Eros woke with the taste of ash in his mouth.
He lay on cold stone, every muscle stiff, ribs grinding whenever he tried to breathe. For a moment he thought he had dreamed the venom, the laughter, the way his skin had melted like wax. But the chamber hadn't changed. The walls still glowed faintly with sick green light, veins of poison pulsing through the cracks. The air hissed softly, endless, as though the room itself whispered his failure back at him.
And Apophis was still there.
The serpent circled lazily between the broken columns, its body sliding over rubble with a sound like sand dragged across glass. Its pale eyes glowed faintly, one still bleeding black around the bolt lodged deep inside. That wound should have killed anything. Yet here it was: alive, vast, patient.
Eros pushed himself onto an elbow, chest heaving. His body felt intact. Too intact. He looked down at his arms, his hands, his chest. No burns. No raw flesh. No scar.
He froze in shock.
Every death had left him something: a mark, a reminder etched into his skin. His belly. His throat. His side. Proof that he had died and clawed his way back. This time there was nothing.
"No…" His voice came out hoarse. He tore his shirt open, pawed frantically at his chest. Smooth skin. Not a trace.
Panic crawled up his spine. «Why? Every time… every time I die, I get a scar that helps me defeat my killer. Why not now? Oh, this is bad, so bad!»
The Reader's Notes didn't answer. The silence cut deeper than venom ever had.
The serpent turned its head toward him. A slow smile seemed to creep across those monstrous jaws.
Then the voice came, crashing into his skull like a wave of stone.
You return.
Eros staggered back, clutching his head. His teeth rattled from the force of it.
I tore you apart. I melted your flesh. Yet you stand.
The words weren't sound. They burrowed inside him, clawing through his skull. He tried to block them out, tried to think of Amanda, of anything else, but the voice drowned everything.
Not mortal. Not spirit. What are you?
Eros ground his teeth, nails digging into his palms until they drew blood. "Shut up!" His shout echoed pathetically in the vast chamber.
The serpent's tongue flicked out, tasting the air, tasting him.
You die, and still you crawl back. Curious… so very curious.
Its laughter followed, a hiss that coiled through the room, shaking dust from the broken pillars.
Eros forced himself upright, daggers trembling in his hands. His whole body screamed at him to run, but there was nowhere to go. The only way out was through this god.
"Come on then," he said, breath ragged. "If you're so curious, let's see how many pieces you can break me into this time."
Apophis surged forward, tail whipping the air. Eros dove. The stone where he had stood exploded into fragments as the tail cracked against it. The impact rattled his bones. He rolled, came up on one knee, and hurled a dagger. The blade glanced off a scale and spun harmlessly into the shadows.
The serpent's head dipped low, jaws gaping. Venom spat in a wide spray. Eros threw himself behind a half-collapsed column. Acid hissed against stone, chewing it down in seconds. Drops struck his arm, burning holes into his sleeve. He bit back a scream, forced himself forward.
He slashed as the head came down again, aiming for the wound in its eye. The blade barely scraped flesh before the serpent snapped sideways, knocking him flat with the force of its skull. His vision spun, stars bursting across the dark.
A coil whipped around his legs. He hit the floor, daggers flying from his grip. The serpent dragged him across the chamber, stone tearing his back. He clawed at the floor, fingernails splitting, until he managed to grab one dagger again. With a desperate thrust, he stabbed downward into the coil pinning him.
The blade sank a fraction. Not enough. The serpent hissed and squeezed. His bones screamed.
He shouted with the last of his air and hacked again, again, until the coil loosened and flung him free. He hit the floor rolling, ribs shrieking with every breath.
"Still alive," he rasped. "Not for long, huh?"
The serpent loomed, head blotting out the green light. Its voice rumbled again.
Fight, little shadow. Show me how many times you can die for me.
The chamber shook with its laughter.
Eros stumbled to his feet, lungs burning. He dashed between pillars, ducking as the tail whipped past. Stone shattered. Dust blinded him. He slashed wildly when the head struck low, his dagger sparking against unyielding scales. Every strike was worthless. Every dodge cost him blood from the cuts already lining his skin.
He grabbed a chunk of rubble and hurled it. It bounced off the serpent's jaw without notice. The god's gaze followed him anyway, those pale eyes fixed with amusement.
The tail swept again. This time it caught his side. Pain exploded through his ribs as he flew into a wall. His skull cracked against stone. For a moment he couldn't move, couldn't breathe. He slid to the floor and spat blood, body twitching with every breath.
Apophis moved slower now, savoring it. It coiled around a broken pillar, crushing it to dust with casual strength. The voice was almost gentle.
Why struggle? You cannot win. I could watch you die a thousand times. Each time you would crawl back. A toy that refuses to break.
"Not… your toy," Eros gasped. He forced himself up, one knee braced on the floor. His hand found the other dagger. "I'll kill you… or die trying."
The serpent's head lowered until its jaws framed him, fangs dripping.
Then die trying.
The strike came sudden, faster than before. The tail whipped his legs out from under him, and the head followed instantly. Fangs closed around his shoulder, lifting him like a ragdoll. Pain tore through him, white-hot, teeth sinking into muscle and bone. He screamed as he was slammed against the floor again and again until the chamber blurred in and out of focus.
The serpent let him go only to coil around him. His ribs cracked under the pressure, sharp edges stabbing his lungs. He couldn't breathe. He clawed weakly at the scales crushing him, daggers scraping uselessly.
Then the coils loosened—not to release, but to drop him. He crashed to the ground, rolling onto his back. His chest heaved, mouth open, but no air came.
Venom dripped from above, a slow rain. The first drop landed on his hand, eating skin away in a hiss. He tried to move. His body wouldn't obey.
The god's voice filled him one last time.
Fragile. Temporary. I will enjoy watching you end.
Venom poured over him, thick and black. His skin blistered, eyes burning, mouth filling with fire that wasn't fire. He convulsed, bones grinding, lungs searing from the inside out. His scream cut off when his throat melted.
Through it all, the serpent laughed.
The laughter carried into the void.
Darkness smothered him, weightless and empty. He floated, or fell, or simply existed without shape. His thoughts trembled like shattered glass.
The Reader's Notes appeared, pages opening without his command. The embers of Immortal Martyr glowed faintly. One flickered, fought, and died.
Only one remained.
Eros stared at it, if staring was something he could still do here. His chest heaved though he had no lungs, panic clawing at him. One flame. One life. That was all the book had left to give him.
He wanted to scream, but the void swallowed every sound.
«One left… I can't win this.»
The words echoed inside him, more terrifying than the serpent's laugh.
Yet the void did not care. The diary snapped shut. The darkness tilted. He fell again, plummeting back toward the chamber, toward the waiting god, toward the end.