The stalks wrench at the ground with a sucking sound. The teratome launches forward, looming over Hearn and Rworg.

Rworg tackles Hearn, bowling him over and throwing them both away from the massive mound of flesh flying their way. They both grunt, and Rworg's sword and sledgehammer clatter and clang on the floor as he rolls a full spin before coming to a stop.

The teratome overshoots and rolls into a ball. It seems to have no bones, just meat inside its gooey skin. More stalks whip out from the flesh, flailing in the air and sticking to the ground and the ceiling. The mouths or holes in its body keep opening and closing. They disappear and appear at random, somehow moving below its skin.

Finna's face is pale, and she has her eyes squeezed shut. My gaze flickers between the teratome, Hearn and Rworg, and her. Rworg pulls Hearn back to his feet. The rune burns in Hearn's fist, the light shining through his fingers.

The teratome shoots a long tendril, whipping it at Hearn. Rworg catches the tendril from the air, gripping it into his hand.

For a heartbeat, I fear he's going to drop dead instantly or have his hand melted off. Instead, his muscles bulge as he flexes his arm tight, fighting the pull of the tendril. They seem equally matches for a moment, the teratome stopping to pull, Rworg pulling the other way.

Hearn pushes the rune into the tendril. It sizzles and smokes, and the tendril snaps. Rworg stumbles back, still holding a piece that's almost as long as he is. The rune Hearn holds fails immediately, the light spiking bright and then winking out.

"Move!" I shout at them. I hope I can keep it together for long enough with the adrenaline sharpening my mind, keeping me focused.

She's passed out or at least very nearly so. I pull out the box from my pocket and reach in for a new rune, snapping the lid closed after I get it. Rworg's eyes are already spinning wildly in his head, so I throw the rune at Hearn. We can't have him go off the rails. The old man catches the rune beautifully, closing both of his palms around it. I smile at Hearn, impressed. I close the lid of the box and slide it into my pocket again, patting it twice to make sure it's secure.

"You move!" Rworg shouts. He stomps toward me, leaving Hearn to catch up.

What does he mean? Oh, right. I start pulling on Finna's arms, trying to drag her across the floor toward the door. We can't be more than ten or eleven paces out from it, so I should be able to do it relatively quickly, even if she is heavier than I anticipated. People always are much heavier than they look. It was the same with Mandollel, when he fell on me in the Kertharian forest. Or were we still in Velonea at that point?

Rworg pushes me and I fall on my butt. I watch him, eyes wide. He grabs Finna's arm into one of his hands and drops the tendril from his other. I note it's withered, dry. It was slimy and stretchy just before, but it's now like a piece of dried meat, or fish? Rworg grabs my arm in his other fist.

I'm pulled back. Probably fast enough so the teratome won't have enough time to crash on top of me, even if it's already slapping stalks and tendrils down onto the floor. Oh, I really hope Rworg pulls me out of the room in time, even if my arm feels like it's going to pop out of its socket. I decide to help him by kicking the floor with my feet.

Hearn runs past us, eyes almost closed, the rune pressed into his fist. My mind snaps into focus again.

I twist, flexing my arm to keep it from spraining. "Wait! Waaiit!"

Rworg doesn't listen, only keeps pulling. A couple of steps before we're through the door, Finna wakes up and starts screaming. Mostly out of anger of being dragged around, judging from her tone. When she sees the teratome flying at us, her tone changes.

Hearn gets out of the room first, then Rworg, pulling us two out with him. The air keeps getting clearer and clearer. I manage to focus enough to get on my feet and start running myself, instead of being dragged behind Rworg like a sack of potatoes. Finna still screams and kicks, a rare moment where I was quicker than she. Though, she might have woken up from being unconscious, which would be enough of a handicap for anyone.

The teratome slams into the doorway with a sickening splat. It must be insanely heavy, but the corridor stone is unmoving. There's not the slightest hint of tremor or feeling of impact as the mass of flesh hits the wall. It bulges into the corridor and for a moment I fear it can squeeze in, press itself into a snake made of flesh. Stalks whip and slap after us, but we're too far away already.

The light inside Hearn's grip winks out. Hearn flinches as a sharp snap sounds from inside his hands. He opens them slowly and pieces of grey rock fall from between his fingers, raining on the black floor of the corridor.

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

The stalks of the teratome retract, pulling back into its flesh. It rolls away from the doorway, moving to the center of the room again.

Before I can do anything, Finna pushes a hand into my pocket and pulls out the box holding the rest of the runes. I yelp, but her hand is gone already. She wrenches the box open and pulls out a new rune. I grab the box from her and close it, stopping the mana from getting to the rest of the runes. She holds the rune with both hands and breathes deep, eyes closed.

"Um," Hearn says.

Finna takes another breath and then her eyes snap open and she yelps. She throws the glowing rune into the air, bouncing it in her hands. "Ouch, hot, hot!" she shouts.

The rune glows, tied onto Hearn's staff. It's lucky it wasn't dropped with all the rolling around he and Rworg did, but he has it tied to his backpack pretty securely.

"So, we got to this side," Hearn says, breathing hard. His face is white, but somehow he looks even paler now, cheeks rosy from the run and the excitement. "We have to be really close, right?"

"Yeah," Finna says. Her shoulders jerk and the corner of her eye twitches, like she's getting zapped by static electricity. She tenses her face to keep it in place. "Dang, that was rough," she mutters between clenched teeth.

"How are you feeling?" Rworg asks.

Finna shakes her head. "Rough. But it's fine."

Hearn peers into his hands, looking at the glowing rune. "I worry about the rune. It's burning up fast. The mana must be even thicker on this side."

"That would explain why we end up being in a hurry," I say. "We have just one rune after that one burns out."

"Better we move, then!" Rworg says.

"Figures. We're sped up, slowed down, whatever. Still running out of time," Finna says, wrinkling her nose.

I chuckle, standing up. I offer my hand down for Finna. She glances up at me, brow furrowed. After a moment, she grasps my hand, her fingers on my wrist. I keep my face level and pull her up.

"Thanks," she says.

"Don't mention it," I say, and regret it immediately. "Anyway, let's go!"

Finna huffs and starts walking. I glance at Rworg, but he has his eyes glued on the ceiling, like there's something interesting in there. I feel Hearn holding his old face still, like it's easy for him.

"Let's go," he says.

The rune Hearn holds burns out only fifteen minutes into us walking. He crumbles the stone in his hands and lets it fall on the floor, face pulling into a grimace. "Oof, I can feel the pressure already."

I feel it too. Before Finna can say anything, I take out the box. "This is the last one," I say, snapping open the lid. The rune starts to glow, warm light shooting out from the box. I've been seeing the runes enough times that I might be able to draw a new one. I flinch away from the thought and turn away my eyes, before I cook my brain. Even if I couldn't trust Lictor, Henna also said that the memory of runes activating might not be impossible. It's a crazy, scary thought.

"Quickly, now," Rworg says, taking the box from my hands. He nods at Finna and me. He pauses for a moment, then looks over his shoulder at Hearn. "I am sorry, old. Try to keep up."

Hearn chuckles, but the laugh turns into a gasp as Finna and Rworg bolt off into the corridor. He hisses a breath and starts running, backpack bouncing on his back.

I sprint after them, catching up to Hearn. Out of solidarity, I stay between him and Finna and Rworg. His breath wheezes, but he pushes himself forward. The stench of ozone feels like it's chasing us, pressing us forward to stay out of the mana. Finna suffers from it the most, but I don't particularly enjoy what the mana does to me either. Some amount was still fine, but too much, and I think I would just keep thinking about things as I slowly suffocated.

Hearn pants and grasps at his chest. He clenches his teeth together and gasps as he runs, but keeps up.

The poor guy.

The pace Finna and Rworg set is almost too fast even for me. Rworg leaps ahead, one giant step after another. Finna's running looks different. She scrambles over the dark stone floor, posture low, head snapping this way and that as she decides which turn to take and which not to.

We pass one corridor, intersection, and turn after another. It's impossible to say if we're in another looping corridor or if we're actually getting somewhere. I do notice some rooms along the way. More libraries or who knows what. Finna runs past all of them.

I can't believe Tenorsbridge just left all this here. This place has to be a treasure trove. Mandollel would have been furious at them for twisting this place into some kind of funnel for their flat metal ball of a device, instead of trying to learn its secrets. Maybe they did try, but didn't get anywhere, or the place was too dangerous for them. Finding a way as deep as we are now without having Hearn and Finna to guide us would have been impossible. We could have been lost here for weeks, probably running out of food and water.

I really hope Finna can lead us out as well. After all the fighting we've done, killing teratomes, mages blasting us, it would be truly stupid to die from getting lost. Even if I know people do. I focus back on the running, as even Hearn has passed me as I got too deep into thinking. My feet hammer the stone floor as I catch up to Hearn and pass him to get closer to the rune and the clearer air.

Finna and Rworg stop. I almost run into Finna's back but manage to halt and only tap her shoulder with my outreached hand. She raises her hand to brush my hand off, but surprisingly hesitates long enough that I can lift it myself before getting slapped. "Sorry," I say.

"Hmm," she says. Her eyes are squinted, moving from left to right. The corridor splits into two identical corridors, both continuing forward but at an angle, one to the left, the other to the right.

"Which way?" Rworg asks.

Finna's face tenses, and she furrows her brow even harder. She bites at her lip. "Not sure."

Hearn reaches us, and leans both hands on his knees. The wheezing makes me feel bad for the old jonungaard. Sweat makes his white brow glisten and glow even in the dim light the corridor walls give off. "Can we rest for a bit?" he says between gasps.

"Maybe we could—" I say, but a sharp snap interrupts me.

The light shining out from the box winks out. Rwrog tips the box over, and shards and clumps of grey rock rain out of it.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.