The pyramid loomed before her, jagged against the pale glow of the gate. Rebecca's legs trembled, but she forced herself forward. She couldn't sit and watch her family die—not anymore.
Every step inside was colder than the last, as if the stone itself tried to push her back out. Her chest tightened. She had always stayed home, hiding behind walls, yet here she was, walking into the unknown with nothing but a stolen dagger.
A stream trickled through the dark corridor, its surface glowing faintly with the light that filtered in through cracks above. Rebecca knelt beside it, cupping the water, then slipped in. The chill bit at her skin, but she let it wash over her, daring any monster to appear.
The dagger lay across her knees as she stared at her reflection. The ripples broke her face apart, reshaping it into something ugly, fragile. She almost laughed.
"What kind of princess looks like this?" she whispered.
Her voice echoed back at her from the hollow walls, and for a moment, it sounded like someone else entirely.
Rebecca stared at the dagger—and froze. Another reflection rippled into view.
Her face went pale as she turned. A monster was limping toward her, its body wrapped in shredded cloth, more like a mummy than anything else.
She slipped on the wet stone, shaking, but forced herself to stand. With a scream that tore through the silence, Rebecca rushed forward.
The creature's grasp barely missed her as she drove the dagger into its neck. It fell into the pool, the water blooming red around its body.
But Rebecca didn't stop. She collapsed onto it, stabbing again and again even though it was already dead. Each thrust only reduced the body further until nothing remained but ash.
"Die! Die! Die!" she cried, her voice raw and broken.
When the ashes scattered and she was left stabbing nothing but water, Rebecca collapsed back, laughing at the sight of her own reflection—distorted, messy, almost unrecognizable.
Her whisper cracked against the stone walls.
"Am I going mad, Tracy?"
Tana wept as she stretched out her hand, praying Rebecca would take it. When no one was there, her fingers fell, trembling.
"We'll get her back," I whispered.
"She's still alive," Melissa said, eyes glinting as her device beeped. "Apparently she stole your dagger. But thanks to that, I can track her."
"Let's go," Blaze muttered, fists clenched tight.
As we moved toward the golden pyramid, Tana clung to Blaze from behind. "Please… come back," she pleaded, her embrace too desperate, too tight. She couldn't bear losing anyone again. Blaze only nodded, his jaw set.
The doors of the pyramid groaned open before us. We ran through its echoing halls, chasing the signal, until a vast chamber opened around us. Flames burst to life along the walls, throwing shadows across our stunned faces.
At the center, etched into the floor, was the same seal that burned on my stomach. My hand hovered, then touched it. The grooves shifted, edges closing with a hiss that bit my skin. Blood welled up, and the seal pulsed red.
The tombstone before us trembled. Its doors cracked open—spiders poured out in a black tide.
I reached for my katana, but the sound of knuckles popping froze me. Blaze grinned, his fists igniting. "Finally. Something I can burn."
Elsewhere in the pyramid...
Rebecca knelt, stripped down to her undergarments when white linen shot across the dark, binding her arms and legs. Mummies circled, their wrappings snaking out like living chains.
She snarled, clenching her dagger between her teeth until one arm tore free. Slashing wild, she cut at the strips, but the more she fought, the more they coiled. Her mouth turned red.
Her feet chilled. Water rose around her, creeping higher as if the tomb itself wanted her drowned.
She looked like a mummy in reverse ,as the horde dragged her down.
I watched Blaze mercilessly crush the oversized spiders, his fists burning brighter with every strike. For a moment, I just stared into his eyes. Hard to believe I once fought him. My brother, huh… I almost smiled.
"Sir Kael of the System, your highness-Rebecca is in danger."
Melissa's voice shattered the thought.
My chest went cold. "What do you mean?"
"Her body heat spiked—well, it was already high—but now adrenaline has overtaken dopamine. Not a good sign."
I had a thousand questions about how she knew that, but I shoved them aside. Blaze finished the last spider, and with its death a hidden gate creaked open.
"Let's move, Kael," Blaze said. No 'kid' this time. Just my name. Now all I need is for Kaein to do the same.
"Wait," I said flatly.
Blaze stopped, puzzled.
"There are about four hundred ahead. But… their presence isn't normal."
"You can sense spirit energy? I can too, but only in people, not monsters. For them I use chi, though it only works in a curtain distance."
"What that?" I asked puzzled.
We stared at each other, confused, until Melissa groaned and broke the tension.
Rebecca's world was water and cloth. Cold wrapped her bones as the flood rose to her neck. The mummies had bound her until she could barely breathe—but she tore free, gasping.
Kael's dagger clenched between her teeth, she clawed her way up the wall. Her fingers bled, raw from the icy stone. She reached for a tunnel. Slipped , her body ran pale as she Screamed.
She dangled from the blade, hanging on for dear life.
Meanwhile, Blaze and I tore down corridors that lit themselves as we passed. Sweat ran with every flicker of firelight.
We reached another vast chamber.
Water everywhere.
Blaze stretched his arms into the tide like he'd been waiting for this. "Ahhh."
The water stank of rot. Shapes rose from it. Hundreds of eyes. Rotten jaws.
Zombies or was it mummies ? I couldn't tell the difference.
We stared at them like college grads at a Halloween party. They stared back.
I rested a hand on Blaze's sword. My lips curled. "Trick or treat?"
The horde lunged.
"Trick it is then."
I drew my katana.
The first ranks fell fast—cloth split, heads rolled—but one mummy's bandages coiled around my blade, yanking it still. Another hit me with a brutal combo—stomach, hook, uppercut. I stumbled, growling.
This… would be harder than I thought.
My sigh fogged the air. One of the mummies froze, trembling under my gaze bloodlust filled me almost making me inhuman
Rebecca swung herself, body twisting like a contortionist. She leapt—dagger her anchor—but it slipped from her grip, clattering away.
Her chest heaved in rage and fear. She looked back. A mummy stood watching her. For a moment, it almost seemed… confused.
As if it couldn't tell the difference.
Three-forty-six… three-fifty… I counted every head I claimed, dancing in blood with my katana.
A mummy grabbed my katana this time distorting my stance causing me to let go.
A giant's shadow blotted the torches. I leapt as its massive hand smashed the stone beneath me. I landed on its skull, unarmed now, surrounded.
Bandages lashed around my fists. A spear hurtled toward me.
And then I saw my dagger hovering in the dark.
Instinct. My teeth clenched around the blade. Blood coated my tongue—someone else's.
Heads dropped. White cloth flew.
A moment later, my katana slid back into my hand.
"Where have you been?" I muttered around the steel, spitting crimson. My katana hummed. I swear it sighed.
I carved through them both. Sword and dagger.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Blaze watching. A mummy stood beside him, arms folded. For a heartbeat, they looked like allies, silently judging me.
Then its head disobeyed it , falling sideways.. Darkness had claimed it.
The mummy pressed a button on the wall . A gate opened and it disappeared.
Rebecca mirrored it,nothing inside. She pressed another lever. The floor yawned beneath her. She screamed as the slide took her.
I spat the dagger into my hand, sheathed it, welcoming it home. For a second, I forgot Rebecca existed.
Blaze's eyes didn't leave me. He looked a bit shaken yet I had killed all the monsters. It unlike him to be scared.
But It wasn't the monsters. No , it was me .
My eyes, pale and empty, like half-dried leaves.
My smile.
The smile of a psychopath.