The air changed.
It smelled wrong.
Rot.
Something thick and sweet underneath.
Mira was the first to notice. She tensed, her steps slowing. "Do you smell that?"
Julien wiped sweat from his face. "I don't smell anything but death."
Leo groaned. "Maybe that's because we're walking through a goddamn crypt."
I ignored them.
Because I did smell it.
And it was getting stronger.
Like the air itself was turning sour.
Then—
A hiss.
Mira's eyes snapped to the ceiling. "Above."
I looked up.
And saw it.
It didn't have a shape.
A mass of shifting limbs, twisting between the cracks in the cavern's roof.
Too many eyes.
Too many mouths.
And its skin?
Slick. Glowing.
Dripping.
It moved too fast.
A blur of limbs and teeth.
By the time I reached for my dagger—
Mira was already hit.
A single strike.
A deep slash across her shoulder.
At first, she barely reacted.
She stumbled, one hand pressing against her wound. "Tch. Annoying."
Then her breath caught.
Her legs trembled.
