The last thing he saw before the darkness engulfed him was the abomination, roaring in frustration with its limbs flailing helplessly as the chamber collapsed around it.
'This can't be it.' Theon thought, his mind racing as he plummeted into the abyss.
The thought burned through his mind as he plummeted into the abyss. Instinct took over. His chains lashed out, whipping through the air like serpents seeking purchase. Metal shrieked against stone as they snagged a jagged outcrop, wrenching his arm nearly from its socket. The sudden halt sent him crashing into the cavern wall, ribs screaming in protest.
Gritting his teeth, he drove his daggers into the rock, their enchanted edges sparking against the stone as he skidded downward. The scent of scorched metal filled his nose, the friction searing his palms even through his gloves. Every muscle in his body trembled—his arms, his back, his legs—all pushed far beyond their limits.
But he couldn't stop.
Theon's muscles burned with the effort, his breath coming in ragged gasps. The cavern walls blurred past him, a dizzying whirl of darkness and stone. His chains snapped taut, then slackened as he dropped again, and again he caught himself, each time a little slower, a little more controlled.
Each desperate grip was looser than the last, his muscles screaming on the verge of revolt. The constant drain of Lu, the brutal sprint, the fierce battle—they'd stripped him bare.
Finally, his grip faltered. His fingers slipped. The daggers wrenched free. His chains slithered out of his grip, clattering into the void below.
And then—nothing.
Only the embrace of the dark.
His consciousness returned in fragments.
First, the thrum—a deep, resonant pulse that vibrated through the very ground, through the marrow of his bones, as if the earth itself drew breath. Then, the pain—a thousand firework bursts of agony igniting in every joint, every bruise, every raw scrape. His body felt like it had been trampled by a warbeast, each breath a fresh torment.
Groaning, Theon forced his eyes open.
A faint, ghostly glow greeted him—bioluminescent fungi clinging to the chasm walls, their eerie light painting the dust-choked air in shifting blues and greens. Shadows stretched and twisted like living things, and somewhere in the distance, water dripped in a slow, mocking rhythm.
He was alive.
For now.
Disorientation clung to Theon like a second skin. Every breath seared his lungs as he forced himself upright, his vision swimming. Above him, the shattered remnants of the chamber loomed, a broken ceiling of jagged stone. Silence pressed down—heavy, suffocating—broken only by the deep, rhythmic thrum vibrating through the ground.
He could instinctually feel it—being unconscious here meant death.
As he staggered to his feet, the vibrations grew stronger. He turned to see mounds of flesh and withered bone wriggling and pulsating, converging as if magnetized to a single point. The sound of crushing bone and merging flesh echoed through the chasm, sending a chill down Theon's spine.
Then he saw it.
Death Lu.
The dark, ominous energy that had permeated the research center was converging. Like a thick, malevolent mist, the death Lu funneled through the air, pouring into the mound of writhing flesh. Across the compound, zombies collapsed one by one, whatever twisted energy animated them now siphoning into the remains of the abomination.
The rubble shifted. Then, slowly, it parted.
The abomination rose from the debris.
Not just alive.
It was reborn.
Its transformation was a nightmare given form. Where once its limbs were mangled and rotten, now they were muscular and sinewy, exuding a dark energy. Its six arms moved with a newfound precision, the claws gleaming wickedly. Its skin, once mottled and decayed, was now a thick, hideous armor, pulsating with the dark essence that had reinvigorated it.
The abomination's head, a twisted amalgamation of human and beast, turned to face Theon. Its eyes, now glowing with an eerie, malevolent light, locked onto him with a predatory focus. The creature seemed to be adjusting to its new form, flexing its limbs and stretching its body, as if testing the limits of its newly acquired strength. Each movement was accompanied by a sickening crunch of bone and a wet squelch of flesh.
The ground beneath Theon seemed to hum in response to the creature's sheer presence, the vibrations now matching the pounding rhythm of his heart. Yet, even as his pulse quickened, there was no fear in his eyes—only an icy coldness.
Survival was all that mattered now.
His heart beat in sync with the growing tremors, his mind racing as he sized up the abomination. It was stronger, faster, and radiating death, but he couldn't let that stop him.
He would survive.
He had to.
The abomination's roar shook the cavern as it tore itself free, six monstrous limbs scattering debris in all directions. Theon was already moving - not away, but sideways, putting jagged rock formations between them as he sprinted to create as much distance as possible between him and the creature. The ground beneath him was uneven and treacherous, but he moved with a fluid grace, every step calculated to maximize his speed.
He glanced over his shoulder to see the abomination lumbering after him, its movements slow but relentless as it seemed to adjust to its new form.
He darted around a large boulder, using it as cover as he assessed his surroundings. The chasm was vast, but there were potential hazards he could use to his advantage.
'Can't fight. Can't outrun it for long.' Theon's thoughts came through the pain like radio static. His body screamed in protest, every nerve ending alight with agony, but he forced his mind to focus through the white noise of suffering.
The abomination's grotesque mouth split into a grin, strings of black ichor stretching between its jagged teeth. Then it moved.
Not a charge - a blur.
Theon barely twisted aside as claws sheared through the air where his throat had been. His momentum carried him onto a rock shelf, his chain already whipping upward. The metal coiled around a stalactite and Theon wrenched downward with all his remaining strength.
The cavern echoed with the sound of shattering stone as the massive spike came crashing down. Not a direct hit - but the resulting rockfall created a momentary barrier. Theon didn't wait to see how long it would hold.
Theon staggered back, breathing heavily, limping as fast as he could towards another outcrop of rocks.
And yet…it wasn't enough
In a matter of seconds Theon heard the crunching of rocks and felt the air pressure as the abomination appeared behind him and swung one of his limbs in a wide arc.
Theon tried to dodge but he was slow, too slow.
BOOM!
The air pressure changed a fraction of a second before impact. Theon's body recognized the danger before his mind could - but too late. The crushing blow caught him across the ribs, sending him airborne. For one weightless moment, he was flying. Then the cavern wall rose up to meet him.
The impact drove the breath from his lungs in a wet gasp. His vision tunneled as he slid down the rough stone, tasting copper. Through the haze of pain, the abomination loomed closer, its glowing eyes burning twin holes in the darkness.
It raised a clawed hand, ready to deliver the final blow.
And swung down with all of its might.