Ren and Kai don't move.
That drop of slime is still sliding slowly down Kai's shoulder.
It smells… wrong.
Not rotten.
Not bloody.
Just unnatural.
Kai tries to laugh it off.
Kai: "Haha… okay, that's gross. This place is way more haunted than I thought—"
Another drop falls.
This time on the floor.
Plop.
Ren slowly raises his eyes.
The ceiling is dark.
Too dark.
but Not empty.
The crystal in the center of the chamber pulses faintly, like a heartbeat.
And Ren feels it again, that pull in his chest.
The fragment.
The same sensation he felt when he touched the necklace.
Kai whispers:
Kai: "Ren… tell me I'm imagining that shadow…"
The walls are covered in those twisted tree paintings.
The branches look almost… alive.
Ren notices something horrible:
Some of the painted trees look exactly like the shadows on the ceiling.
Like the painter wasn't imagining them.
Like they saw them.
The air suddenly feels thick.
Heavy.
Something shifts above them.
Not fast.
Not loud.
Just slow… and deliberate.
Ren's mind rings with a faint voice:
Voice (inside him): "It… guards…"
Ren's heart drops.
Ren (thinking):
"Guards… what?"
The crystal glows brighter.
And then—
A wet, stretching sound echoes through the cave.
Not a roar.
Not a scream.
Something unfolding.
Kai backs away from the crystal.
Kai: "Ren… I think we should—"
A shape moves.
A massive shadow peels itself off the ceiling.
And two faint, distorted eyes open in the darkness.
Not animal.
Not human.
Just… something else.
that didnt attack....yet.
It just watches.
Like it's deciding.
Like they're insects that walked into the wrong nest.
Ren feels the fragment inside him burning.
The thing guarding the crystal has noticed him.
coming soon
Thanks for reading. If you'd like to see more art or updates, feel free to follow me on Instagram:euric0204