I shifted my balance and transferred the eye into my other arm. Holding it up, I addressed the titan.

“What exactly will returning your eye do for you?”

Not that I don’t understand why he wants it back.

“Who wouldn’t want their eye returned to them? Especially when it was stolen so,” Rock-splitter rumbled.

The titan made me feel like an ant, a baby compared to the looming figure towering above. And even though he seemed friendly, I wasn’t about to hand something over so easily, not without careful consideration.

“Understandable,” I said. Rock-splitter huffed, and I continued. “But what will it do for you in this predicament?”

Again, the pressure was back, but it faded as quickly as it appeared, leaving me adjusting my breathing.

“It’ll restore some of my strength. While I have lost most of it through exsanguination, I will never be at full strength without my eye. Blood can always be remade, but to lose a piece of myself—that requires time I would prefer not using.”

“What will it do for you this instant?”

More silence.

I lowered the eye and stared up defiantly.

“A strong pillar holds up your shoulders. Good. A Grimm needs one to stay alive,” Rock-splitter whispered. He tugged at the chain holding his wrists out of sight. “It should return enough power for me to set myself free. That would be the benefit.”

I looked over the wall of meat towering above. “And what does that mean for me? For my friends? What will you do once you’re free?”

Rather than answering, he leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling. “What is your goal?”

Unsure, I tried to look up, but the darkness above blanketed the sky. Not even the glowing mushrooms interspaced between cracks and crevices shined light far enough.

“Most likely, leave the mountain pass with the rescued nobles and guards and be on our way. We’re… Stuck here, for the time being. We have a hunt to complete.”

“I see,” Rock-splitter muttered. He lowered his chin and stared down once more. “I will leave you and yours alone. I want no trouble with the Grimms. And I can provide quick and safe passage through the mountain. If that is what you desire.”

It sounded good, easy. Too easy.

I should probably force a system promise. He can’t-

The pressure ramped up, and the smell smashed into my nose, causing me to sputter as my thoughts swirled.

Hunger. Want! Need!

I slammed a hand over my mouth and plugged my nostrils. As I backed up, Freki began to light up with flames sprouting from his jaw, his inner core ablaze with fiery mana.

“Calm, Little Wolf. Look. Use your nose; I am not a threat,” Rock-splitter soothed through the maelstrom of thoughts.

I glared but found the stone slab lit with green light from the rune at its center. A second slab off in the distance came to life, and a rainbow film appeared floating above the ground.

Is that…

Instead of black roots sprouting from the earth, it was made of stone and dirt that smoothed out into a perfectly crafted archway adorned with etches so fine I could see the minute details along its frame.

Rainbow dots pulsed from the center and slowly turned gold as the light stretched to the archway’s corners.

A swirl of colors stretched across the flm before it wavered and then stabilized, staying gold. I expected to see a mirror of the outside world or perhaps the other side of the mountain, but the archway continued to flare with mana that lit up like the sun from within its frame.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“I cannot hold this open for long in this state. But this will take you back to where you were before entering my prison. Leave, stay, return; it’s up to you, but I give this option freely with or without the promise of my eye.”

I watched the portal flicker and then looked up. “Why?”

“Because you are not my captor. To punish you for being curious and slaying the parasite who drained me… That would stain my honor as a Keeper.”

I tapped Freki’s neck and approached the portal at the edge of the shore. Rock-splitter didn’t breathe, for not even the water rippled as I approached. With a final glance, I waited for Freki to enter my shadow and exhaled before stepping through.

My cloak stretched, and I tried to push mana into its fabric, but it didn’t accept. With fading strength, I felt the shell reinforce itself, and my senses began to twist and turn. Like a subtle push, my body slipped through the other side, and I felt water splash the sides of my ankles. I blinked and inhaled air as I turned around and found the portal dim. It began to lose its luster, and a single piece of the archway chipped off and sank into the swirling liquid below.

I peeked out from behind the portal and heard the thunder of footsteps. The beach looked different; large chunks of stone littered the ground, and one piece rested nearby where I would have stood before being sucked into Rock-splitter’s prison.

That’s nearly as big as me, damn.

More pieces of the archway continued to break off, and the light sputtered once.

The footsteps grew louder, and I hesitated. Once a large chunk smacked my shoulder, I brushed it off and slipped a foot back toward the portal.

“Alice! Wait!” Devon’s voice echoed from across the cavern.

More and more pieces fell, and I placed my hand on the cool stone.

“I smell him!” Alice shouted, her voice extremely close.

I sniffed the air, but the scent of Rock-splitter’s blood overwhelmed everything else.

The light winked, and I felt my stomach sink as I thought I was too late, but then it flared back to life and sent spiderwebs throughout the rest of the archway.

Alice’s head popped into view, and she stopped near the tunnel entrance leading out. She grinned as I waved, and I saw Devon’s head peer from over her shoulder. His eyes widened, and I saw a strange emotion flash across his face.

The piece my hand held onto broke off, and I stopped smiling. “I’ll be right back!”

Before either of them could run toward me, I quickly exhaled and forced myself back through the portal. The world shook and I saw the image of Alice and Devon freeze mid-step. Their bodies stretched behind them until they lost their shape.

The portal’s golden light swallowed the image whole and pushed me back, cracking the shell. It felt like someone punched the middle of my chest, and I fought the urge to breathe as a sucking motion dragged me backward.

Rock-splitter’s eye dragged me down, and I nearly lost my grip on the axe as I crashed into the wet mud. The shell broke apart as I peeled my arm away, and my cloak stopped constricting around my shoulders. I patted the fabric and rolled out of the mud onto more stable ground.

“You’ve returned…” Rock-splitter stated.

Almost didn’t.

“Yeah, I got to see the others,” I said, wiping mud off my cheek. “How did your portal even work? The ley lines should be closed.”

“Is that why the earth rejected the magic? It should not have crumbled so fast.” He exhaled, sending water crashing againstmy pants. “So that’s why you are here. Meddlesome. I do not like danger so close to my territory.”

“You said Keeper. What does that mean?”

“Keeper of the earth. I am one who helps stabilize the ground and maintain that stability for the local node cluster.”

So Grimms aren’t the only ones tasked with protecting the Nexus. Good to know.

“Alright, now what? If I return the eye, can you make another portal?”

Rock-splitter snorted. “More than that, Little wolf. I’ll close this realm and return the land to normal. Do not concern yourself with escape.”

I lifted the glass eye up and peered through its material, seeing a faint pulse of green light from within.

“So tell me. What will it take for you to return my eye?” Rock-splitter continued.

The glass felt cool in my hand, but as I gently ran my thumb along the back, I felt tiny pulses of heat push into my skin.

Maybe I’m an idiot, but he was willing to let me walk away…

I raised my head and met Rock-splitter’s gaze. He kept still, his breathing frozen as I stared. The golden threads glistened in the light, and I felt anger well up inside my chest. Memories of being trapped inside a cage, lost and confused--scared as my side throbbed in pain, flashed across my mind.

Freki grazed my fingers, gently licking his warm tongue across the back of my hand.

I patted his head and sighed.

Screw it.

I grasped the eye and yanked it free. The stitches that attached it to my limb resisted and pulled taut until I growled and snapped the strings. The ephemeral threads crubmled into motes of light that winked out of existence.

Rearing my arm back, I stepped forward.

“Catch.”

The eye pulsed as I threw the eyeball toward the titan. It looked like it would fall short, but the pressure returned and sent a blast wave that doused me in water. I wiped away the liquid and watched the eye zip toward Rock-splitter’s face.

“Thank you Grimm,” Rock-splitter roared.

Like a bullet, the eyeball knocked the titan’s head back as it returned to his eye socket. Green flames erupted from Rock-splitter’s body, and the pressure sharpened into a fine blade that scraped at my skin.

“I… Am Rock-splitter, the Keeper of Red Mountain… Such weak chains shall not hold me!”