James's mind raced, trapped between the abyss and the unnerving creature before him. Nyx's desire for Sophia's curse, her "broken song," was a threat he couldn't comprehend. He had to make her see him as a danger, something too unpredictable to approach.
His eyes darted upwards. A colossal, rust-eaten turbine, silent for centuries, hung precariously from the ceiling, held by massive, corroded supports. It was a chaotic, unstable structure—perfect for his needs. He found the most critical-looking support beam, its internal Pattern groaning under the immense strain, and focused his will upon a single, load-bearing bolt within it. He didn't just pull. He tore it from reality.
The response was apocalyptic. With a deafening screech of tortured metal, the bolt vanished. The support beam buckled, and the multi-ton turbine lurched, not falling, but swinging down like a monstrous pendulum. It crashed into the chamber's far wall with the force of a battering ram, showering the area in a cascade of metal shards and petrified dust. The entire chamber shuddered, and the sound echoed like the death of a titan.
James braced himself, expecting the girl to flee, or at least show fear. Instead, Nyx's glowing eyes widened with something that looked disturbingly like delight. She watched the raw destruction with rapt attention, a slow smile gracing her lips.
Her chiming whispers filled the ringing silence. "You make breaks. Big, loud breaks. New songs."
She wasn't scared of his power. She was impressed by it. The realization did little to calm his nerves.
"Stay back!" James yelled, his voice cracking as he shielded Sophia with his body. "She's my sister. She's sick, she's not… not a song!"
Nyx tilted her head, processing the words not by their meaning, but by their panicked, protective energy. Her glowing gaze softened with a flicker of something new—understanding, perhaps, but of a different kind. She pointed a slender, grimy finger towards Sophia.
"The song," her whispers echoed, clearer this time, "is eating the singer."
The phrase hit James with stunning clarity. It was the most accurate description of the curse he had ever heard. This strange girl wasn't just seeing a magical anomaly; she understood its predatory nature. She wasn't necessarily a threat. She was something else entirely.
Before he could process this, a new sound cut through the air. It was a low, guttural chittering, seeming to rise from the very pit his trap had made. A wave of cold, far more profound than the Undercroft's chill, washed over the chamber. It was a coldness that felt like the absence of everything.
A creature clawed its way out of the abyss. It was large and insectoid, its body covered in overlapping plates of matte-black chitin that seemed to absorb the light. It had no eyes, but its head, covered in twitching antennae, swept the room. Mandibles dripped a viscous, grey fluid that sizzled and dissolved the metal floor where it landed, leaving behind a patch of inert, non-magical slag.
This was what Silas had warned him about. A creature that lived where the Pattern frays.
The eyeless head snapped in their direction. It had sensed them. Or rather, it had sensed their magic. The vibrant, chaotic dissonance of Sophia's curse and the fresh, gaping wound in reality James had just torn open were like a feast to its unnatural senses.
With a horrifying screech, it lunged.
Nyx moved with a speed that defied physics. In one moment she was there, and the next she was a blur, phasing through a pile of fallen debris and reappearing twenty feet away. She wasn't fighting the creature; she was a distraction. She scraped her crystal necklace against a metal beam, sending a shower of chiming echoes across the chamber, drawing the creature's attention.
"Break it!" her whispers screamed in his mind, a command that was both sound and pure intent. "The path!"
James saw what she meant. The creature was now between them and the doorway, cutting off their only escape. He looked at the walkway they stood on, at the supports holding it to the far platform. He didn't hesitate. He found the anchor bolts of the section before them and unraveled them.
With a groan, the walkway collapsed, not into the pit, but downward, the far end slamming against the platform below the doorway. It formed a steep, makeshift ramp.
"Go!" he yelled.
Nyx was already moving, scrambling up the new ramp with the agility of a spider. James, holding Sophia tight, followed, his ankle screaming in protest. They reached the doorway just as the creature's nullifying acid splashed against the bottom of the ramp, dissolving it into useless slag.
James threw his weight against the massive door, but it was no use. The beast was coming. In a final, desperate act, he looked at the huge stone lintel above the doorway and unraveled its core. With a deafening CRUNCH, the ceiling collapsed, burying the entrance under tons of rock and metal.
They were safe. For now.
They stood in a narrow, pitch-black tunnel. The only light was the soft, eerie glow from Nyx's eyes. James's breath came in ragged gasps, his body trembling with exhaustion and adrenaline.
"The loud song draws the quiet ones," Nyx's whispers stated, her voice devoid of triumph, filled only with a quiet certainty. "You cannot protect her alone down here. This is my home. I know the quiet paths."
"Why would you help me?" James panted, leaning against the wall.
Nyx stepped closer. The predatory energy was gone, replaced by an intense, analytical curiosity. She reached out a hand, her fingers hovering just inches from Sophia's sleeping face. The air around her hand shimmered and distorted.
"I will be your guide," her whispers chimed, a strange and binding promise. "And you… you will let me listen to the song."
The offer was a lifeline wrapped around a threat. To save Sophia, he had to navigate this lethal darkness. To do that, he needed to trust this dangerously unpredictable girl, and allow her unnerving fascination to get closer to the very sister he was trying to protect.
Looking at the darkness ahead, and feeling the fragile life in his arms, James knew he had no choice at all.
He nodded.