The tunnel beyond the chamber sloped downward, narrow and uneven, forcing them into a single line. The red glow of the veins grew brighter the deeper they went, pulsing in rhythm with the slow, colossal heartbeat they had heard before. Each beat reverberated through the walls, through their bodies, until their own hearts threatened to sync with it.
Carlos took the lead, the Helm's faint golden light pushing back the crimson glow. Behind him, Thalor's shield scraped the stone as he squeezed through the narrower bends, his breathing heavy but steady. Rina ghosted behind him, daggers ready, every movement sharp despite her exhaustion. Lys's bow never lowered, arrow nocked and trembling on the string. Maren trailed last, sparks flickering faintly from her fingertips, her fire reduced but unextinguished.
The silence between them was heavier than words. None dared to break it for fear the chamber itself might answer.
The Pressure of Descent
The tunnel wound downward for what felt like hours, the air growing colder and thicker. A metallic tang coated their tongues, sharper with every breath, like blood in the back of their throats.
Thalor grunted under his breath. "It wants us tired. Wants us weak."
"It'll be disappointed," Rina muttered, though her voice carried little humor. "I'm stubborn enough to crawl the whole way on my teeth if I have to."
Lys gave a faint huff that might have been a laugh, but her eyes remained fixed on the darkness ahead.
Carlos said nothing. The Helm's whispers pressed harder here, urging, commanding, promising. "Deeper. Just a little deeper. They cannot follow. You alone can claim me."
He forced the words aside, but each one left a stain.
Shifting Shadows
The first signs of change came gradually. At the edges of the Helm's light, the walls seemed to move — not like stone collapsing, but like something alive shifting just beyond sight.
Lys froze, her bowstring creaking as she drew it tighter. "There's movement," she whispered.
Thalor raised his shield, stepping into position. "Where?"
"Everywhere," Lys replied, her voice low, strained.
Maren stepped closer to the wall, sparks licking her palm. For a heartbeat she saw a hand press outward from within the stone, fingers splayed wide. Then it dissolved, leaving only smooth rock. She shuddered. "It's testing us. Probing."
"Then let it look," Carlos said, his voice harsher than intended. The Helm's glow flared brighter, casting the tunnel in gold for a moment. "We'll give it something to fear."
But even as he spoke, doubt crawled at the back of his mind.
The Temptations Return
Further down, the tunnel widened into a small alcove. Here, the veins pulsed so brightly they illuminated the space without help from sword or spark.
Within the glow, shadows began to form. Figures emerged from the walls — not fully real, not fully illusion. They were echoes, half-formed bodies whispering in voices that belonged to no one and everyone.
Rina swore and stepped back, daggers raised. One of the shadows leaned forward, its face resolving into a smirk she knew too well: her own. It spoke in her voice, mocking. "Why fight for scraps when you could rule the dark? Why die with them when you could live free?"
Lys lowered her bow for a breath, her eyes widening. In the glow she saw her family, whole and smiling, beckoning her home. Their lips moved, forming her name in silence.
Maren shook, fire sputtering in her hands as she glimpsed herself cloaked in endless light, a goddess rewriting the world. The vision called to her like a lover's touch.
Thalor's shadow took the form of fallen comrades, their voices heavy with accusation: "You failed us. You'll fail them too."
Even Carlos was not spared. From the crimson glow, he saw himself crowned in flame, the Helm blazing, armies kneeling at his feet. The vision's voice was his own, stronger, triumphant. "You were made for this. Stop pretending otherwise."
The alcove filled with whispers, each companion drowning in their private temptations.
Breaking the Hold
Carlos staggered, the Helm pressing like a vice. For a moment he almost believed the vision. Almost. Then he saw the faces of his companions — each of them trembling, each of them breaking — and fury cut through the whisper.
"No!" His voice rang like steel on stone. He raised his sword high, golden light flaring, cutting through the crimson glow.
The visions recoiled, shadows shrieking without sound. Rina gasped, shoving her doppelgänger back with a snarl. Lys loosed her arrow straight through the image of her family, watching it dissolve. Thalor roared, battering the accusing faces with his cracked shield until they shattered. Maren released a burst of fire that scattered her goddess-echo to ash.
One by one, the illusions fell apart, the whispers fading back into the pulsing stone.
When silence returned, they stood gasping, their bodies trembling not with exhaustion but with the closeness of surrender.
The Hollow Path
They pressed on without speaking, the alcove left behind. But the damage lingered.
Rina walked with her daggers loose at her sides, jaw tight, eyes haunted. Lys's hands shook, though she forced her bow steady. Thalor's breath came ragged, his shoulders heavier than before. Maren's sparks flickered weakly, her magic rattled.
Carlos bore the weight of it all, the Helm burning against his skin. He knew the whispers hadn't finished — only retreated. They would return, stronger. And he wasn't certain he had the strength to resist them forever.
Still, he kept walking. They all did.
The Pulse Intensifies
At last the tunnel opened into another chamber, smaller than the last, but filled with veins so bright they painted everything crimson. The pulse here was louder, heavier, rattling the stone beneath their feet.
Carlos stopped, lifting his sword. "We're close."
The Helm whispered again, but this time the voice was not just in his mind. It echoed through the chamber, a sound all of them heard: "Yes. So close. Come, children. Come and bleed with me."
Maren flinched, pressing her hands to her ears. "It's… inside us."
Thalor set his shield with grim resolve. "Then we finish this before it breaks us apart."
Rina smirked faintly, though her eyes betrayed fear. "About time. I was getting bored of walking."
But none of them believed her.
Closing the Chapter
They advanced into the crimson chamber, every heartbeat heavier than the last. Shadows shifted at the edges, whispers curled through the air, and the sense of something vast waiting just below grew stronger with each step.
The Heart was near — closer than ever.
And it would not wait much longer.