The aqueduct entrance loomed before them at the edge of the Council district, a squat stone structure half-buried in weeds and forgotten refuse. The carved crest above the arch had long since worn away, leaving only faint grooves where once there'd been symbols of water and trade.
Kael adjusted the straps on his pack. "Last chance to turn back," he said without looking at Ryn.
Her answer was the click of her crossbow's windlass. "You'd go in without me?"
"I'd try," he admitted.
They ducked under the arch and stepped into the cool dark.
The first twenty paces were dry stone and stale air, their footfalls echoing ahead. Then the smell hit — damp earth laced with that same sharp, green sweetness he'd learned to recognize instantly. Hive territory.
Kael slowed, drawing his knife. "They know we're coming."
"I'd be worried if they didn't," Ryn murmured.
The tunnel widened into an arched hall, its floor sloping toward a sluggish black stream that trickled down the center. Root clusters protruded from the walls like tumors, their faint luminescence turning the air a sickly green.
That's when the breathing started.
It wasn't theirs. It was the tunnel itself.
A slow, rhythmic expansion of the roots, pushing the walls outward, then relaxing. The air shifted with each pulse, carrying the faintest whisper of movement deeper in.
"They're alive," Ryn whispered.
"They've been alive," Kael corrected. "Now they're listening."
A figure stepped from the shadows at the far end of the hall.
Mara.
She looked worse — or better, depending on which side you were on. The bark plating now covered nearly two-thirds of her body, curling up her neck like a collar. Her remaining human eye was bloodshot, but alert. The other socket was a knot of pale roots, pulsing in rhythm with the walls.
Mara — B-Rank (Low), GP ~1,020 (Hive-Assimilated).
"You came," she said, and for an instant, it was her voice. Then the hive layered over it. "We prepared."
The sound of movement came from behind them. Two more figures emerged from the dark.
Hive Stalkers — C-Rank (High), GP ~620 each.
Ryn swore under her breath. "We're boxed in."
"Not yet," Kael said, and charged.
He hit the first Stalker low, driving his blade up into the creature's abdomen and twisting. Sap and blood sprayed, warm and cloying.
[C-Rank (High) | GP: 790 + 15 = 805]
The second Stalker was on him before the first hit the ground, claws scraping against Stonehide. Kael took the impact, locked its wrist, and drove the knife into its throat.
[C-Rank (High) | GP: 805 + 15 = 820]
Mara didn't flinch. She stepped forward, roots spilling from her forearm like a living whip. Kael ducked the strike, feeling it slice the air over his head, and countered with a slash to her ribs. The blade cut deep into bark but didn't reach flesh.
She shoved him back with unnatural strength, and the walls pulsed harder, faster. From cracks in the ceiling, fine root threads dropped, reaching for ankles and wrists.
Ryn's quarrel struck Mara in the shoulder, staggering her a step. "Kael! This whole tunnel's a trap!"
She was right. The roots weren't just alive — they were coordinated. Every time Kael moved forward, the wall bulged to block him. Every time he dodged back, the floor shifted underfoot with slick growth.
He broke left, aiming to cut off Mara's retreat. She met him head-on, the bark on her arms splitting to reveal long, thorned vines that lashed at his face. He caught one in his bare hand, pain flaring as a thorn bit into his palm, and yanked hard.
Mara stumbled forward, and Kael's blade found the soft gap at her collarbone. The warmth of the GP surge was immediate — but something was wrong.
[C-Rank (High) | GP: 820 + 5 = 825]
Too small. Too little.
She laughed, voice thick with hive echo. "I am not the core here."
The floor behind her split wide.
From the gap rose a hulking shape of twisted bark and muscle, its limbs bristling with spines, its head crowned with a mass of root-antennae.
Root Hulk — B-Rank (Low), GP ~1,150.
It roared, the sound shaking dust from the ceiling, and charged.
Kael dove aside as the Hulk smashed into the wall, roots splintering in a shower of green ichor. Ryn fired at its flank, but the bolt lodged harmlessly in the thick bark.
"Eyes!" Kael shouted.
The Hulk turned toward him, antennae sweeping. He sprinted forward, sliding under its arm, and drove the knife into the softer wood where neck met shoulder. The blade stuck. The Hulk bellowed and spun, hurling him across the hall.
Stonehide blunted the worst of it, but his vision swam.
Ryn darted in, reloading as she moved, and planted a quarrel directly into the Hulk's right eye. The creature screamed, staggering. Kael took the opening, ripping his blade free and plunging it into the left eye.
The Hulk convulsed, arms flailing, smashing roots and stone alike. Then it fell to its knees and collapsed forward, the antennae going dark.
[C-Rank (High) | GP: 825 + 30 = 855]
When Kael looked up, Mara was gone. Again.
Only the faint pulse of the walls remained, slower now but still alive.
"She's not going to stop," Ryn said quietly.
"No," Kael agreed, wiping sap from his blade. "But she's making mistakes. That thing wasn't meant to die here. They wanted me pinned, not alive."
Ryn glanced at the twitching roots along the walls. "Then they've already started adapting."
They backtracked to the entrance, emerging into the open air with lungs burning. The faint grey light of early morning felt like another world.
As they moved toward the warehouse safehouse, Kael's mind replayed Mara's words. I am not the core here.
The map still had two marks left. One was the pale tree in the quarry tunnels. The other… maybe that was where Mara's "core" lived.
He tightened his grip on the knife. Whatever it was, he'd cut it out.