Book 3 - Chapter 21
The collapse behind us wasn’t just a sound.
It was a judgment
Stone screamed as it punched into itself, sealing the tunnel like a mouth snapping shut. Dust rolled over us in a choking wave. Jasper yanked me forward, pullingme close enough that I could feel the tremor in his grip even if his voice stayed iron-steady.
“Don’t stop. Whatever happens, don’t…”
A second rumble cut him off
Not from behind
From ahead
The darkness rippled
Not like air disturbed by movement. Like reality itself got the shivers.
“What did you wake up to?” Jasper whispered, sword raised, his body curling around mine like armour with a heartbeat.
“Oh, hush,” the entity said from somewhere uncomfortably near, though I couldn’t see him. “Let the girl enjoy her first catastrophic consequences.”
“Show yourself,” Jasper snarled.
“No, thank you,” the entity chirped. “I like having all my limbs attached.”
The scraping came again closer now… slow, heavy, deliberate. It sounded like claws dragging through metal, except the tunnel walls weren’t metal. Still, sparks flickered with every scrape. The stone bled light.
My power reacted before my mind could.
Threads burst across my vision… shredded. Tangled. Panicked. Futures ran in loops. Collided, snarled into knots. I reached for one, but it recoiled like a frightened animal.
“I can’t read the futures,” I whispered
“Jasper….something is wrong. They’re pulling away from me.”
“Then don’t use them,” he shifted his stance, ready to shield me with his entire existence.
“I’ll handle whatever comes.”
The entity let out a pitying sigh. “Oh sweet protector. You absolutely won’t.”
A growl rolled down the tunnel, not like a beast.
Like a collapsing star.
Jasper moved first.
He grabbed my arm and spun me around. And planted his feet into the trembling ground. “Miley, if this thing gets through me, you run.”
“No,” my voice cracked like glass. “I’m not leaving you.”
“You don’t have a choice.”
The growl deepened. Something massive stepped closer.
The entity finally materialized several meters away, edges flickering like badly tuned light. He wasn’t smiling, not his usual mocking grin, nor his bored amusement. This smile was a thing. Concerned. Almost nostalgic
“Well then,” he murmured, “looks like the gods weren’t the only ones keeping secrets.”
The shape in the darkness swelled too broad for the tunnel, too tall for the ceiling.
Reality stretched around it as fabric pulled too tight. Walls cracked. Runes flickered back to life and then died, their light sucked into the approaching mass.
“What is it?” I breathed
“My least favourite bedtime story.” The entity said. “And trust me I loathe bedtime stories.”
The creature inhaled
The ceiling bowed
The floor vibrated
Something deep in my bones answered it, a pulse like a heartbeat I didn’t know I had.
“Miley,” Jasper whispered, “Stop moving from behind me.”
But the creature wasn’t looking at him. Only at me
It spoke not in words, but in a vibration that made the air warp.
Key
My knees buckled
Jasper caught me, dragging me to my feet. “Don’t listen. Don’t let it touch you.”
“Oh, please,” the entity muttered. “As if that thing needs to touch her. Contact is for amateurs.”
My vision twisted. Threads snapped, popped, and curled into nothing
“What does it want?” I gasped.
The entity’s tone softened into a sarcasm tinged with dread.
“Straight to the point. Excellent habit. Keep it up. It wants what everything wants from you, like Key.”
“Which is”
He gave me a long, thin smile.
“Access”
The creature roared
The tunnel tore open
Stone peeled back like wet paper.
The shockwave flung Jasper into me; both of us slammed into the wall
Jasper groaned, forcing himself upright, positioning himself between me and the monster even now, bleeding, even shaking.
He raised his sword again.
“I said,” he rasped, “you don’t get her.”
The entity snorted, “Cute. Suicidal. But cute”
Then he did something that hadn’t been done before
He stepped in front of Jasper
Not protectively.
Strategically
“You don’t fight this,” he said, voice low. “You survive it. Barely”
“Move,” Jasper hissed
“No”
The creature leaned forward into the dim glow
And for the first time, I saw its eyes
Not eyes
Windows
Windows into a void that recognized me
The entity glanced back at me
“Well, Key,” he said dryly. “Congratulations. You finally attract something that isn’t trying to kill your brother.”
His smile sharpened
“It’s trying to kill you instead.”
Jasper tightened his grip on my hand.
The creature took one step
The entire tunnel collapsed inward.