DEVOUR THE GODS: They had all the power. He took it

Chapter 6: The Descent

Dawn didn't exist in the Undercity.

I woke to the same darkness I'd fallen asleep in, measured time only by the ache in my bones and the spread of corruption across my skin. The black veins had reached my chin during the night. I could see them in the fragment of broken mirror someone had left in my cell. Dark lines crawling up my jaw like fingers trying to cover my mouth.

Soon they'd reach my eyes. Then my brain. Then whatever remained of Kael Thorne would disappear, and only the hunger would be left.

Days. Maybe hours.

Footsteps approached. Single set. Light. Controlled.

Isadora appeared at the bars. Her neck was wrapped in clean bandages now, and she moved without the fluid grace I'd seen yesterday. The Hollow had damaged something vital. She'd live, but she'd never move the same way again.

"Silas wants you," she said. Her voice was hoarse, damaged. "Says you're going down today."

"How's Vex?"

"Broken ribs. Concussion. He'll recover." She studied me through the bars. "You saved my life yesterday. Could have let the Hollow kill me. Could have taken my power while I was dying. You didn't."

"I'm not a murderer."

"You've killed. I can see it in your eyes." She unlocked the cell. "But you're not a killer yet. There's a difference. Don't lose sight of it down there."

I followed her through the Vault. People watched us pass. Some with fear. Some with curiosity. A few with something that looked like hope. Word had spread about the Hollow. About me killing it alone.

They were wrong about me, but I didn't correct them.

Silas waited at the eastern edge of the Vault, where the worked tunnels gave way to natural caves. He stood with Garrett, the earth mage built like a granite slab. Both wore serious expressions.

"Sleep well?" Silas asked.

"No."

"Good. Means you're taking this seriously." He gestured to Garrett. "He's going with you. For the first part, anyway. He knows the upper deep levels better than anyone. After that, you're on your own."

Garrett grunted acknowledgment. His voice was surprisingly soft for his size. "Tunnels split about two hours down. Left path leads to the old prison complex. Right path leads deeper. That's where you're going."

"What's in the prison complex?"

"Nothing good. Council used it a century ago for holding dangerous mages. They abandoned it seventy years back. Sealed the entrance. But seals break. Things get out."

"What kind of things?"

"The kind that eat Hollows for breakfast." Silas handed me a pack. "Food. Water. Light sources. Emergency medical supplies. Won't help much if you run into real trouble, but it's better than nothing."

I took the pack. Heavier than it looked. "How long will this take?"

"If you survive? Two days down. Two days back. Maybe three if you get lost." Silas's expression didn't change. "If you don't survive, we'll know because something will come crawling up those tunnels wearing your face. Then we collapse the whole eastern section and seal it permanently."

"Comforting."

"Wasn't meant to be." He stepped aside. "One more thing. The corruption will spread faster down there. Something about the old magic accelerates it. If you're not back in four days, we assume you went Hollow and act accordingly."

Four days. Less time than I'd thought.

Garrett moved ahead without ceremony. I followed, leaving the light and warmth of the Vault behind. The temperature dropped immediately. Not cold enough to be uncomfortable yet, but trending that direction.

We descended in silence for the first hour. The tunnels here were natural formations, carved by water over millennia. Smooth walls that curved and twisted unpredictably. Ceiling heights that varied from barely enough clearance to cavernous spaces where our footsteps echoed forever.

Garrett navigated by touch as much as sight. His earth magic let him sense the stone, feel its structure.

"You feel it yet?" he asked suddenly.

"Feel what?"

"The pressure. The weight. We're under half the city now. Miles of rock pressing down." He ran his hand along the wall. "Most people panic down here. You seem fine."

"I've got bigger concerns than enclosed spaces."

"True enough." Garrett paused at an intersection. Three paths split off, each darker than the last. He chose the middle. "How many powers you carrying now?"

"Six."

"That Hollow yesterday had eight. You know what that means?"

"That I'm running out of time."

"That you're stronger than it was. Six coordinated abilities beat eight uncontrolled ones every time." He glanced back. "Silas thinks you might actually make it. Survive long enough to reach the old magic. Maybe even come back."

"What do you think?"

"I think the corruption's already in your brain. Making you believe there's a cure." He kept walking. "But I also think desperation makes people capable of impossible things. So maybe you prove me wrong."

We descended further. The air grew colder. Thinner. The tunnels pressed in, narrowed, forced us to walk single file through passages barely wider than our shoulders.

Enhanced hearing picked up sounds ahead. Movement. Lots of it. Chittering. Clicking.

Garrett stopped. "Cave spiders. Big ones. They're normally docile if you don't threaten their nests."

"Normally?"

"They can sense magic. Strong magic makes them aggressive." He looked at me. "Six stolen abilities probably registers as very strong magic."

The chittering grew louder. I could see them now, emerging from cracks in the walls. Each one the size of a large dog, with legs that bent at wrong angles and eyes that reflected our torchlight.

Dozens of them. Maybe hundreds.

They moved with coordinated intent, surrounding us, cutting off retreat. Not attacking yet. Just assessing.

"Don't make sudden movements," Garrett whispered. "Don't use magic unless you have to."

One of the spiders lunged at me.

Pure instinct. I raised my hand and released lightning. The bolt caught it mid-leap, cooking it instantly.

The other spiders screamed. High-pitched. Enraged.

Then they attacked as one.

"Run!" Garrett shoved me forward. "The split's a hundred yards ahead. Go!"

I ran. Behind me, Garrett slammed his fists into the ground. The earth responded, erupting upward in a wall of stone that blocked the tunnel. Temporary. The spiders were already climbing over it.

The tunnel opened into a larger cavern. The split Garrett had mentioned. Two paths diverging. Left toward the old prison. Right into deeper darkness.

Garrett reached the cavern seconds after me. Blood ran down his arm where spider mandibles had found purchase. "Go right. Don't stop. Don't look back."

"What about you?"

"I'm going left. Lead them away from your path." He was already moving, shouting, making noise to draw the spiders. "Four days, Kael. Make them count."

Then he was gone, disappearing into the left tunnel with dozens of spiders pursuing.

I went right.

The path descended sharply. Not a gradual slope anymore but almost vertical in places. I had to brace against the walls, lower myself carefully, trust that each foothold would support my weight.

Hours passed. Maybe more. Time lost meaning in the absolute dark between my light sources. The pack held six torches, three chemical lights, and a small lantern with maybe four hours of oil.

The tunnel finally leveled out into a massive chamber. Natural cathedral carved by ancient water. Stalactites hung like frozen waterfalls. The floor was covered in ice, smooth and black.

And in the center, something moved.

I froze. Enhanced hearing picked up breathing. Slow. Deep. Patient.

My torchlight caught scales first. Iridescent. Shifting between colors that shouldn't exist. Then I saw the body. Serpentine. Coiled in loops that stretched across half the chamber.

The head rose slowly. Triangular. Elegant. Eyes that glowed with their own light. Vertical pupils focused on me with terrible intelligence.

It spoke. The voice was sibilant but clear. Female. "Another seeker. Another fool descending into darkness hoping to find light."

"I'm looking for the old magic."

"Everyone is. Everyone comes. Everyone fails." The serpent's tongue flickered. "You're corrupted. Days from going Hollow. The old magic doesn't cure that. It transforms it. Takes what you are and makes something new."

"I'll take that risk."

"Of course you will. You're desperate." She uncoiled slightly. "I guard this passage. Payment for my own transformation."

"What were you before?"

"A healer. Saved hundreds of lives. But healing costs. Every life saved takes a piece of your own. Eventually, I had nothing left. So I came here. Became this." Her scales rippled. "Now I'm eternal. Powerful."

She didn't look happy about it.

"Let me pass," I said.

"Prove you're worthy first. Fight me. Show me the strength of your stolen powers." She coiled tighter. "Win, and the path is yours. Lose, and I add your abilities to my collection."

She attacked.

Fast. The head darted forward, jaws opening to reveal fangs the length of my forearm. Venom dripped from them, sizzling where it hit ice.

I dodged right. Released lightning. The bolt struck her scales and dispersed. Insulated.

She swept her tail around. I jumped, using telekinesis to boost higher than humanly possible. Landed on her back. Ice formed under my hands.

She bucked. I held on, barely. The serpent reared up, then slammed down. The impact threw me clear. I hit the ice floor hard, sliding until I crashed into a stalagmite.

Pain exploded through my ribs. Broken.

The serpent coiled around me, constricting. Pressure built. I couldn't breathe.

The voices screamed.

USE EVERYTHING. ALL AT ONCE. SURVIVE.

I stopped fighting the powers individually. Just opened myself and let them flow together.

Lightning and ice and telekinesis amplifying both. Enhanced hearing showing me where her heart was. The thread-mage's ability revealing the connection between her body and power.

I grabbed that connection and pulled while releasing everything else.

The serpent shrieked.

Her coils loosened. Just enough.

I rolled free, gasping. The black veins had spread to my cheeks now. Using all the powers at once accelerated the corruption.

But it worked.

The serpent thrashed, weakened. "What did you take?"

"What I had to."

She tried to strike again, but the movement was sluggish. I'd stolen her enhanced speed.

"Kill me," she said. "Don't leave me like this."

I looked at her. Saw the person underneath. Someone desperate. Someone trapped.

"I'll give you a choice," I said. "Stay like this. Or let me take the rest. End the transformation. Maybe go back to being human."

She was silent. Then: "Take it. All of it. I'm so tired."

I placed both hands on her scales. Felt her power. Shapeshifting. Master-level.

I pulled.

Her form shifted. Scales receding. Body shrinking. In seconds, a woman lay where the serpent had been. Middle-aged. Scarred. Naked and shivering.

Human again.

She looked at her hands. Started crying. "Thank you."

I gave her my coat.

"What's ahead?" I asked.

"Worse things. And at the bottom, the old magic itself. It will offer you a choice. Take its power or die corrupted. No middle ground."

I left her there and continued down.

Seven abilities now. The corruption had reached my lips.

Hours or days. That's all I had left.

The path descended into deeper cold. Deeper darkness.

And at the bottom, something ancient waited.