Lucian's body plummeted into darkness. Wind roared past his ears as he tumbled, heart hammering. The chasm was deeper than he’d thought—far deeper.

  Did I just kill myself?

  The mist swallowed him whole.

  Then—

  Impact.

  Lucian crashed into something soft yet firm.

  Not the ground.

  A web.

  Sticky, fibrous strands clung to his body, stopping his fall. The air smelled damp and stale, filled with a faint, rotting sweetness.

  Then—movement.

  Lucian’s stomach lurched as the web shifted beneath him.

  Something was here.

  Above, the others followed his lead—one after another, vanishing into the chasm.

  Iris nded first, rolling into a crouch. Ronan crashed down beside her, barely catching himself. Ay and Daryl followed, gasping for breath.

  Then—silence.

  Lucian’s pulse pounded. The Butcher hadn’t followed.

  Either it couldn’t fit, or it had decided they weren’t worth the effort.

  Not comforting.

  "Everyone okay?" Lucian whispered.

  "Aside from almost dying? Sure," Ronan muttered, peeling strands of web from his arms.

  "This pce is disgusting," Ay grumbled.

  Lucian ignored them, eyes scanning their surroundings. The chasm was deeper than it looked. The mist was thick, but faint blue bioluminescent veins pulsed along the walls. Not natural.

  Daryl tried to stand, only to grimace in pain. His leg was still injured from the falling rubble.

  Lucian moved to help, but—

  Something skittered.

  Horrors Below

  Lucian froze.

  A sound, faint but distinct—legs, dozens of them, crawling across stone.

  The others heard it too. Breaths hitched. Weapons were gripped tighter.

  Then—

  A chittering hiss.

  From the darkness, a shape emerged.

  Lucian’s stomach twisted.

  A spindly, insectoid creature, twice the size of a man, clinging to the cavern wall. Its elongated limbs twitched, spiked joints clicking. A bulbous, multi-eyed head tilted toward them, mandibles flexing.

  Lucian’s mind raced. They were weaponless, exhausted, and trapped in a web.

  Then—

  The creature moved.

  It lunged.

  Lucian threw himself aside just in time. The creature's serrated forelimbs smmed down where he’d stood.

  Ay screamed, swinging her metal pipe. The blow connected—but bounced off the creature’s chitin.

  Useless.

  Ronan tackled Ay aside as the monster retaliated, its limb slicing down where she’d been.

  Lucian rolled to his feet, mind racing.

  Weapons were useless.

  The webbing.

  His eyes snapped to the bioluminescent strands above them.

  “Cut the web!” he shouted.

  Iris understood first. She grabbed a jagged rock and sshed at the fibers.

  The cavern shook.

  The creature hissed—realizing too te.

  The web snapped.

  The entire structure colpsed.

  Lucian and the others fell again—this time, deeper into the abyss.

  The creature screeched, its body tangled in the colpsing web.

  Lucian braced.

  Then—impact.

  Lucian hit the ground hard. The breath ripped from his lungs as dust and debris rained around him.

  He coughed, pushing himself up.

  They had nded in a new cavern.

  Faint, eerie blue-green light pulsed from the walls. The air was thicker, heavier. Something about it felt wrong.

  The others groaned as they got up.

  Then—

  Lucian heard something worse.

  A noise from deeper within.

  A heartbeat.

  Slow. Powerful.

  And not human.

  Lucian’s blood turned to ice.

  They weren’t alone.

  Lucian barely had time to catch his breath. The rhythmic thumping from deep within the cavern sent a chill down his spine. Something was awake.

  His eyes darted to the others. They were bruised, battered, but alive.

  Ay wiped blood from her forehead. "What... was that sound?"

  Lucian didn’t answer. His focus was elsewhere—on the shifting darkness ahead.

  The blue-green glow pulsed along the cavern walls, illuminating the space in eerie fshes. The ground was smooth, almost unnatural. Vein-like cracks hummed with an otherworldly energy.

  Lucian’s gut twisted.

  This pce wasn’t empty.

  Then—

  A low growl.

  Not from the monster above.

  From something else.

  A New Predator

  Lucian turned—too slow.

  A blur of bck and silver lunged from the shadows.

  Instinct screamed.

  Lucian barely twisted aside before cws raked through the air where his head had been.

  He hit the ground, rolling into a crouch, heart hammering.

  The creature nded in front of him.

  Tall. Four-limbed. Its skin looked metallic, shifting as it moved. A wolf-like head, but too elongated, with eyes that burned silver.

  Lucian’s vision flickered.

  [Css: Predator]

  [Veil: Horror]

  His stomach dropped. Stronger, too strong.

  “MOVE!”

  The creature struck.

  Ronan reacted first, grabbing a chunk of stone and hurling it.

  The rock shattered against the beast’s head. It barely flinched.

  Then—it moved.

  Faster than any of them could track.

  Ay screamed as cws tore through the air toward her.

  Lucian threw himself forward, grabbing her by the arm and yanking her down just in time. The creature’s swipe missed by inches, carving deep gouges into the rock.

  Too fast. Too strong.

  They had no weapons. No way to fight back.

  Lucian’s mind raced.

  Think. Think. THINK.

  The glowing cracks along the ground pulsed—an unnatural energy.

  Lucian had an idea. A stupid, desperate idea.

  "Ronan! Iris! Get its attention!"

  They hesitated—but only for a second.

  Then, Ronan roared and charged.

  Risking Everything.

  The beast whipped toward him, its silver eyes gleaming.

  Lucian moved.

  He sprinted toward the glowing fissures, heart pounding. If he was right—if this energy wasn’t just for show—

  The creature pounced.

  Lucian dove at the st second.

  The beast’s cws sliced air.

  It nded—right on top of the energy vein.

  For a moment, nothing happened.

  Then—

  The entire cavern shook.

  The fissures fred to life.

  A surge of blue-green energy erupted, coiling around the beast like living chains.

  The creature howled in agony.

  Lucian scrambled back, watching in shock as the energy tore into its body, the unnatural glow sinking into its metallic flesh.

  The predator thrashed, eyes flickering.

  Then—

  With a final, shuddering convulsion—it colpsed.

  Dead.

  A Moment of Relief

  Silence.

  Lucian sat panting, his body shaking from adrenaline.

  Ay was the first to speak. "What the hell did you just do?"

  Lucian swallowed, gncing at the glowing ground. "...I took a gamble."

  Ronan let out a short, disbelieving ugh. "That was insane."

  "But it worked," Iris muttered.

  Daryl groaned, struggling to stand. "Great. Now what? We still don’t have weapons, and we have no idea where we are."

  Lucian exhaled, gncing deeper into the cavern. The eerie glow stretched forward, leading into unknown darkness.

  One thing was clear.

  They had no choice but to move forward.