Chapter 90: The Undergound Beacon

Frederick pulled the nearest Reapers away from the creature as it took one slow step into the tunnel.

Its paw came down without a sound.

Everyone understood the danger at roughly the same moment. The anchor wielder lowered her weapon into a defensive position. Vanessa’s hand closed around the hilt at her waist, while the other Reapers spread as far as the narrow passage allowed.

Even Mara could sense the difference.

The pressure coming from the Abomination dwarfed anything she had encountered during her brief time in the Underworld. The Fourth Rank at the Eighty-Sixth had been fast enough to vanish between attacks and strong enough to cut through stone. This creature possessed a heavier presence, something so dense that the air inside the tunnel seemed to bend around it.

Mara could not determine its exact Rank. Her training had included descriptions of higher Abominations, though every instructor warned that Rank became difficult to judge without observing an ability or surviving an attack. She only knew that the creature before them stood far above the Second and Third Ranks covered in her lessons.

If it belonged to the Fourth Rank, it made the one they had fought before appear weak.

Rook slowly lowered his coffin from his back. Every movement remained controlled. The chains barely made a sound as he placed the bottom against the ground and reached toward one of its weapon compartments.

Frederick took another step back. The creature stepped forward with him.

Its shoulders scraped against both sides of the tunnel. Dark fur pressed against stone, yet the movement produced no sound. The enormous paws avoided every loose rock scattered across the floor, and the head remained lowered beneath the ceiling.

The expedition retreated until the unfinished wall stopped them.

The anchor wielder glanced toward Rook. "Should I break this damn thing?"

"No. Stay still."

"We’re running out of tunnel."

"It could have attacked already."

Rook kept one hand inside the coffin, his fingers wrapped around a weapon he had not yet drawn. The creature had followed them across the Hollow Road, through the forest and down into the cavern. It possessed enough patience to avoid the caltrops and enough awareness to reveal itself only after their escape had been blocked.

Something like that did not hesitate from fear.

"It’s looking for something," Rook said. "It wants something from us."

Mara kept her dagger ready. "Abominations have wants?"

"The worst ones do."

"What does this one want?"

"If I knew, I’d give it Frederick."

Frederick glanced at him. "Try it."

The creature’s pale eyes shifted across the group. They paused upon Mara before moving toward the wall behind them, then returned to her again.

Rook noticed. And just as he began drawing the weapon from his coffin.

The stone beside them moved.

A hand pushed through the solid wall.

Mara turned as an arm emerged from the rock, followed by a shoulder and the upper body of a woman wearing the dark uniform of a Forty-Second Reaper. The stone flowed around her without breaking, sliding across her clothes and skin as though it had become thick water.

The woman stepped fully into the tunnel.

She looked at the trapped expedition, glanced toward the enormous feline Abomination and immediately understood the situation. Dropping to one knee, she slammed her palm against the cave floor.

The entire tunnel shuddered.

Stone surged upward between the group and the creature. The walls folded inward while the floor rose to meet the ceiling. Layers of rock sealed together within seconds, forming a thick barrier across the passage.

"Follow me!" the woman shouted.

She turned and ran directly into the cave wall.

Her body passed through it.

Mara stared at the place where she vanished. "What now? We run through the stone?"

"No time."

Rook caught her hand and pulled her toward the wall.

Mara braced for impact. She expected her forehead to strike solid rock and briefly wondered whether dying from Rook dragging her face-first into a cave would produce an especially useless Death Imprint.

The wall offered no resistance.

Cold pressure passed across her skin. The blue light from her lantern vanished for half a heartbeat, leaving her surrounded by stone she could feel but could not see. Then Rook pulled her through the other side and into another tunnel.

Vanessa emerged after them, followed by Frederick and the remaining Reapers. The anchor wielder came last, dragging her weapon through the softened stone moments before the passage hardened again.

A growl shook the cavern behind them.

The barrier shattered.

The sound of breaking rock chased the group through the tunnel. Heavy impacts struck behind them as the Abomination tore through the first wall and entered the space they had escaped. Mara expected it to follow through the second, but the stone remained intact long enough for them to reach a downward slope.

The woman continued running ahead. "Keep moving!"

Rook did not release Mara’s hand until the tunnel widened. The group descended through several sharp turns, crossed a natural bridge above a deep crevice and passed through another wall that softened beneath the woman’s touch.

The growling behind them gradually faded.

The Abomination did not follow.

After several minutes, the narrow tunnel opened into an enormous cavern.

Everyone stopped, after all this place was different, it wasn’t dark, no. Pale light filled the underground space.

It resembled the glow of a Soul Beacon, weak compared with the Forty-Second but strong enough to illuminate the entire cavern. The light spread across a ceiling so high that large sections remained hidden by stone formations. It touched rows of buildings below, narrow streets and the remains of defensive walls built against the natural edges of the cave.

Mara lowered her lantern.

The blue flame was no longer necessary.

Dozens of homes occupied the nearest section of the cavern. Some had been carved directly into the stone, while others were built from salvaged timber, cracked bricks and pieces of older structures. Bridges connected raised sections along the walls. Channels cut into the ground carried thin streams of pale water between the buildings.

People filled the streets.

Reapers moved between supply stations and makeshift workshops. Wandering souls seemed to also be moving among these people. Several wounded figures rested near one of the larger buildings while others repaired weapons beside them.

Every person in the settlement turned toward the newcomers.

No one approached.

The residents watched from a distance, their expressions carrying more caution than relief. Several Reapers placed hands upon their weapons. Others quietly guided unarmed souls away from the street.

Frederick stared across the cavern before turning toward the woman who rescued them.

"Manager."

She leaned against the wall and caught her breath.

Dust covered her dark coat. Several tears ran through one sleeve, exposing half-healed wounds beneath it. Her hair had been tied behind her head at some point, though loose strands now hung across her face.

Frederick stepped toward her. "What are you doing here? Why didn’t you return to the Forty-Second? What is this place?"

The Manager pushed away from the wall. "You made it here alive. That will have to be enough until we get inside. Once we’re safer, I’ll explain more"