“Unite, divide, devour, light,” I keep repeating loudly, pushing my hand against the ceiling, just as Killian dives underwater to check the floor.
Every second steals more from us. More air, more life.
He comes back up for air, water splashing my face as he resurfaces next to me, eyes blown in apprehension.
“There’s nothing on the floor either,” he says between ragged breaths.
“Devours light, devours light. What fucking light? It’s dark as fuck in here,” I say as water covers my mouth.
I press my cheek to the wet stone, an idea forming in the back of my mind.
“Darkness devours light, Killian. But how can darkness be united or divided?”
Understanding hits like a horde of galloping beasts, and I see the flicker of recognition spark in Killian’s eyes in the same instant.
“Shadows,” we whisper with the last breath of air, as water covers us whole.
My lungs scream for air as I float in the oppressive murk. Killian grasps my fingers, pulling me toward him, just as I notice a faint light pulsing behind him.
Glowing a reddish hue, symbols appear on the floor and ceiling in opposing corners. I tug at his arms, pointing behind him, right when he does the same.
I turn to see the same diffuse glow behind me.
Runes.
Four of them, engraved in different corners of the chamber, barely glimmering in the tenebrous waters, like dying embers mocking whoever dared to venture this far below ground.
We part, swimming on opposite sides to reach the runes, and I unleash my shadows just as Killian releases his from the confines of his skin. They swirl, gravitating toward each other like wisps of ink, before our shadow selves take form and reach the runes on the floor.
We move as one, taking our positions and slamming both hands and shadows over the runes at the same time.
My eyes meet Killian’s, blurred by the distance and the somber underwater haze, but the emotions burning there are so bright, so desperate, like a beacon in this gloaming. For one suspended heartbeat, there’s nothing but a gaping chasm between us, filled with all the things we left unsaid, all the unspoken words and feelings.
Then the runes intensify their luminescence, like a blazing wound that festers, before a whooshing sound erupts and a violent whirlpool yanks us toward a crater in the ground.
There’s nothing to hold on to, no reprieve from the asphyxiating tentacles squeezing my lungs. I let my body go limp and get carried away with the torrents in a free fall toward uncharted dangers.
The cascading stream throws me from the suffocating tunnel into a new cave, and I’m suspended in air, limbs flailing, before I plunge deep into a bioluminescent lake. A hand grabs me from the back of my neck, and I’m dragged forcefully to the surface, spitting mouthfuls of water as I cling to Killian’s powerful frame.
He swims us to the shore and helps me up the granite slab, and I turn on a side, coughing so hard it feels like my ribs might crack. My lungs seize as if I’ve forgotten how to breathe, and all I can do is choke on the flood I’ve swallowed. Killian brushes my wet hair from my face, holding me while I retch more water—my body shivering, my throat raw—as the sound of my heaving echoes in the wide cavern.
It feels like forever before I suck in the first sharp breath of air, slumping in his embrace.
“You’re okay, umbra, you’re alive,” he says in a shaky voice, holding onto me for dear life, as if I’d slip through his fingers if he relaxed.
“That was a close call,” I croak, my voice like shattered glass.
“Too close,” he answers, burying his face in the crook of my neck.
We stay like that for a long time; the adrenaline bleeding out from our bones, leaving us raw and untethered.
As I blink the daze away, I take in the vast grotto we’re in. Phosphorescent stalactites hang from the domed ceiling like sharpened tusks; their cyan hue reflecting in the surface of the subterranean lake underneath. It feels surreal that such an otherworldly place exists, untouched by anything but the passing of time. We must be the first beings to disrupt its existence in thousands of years.
“I can’t do this anymore,” Killian whispers suddenly against my flesh.
“Do what?” I ask, moving slightly to look at him. His hair is a disheveled mess, damp tendrils falling into his eyes, his shirt torn to reveal his glistening chest.
“This.” He moves his finger back and forth, pointing between us. “Us like this. I almost lost you twice in the span of, what? Hours, days? I don’t even know how long it’s been since we’re here.”
