Before I can dwell on it, Rian speaks—calm, observant. “Anyone else notice the floor?”
I blink, glancing down. The packed earth beneath us seems unchanged at first, but then I realize—we’re descending.
Slowly. Gradually.
It’s subtle, but undeniable. The path is leading us deeper.
Thane exhales, his gaze sweeping ahead. “How deep underground are we?”
No one answers. No one knows.
Then—the passage veers. Sharp left. I nearly stumble.
The walls curve sharply, the tunnel shifting direction without warning, as if guiding us toward something.
And the bond pulls even stronger.
Lyra exhales. Her gaze flicks between the twisting markings and the narrowing passage.
“This is creepy as hell,” she mutters, shivering, like she’s shaking something off. “Underground tunnels, ancient shadow markings, the floor literally leading us deeper into the abyss—yeah, I hate everything about this.”
Garrick chuckles—dry, unfazed. “Just another day in paradise.” He gestures vaguely to the dark passage ahead beforeclapping Rian on the shoulder. Rian rolls his eyes.
Jarek huffs. “At this point, we should just expect it.”
Thane says nothing. But his grip on my hand tightens as the path curves again.
The air thickens the deeper we go, the firelight flickering against the earth-packed walls. The weight of the passage settles over us—not in a suffocating way, but in a way that feels intentional.
Then, up ahead—the tunnel splits. A fork in the path. Two directions.
The left path is smooth, steady—carved like the tunnel behind us. The firelight stretches far enough to show that it continues downward, curving just slightly, disappearing into the unknown.
The other? Wrong.
The moment I look at it, my stomach twists. The walls on that side are jagged, uneven, like they weren’t shaped by the same hands that built this place. The carvings here are distorted, the symbols warping unnaturally as if something has tried to twist them into something else.
I don’t realize how hard I’m gripping Thane’s hand until I feel him squeeze back. We already know which way we need to go.
The bond surges, a quiet pull through my chest, steady, unwavering. It wants us to go left.
Rian exhales sharply, adjusting his grip on his sword. “And how exactly do we know which way to go?”
Thane doesn’t hesitate. “The bond is telling us.”
Rian glances at him, then at me, his expression unreadable. Then he just exhales, muttering, “Of course it is.”
Lyra gestures to the twisted path with one of her daggers. “Yeah, well, I’d rather take my chances with your creepy magics bond than go down that thing. That tunnel looks like it wants to eat us.”
Garrick smirks. “At least we can all agree on something.”
I breathe in, steadying. Fingers still locked with Thane’s.
Left.
We follow the bond’s pull.
We take the first steps down the left passage, the firelight stretching ahead, shadows shifting against the packed earth walls. The bond hums, steady, pulling us forward.
