The resin platform trembled beneath their feet as the Heart of the Maw loomed before them. It pulsed like a star about to collapse, each throb shaking the abyss. Tendrils lashed the air, whiplike, their edges jagged with crystalline thorns. From every wound in its surface oozed black ichor, dripping into the void below like poison rain.
Carlos raised the Blade of Ascension high. Its golden glow flickered, dimmed, then flared again as though fueled by his defiance.
"This ends here," he said, voice hoarse. His companions gathered close, battered but unbroken.
The Heart answered with a roar that shattered stone and bone alike. The abyss vibrated with its hunger. Resin split wider, forming not just one maw, but many, each lined with crystalline teeth. A chorus of stolen voices bellowed:
"WE ARE HUNGER. WE ARE ETERNAL. YOU ARE NOTHING."
The First Clash
The Heart struck first. A tendril the width of a tree trunk slammed into the platform, sending shockwaves that nearly threw them off their feet. Thalor braced his shield, the impact rattling his arm to the bone, but he held firm.
"Push forward!" he roared, his voice shaking the chamber.
Lys loosed her final two arrows in rapid succession. One struck deep into the glowing veins of the Heart, the other embedding in a tendril. Both erupted with golden fire — but the wounds sealed almost instantly, resin knitting over like flesh.
"Damn it," she whispered, throwing the empty quiver aside and gripping her bow like a staff.
Rina darted ahead, blades flashing. She slashed through a smaller vine, her movements precise despite her wounds. But for every cut, another tendril whipped toward her, faster than before.
Carlos intercepted, his blade cleaving through two at once. Resin sprayed, sizzling against his armor. "It heals too quickly!"
Maren's staff ignited, flames spiraling upward as she unleashed a torrent of fire against the Heart. The resin shrieked and bubbled, the maw recoiling — but then the flames twisted, turning black and lashing back toward her.
She staggered, coughing, and nearly toppled over the edge. Rina caught her arm, pulling her back with a curse.
"We can't outlast it," Maren gasped, her face pale. "We need to strike deep."
Into the Storm
The Heart roared again, and the abyss itself seemed to come alive. Resin-born horrors swarmed along the tendrils, dozens of clawed beasts shrieking as they leapt onto the platform.
"Hold them off!" Carlos shouted.
Thalor raised his shield, smashing one beast aside before skewering another with his sword. Rina spun in deadly arcs, her blades a blur as she cut down attackers from both flanks. Lys wielded her bow like a cudgel, cracking skulls and shoving enemies toward the edge.
Maren raised her staff once more, her eyes blazing with determination. She whispered words in the ancient tongue, her voice breaking, and a storm of lightning crashed down onto the platform. Dozens of resin beasts shrieked and dissolved into ichor.
But the lightning tore through Maren as well, the backlash leaving her gasping, blood dripping from her nose. She collapsed to her knees.
Carlos rushed to her side. "Maren—"
"Go!" she snapped, her voice fierce despite her weakness. "Strike the Heart. We'll cover you!"
The Wounded Core
Carlos hesitated only a heartbeat, then nodded. He sprinted toward the Heart, dodging lashes of resin that cracked the platform like whips.
The Blade of Ascension blazed brighter as he drew near. He leapt high, bringing the sword down with all his strength. The golden steel cleaved into the Heart's surface, cutting deep into its pulsing veins.
The Heart screamed, a sound of a thousand voices shattering into discord. Resin exploded outward, nearly hurling Carlos into the abyss. He ripped the blade free, ichor spraying across his armor, burning through the metal.
The wound pulsed — and then began to close.
"No!" Carlos roared, driving the blade in again, deeper this time. Light surged through the fissure, burning away the resin from within.
The Heart convulsed violently. Tendrils thrashed in all directions, sending shards of crystal flying.
Thalor threw himself in front of the others, shield raised as debris rained down. "He's hurting it! Hold fast!"
Breaking Point
The Heart shifted tactics. A colossal tendril shot upward, then slammed down on the platform. The impact cracked the resin floor, jagged fissures racing outward. Chunks of stone broke free, tumbling into the void.
Lys slipped, teetering on the edge. Rina dove, catching her arm at the last instant. "Don't you dare fall now!"
"I wasn't planning to!" Lys snarled, kicking a beast away with her boot.
Maren forced herself upright, her staff glowing weakly. She raised a hand, sending a wave of freezing energy across the tendrils. For a moment, the writhing slowed.
"Now, Carlos!" she screamed.
Carlos planted both hands on the hilt of the blade, driving it deeper into the Heart. Golden fire erupted along its veins, searing outward like rivers of light. The Heart howled, its many maws snapping wildly.
But it did not fall.
Instead, a massive pulse surged through the chamber. The shockwave hit them all, throwing Thalor to his knees, tearing Rina's daggers from her hands, knocking Lys flat against the stone. Carlos himself was flung backward, the Blade of Ascension ripping free of the wound.
The fissure sealed shut, though faint golden cracks still glowed where the sword had struck.
The Last Stand
The companions staggered to their feet, bloodied, exhausted, but unbroken.
"It's weakening," Carlos panted, lifting his sword again. "We just need to hit it harder."
"Harder?" Rina snapped, wiping ichor from her face. "We'll tear ourselves apart before it breaks."
Thalor planted his shield into the ground, his voice grim. "Then we tear ourselves apart. Better us than the world."
Lys gripped her bow tighter, her knuckles white. "If this is where we fall, we fall together."
Carlos met each of their eyes, the weight of their resolve pressing against his chest. He lifted the Blade of Ascension high, its glow surging once more.
"Then together," he said, voice steady, "we end this."
They charged.
Light Against Hunger
The Heart unleashed everything. Tendrils lashed, beasts swarmed, maws snapped with crystal teeth. The abyss itself shuddered, cracks racing through the platform.
But the companions fought like fire.
Thalor stood at the front, shield a wall against the onslaught. Rina slipped between blows, carving with renewed fury. Lys struck with bow and fist, every movement driven by sheer will. Maren poured the last of her strength into the staff, waves of flame and ice striking in unison.
And Carlos — Carlos became a beacon. The Blade of Ascension blazed with a brilliance that cut through the corruption's darkness. He leapt high, each strike searing deeper into the Heart. Golden cracks spread wider, brighter, until the Heart's pulsing faltered.
The Heart screamed in fury and fear, its many voices fracturing.
"YOU CANNOT— YOU WILL NOT—"
But its words dissolved into a roar of agony as Carlos drove the blade deep one final time.
Light erupted, blinding, consuming. Tendrils burned away, beasts shrieked and dissolved, the maws shattered into shards of crystal.
The Heart convulsed violently, then split apart in a cataclysmic explosion of light and ichor.
Silence
The abyss fell still.
The platform trembled but held. The companions stood panting, their bodies trembling with exhaustion. All around them, the tendrils that had fed the labyrinth dissolved into ash, carried upward on unseen winds.
At the center of the broken Heart, only a faint core of golden crystal remained, glowing softly.
Carlos staggered forward, lifting it into his hands. It pulsed gently, not with hunger, but with warmth.
"It's over," he whispered.
The others gathered close, their faces weary but lit with hope.
For the first time since entering the Maw, the abyss was silent.