The tremors grew violent.
Johnquis slowly turned around, feet sliding slightly on the smooth stone. Cracks spiderwebbed across the glowing floor like lightning frozen in time. The light dimmed beneath his feet, pulsing in warning, flickering like a heartbeat skipping out of rhythm.
Then the center of the chamber erupted.
KRRAAA-KOOOM!
Chunks of glowing rock blasted upward as the floor split open. A massive shape surged from the depths, dragging with it slabs of stone, broken roots, and shards of radiant crystal. Water that had been perfectly still now scattered in every direction, spraying across the dome like rain flung from an explosion.
A thing rose from the earth—towering, hunched, yet steady. Like a mountain forcing itself upward through the ground.
Johnquis stumbled back. The chain in his hand clinked softly, taut with tension. His body locked into instinct, eyes fixed on the impossible on the impossible shape rising before him.
