Rocks crashed to the floor, sending shrapnel flying. I turned around and let the bigger pieces bounce off my cloak while reaching for Alice. She charged for the room, but I snagged her arm and turned her around.

“Cain!” she shouted over the rumbling.

I couldn’t answer. There was no time.

Before she could do anything rash, I wrapped her in a hug and carried us deeper into the hall, back towards the tunnel exit. She fought at first but then ran as the shaking didn’t stop and the walls started to crack.

I glared through the clouds of dust and watched the cracks spread ahead of us far faster than we could run.

“We’re not going to make it!” I yelled.

Before I could repeat myself, Alice shoved me from behind, and I smashed into the wall. I spun around in time to see her slam her axe into the floor before she slipped over the edge.

No!

I jumped and slid forward, stopping halfway off the ledge. Alice reached out, and I grasped her arm before hauling her up. She scrambled for purchase on the titling stone.

Come on!

She made it and rolled to her feet. There wasn’t time to celebrate; we rushed forward, but instincts made me stop. Alice tugged at my arm and whipped around, but I shook my head. Mana surged into my eyes, and I finally saw it.

“We can’t.”

“What? Why?”

I pointed forward, and her eyes flashed crimson. She growled.

Golden threads snaked out, each one dripping with corrosive fumes. Glaring runes embedded into the walls flashed with golden light, shooting out more like a spiderweb to block us in. Now that we were alert, the power radiated off the threads, each one a light that blazed brightly in the dim tunnel.

The shaking didn’t stop, and further cracks spread across the walls and ceiling. Behind us, more of the ground gave way and I stepped forward, away from the edge.

“I can try burning it, tanking the threads, maybe. But we got to think fast.”

The power radiating off them made my skin crawl, and as more shot out, the stronger the feeling became.

Oh!

I extended my arm and shot a fireball at the rune. It exploded, and the threads lit up but didn’t burn. A growl built in my throat, and I released, igniting my blood and watching the tunnel turn green.

Another blast shot out and continued to burn. Threads snapped, and the feeling lessened, only for more to shoot out and expel the flames. The burning thread shriveled into dust in the corner, and I shot more. Again, every time I burned the glyph, it continued to expel the damage.

As the threads became a wall, corrosive acid dripped onto the stone, sending smoke upward. I backed away, but my heel met nothing, and I pressed myself closer to Alice.

“We’re out of time.”

She grunted and raised her hands. They trembled, and vibrations carried up to her shoulders. “Three.”

I nodded. And gave up control, releasing the floodgates on my core and letting it rampage into my palms.

“Two.”

“One!” we shouted together.

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An emerald torrent rocketed forward, burning through the thread and broke the wall. Her forceball shot out, aimed at the left rune. The ceiling rumbled as the explosion destroyed the stone. Threads continued to shoot out, but I rushed closer and raised my axe.

All the points into strength weren’t for nothing. My axe sliced through the remaining stone and cut the threads before stopping halfway through. I raised my arm and chopped.

Scthick!

The threads gave way, but the other rune continued to fire. There wasn’t time; the ground behind Alice crumbled, and I grabbed her cloak, pulling her closer. I swung again and dived through the hole with Alice a second behind.

As we rolled through to the other side, the rumbling finally stopped, and we turned to see the floor fall into the void. Funnily enough, the golden threads held the floor together even as it began to split.

Slowly the rune stopped glowing, but the acid fumes had accumulated, creating a heavy gas that filled the tunnels. We moved further away until we were out of the cloud.

“That thread,” I coughed. Black phlegmy blood congealed on the now dusty floor. I wiped my mouth and glared at the wall. “Those are eerily similar to the one binding Rock-splitter. Just less powerful.”

Alice didn’t reply, and I glanced over. She stared at the hole, eyes blazing as her nails scratched at the wall. They left deep gashes, and she pulled away.

“Alice?”

“Devon’s in there,” she spat.

“And he’s Devon. He’s safe.”

He won’t die. I refuse to believe that. Not that hardy bastard.

“We should help.”

“Or we go back topside and interrogate the Baathans. Devon will find us, or we get Garret and then figure out what to do,” I countered. She still didn’t look away, and I tugged her shoulder so she faced me. “Listen. He’s fine. If anything, he’s worried about us right now.”

Bones cracked, and her hands completed the shift. “Don’t.”

“Listen! We need to get out and inform Garret. Whoever set up this trap could be making their move. We need to go. Forget him, know he’s safe.”

She looked ready to snap my face off, but her hands returned to normal, and she ground her teeth. “Fine.”

I nodded and turned around. Mana continued to flow, brightening the world even as the heavy pressure from the thread wall behind us threatened to swallow my senses. We moved carefully, sticking to the intact part of the tunnel until the cracks lessened.

We neared the exit, but something was wrong. It took a second before I realized what.

There should have been light.

Instead, only pitch darkness lay ahead. My flames pushed back the shadows around us, but not enough to see up the stairs.

“Alice.”

“I noticed. Do you see a rune?”

I shook my head. The walls were the same, untouched.

Carefully, we moved closer until the entrance leading out of the tunnels was just within sight. The door was closed. Somebody had closed it.

“Launch a forceball at the door?”

She nodded and extended her arm. The air trembled, and the vibrations built. On three, she counted down and shot the ball forward. As it crossed the stairs, it exploded against the door, creating a loud whoomp that rang in our ears. As I cleared away, the dust knocked free, and my jaw dropped.

The door hadn’t exploded; instead, it caught the orb and slowly absorbed it into the wood.

“What the hell?” I yelled.

Like a flipped switch, green lines activated along the walls and down the steps. A torrent of energy spilled across the stone, causing another quake as the tunnel rumbled. We huddled close to the center, holding on to each other. She grasped my cloak, and I held onto her axe, as Freki leapt out and dug in, becoming our crutch.

The floor lit up in lines of dark green before turning neon and blinding me.

Aaagh!

Alice said something, but I couldn’t hear her over the grinding. Then it stopped, and I collapsed to my knees before Freki pushed me up.

“Are we okay? It sto-”

Click!

There wasn’t time to scream before the floor dropped open.

***

I blinked and found darkness.

Wh-what the?

“Uuuugh…”

Carefully, I grasped both sides and pushed Alice off me before I coughed and spat blood onto the floor.

“Alice…” I groaned. “You alive?”

“Yes. Wish I wasn’t,” she said.

I tried to roll, but my back ached, feeling like a geriatric old man who got trampled by a rhino. Everything hurt until a few minutes passed, and the pressure lessened. I stretched and popped my spine before wiping the dirt away.

Ice assaulted my cheeks, and I pushed Freki back.

“Freki. No.”

“Wulf!”

I blinked and endured more licks until he brushed his tail along my face, causing me to spit more blood. Freki nudged me with his mouth, and I finally looked up.

“Wha? Ohhh. Alice. Axe.”

She stood up and kicked her axe into her hands. “You?”

Despite my searching, I couldn’t find it.

“No. But.”

She narrowed her eyes as I sent mana into the rune along the back of my hand. I listened until I heard the whistle of air being split. Without looking, I adjusted and spread my fingers.

Thwack.

Her eyes widened. “How?”

“New feature. Discovered it yesterday.”

She nodded, and we turned our attention to the far wall. Wherever we were, it was a cramped room lined with broken furniture. Only a single light source, the glow from a torch flickering toward the back.

And along the wall, shadows danced as something clawed at the air.

“Ready?” she asked.

“Ready.”