The pull was subtle at first;a gentle tug on their boots, like the floor had become a slow-moving river underfoot. Then it surged.
Rhea slammed a hand against the wall, her claws gouging the slick surface. It was like trying to cling to polished glass.
"Kael—"
"I feel it," he snapped, planting his sword tip into the floor to anchor himself. His knuckles whitened. "Don't fight the pull,move with it. We'll find something solid ahead."
They didn't walk. They slid. The current beneath the stone drew them forward, faster, deeper into the narrowing passage. The air thickened, humid and foul, heavy with the stench of rotting seawood and old blood.
Somewhere ahead, the steady thump… thump… thump grew louder, each beat rattling the stone under their palms.
It wasn't just sound,it was pressure, a pulse that made the air vibrate.
Rhea's mind flashed with an image she didn't want: this place was not carved by water or time. It was living tissue.
A shadow loomed ahead. The passage widened into a cavern so vast she couldn't see the far wall. The heart was there she knew it instantly.
Suspended in the center of the space, the thing pulsed inside a translucent membrane, each beat sending ripples through the black water pooling below. Veins as thick as tree trunks spread from it into the walls and ceiling, glowing faintly with blue luminescence.
It was beautiful in a grotesque, wrong way.
Kael's voice was a low growl. "That's it. That's what's keeping this entire creature alive."
As if hearing him, the heart's pulse quickened.
The water below erupted.
Tentacles;slick, ridged, and impossibly long whipped upward from the depths. One lashed toward Kael, who barely rolled aside before it smashed into the stone where he'd stood.
Another struck at Rhea. She leapt, her claws sinking into the wall as she climbed, the tentacle missing her by inches. She could smell the brine and blood on it.
Kael drew his blade, eyes scanning. "We're not killing this thing;not here. But if we can sever enough veins—"
The ground shook violently. A tentacle slammed into the wall beside Rhea, knocking her loose. She fell, air tearing past her ears, before Kael caught her arm and wrenched her back to the ledge.
"Stay up," he barked.
The heart beat faster now, the chamber filling with a low, resonant hum. The water boiled with movement,more tentacles rising. Some struck at them, others coiled toward the walls, blocking the exit they had come from.
Rhea's wolf surged inside her, the urge to fight overwhelming. "If we're doing this, we do it now."
Kael's eyes met hers and she saw the same fire there.
They moved together. Kael darted toward the largest vein snaking into the wall, his blade flashing in the eerie blue light. Rhea leapt to another, her claws raking deep, tearing the membrane until a spray of thick, glowing fluid hissed into the air.
The heart spasmed. The entire cavern bucked like a ship in a storm.
Tentacles thrashed wildly. One coiled around Kael's waist, lifting him from the ground. He grunted, hacking at it, but the grip only tightened.
"Kael!"
Rhea lunged, her claws slicing through the thick flesh of the appendage. It shrieked actually shrieked and dropped him.
"Go!" Kael shouted.
They didn't look back. Sprinting along the trembling ledge, they vaulted over a smaller vein and dove for an opening on the far side of the cavern. The passage beyond was narrow, and the pull of the living walls was weaker here.
Behind them, the heart's pulse faltered slower now, but still alive.
Rhea knew they hadn't killed it. They'd only made it angry.