Please respect copyright.PENANAC28ojOCeNP
57Please respect copyright.PENANAXGDF9mSL28
He pressed his face into the crook of his elbow, one hand cupped over his mouth and nose, breathing in short, desperate gasps. Even filtered, the air tasted of sulfur and ancient dust.57Please respect copyright.PENANAnKWqst6BI7
57Please respect copyright.PENANAf8yx47lf8M
The roar consumed everything - thought, sensation, awareness. Just sound, pressure and the terrible fear that the walls around him might not hold, that the ruins might collapse and bury him alive in this dead world's fury.57Please respect copyright.PENANANWuqZqlX7D
57Please respect copyright.PENANA6cSe0PA339
Time became meaningless. Seconds stretched into minutes stretched into—57Please respect copyright.PENANAco51j3OUU7
57Please respect copyright.PENANATOACnHR7Ys
The stone beneath him cracked.57Please respect copyright.PENANAg8kjxp2HAy
57Please respect copyright.PENANAap7CuovsyR
Cel's eyes snapped open just as the floor split apart directly below his chest.57Please respect copyright.PENANAOU5Gn7BA9X
57Please respect copyright.PENANALUbuApNqnF
He threw himself sideways, rolling across ash-covered stone as the ground gave way. His burned left arm screamed.57Please respect copyright.PENANAlzbnVWd6AD
57Please respect copyright.PENANAK7SYbQVnHE
That broken, vengeful thing erupted from below in an explosion of ash and fury.57Please respect copyright.PENANAvBtftYaQmz
57Please respect copyright.PENANAuLqPRboBhX
It burst through the widening crack - shattered body twisted at impossible angles, stone-like skin cracked and weeping dark ichor.57Please respect copyright.PENANAJo8I9NT2gV
57Please respect copyright.PENANAPjfuub86yj
The eyeless head whipped toward him.57Please respect copyright.PENANAVWJon5j9ym
57Please respect copyright.PENANAfX3wCkLhN7
Its needle-ringed mouth opened in a shriek that cut through even the storm's roar.57Please respect copyright.PENANAZndBUq6C2a
57Please respect copyright.PENANAAUuhzcYqc9
Cel scrambled backward through swirling ash.57Please respect copyright.PENANADEYiMb1Q2j
57Please respect copyright.PENANAAw1Fm6zWiX
Silent Moon materialized in his left grip.57Please respect copyright.PENANAUJ6XktnSML
57Please respect copyright.PENANAibzjGoYtLD
Four crescents ignited along the blade's length.57Please respect copyright.PENANAPq20UhURW0
57Please respect copyright.PENANA8bIrJGnOrb
The creature lunged.57Please respect copyright.PENANAf3v6kcjvtj
57Please respect copyright.PENANAdt6djcgIEX
57Please respect copyright.PENANAVGQDJlUCSU
57Please respect copyright.PENANAbIjaCOPuhM
---------57Please respect copyright.PENANAc8LqPshvB8
Hello, Author here! ^^57Please respect copyright.PENANAuS2ZkNf49W
57Please respect copyright.PENANAFuEMPfvwbZ
As promised, I've created a Discord server for Lunar Legacy!57Please respect copyright.PENANABJE7ToGqaI
57Please respect copyright.PENANAXjzEwAtbYT
Here is the link to the server: https://discord.gg/Uduxc48wfm57Please respect copyright.PENANA0PkjoLrk5f
57Please respect copyright.PENANAxGa9kgdaT9
Think of it as our little playground - a space for the you to connect and for me to keep you updated on what's going on.57Please respect copyright.PENANADuMLqWvCdS
57Please respect copyright.PENANABuW0fBO4WE
I'd be happy to get to know you there :)57Please respect copyright.PENANApMGI905QTF
57Please respect copyright.PENANAjqO7TGgi5k
As always, thank you for reading and supporting Lunar Legacy. You're all amazing! :)


