Asthia's grip around her sword tightened. Light spilled from the blade, throwing long shadows down the staircase.
Elenya furrowed her brow. Mana at her fingers, strands of pale blue congealing into ice.
"That mana over there. a mana abomination?"
Asthia glanced at her. "Hmm."
She advanced.
The stairwell opened into a chamber too wide for the light of their blades to fill. Pillars leaned half-broken against the walls, and the ceiling groaned under the weight of years.
There, the air was thick with rot and rust. At its core, an orb pulsed with a sickly heartbeat, tendrils of black mana crawling over the stone.
Then, the sound.
Elenya's eyes barely flickered. The beast was loud, clumsy; to her, its rage was no more threatening than rain against glass.
It came from the far wall. Stand-tall as a man, ribs pulled tight over graying skin. Its jaw yawned too far wide, jagged teeth coated with slime—and then it smiled.
