The pale eyes blinked once, then vanished.
The next moment, it was on me.
It moved faster than the thing I'd killed before, its weight hitting like a battering ram. The impact drove me back into a tree, bark splintering into my shoulder. My sword came up in a reflexive slash, metal sparking against something hard beneath its skin.
Up close, I saw its face—or what was left of it. The features were human once, but the skin hung loose, stitched crudely along the jaw. Its mouth was lined with teeth that didn't belong together, some long and needle-thin, others blunt and jagged.
It snapped at my throat. I shoved the blade's hilt between us, forcing its head back. Its breath was cold, like the air in a crypt.
The voice inside me purred. Do you want it dead?
"Yes," I hissed between clenched teeth.
Then feed me again.
I didn't have time to argue. The thing slammed me to the ground. Roots shifted beneath my back, curling upward, brushing my skin like searching fingers. My grip tightened on the sword.
It lunged again. I twisted, letting its momentum carry it past me, and drove the blade into its side. The steel cut deep, but the wound didn't bleed—it wept black fluid that hissed when it touched the ground.
The voice urged me on. Deeper. Tear it open. Let me in.
I didn't question. I yanked the sword free, reversed the grip, and stabbed again, this time aiming lower. The thing shrieked, the sound like rusted metal tearing apart.
Then the roots moved.
They erupted from the soil, slick and dark, coiling around the creature's legs. It thrashed, claws gouging the dirt, but the roots tightened, dragging it down. The forest was helping me—or perhaps the thing inside me was forcing it to.
The pale eyes flared with rage. It tore one leg free and lunged again, catching my arm in its claws. Pain burned sharp and deep.
Strike now, the voice commanded.
I drove the blade upward, through its open jaw, until the point burst out the back of its skull. Its body convulsed, and the roots seized the moment, dragging it fully into the earth. The ground closed over it like a grave swallowing a corpse.
Silence returned. Only my breathing remained.
The voice spoke again, softer now. You see? With me, nothing can stand in your way.
I wiped the blade on my torn cloak. "I'll use you until the work is done. Not a moment longer."
We will see.
The earth where the creature had been shifted once more. This time, the roots pulled apart to reveal the staircase again—spiraling down into the black.
"Go," the voice said. You have earned the right to descend.
I stepped forward, the pain in my arm already fading into a cold numbness. The stone steps swallowed the moonlight after the third turn. Above me, the forest closed again, sealing the way back.
Somewhere below, something began to breathe.