Gray's lungs burned with every breath and Renn's footsteps splashed faintly behind him, uneven but determined. Ahead, Aurelle moved like he was born of the frost, sword gleaming in rhythmic arcs as he cut down anything that came close.
But the Cryovigils weren't relenting. Dozens still dangled from the ceiling, threads glinting like strands of frozen glass. Their pale hands flexed, each palm-eye unblinking, waiting for the moment a glance would betray them.
Gray narrowed his gaze, jaw tight. Closing his eyes before hadn't been enough. He needed more.
He exhaled once, then dragged Vyre up from his core. Darkness surged in his veins, threading over his vision until the chamber went pitch black. He wasn't just closing his eyes now...he was blind, willingly drowning his sight in shadow. His instincts screamed sharper for it, pulling him into every faint ripple of movement.
The first hand darted toward him, string slicing the air. Gray's body twisted before thought could catch up. His blade slashed once, twice, severing strands that immediately writhed back together, and then his sword swept sideways, clean through the staring eye. The Cryovigil shrieked and withered, collapsing into ash before it even hit the water.
The rest recoiled instantly.
A whisper brushed his ear, Renn's voice cracking, "One's coming—!"
Before the warning finished, a Cryovigil lunged straight for the boy.
Renn unsheathed his short broadsword clumsily, steel splashing water as he swung wide. The Cryovigil latched onto his head, pale fingers pressing tight against his skull. Renn's knees buckled. His eyes widened in pain as frost spread across his temples, invading thought.
But he wasn't affected by the mind numbing.
He shouted, voice strained, and wrenched himself free with a sudden violent shake. His sword smacked against the hand, knocking it sideways. It reeled for a split-second.
That was enough.
Gray's blade tore through it, black shadows curling off the steel as the eye split in half. The Cryovigil splashed onto the layer of thin water, the threads dissovling into nothing.
Gray grabbed Renn's shoulder, steadying him. "I told you already, just stay back."
Renn nodded, chest heaving, but his eyes didn't dim. If anything, they burned brighter.
The chamber shifted again. Threads swarmed the ceiling, splitting off, spreading wider, darting faster. Gray's grip tightened on his sword. He couldn't track them all.
But Renn could.
"They're flanking left—two of them!" Renn called.
Gray pivoted instantly, instincts aligning with Renn's voice. His blade flashed, slicing one strand, then the staring eye behind it. Another hissed, diving low, but Renn's shout reached him first. "Behind you!"
Gray spun and cut upward, shadows trailing the arc. The Cryovigil shrieked before vanishing in cinders.
They were moving together now, one instinct, one sharp eye, both striking as one.
Across the chamber, Aurelle's fight was a storm.
The Drowned's hulking body slammed forward, ice cracking under its charge. Its claws carved trenches into the wall as it swiped. Aurelle ducked, but not fast enough, the edge grazed his cheek, drawing a thin line of red. His expression never wavered.
Another Cryovigil dove for him. Aurelle didn't even glance at it. He shifted his weight, baiting the Drowned closer, then stepped aside. His blade flicked, slicing straight through the hand's eye in the same breath as he stabbed another out of the air.
The Drowned roared and kicked, its massive leg slamming into Aurelle's chest. The impact blasted him across the chamber, cracking stone as his body hit the wall hard enough to rattle the cave.
If it were anyone else, it would've done serious damage. But not to Aurelle. He didn't even flinch.
He smoothly rebounded off the wall like a spring, sword flashing mid-air. His hand snapped out, catching one of the Cryovigil threads. In one brutal motion he yanked, dragging the shrieking creature down with him as he hurtled toward the Drowned.
The monster raised its arms too slow. Aurelle twisted mid-fall, wrapping his legs around the Drowned's thick neck. In the same motion, he smashed the Cryovigil's palm against the Drowned's frozen skull.
The result was catastrophic.
The Cryovigil shook itself, attempting to break free of Aurelle's grasp, but it was to no avail. It's mind-paralysis flooding the Drowned at point-blank. The giant froze, muscles locking. Aurelle's grip tightened, his own strength crushing the struggling hand. Then he drove both down together.
The Drowned's skull shattered like ice under a hammer. Shards of frozen bone burst outward in a spray. The Cryovigil collapsed in Aurelle's grip, turning to limp mush.
Both bodies fell into the shallow water with a splash that echoed across the cavern.
Aurelle landed lightly on his feet, barely winded. He turned, calm and cold, and sliced the twitching remnants of the Drowned into five precise pieces, scattering them across the chamber.
Gray barely had time to breathe before Renn shouted again. "Gray! One left!"
The last Cryovigil was larger than the rest, its threads thicker, its palm-eye burning with a deep violet hue. It struck faster, harder, weaving so quickly that Gray's instincts struggled to keep pace.
The hand slammed into his stomach. The blow knocked him back several steps, water rippling outward. He gasped, doubling over slightly, but forced himself upright.
"Front!" Renn yelled, panic rising.
Gray however, didn't move. He simply stood still. Holding his stance calmy.
Renn's heart lurched. "What are you doing?! Move! Now!"
But Gray could only smile faintly.
'Come on Renn...i believe in you...'
To everyone's shock, he opened his eyes. The paralysis hitting him instantly.
Every muscle locked, breath cut short. His body went still as the Cryovigil's gaze pierced into his skull. The cold, rough hand wrapped around his head, his thoughts slowed to a crawl, the cold gnawing at his consciousness.
Renn's world froze. He saw Gray pale, saw the lifeless glaze overtaking his face. And then, it clicked.
His eyes widened. "You're… crazy...but it might just work.."
Vyre quickly surged in his veins. Renn raised his trembling hand, forcing the unstable energy forward. It coursed into Gray's mind, sinking into the darkness already gathered there. For a heartbeat, it looked like Gray's vision drank the power whole.
Then, the paralysis cracked.
Gray's breath snapped back in a hiss. His sword rose, but he didn't sheath the darkness around his blade this time. Instead, he pulled it into his palm, raw and unshaped, then hurled it directly at the Cryovigil's eye.
The shadow struck with a hiss.
The creature shrieked, thrashing wildly as the darkness burned across its eye, eating through its flesh like fire.
Across the chamber, Aurelle's calm broke. His eyes widened, then narrowed, locked on the shadows twisting in Gray's control. His jaw tightened, expression darkening.
Gray didn't notice. He surged forward, cutting the Cryovigil's thread before it could heal. The hand fell, flailing, and he drove his katana straight down, skewering it and killing it with one hit.
It convulsed once. It's fingers twitched. Then it lay still, pinned against the stone, before collapsing into silence.
Gray pulled his blade free, chest rising and falling. Slowly, a grin cracked across his face. He turned toward Aurelle, shadows still curling faintly off his steel.
"Ready to save the others?" he asked, his voice coming out rough. As if he hadn't drank any water for weeks.
Aurelle only nodded, though his eyes never left the darkness clinging to Gray. His silence was heavy, thoughtful, unreadable.
Gray turned to Renn, who was pale and sweating, but smiling weakly. "Thanks. Couldn't have done that without you."
Renn's grin widened, pride shining through his exhaustion. "No problem. Told you I'd help."
They began to walk, stepping over the twitching ash and shattered ice. Gray shook his head, laughing faintly. "Alright, Aurelle, where are the others?"
"I don't know."
Gray stopped mid-step, blinking. "Wait… what?"
"I said I don't know," Aurelle repeated evenly. "We'll have to go chamber by chamber until we find them. The larger halls are more likely."
Gray groaned, running a hand through his hair. "Unbelievable. You didn't think to mention that earlier?"
Aurelle didn't answer. He simply sheathed his sword and started forward.
Gray sighed, following, Renn trailing after him with a faint chuckle. Their footsteps echoed, ripples spreading through the shallow water.
They slowly left the chber and continued downwards.
In the chamber they had just left, the remains of the monsters lay still, water still rippling from the aftermath.
Just then...
The severed remains of the Drowned twitched.
And then, headless, it began to rise.
The water rippled again as its body stood.
It directed it's head, or where it should've been, at the direction they had left.
And it started to stumble forward weakly.