[Cass]
The eel's corpse still steamed when Rootwater began to shake again. Not violently, not like before, but with a low pulse that moved through the floor like breath returning to a wounded chest. Cass felt it first in the bond. Each tremor throbbed inside his ribs, heat blooming under his sternum.
He steadied himself against the Spore Ward. Its glow flickered, answering the pressure deep below. The mountain wasn't waking again – it was shifting, clearing its throat after too long held breath.
Karrek stumbled into the chamber, soot streaking his jaw. "Another quake?"
"Not full," Cass said. "Aftershock. The eel's death heated the vents. We opened something."
Eshna appeared behind him, clutching a cracked lantern. "Opened? You mean we freed it?"
"Pressure. Trapped air, ash, magma veins," Cass said. "The beast lived close to one. Its body cooked half the rock around the river. If the vent clears too far, we lose air."
The elder wheezed, leaning on his staff. "Can the ward hold it?"
Cass's hand tightened on the pedestal. "Maybe. If I feed it more power."
Eshna shook her head. "Feed it? You nearly died last time."
"Then this time I bleed slower."
He reached for the core. The ward pulsed faster, mirroring the mountain's rhythm.
[System Alert]
Seismic Aftershock Detected – Pressure Build in Volcanic Channel.
Risk Level: Critical if Unstabilized (Structural Collapse Possible in 72 Minutes).
Suggested Action: Redirect Energy Flow to Basalt Veins or Release Pressure Manually.
Cass exhaled. "Seventy-two minutes. We can work with that."
Rilka hurried in, slate clutched to her chest, lines glowing faintly where chalk once was. "The tunnels breathe again," she said. "Airflow changed. The cracks near the northern edge are glowing."
"Show me."
They ran through corridors still dripping eel-blood. At the far edge of Rootwater, a fissure split the wall. Hot air poured through, tinged with silver ash. Cass felt it brush his skin – too warm to ignore.
He turned to Karrek. "Seal everything except this vent. We guide the pressure here. One wound instead of a thousand."
Karrek barked orders. Warbles shoved stones, rolled barrels, stacked resin-soaked cloth. The heat grew heavier. The Spore Ward's light seeped through the cracks like veins of molten silver.
Eshna caught Cass's wrist. "If you link deeper, it could kill you."
"If I don't, it kills everyone," Cass said quietly. "The bond was made for this. To make my heart beat with the mountain's. Now it's time to see if that means I can make it stop."
He stepped into the fissure.
The air shimmered. Ash fell like snow.
He pressed both palms to the rock. The bond surged. Pain exploded behind his eyes.
[System] Rootwater Bond Link – Deep Mode (Manual Override Engaged).
Warning: Life-Drain Active. Conversion Rate 40% per minute.
Cass gritted his teeth. "Redirect," he whispered. "Down, not up."
The glow of the fissure changed. Light turned from orange to dull red, then to black smoke. The ground rumbled but did not break.
Eshna shouted something – her voice lost under the roar – but Cass heard enough: "Stop before it takes you!"
He couldn't. Not yet. The mountain trembled like a beast under restraint. Every heartbeat pulled heat from his veins. The ward's pulse dimmed, then steadied, then dimmed again.
Karrek threw water across the floor where resin began to smoke. Rilka clung to the elder's robe, drawing on her slate even as tears streaked her face. Her glowing lines spread through the floor like maps catching fire.
Cass forced one more breath through locked teeth. "Hold."
The roar deepened, then stopped. The ground shifted once – a single, heavy breath – and then stillness.
The fissure sealed itself with a hiss of cooling stone. The air cooled.
[System Update]
Seismic Aftershock Neutralized. Pressure Redirected to Stable Veins.
Settlement Integrity: Maintained.
Ward Integrity: 92%.
Bond Integrity (Cass): 61%. Warning: Vital Strain Detected.
Cass collapsed to his knees, coughing black dust. His vision blurred. The world swam between light and shadow.
Eshna knelt beside him, pressing cloth to his mouth. "Idiot," she whispered. "You talk about balance, then bleed yourself dry."
He managed a smile, faint but real. "Still standing."
Karrek leaned against the wall, chest heaving. "What now?"
"Now we fix what cracked," Cass said. "And bury the eel where it can't rot the stone."
He looked at Rilka's slate. The glowing lines still pulsed faintly, showing every tunnel, every vent.
"What is that?" Eshna asked.
"Not chalk," Cass said. "Something new." He brushed a finger along one line. It hummed under his skin – a living map.
"Looks like the mountain's veins," Rilka murmured. "I just… draw where it hums loudest."
Cass studied her for a long moment. The girl trembled, exhausted but proud. "Keep drawing," he said softly. "We'll need every path it gives."
He turned back to the Spore Ward. Its glow was weaker but steady. The heartbeat matched his own again – slower, quieter.
The mountain slept once more.
Above them, no one saw. The world believed Propervy Bastion buried, erased. But in the dark, the Ghost Lord still breathed.
[System Prompt]
Event Complete – Ash Veins.
Result: Stability Restored. Bond Deepened. Visibility 0%.
Hidden Achievement Unlocked: "Heartbeat of Stone."
Effect: You may sense seismic activity in connected regions. Use at your own risk.
Cass pressed his hand to the ward one last time. Its pulse was faint, but alive.
"Good," he whispered. "Let them think we're dead. Let them rebuild their world on ash. We'll rise when the stone remembers our names."
The ward flickered once – like the twitch of a buried heart – then went still.