They stood in silence. A low hum lingered in the air, barely audible—like the corridor itself was holding its breath. The flicker of torchlight danced erratically across the walls, casting jagged shadows that twitched and stretched with every movement. Somewhere deeper in the darkness, something dripped. Slow. Steady. Like a countdown.
Blood soaked the edges of their boots, but the bodies around them still breathed.
Not dead.
Not yet.
Eclipse's fingers twitched slightly at his side. Not from adrenaline. Just... reflex.
"You left them alive," he muttered, glancing at Valeria.
She nodded, silent.
And now the only thing left between them and the corridor's final threshold... was it.
The thing that had once been many people. Still breathing. Still crying.
The creature twitched, slumped like discarded cloth, its many mouths no longer screaming, just sobbing. Some begged. Some whimpered. Some simply muttered syllables like prayers to gods that weren't listening.
