Chapter 40 THE CALL OF BLOOD AND THE DARK ANSWER
The sound of the thing rising from the water wasn't a roar. It was a wet, sticky sucking sound, like the world tearing out its own lungs. Bubbles of black sludge popped on the surface, releasing a stench of sulfur and ancient blood that made Serra gag.
Dorian pulled Serra behind him, legs shaking violently. The energy he poured into Kael left him hollow; he stood on willpower alone.
Lorden stood before that vile, shapeless shadow, arms spread like a prophet welcoming his god. The veins on his neck bulged, turning black.
"Do you see?" Lorden shouted, his voice cracking with ecstasy. "You gave it blood! You gave it life! The waiting is over!"
The shadow reached out. It moved like pressurized black oil shooting into the air, tipping into a needle point. Its target was Serra. It smelled her blood—the Red Alpha essence that woke it.
"Run!" Dorian yelled, shoving her toward the ladder. "Get to the surface!"
"Never!" Serra screamed, digging her heels into the mud. She gripped her silver knife. "I am not leaving you! If my blood feeds it, then my blood will poison it!"
Lorden laughed, a grinding sound. "Your blood is pure, little girl. It loves the pure."
The shadow lunged, faster than a cobra. Dorian threw himself in front of Serra, using his body as a shield.
The shadow slammed into him.
Dorian let out a muffled groan as the impact lifted him. The seal on his chest exploded with blinding violet light upon touching the smoke. The seed inside Dorian screamed, answering the entity. The collision of the two Void energies created a shockwave that knocked Serra into the mud.
"Let him go!" she shouted, scrambling up.
She didn't think. She drove the knife into her wounded palm. More blood. Fresh, hot, Red Alpha blood. She squeezed her fist, letting it drip.
"I'm here!" she yelled, waving her bleeding hand. She flung the blood toward Lorden. "Isn't this what you want? The source! Come and get it!"
The shadow paused, dropping Dorian into the mud. The pitch-black mass turned toward Serra. The scent of fresh blood was far more tempting than Dorian's sealed seed.
Lorden’s smile faded. The entity was ignoring him. "No... No! You take the Alpha first! That was the deal! I promised you the Vessel!"
But hunger has no deals.
The shadow slid over Lorden, flowing toward Serra. Lorden panicked. He dove into the smoke, trying to physically steer it back to Dorian.
"Obey me!" Lorden shrieked, clawing at the smoke. "I am your summoner!"
That was his last mistake.
The shadow noticed Lorden touching it. It stopped advancing on Serra. It rippled. In that moment, the target changed. Serra was just food. But Lorden... Lorden was a parasite trying to control a hurricane.
The shadow wrapped around Lorden. It didn't strike; it enveloped him.
Lorden's scream was beyond human limits, the sound of a soul being torn apart. He was lifted into the air, suspended in the black mass. Smoke poured into his mouth, nose, and eyes, forcing its way down his throat.
It wasn't just killing him. It was unmaking him.
In seconds, Lorden’s skin turned grey, then translucent. His muscles withered. He shriveled like a burning leaf. And then... he disintegrated. He turned to dust and ash, falling into the pool.
Not like Vespera. Faster. Savage. Lorden had been eaten by his own god.
Dorian looked up from the ground, gasping. The violet light on his chest faded. "Now," he rasped. "The well... It's collapsing!"
With Lorden's death, the dark magic holding the cavern together unraveled. Massive chunks of rock fell from the ceiling, splashing into the black pool. The water began to rise.
(THE ESCAPE: THE CLIMB)
Serra grabbed Dorian’s arm. He was dead weight. "Move! Move your legs, Dorian!"
They ran to the ladder, splashing through rising muck. Behind them, the shadow swirled over where Lorden died, feeding on residual energy. But it wasn't full. It turned toward them again.
"Climb!" Dorian ordered, shoving Serra onto the rungs. "Don't look back!"
Serra gripped the rusty iron, slick with slime. She climbed, muscles burning, adrenaline pushing her upward. Dorian was right below her. From the darkness came the sound of rushing water. The underground river was flooding.
They climbed ten meters, twenty. The air grew thinner.
Halfway up, Dorian stopped. His breathing was a jagged wheeze.
"It's coming," he said.
Serra looked down. Black smoke rose up the shaft, spiraling like a tornado. Following them. Faster than them.
"Don't stop!" she screamed, kicking at the air near his head. "Don't you dare stop, Volcan!"
"Serra," Dorian said, his voice strangely calm. "You have to close the lid. If I come out... it might attach to me. It might follow the seed."
"Shut up!" Serra yelled, tears mixing with dirt on her face. "I am not closing that lid without you! Either we both get out, or we both drown here! I didn't come this far to leave you in a hole!"
She reached down, hanging by one arm. "Take my hand! That is an order, Alpha!"
Dorian looked up. In the dim light, the resignation in his eyes vanished. Replaced by that "necessary love" he held for her. Replaced by the will to live for her.
He reached up and took her hand.
Serra pulled. He pushed. They dragged each other out of that damn well, inch by inch, scraping their knees against the rough stone. The cold breath of the Void licked at their heels.
Reaching the mouth of the well, they scrambled onto the forest floor, gasping for air. The shadow surged up the shaft, a claw of smoke reaching for them.
Dorian spun and kicked the massive stone lid back into place.
"Seal it!" he shouted.
They slammed their hands onto the stone. Her blood, his glowing seal. The ancient symbols flared white. The lid locked with the weight of a thousand tons.
A muffled boom shook the ground beneath them. Then silence.
They collapsed on their backs in the mud, rain starting to fall. They were alive.