"Shit!" The word tore from Cel's throat as the ground vanished beneath him. 121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Sg8s2QxPc
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxqmbxq9VEu
For one suspended heartbeat, he hung over the void.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi5Oi88y7pg
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Then gravity took him.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHigUCOzUl1
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Pfb0rH0Ww
Above him, the maw yawned wide - concentric rows of teeth closing toward him like a trap sprung perfectly. The creature had erupted from below, swallowing upward, and he was falling straight into its gullet.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG8NR3M5x4r
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO1VQS3DfoT
Cel's legs kicked against empty air, finding nothing.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1dpLkjuHYb
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw3EGth5iHP
The maw snapped shut.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSmSE779J3
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfyQUukBLiz
Darkness swallowed the crimson sky. The teeth missed him - barely - their serrated edges scraping past inches from his skin. But the creature had him, trapped in the suffocating confines of its throat.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcECgLXp5v6
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPrCYRarK6H
The walls contracted immediately. Heat pressed in from all sides, thick with the stench of decay and something acidic that burned his nostrils.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWVYhN0B76j
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpyMCzVz4NJ
His body still rotated from the momentum of his fall. The inner wall rushed toward him through the blackness. Silent Moon remained in his hand, angled forward by chance rather than design.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcfJvWPSvsu
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDsg4O7P4xN
He drove it in with everything he had.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRMaKQdqqhn
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN5KE1nYFJy
The steel met flesh and stuck. Cel drove his weight behind it, feeling layers of tissue resist and tear as the blade sank arm-deep into the wall. Warm blood sprayed across his face, his chest, coating him in black ichor. 121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrlKrNZ4JMy
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKpLsO4ZOCZ
The creature didn't react. No shriek. No spasm. The walls continued their steady contraction, indifferent to steel embedded in them. He might as well have pricked it with a needle.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbMsRmJeA5d
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHpr6gE058T
Then the creature moved.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzdlmo5G13z
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcDTFPPYKv1
It plunged downward with violent force, diving into the earth like water. Cel’s body whipped back and forth as the creature twisted and writhed, tearing through rock and packed earth in its descent.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAgLgc9c9Vz
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡndocfd9T2f
His grip on Silent Moon's hilt was the only thing keeping him from being dragged deeper into the throat. His arms screamed, shoulders threatening to tear from their sockets as his body swung wild with each thrashing movement. The weapon held firm, anchored in flesh, but his fingers were slipping on blood-slick silk. 121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHBbY3FBK8p
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxqv8PC12t1
Something cracked against his ribs - sharp, sudden, stealing his breath. 121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFK4wZ5HOo
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8SUMh1EBZT
Debris poured through the open maw. Stone fragments, ash, chunks of earth torn free by the creature's passage, all funneling down this living tunnel in a deadly stream.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgAabzLi52o
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmzVyyi6dcy
He twisted away, pressing himself against the slick inner wall, trying to predict trajectories he couldn't see. But the blackness turned every impact into surprise, every dodge into desperate guesswork.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDdZxDRwrBJ
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnzA4qB7BRv
Stone cracked against his shoulder. Another caught his hip—121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3lltIyC0hu
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEQpkE9KemU
His left hand tore free.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiIrkUYyF59
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡauhBzIIFxt
The world lurched as his body swung out into open space, held only by his right hand wrapped around the hilt. The shoulder screamed.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYo1fiyQ21R
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhCpTWglUcq
Panic detonated through him like wildfire. His arm was failing. One more violent twist and he'd lose his grip entirely—121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtmzQ5zYorV
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvVvUscj4YS
His left hand shot up again, fingers wrapping over his right in a death grip. Both hands locked on the hilt, knuckles white with strain. But it wasn't enough. The blood, the thrashing, the angle - he was still slipping.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa5Se51mObl
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqa7sEvDn6n
‘Frostmark.’ The thought came like lightning.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCQpZo6SFFi
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbiWSvDR0bt
He didn't hesitate.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI2NEHxhkTn
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Cold exploded through his left palm.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPAIGdi3eHB
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi1aIGhLXxl
Ice erupted from his left palm, racing over his right hand and sealing it to the hilt in a crystalline death grip. 121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDMoeszSvxP
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4q7R6hs55V
Frostbite hit instantly - a searing, vicious cold that punched the breath from his lungs. The pain spread up his wrist in waves of agony worse than any blade, any flame. Like winter itself was devouring him from the inside out, eating through muscle and bone alike. 121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWEXKWZMpTm
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkpmJezDRoE
Then something massive struck his skull.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQm5gGbrtF
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPwBKiokRCW
White light exploded behind his eyes. The world spun, tilted, shattered.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhb9BqlBo6n
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2IIv46fCgh
His consciousness fled.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpzH3sG4x3F
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***121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAaCmwFJHiO
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Eventually, pain dragged him back.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqoZzxivkvn
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrRqGWynaSO
Not the sharp agony of an open wound, but a dull, throbbing ache that pulsed through his skull in time with his heartbeat. Each throb sent fresh waves of nausea through his stomach.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaDNZgRm8ZI
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs580R16nls
Cel's awareness returned in fragments. First the pain. Then the darkness - so complete it might as well have been solid. Then the smell - rot,acid and something else, something organic that made him want to retch.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyXbFNUwGoA
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjTonouXqMo
His body hung loose, suspended by his right arm stretched overhead. Blood had dried on his face in a crusted mask, pulling tight against his skin with every small movement. His right hand felt... wrong. Not painful. Not cold. Just absent, as if it had been severed at the wrist.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgJeiIHrltv
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡml7LvkKSoT
Panic flared. He tried to flex his fingers.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRFzJlJBH0X
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Nothing.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeqZNUzTKaR
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLCnx9EwcOG
Numb. Dead. Frozen to the hilt.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ14y6RFwWiz
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeOquiiNZip
He tried his left hand. His fingers responded, flexing weakly against empty air. 121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdt9HUsqcwy
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuTaWrZF7hs
Relief flooded through him. At least one hand still worked.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwYd729dppY
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAmypHxCL3N
He blinked, but the darkness remained absolute. No crimson sky. No ash-covered wasteland. Just black so complete it pressed against his eyeballs like a physical weight. The air was thick, heavy with moisture that clung to his skin.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1snJZwY7Hq
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhOxgo6MXn1
Memory crashed back in vivid detail. The collapsing ground. The maw snapping shut. Silent Moon plunged deep into yielding flesh. The creature diving into earth. Debris striking him until—121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6xzaF53Zfz
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiejGwJlSAh
Understanding followed a heartbeat later, and with it came something very familiar.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsZFJPyeuns
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeQuJIo1ped
Rage.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIwjiXHYCf2
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'Fucking worm.' 121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡewDQluQArJ
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He'd thought himself lucky when the creature passed after devouring the fleeing one. Thought he'd simply gone unnoticed. 121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡamjRz67yO6
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCW8ErD2Bdn
But this thing had seen him perfectly. It had simply been patient. Watching. Waiting. Playing dead while he stood there distracted by its first kill, lowering his guard, thinking himself safe. Then it had struck with perfect precision. 121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5mGMbzkJbl
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGbwbv3Aq1h
Cel's jaw clenched so hard his teeth ached. 121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPCWeYA8TBG
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA6p6aa96vH
He'd been deceived. Made to believe the rules were different than they were. That he was somehow invisible to these creatures. And he'd believed it - because he'd wanted to believe it. Because it would have made survival so much easier.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMxnHOZxm4u
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynkBSdSPVc
‘Stupid.’121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUkCzPSX5zO
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc9L0hFOULi
The fury settled in his chest like hot coals, steady and sustaining. Good. He'd need that anger. Need it to get through what came next.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvmGbRO1S7p
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGsbc5c0Tw7
The creature had stopped moving now - settled deep beneath the earth, probably digesting its first meal while waiting for its second to die in its gut.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnoTHJSbgd5
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyNSF3ueju1
Cel hung there in the suffocating darkness, trying to orient himself. His body dangled loose, arms stretched toward what he assumed was up. Gravity pulled at his legs, his torso, everything pointing down into the black.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCfzW6kwc9a
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMDME9RJGhl
He was alive. The ice hadn't broken.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlHCbEJiX9c
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ76uVEEJ0Nh
Frostmark had saved him. The fragile frost that shattered from a single punch had actually held where his strength would have failed. It had kept him anchored while debris battered his skull unconscious, kept him from sliding into the digestive acids waiting below.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb8HCYQGOxt
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Y87PQB9yx
The irony was bitter. 121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5CYJ62wREF
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9hEH6L8Acs
Not even Unbroken Succession would have saved him here. That divine gift required moonlight to reach his corpse during a full moon. But buried in the gullet of a creature deep beneath the earth? The moon's light would never be able to touch his remains.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZGpRfgFNkU
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMHVUxXingT
The disappointing, pathetic authority he'd written off as a joke had been the only thing standing between him and permanent death.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9uqH2NHDnX
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgNm3XaWIcw
His throat tightened. He didn't know whether to feel grateful or furious.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFCFzJboGRf
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6XotXdIc2y
A faint, rhythmic sound vibrated through the flesh around him. The creature's breathing, perhaps. Or its heartbeat. 121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjL8NjKuL1o
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwzWHvyocCZ
He couldn't stay here. Hanging blind in the creature's gullet while frostbite ate through his hand.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNdGFpQxIln
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4avNUmc9K7
The way his body hung - arms overhead, legs pointing down - meant the creature had to be horizontal, stretched out like a snake at rest. Which meant he wasn't dangling over a void. There was ground below. Somewhere.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvpNpENoKNt
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdMvwkn6TM7
Cel braced himself, then wrenched Silent Moon free from the flesh.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQvcp7Ix1Hy
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmXWcaJMfPW
The blade tore loose with a wet, sucking sound. His stomach lurched as gravity took him. 121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW6kuIeI5Zg
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFhLta6o0w1
He dropped through the darkness. Two seconds. Three. Long enough for panic to claw at his chest before— 121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAv6FjwUelu
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuSVUkvh8Sh
His body slammed into yielding flesh with a wet thud that drove the air from his lungs. Not ground. Not stone. The soft, slick floor of the creature's throat cushioned his fall.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhI54d6G1yW
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA32gb23VPL
Cel lay there gasping, his frozen hand still locked around Silent Moon's hilt. The blade lay across his chest, free of the wall but bound to him by ice. Four crescent phases glowed along its length, piercing the darkness with soft white radiance. The glow painted his immediate surroundings in ghostly relief - ribbed walls glistening with mucus, organic ridges pulsing with the creature's rhythm.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhNwDLrBhhI
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFA4XEvRE8V
Cel braced the hilt against the ground and slammed his left fist into the ice encasing his right hand. 121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBux8PUtP1p
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡffvAMdo8P8
The first blow skidded off at an angle, pain jolting up his wrist. He repositioned, aimed better. 121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5w2D04gw4M
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCeIDdbWi8L
The second punch landed square - the frost shattered with a sharp crack, fragments scattering across the floor.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLiimgknKWj
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNZnLqQQnbN
Yet his right hand remained numb. Dead weight at the end of his wrist. He tried to flex his fingers - nothing. The frostbite had gone too deep.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAivKkGGYW7
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsB1Oiokene
Cel grabbed Silent Moon with his other hand and pushed himself upright, testing his weight carefully. 121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5SyKeejUjc
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoHcdWgWpmW
He needed to find a way out.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiHViJZS7lp
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLbex0fVZMn
Going deeper would accomplish nothing. The creature's digestive system waited that way. Even if the acid didn't kill him, he'd simply be trapped in an even worse position.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8IkxkJV6xU
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCuV5IeSJ6N
Carving his way through the flesh was impossible. Those obsidian-hard plates he'd glimpsed covered the creature's exterior - armor that had probably turned aside a thousand claws and fangs. He doubted Silent Moon could pierce them.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqOeIeVuPNj
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That left the mouth.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrpZhQXBmO0
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPiPt5Hdg8z
But the maw had snapped shut when it swallowed him. He'd felt it close like a trap, and he couldn't possibly force it open. And even if he managed that miracle, how far down had the creature dived? How much earth lay between him and the surface?121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkDA6q9oWu4
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7mcay5lzlX
His mind turned to Selina. He could enter his soul. Ask for guidance—121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuAjAwzt1VG
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No.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXpQaEdFvGv
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLvYI0fq9oO
If the creature moved again - and it would, eventually - he needed to be conscious. Needed to be ready to drive Silent Moon deep and hold on for another violent ride through stone and earth. Entering his soul now was suicide.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡirzELAw0uD
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFO4hl8sVgN
So he was trapped. Waiting in a living prison until the creature decided to surface.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQwuob5GIwi
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI4MK0qcRbX
His only chance came when it opened its mouth on its own. To hunt. To breathe. Whatever these things did.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwuLmWnnlfW
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9jiVgPEWLW
But the teeth…121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkR2FUjpNLZ
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1PCLM0jJth
Cel's gaze swept across the throat again, and something white gleamed near. He squinted through the dim light.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjr5i7GQaE9
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWffAw1upKz
A tooth. As tall as he was, maybe taller. Curved like a scimitar, serrated along its inner edge.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIbYIauSdPK
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxs24D9XFCX
His stomach clenched. Getting past those teeth had been luck. Pure, stupid luck when the maw had snapped shut and missed him by inches. Trying to slip through them consciously, while the creature was active and aware?121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmv8DQ7dw2p
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj0H81DkpIL
The odds were worse.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHnVlACU7Al
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6b6uAVbNqm
Unless…121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOYKsDqm9ul
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpyuHL9m8WS
An idea struck. Cold. Brutal. Utterly insane.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbj8HSB89D0
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKxkaKMgt9V
What if the creature had no teeth?121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTQxbg38yBa
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A grin spread across his blood-crusted face, wild and malicious in the blade's ghostly light.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8wLaFgUCpE
121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡco0SVNgkJ0
"You swallowed the wrong meal, bastard."1234 copyright protection117ＰＥＮＡＮＡZKi3Y0lSrI 尼

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