The chamber beyond the passage was larger than I'd expected, roughly oval-shaped and perhaps sixty feet at its widest point. The ceiling rose in a dome at least twenty feet high, supported by natural stone pillars that looked like they'd been carved by flowing water over centuries.
But it wasn't the architecture that made us all freeze at the entrance.
In the center of the chamber, growing from the floor like some massive crystalline tree, was a formation that dwarfed anything I'd seen before. It stood nearly fifteen feet tall, branching into dozens of crimson spires that reached toward the domed ceiling. Each branch pulsed with inner light, and the entire structure seemed to breathe with the same rhythm as the dungeon's heartbeat.
Around its base, arranged in a perfect circle, were the remnants of previous expeditions.
Skeletal remains in tattered clothing, their bones stained the same deep red as the crystal formation. Some still clutched weapons or tools, frozen in their final moments. Others had clearly been positioned deliberately, their skulls facing outward like sentries guarding the central spire.
"Well," Marcus said quietly, "that's not ominous at all."
Blackwood stepped into the chamber without hesitation, his eyes fixed on the crystal formation with an intensity that made my skin crawl. "Perfect. Even better than I'd hoped."
"Better?" Kira's voice was sharp. "Thorne, there are at least a dozen bodies here. This isn't a treasure chamber—it's a tomb."
"It's an opportunity," Blackwood replied, pulling extraction tools from his pack. "Look at the size of that formation. The purity of the crystalline structure. Do you have any idea what something like this is worth?"
I was busy scribbling notes in my journal, documenting Blackwood's reaction to clear evidence of previous casualties. His excitement in the face of death was exactly the kind of evidence Reyne needed. But something else was bothering me—something about the arrangement of the bones.
"They're positioned," I said suddenly. "The skeletons. Someone arranged them deliberately."
Marcus moved closer to examine the remains, his warrior's instincts apparently overriding caution. "He's right. Look at this one—sword still in hand, facing outward. These aren't natural death positions."
"Does it matter?" Blackwood was already assembling what looked like a specialized drilling apparatus. "They're dead. We're alive. We take what we can and leave before we join them."
"It matters because something arranged them," Kira said, her hammer now in her hands. "Something intelligent. Something that might still be here."
As if summoned by her words, the whispers I'd been hearing grew louder, more distinct. Not words exactly, but something that felt like communication. The crystal formation's pulsing accelerated, and the light it cast began to shift from deep red to something closer to orange.
"Blackwood," I said, backing toward the entrance. "I think we should—"
"Stay where you are," he snapped, not looking up from his equipment. "All of you. This extraction requires precision, and I won't have you panicking at shadows."
That's when I noticed the floor.
The bones weren't just arranged in a circle—they were connected by thin lines carved into the stone. Geometric patterns that formed a complex design around the crystal formation. My trap detection skill was screaming at me now, highlighting not just the obvious dangers but the entire chamber as one massive mechanism.
"It's a trap," I said, louder this time. "The whole chamber. The bones, the carvings, the crystal—it's all one giant trap."
"Of course it is," Blackwood replied, still focused on his drilling device. "That's why previous expeditions failed. They didn't understand what they were dealing with."
"And you do?"
He finally looked up, and for the first time I saw something in his eyes that went beyond simple greed. There was knowledge there, and calculation, and something that might have been hunger.
"I've studied this place for years, Jin. Mapped its changes, documented its patterns. The Crimson Labyrinth isn't just a dungeon—it's a living entity that feeds on death to grow stronger. And I know exactly how to feed it."
The words hit me like ice water. "Feed it what?"
Blackwood's smile was cold and terrible. "What do you think?"
That's when Marcus drew his sword. But instead of pointing it at the chamber's potential threats, he turned it toward Kira and me.
"I'm sorry," he said, though he didn't sound sorry at all. "Nothing personal. Just business."
I understood then. Marcus wasn't just another expedition member—he was Blackwood's accomplice. Probably had been from the beginning. The veteran warrior with mysterious connections to discrete problem-solving wasn't here to help extract crystals.
He was here to ensure there were bodies to feed to the formation.
Kira's reaction was immediate and violent. Her hammer came up in a defensive position as she backed toward the wall, putting stone at her back so she could face both threats.
"You bastard," she snarled at Blackwood. "This was planned. All of it."
"Every detail," Blackwood confirmed, his drilling device now humming with energy as it touched the crystal formation. "The Labyrinth requires sacrifice to unlock its deeper treasures. Previous expeditions failed because they didn't understand the price."
"So you decided to pay it with our lives?"
"Your lives were forfeit the moment you accepted my invitation," Blackwood said. "At least this way, your deaths serve a purpose."
The crystal formation was responding to his drilling, its light shifting through the spectrum from red to orange to yellow. The carved patterns in the floor began to glow with the same shifting light, and the whispers became a chorus of what sounded disturbingly like approval.
I had a choice to make. My mission was to gather evidence of Blackwood's crimes and report back to the Guild. Mission accomplished—I now had irrefutable proof that he deliberately murdered his expedition members.
But gathering evidence was meaningless if I didn't survive to share it.
And more importantly, if I let Kira die here, I'd be no better than the monster I'd come to investigate.
I reached for the emergency communication coin in my pocket, then stopped. Even if the Guild could receive my signal this deep in the dungeon, help wouldn't arrive in time to save us.
We were on our own.
"Marcus," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "Whatever he's paying you, it's not worth this. The Guild knows about Blackwood's pattern. They're already investigating."
Marcus shook his head. "Nothing personal, Jin. But some contracts you don't break. Not if you want to keep breathing."
The Iron Syndicate. Of course. Blackwood wasn't just addicted to dangerous expeditions—he was working for people who made killing a business requirement.
That's when the chamber's trap fully activated, and I realized that Blackwood and Marcus might not be the only things trying to kill us.
The Crimson Labyrinth itself was hungry, and we were on the menu.