The second mutated Vitalis stone was heavier than it appeared, nested among gnarled roots that pulsed faintly beneath the cave's pressure.
Kaelric's chest tightened.
Not danger.
A warning.
He had chosen this pocket carefully, where the corrupted flow thinned near the walls, but Breathless Depths did not obey maps. Its deeper hollows folded away from sight, layered like swallowed chambers.
He drew a slow breath. The nerves prickling at the base of his skull told him the cave was listening.
"Daren," Kaelric said quietly. "Step lightly. Torch steady. One motion, then the next."
Daren obeyed.
The glow held as the aura pressed against his aperture, teasing greed, whispering shortcuts to power. Kaelric guided him by the elbow, raising the stone toward the black tattoo at the base of his neck. The Fat Toad storage Relic stirred faintly, its mouth opening in silent invitation.
It would accept the stone only if placed with precision. Any spill now would poison everything.
As Daren lifted, the pull sharpened.
The mutated Vitalis resisted.
Not violently.
Intelligently.
It leaned into Daren's intent, tried to bend it into hunger.
Daren's jaw set. His shoulders trembled. He moved anyway.
Kaelric gave a faint nod.
This was why he had brought him.
The stone clicked into the Fat Toad.
Kaelric's gaze swept the shadows.
A flicker of azure hovered near a cluster of glowing roots.
A grasshopper-like creature hung there, nearly invisible, its translucent body pulsing soft blue. Its resonance matched the stones. Drawn by instinct alone, it had entered forced hibernation, a last-ditch survival reflex. The will was still there, a muted echo beneath its pulse. It did not resist, did not respond, it simply waited.
Wild will. Untouched by cultivation. This was why Relics favored beasts over humans.
He reached out and captured it gently. Its pulse spiked near the Flame Shield, then calmed. His aperture accepted it quietly. The creature did not fight, but neither had it surrendered. That faint restraint was all Kaelric needed to hold it. Neither this nor the Flame Shield would carry him far. Rank one was enough to contain the, and nothing here promised more than temporary help.
Within, another glow stirred. The Flame Shield rank-two Relic. Dormant. Waiting.
He gauged the refinement cost.
Not manageable, not for now, atleast.
The cave pressed harder.
Wyrm-mites traced the walls. Stone rats scuttled between slick rock and shallow pools. Kaelric's Absorb Blow Boulder rippled outward, forming a mobile barrier, tension humming through its surface.
"We got the second stone," Daren murmured, satisfaction edging his voice.
Kaelric inclined his head once.
Ahead, the path toward the final stone twisted inward. Shadows pooled thickly in the corners. Each step demanded intention. Each breath carried weight.
Then the surge hit.
The walls ruptured.
Wyrm-mites spilled from every crack, translucent bodies writhing under torchlight. Stone rats followed, spines glowing with stolen Vitalis. Their shrieks layered over each other until the cavern itself seemed to scream.
Kaelric's claws snapped free.
Stone rippled outward, absorbing the first wave. Vitalis stones dissolved into energy as he fed the relics, each activation measured, each moment expensive.
"Step. Torch steady. Now."
Daren moved, knuckles white around the final stone.
Then it happened.
The Stone Rock misfired.
It shot wide and slammed into the wall with a ringing crack. Dust cascaded down. The impact tore open an ancient seam, one sealed by pressure and time.
Beyond it, the chamber unfolded.
The chamber unfolded.
The queen wyrm stirred.
Massive. Pale. Coiled within the hollow like something buried too deep to belong to the surface world.
Three golden eyes opened. It had that same strong aura that clan leader Thalen had.
Rank four.
Kaelric's hand shook.
Not from pain.
From instinct.
The pressure was wrong. Not merely heavy. It carried intent. The cave bent toward her. Vitalis reoriented. Even his relics hesitated, their responses lagging beneath her presence.
For a fraction of a heartbeat, Kaelric did nothing.
"Kaelric!" Daren shouted.
He fired.
Palm-sized stones tore from his wrist, smashing wildly into walls and bodies alike. Angles sloppy. Force uneven. He kept shooting anyway, trying to fill the silence Kaelric had left behind.
The queen shrieked.
The swarm answered.
A wyrm lunged from the side and sank its teeth into Daren's calf.
Blood sprayed.
Daren screamed.
That snapped Kaelric back into motion.
He moved.
Claws tore free. Stone rippled outward. He hauled Daren upright and activated Water Dance Step as the Absorb Blow Boulder flared, deflecting snapping jaws and falling debris.
Above them, the queen tightened her coils.
The cave shook violently.
Rock screamed.
A boulder broke loose and crashed into Kaelric's head.
Pain detonated white.
Blood ran warm down his temple. His vision tilted. For half a heartbeat the world became noise and pressure and heat.
Then he ran.
He tore through collapsing tunnels as the queen forced herself higher, her coils crushing the chamber, driving more creatures into frenzy. Vitalis surged unpredictably. Shadows warped. The cave tried to close around them.
Light burst ahead.
They erupted from Breathless Depths into open air.
Kaelric moved as one with the terrain, Water Dance Step carrying him forward in fluid, precise arcs. Daren hung over his shoulder, half limp, half clinging, knuckles gripping Kaelric's robes as the boy fired wild, misangled stones from his wrist at any creature daring to follow.
The swarm stalled at the threshold, recoiling as if sunlight itself burned.
"Stop shooting! They're not following us," Kaelric barked, voice sharp, cutting through Daren's panic.
Kaelric vaulted over boulders, the pulse of his Relics matching the rhythm of the uneven ground. Behind him, the cave groaned, dark coils pressing against its own walls, pushing forth the last of the wyrms and stone rats.
They landed beyond the mouth of the ravine. Kaelric dropped Daren onto a boulder with controlled force, chest heaving.
Moonlight poured down in a hard, silver sheet, sharp against the shadows. For a heartbeat, the world pitched and stretched, unfamiliar and immense. The cave behind them remained dark, a silent, waiting entity.
"Night? But we didn't take that long…" Kaelric thought.
Then a slow realization dawned. His vision had blurred inside the cave; his internal clock had fractured.
The cave had stolen time. They had lost hours, or minutes, but perception had twisted. Every second inside had been magnified, compressed, and the mental strain had been heavier than the physical.
Kaelric glanced at Daren, who was blinking rapidly, catching his breath, eyes wide with raw survival relief. He would need an excuse for his absence once they returned to Stoneheart. Sneaking out from the northern walls had been risky; now explaining hours gone unaccounted for would be a subtle puzzle in itself.
Daren activated his healing Relic. Green light wrapped around his leg. The wound sealed rapidly, but it only closed it, not completely healed it.
"Sit Still," Daren ordered, he controlled the green light to Kaelric's wound on his head, hands shaking. "Not another step."
Kaelric obeyed.
The cave pulsed faintly behind them.
Waiting.
After a moment, Kaelric spoke. "Three stones."
Daren let out a breathless laugh. "Not bad, huh?"
Kaelric's chuckle was thin. "Not bad at all. Don't blush now."
"Shut up."
Inside the Fat Toad, the stones rested safely, untouched by the chaos.
Kaelric closed his eyes briefly.