"It opens inward. Stand where the door will shield you from whatever waits inside." He saw Lei Ming preparing to object. "You are wounded. Logic dictates caution."
Lei Ming reluctantly agreed, so Su Luo cracked the door open slightly. Nothing happened.
He took a shallow, silent breath, then carefully peered around the frame into absolute darkness.
"Excellent," he murmured. No breeze emerged, no scents, no indication of what lay beyond.
Lei Ming pressed forward. "What do you see?"
"Another barrier of darkness." Su Luo opened the door wider. "Beware of projectiles."
They stood studying the blackness. Lin Yu bent, gathered a handful of earth, and cast it through the opening.
The earth vanished without sound.
"Well?" Lei Ming cracked his knuckles, the sound like breaking stone. "Waiting accomplishes nothing."
Su Luo nodded reluctantly. "Expect another trap beyond. Keep your wits sharp."
"This one will enter first," Lei Ming declared, placing a hand on Su Luo's shoulder. "I will step through and immediately move left, keeping the wall at my back. You move right upon entering."
"And this one?" Lin Yu asked.
Lei Ming ran a hand through his long hair in frustration. "Honestly? Crouch low and hope for the best."
"Understood." She nodded firmly. "Give Su Luo a few heartbeats, then enter low." They stared at the darkness again, no one moving.
"Well then," Lei Ming said finally. "Fortune favor us all. If we die horribly beyond, may we meet again soon. You are good people to face such trials with."
Su Luo couldn't help but smile. "This one could wish for no better dao companions in facing such mysterious death. Good fortune, brother."
Lei Ming clapped his hands together loudly, once, twice, three times, then rolled his shoulders. "Very well. Here goes nothing."
And he stepped through to vanish.
Su Luo forced calm into his voice. "Fortune smile upon us."
Lin Yu began to respond, but he didn't wait, stepping into the wall of darkness and through into a shadow-drowned chamber. As he tried to sense what lay before him, he stepped right and pressed his back to the wall.
The room was pitch black save for thirty fist-sized circular apertures high in the ceiling, through which streamed columns of dusty white light. Each column illuminated a perfect circle on what proved to be pale stone, all clustered together to form a compact island of radiance in an ocean of darkness.
Su Luo fought to control his breathing, to listen, to sense what else occupied this space. Despite the darkness, it lacked the overwhelming scale of the first chamber, feeling close and surprisingly small.
"Brother?" he whispered. "Here," Lei Ming replied tersely.
"Present," Lin Yu whispered from between them, crouched low.
A pause.
"Nothing visible but those lights," Lei Ming murmured. "Perhaps we should, "
Something child-sized flitted through one of the corner beams, a flicker of movement, a hint of an enlarged, angular ear, a scrawny body, a serpentine tail undulating behind it.
"Steady," Lei Ming said, his voice hardening. "Hold position."
"What was that?" Lin Yu's voice carried the edge of panic. "Did you see it? What kind of creature?"
"Calm yourself," Su Luo breathed. "Stay alert. Our backs are protected, it cannot approach from behind."
"But we cannot see attacks coming from the darkness," Lin Yu protested, standing. "We should enter the light, stand back-to-back in the center."
"She speaks wisdom," Lei Ming agreed. "We are blind targets out here."
Then the creature leaned into the light slowly, deliberately, revealing a visage from nightmares. A massive bald head covered in liver spots, a gaping hole where a nose should be, a wide lipless mouth bristling with razor teeth, enormous bat-wing ears, and eyes like black gems that glittered with malice and cruel intelligence. It studied them for a moment before withdrawing into darkness.
Su Luo felt his stomach clench with fear and his mouth go dry. "To the lights. Move together. Quickly."
He led the way, running across the eight zhang that separated them from the clustered columns, expecting at any moment to be attacked, for that horrific creature to leap from the shadows with claws extended,
He staggered to a halt as he entered the brilliant white beams, each so intense they seemed to set his clothes afire where they passed through them. Lei Ming cried out in pain behind him, then stumbled into the light, half-turning to watch the darkness, blood vivid against his torn leg.
"Lin Yu!" Su Luo called, and she emerged from shadow, eyes wide, hair disheveled like a dark halo around her pale face, crashing into them and immediately turning to face outward, pressing her back to theirs.
"Turn," Su Luo commanded, wanting to check Lei Ming's wounds but knowing there was no time.
Lei Ming obeyed, breathing harshly. They formed a triangle, shoulder to shoulder, staring through the blazing columns at the darkness beyond.
"It caught me," Lei Ming panted, still struggling for breath. "Claws like daggers."
Su Luo peered into the darkness, eyes narrowed, trying to catch any hint of movement.
Anything that might provide warning.
"How do we kill it?" Lin Yu asked, and to Su Luo's surprise, her voice had steadied and hardened.
Lei Ming shifted weight off his injured leg. "Grab it. Smash it against the floor. It appears small and light."
Lin Yu's laugh held no humor whatsoever. "Grab and smash. Understood."
A flicker of movement, a bounding leap, and the creature burst from darkness to fall upon Su Luo, fast as lightning, wicked fingers ending in black talons seeking his face, lips peeling back to reveal fangs, mouth gaping impossibly wide.
Su Luo cried out and seized its wiry body, his hands nearly encircling its thin waist. Despite its small size it possessed unnatural strength, flailing at him wildly, slashing his arms and drawing a line of fire across his cheek. It was like trying to hold a wild cat, the thing hissing and spitting, snapping its jaws at his throat.