The tunnel narrowed to a cruel joke of a passage, forcing Apollo deeper into the rancid water until it lapped at his chin.
The stench invaded his nostrils, rotting vegetation and worse things, the accumulated filth of a city that preferred its waste forgotten. Each forward movement required a full-body contortion, shoulders scraping against slimy stone as he inched through the constricting darkness.
'Just a little further,' he told himself, though his body screamed otherwise. The divine light he'd forced down earlier now pressed outward like a living thing, seeking escape.
It burned beneath his skin, molten gold trying to reclaim its rightful place in the world. Apollo clamped down harder, jaw clenched so tight his teeth might crack. Each second of containment sent fresh waves of agony through his veins, acid eating him from within.
Behind him, water splashed as the others struggled through the narrowing passage. Nik's breathing had grown rapid and shallow, edging toward panic.
