It took several seconds for Alina's words to sink in. Leor glanced between the towers in disbelief, until at last all the scattered clues slammed into place at once.
The vast wave of spiritual power that had hung in the air since they entered this hollow. The immense domed ceiling, far too large to have been shaped by human hands. The smooth yet uneven floor. And finally, the towering ivory structures, lined in a perfect row.
Everything had been pointing to this conclusion for some time, but it was simply too impossible to accept. Every belief Leor had ever held told him that no creature could be so vast, and so his mind dismissed the signs without him even realizing it. Only when Alina's prophetic talent named it outright was the veil of ignorance finally torn away.
"How is this possible, Alina?" Leor's face had gone as pale as his slender companion's. "You're the one with the noble education. You must have some idea what could leave behind a corpse so impossibly large."
Alina didn't respond. She seemed lost in a daze, her eyes fixed on the towering row of teeth before them.
"Alina?!" he shouted, snapping her out of her trance.
"No. There is nothing like this in any record I've ever studied." she said, gesturing wildly at their surroundings. "The only things that even come close are children's myths!"
Leor scratched his chin, thinking for a moment. "Well, if those are the only things that come close, then what do the children's myths say?"
Alina shook her head, spreading her hands in exasperation. "What? I don't really remember, Leor. They're just children's stories!" She dropped her gaze to the floor, struggling to recall. "Someone read me a book when I was little, my father I think. It retold the creation myths of a few ancient Beast tribes. One story I vaguely remember spoke of a great serpent, born from the first shadow cast by the light of creation when the realms were made. Its body was said to be long enough to wrap around the sun."
"The part about the shadow is oddly similar. But whatever this enormous Beast was, it clearly wasn't large enough to wrap around the sun, so it doesn't quite match." Leor rubbed his chin as he considered her words. "Just out of curiosity, what else did it say?"
Alina slowly shook her head, her expression doubtful even as she spoke. "Well, in the story the great serpent grew jealous of the light, gradually becoming consumed with a desire to possess it. It swam through the endless abyss between realms, devouring suns to grow stronger as it searched for the original source of light it had glimpsed on the day of its birth.
After searching to the very edge of the endless abyss itself, the serpent at last found that radiant source, being driven mad with desire at the sight. But even in its greed, the great light of creation took pity on the serpent, warning it not to proceed, all the while making no move to defend itself against the beast's gaping maw.
The great serpent ignored the light's warning, and at last fulfilled its wish, drinking deeply of the sacred light. But instead of becoming its own, the light was too potent, and began to consume the serpent. Enraged and in terrible pain, it cursed the light as a liar while falling from the heavens in a great blaze, still staring up toward the receding radiance in unending longing, even as its flesh was scorched to ash."
The echo of Alina's tale lingered in the silence, heavy as the shadows pressing in around them. No one dared speak. The group pressed on, keeping to the line of towering teeth, using them as shelter against the unending waves of shadow. The ivory spires grew smaller as they drew nearer to the front of the skull, until at last they saw the row of teeth curving to the right in the distance. It was proof they were nearing the end.
The ground began to rise beneath their feet, and the shadowy waves grew shallower as they moved out of the skull's depths toward the front teeth. At last the waves could no longer touch them. But the power that drained the light from their torches only grew stronger.
By now Alina's torch had been snuffed out, and only Leor's still held enough light to guide them. He couldn't tell if it was his talent that made his flame endure, or simply the strength of his Willpower. Either way, he was grateful for it.
As they drew closer to the wall of teeth ahead, they saw the hollow narrow to an end at the tip of the great skull's mouth.
"We're almost there. Rynn must be close." Leor's eyes swept the shadows, searching for any trace of the girl. It wasn't long before he found exactly what he was searching for.
Between the roots of two massive teeth lay a great nest of bones arranged in a circle. At its center crouched the small, shivering form of a child. Rynn covered her face with both hands, her shoulders trembling as she wept.
Leor's eyes shot open as he finally caught sight of their goal, rushing forward with his companions. The girl appeared to be alone, there was no sign of the Twisted who had taken her, and its awful defiled Will could not be felt.
They reached the edge of the nest without resistance.
"Rynn! It's okay, we're here to take you home!" Alina called as she climbed over the wall of bone and stepped into the nest.
As she drew nearer, the child's quiet sobs reached her ears.
"Rynn! Look at me! It's Alina! You're safe now!"
But the child was inconsolable, crying into her small hands. Only when Alina lifted her from the ground and held her against her breast did she finally stir.
The child sobbed and trembled as she clung to Alina's neck, struggling to force words through her sobs.
"A-Alina! S-something's wrong with my mommy!" the child finally gasped between choked breaths.
Alina's brow furrowed as she glanced back at Leor, baffled by the child's strange words and behavior. She had only just started to carry Rynn back toward the others when a piercing, high-pitched wail split the air, accompanied by a wave of dreadful defiled Will.
Leor snapped his head upward, catching sight of two glowing red eyes swooping down from the shadowed peak of a far off tooth.
The creature swept into the reach of his torchlight, revealing the familiar bat-like form of the Twisted that had invaded the fortress and stolen Rynn.
A trail of shadowy corruption streamed from its skin as it cut through the air, broad grey wings spread wide. Leor's first instinct was to flood his torch with Willpower, but the strange force still drained his light without pause. He could barely muster a small ring of illumination around his companions..
An angry snarl spread across Bone's face at the sight of his foe. The ape remembered every ounce of pain the Twisted had inflicted on him, and he intended to return it tenfold.
Before the Twisted could reach them, Bone plunged his massive hands into the nest of bones, arching his body as he heaved back and hurled them into the air with all his might.
The Twisted screeched as it cut through the sky, swerving desperately to dodge the storm of bones. But there were too many, and Bone kept scooping up fistfuls of the nest, hurling them into the air again and again.
A sound like tearing leather reached Leor's ears as half a dozen wide holes ripped open in the creature's wings. It beat them frantically to regain altitude, but the torn wings could no longer bear it aloft. Still thrashing for lift, the Twisted plunged to the ground, crashing into its own nest with bone-shaking force, and scattering fragments in every direction.
As Leor watched Bone charge eagerly toward his hated foe, the child crying beside him broke into sudden panic.
"Please, don't hurt her!" Rynn screamed, watching Bone lumber forward in fury.
"What do you mean?" Alina demanded, gripping Rynn's shoulders and forcing her to meet her eyes. "Rynn, why do you keep mentioning your mother?"
A terrible realization struck Leor as he turned his eyes toward the bat-like defiled, a sick dread rising in his chest.
The creature's body was so twisted it was nearly impossible to guess its original form. But now that he knew what to look for, Leor fixed his gaze on the monster's face, his eyes widening as recognition took hold.
Now that he truly looked, he noticed a few strands of long hair still clinging to the Twisted one's bald head, marking it as likely female in life. The slender shape of its face still carried faint traces that might have resembled Rynn's, had the defilement not ravaged them.
It was entirely possible that this Twisted was all that remained of Rynn's mother. Leor clenched his jaw and shifted to block the girl's view of the battle.
"Alina, take her away from here! Don't let her see!"
Even as the words left his mouth, the ground trembled beneath the heavy blows of the Highblood ape. Hours had passed, yet Bone still carried a faint golden glow from the high-grade spiritual herb Drelk had given him, lending the Beast even greater strength than the first time he faced the Twisted.
More importantly, Bone now knew of the Twisted one's ability to slip into the dark corruption, so when it fell from the sky, he struck before the corruption could gather around it.
Bone seized the Twisted by the neck the instant it hit the ground. The creature clawed desperately at the ape's mighty arms, even as its body was crushed against the bone-strewn floor. All the while the desperate cry of a child could be heard pleading for mercy as it grew further away.