The jagged black stone of the cave mouth loomed ahead like the gaping maw of some ancient beast. Erevan skidded to a halt at the entrance, chest heaving, lungs burning from the mad dash through the corrupted forest. Behind him, the Glitch Storm still raged, its roar muffled slightly by the dense stone, but he could feel the hum of broken code buzzing through the air like a swarm of angry bees. Shadows flickered across the cave walls, distorted echoes of the chaos outside.
"This is it?" Erevan asked, voice tight with a mix of disbelief and exhaustion, staring into the inky blackness beyond.
Kaelith nodded, her dark eyes scanning the shadows, bow clutched like a lifeline. "The caves hold more stable code," she said, her tone clipped but not unkind. "Think of it as… less air for the corruption to spread."
Erevan dragged a hand down his face, smearing dirt and ash into his whiskered cheek. "Great. Love the pep talk. And if there's something worse in there?"
Her lips curved into the faintest, knowing smile. "Then we find out the hard way."
He muttered something unflattering under his breath, muttering about developers with sadistic senses of humor, but followed her inside anyway.
The temperature dropped almost instantly. The cave swallowed the chaos of the storm, leaving only a faint echo of dripping water and the crunch of boots against stone. The walls were solid, uncorrupted, though veins of soft blue light ran through them like cracks in ancient glass. Faint hums of magic—or maybe corrupted code—thrummed under the surface.
Erevan exhaled sharply. "Finally… somewhere that isn't actively trying to delete me."
Kaelith didn't look reassured. "Seventy-eight percent stability isn't safe," she said, her voice low. "Just… safer."
For a brief moment, Erevan allowed himself to hope. Safe enough to catch his breath. Maybe even plan his next explosive sheep maneuver. But as if on cue, the air shimmered ahead. A glitch flickered down the tunnel like a ripple across water. For a heartbeat, the cave walls peeled back to reveal a void of scrolling white text on black—a glimpse into the code that underpinned this world. Then it snapped back, leaving him staring at solid stone again.
Erevan froze, swallowing hard. "Okay… definitely not creepy at all."
"Keep walking," Kaelith said without looking back, bow at the ready, her stride steady and confident, like she had done this a hundred times.
The tunnel sloped downward gradually, the darkness thickening until Erevan's ears strained to pick up even the smallest sound. Pools of water glimmered faintly, reflecting warped shapes that wobbled as though the world itself were breathing unevenly. The stalagmites jutted from the floor like jagged teeth, glowing faintly with that same ethereal blue light that traced the veins of the cave walls. Every step sent small echoes bouncing into the void, carrying whispers of the storm outside and the low hum of corrupted code.
Erevan's hand hovered over his system menu, fingers twitching. "Tell me you hear that," he muttered, more to himself than to Kaelith.
She didn't answer with words, just tilted her head, bow raised, eyes glinting. "Stay behind me."
From the shadows came the first pair of eyes—bright, unblinking, almost luminescent. Then another. And another, until a dozen small, hunched figures crawled forward, limbs bending at angles that made Erevan's stomach twist. Their movements were jerky, glitching forward in bursts, like someone had fast-forwarded a corrupted animation.
"Fantastic," Erevan muttered, trying to keep the sarcasm sharp despite the nausea threatening to rise. "Arachnophobia mode: activated."
The creatures crept closer, each step sending faint static crackling across the cave floor. One lunged. Kaelith's arrow struck with precision, exploding into fragments of static mid-strike. But almost immediately, three more emerged from the darkness to replace it.
Erevan swallowed hard, summoning a sheep with a resigned sigh. The familiar woolly form appeared at his feet, bleating with a countdown that began ticking immediately.
"3… 2… 1…"
The explosion erupted, illuminating the cavern in jagged flashes of fire and pixelated debris. For a heartbeat, Erevan's grin spread uncontrollably. This was insane. Beautifully, absurdly insane.
Then the system chimed, drowning out the adrenaline with another layer of chaos.
[System Notice: Unstable Terrain Damaged]
[Local Stability -7%]
"What?!" Erevan spun, eyes wide. "You're telling me blowing them up makes this worse?!"
Kaelith's gaze was sharp, unwavering. "The cave isn't designed to withstand distortion like that. You'll collapse it on top of us if you keep going."
Erevan raised his hands in mock surrender, muttering under his breath, "So… polite murder is off the table. Got it."
But the crawling shadows didn't wait for him to negotiate. They surged forward, a dozen now, eyes glowing white, limbs jerking with impossibly fast, unnatural movements.
Erevan felt the weight of the cave on his chest, the buzzing of unstable code thrumming through the stone, and for the first time in hours, fear edged over his manic thrill.
He drew his short sword, blade humming faintly in response to some unseen energy. "Fine," he muttered, teeth gritted. "Physical works too."
Kaelith's arrows sang through the cavern, each shot precise, bringing down another corrupted crawler with minimal distortion. But for every one they struck down, two more crawled from the shadows, relentless.
Erevan wiped sweat and dirt from his brow, chest heaving. "This isn't working."
"Then move," Kaelith snapped, eyes scanning the next tunnel. "There's a deeper chamber ahead. Less interference."
Erevan bit back a groan and followed, blade ready, sheep spells cooling in the corner of his mind, heart hammering, every nerve screaming that the cave held more than just monsters.
The deeper chamber yawned ahead, its mouth like a void swallowing the weak glow of Erevan's sword and Kaelith's faintly luminescent arrows. Every step sent faint echoes bouncing off the jagged stone, twisting back in broken harmonics that made his teeth vibrate.
"Stay alert," Kaelith murmured, her voice low and steady, like a lifeline amid chaos. "The cave is more… unstable here. One misstep, one miscast spell, and it's over."
Erevan nodded, swallowing the lump of dread rising in his throat. His fingers itched for his sheep summons, but each one left the terrain more unstable. The last explosion still left him with a sinking feeling that the cave itself might collapse. His chest heaved, sweat running down his temple and into his eyes, stinging. He blinked, wiping it away with the back of his hand, and stared into the shadows.
From the darkness came movement—jerky, unnatural, each step accompanied by a faint static crackle. The Cave Crawlers had regrouped, small hunched forms twisting as if their bones were made of wireframe. They lunged in bursts, some teleporting short distances, glitching forward with missing frames.
"Here we go again," Erevan muttered, gritting his teeth. "Glitch zombies, eight-legged nightmares… check, check, double check."
Kaelith's arrows struck with the soft hum of energy discharges, each one breaking a crawler into fragments, but more emerged from the shadows to take their place.
Erevan cursed, hand hovering over his summoning command. He summoned another sheep—but at the last second, he canceled it. The countdown blinked out, resetting, leaving a faint smell of burnt wool lingering in the air.
"Don't want to kill the cave too soon," Kaelith said dryly, watching him with a tilted brow. "Every explosion drops stability. Keep that in mind."
Erevan's eyes narrowed. "Everywhere I go, stability is a lie." He bit back a snarky comment about life choices and sheep bombs, focusing instead on the immediate threat. The crawlers surged forward, claws scraping along stone, echoing like nails across a blackboard.
He drew his short sword, blade humming faintly. The weapon felt alive in his hand, responding to some unspoken command. He swung, catching one across the chest. The creature convulsed as its body distorted like corrupted pixels before collapsing into fragments. He exhaled sharply, heart hammering in his chest.
"Okay… physical works too," he muttered.
Kaelith moved like a shadow, arrows slicing through the air with mechanical precision, each shot dropping another crawler. But no matter how many fell, two more seemed to crawl out of the shadows to replace them.
Erevan's stomach churned, nerves fraying. "This isn't working," he hissed.
"Then move," Kaelith snapped, scanning the tunnel ahead. Her eyes glinted in the faint blue light. "There's a deeper chamber. Less interference. Follow me."
The two of them pressed on, crawling over fractured stones and broken stalagmites. The air grew colder, heavier with the scent of ozone and damp stone. Every footfall sent small pebbles tumbling, echoes bouncing into the cavern like whispers of doom.
By the time they stumbled into the next chamber, Erevan was gasping, muscles trembling with fatigue. He staggered to the side, chest heaving, sweat dripping from his brow. And then he saw it.
In the center of the cavern stood a massive crystal, jagged and pulsating with a deep, ominous red glow. Its surface wasn't solid—it writhed, constantly reshaping itself like corrupted code rewriting reality. Inside, the faint outline of a humanoid figure shimmered, suspended as though trapped in digital amber.
Erevan froze, heart skipping. "Oh… hell no. Absolutely not. That's… not okay."
Kaelith's face was unreadable, but her posture was tense. "This isn't supposed to be here."
"You think?" Erevan muttered under his breath. His hand instinctively hovered over his menu. This crystal radiated wrongness, a hum of unstable code that made his skin crawl.
The crawlers stopped at the chamber's edge, hissing but refusing to advance. The crystal seemed to hold some invisible barrier, keeping them at bay.
Erevan sank against the wall, chest heaving. "So… giant mysterious evil thing encased in glowing red crystal. Totally fine. Definitely not ominous. I feel so safe."
Kaelith stepped closer, eyes narrowing. Her fingers brushed the surface of the crystal, leaving faint streaks of blue static. "This… isn't just a system bug. Someone put this here."
Erevan swallowed hard. "Someone? Like… a dev? A god? A bored programmer with too much free time?"
Her gaze flicked to him, serious now. "Do you really think this is just a game?"
The words hit harder than they should have. Deep down, buried under exhaustion and adrenaline, Erevan already knew the answer. This was different. This was bigger. And more dangerous.
Before he could reply, the crystal pulsed violently. A deep, resonant thrum shook the cavern, cracking the glowing surface.
[System Alert: Stability Drop Detected]
[Local Stability: 59%]