Riven groaned as he dragged himself upright, every muscle screaming in protest. His chest heaved in pain with each breath he took, ribs grinding together like stone plates. His knees wobbled beneath him, refusing to lock, but still he pushed forward step by stubborn step toward the faint outline of the cavern entrance.
He made it a few feet.
Then his body betrayed him. His legs buckle as strength fled and he collapsed hard onto the stone. A raw grunt tore from his throat as his cheek pressed against the cold ground. Whatever lumen burst or adrenaline had carried him before was now gone. Now there was only pain. Pain constantly gnawing at his flesh, burrowing deep into the marrow as if to remind him that he was still alive.
'Funny,' he thought bitterly, staring at the ceiling with veins of dull illumination threading across the rock. 'Funny how pain is what reminds you you're still alive.'
Sweat and grime stung his lashes. His breath rattled as he let out a hollow chuckle. "Maybe… a little rest. Just a little. Wouldn't hurt… unless another damned deviant decides to show up and put me out of my misery."
Darkness crept at the edges of his vision. His eyes closed with his body finally surrendering…
---
"What do you mean you still can't find him? It's been almost two days since he went missing!"
The sharp voice lashed across Arven's office like a whip. Lynn's fists trembled at her side, her small frame shaking, her face flushed with a fury born of worry.
Arven sat behind his desk, his was gaze steady and calm where hers was storm. He let the words crash against him before exhaling slowly. "He was supposed to report back before the end of the week. After his punishment."
"Lynn…" Kevan's voice tried to calm her down, his hand raised as if to steady her. "Shouting won't…"
"Don't tell me to calm down, Kevan!" she snapped before turning back to Arven. "He's still out there, isn't he? He was supposed to be back by now!"
Her voice cracked at the end.
"So would you mind," she bit out, icy and trembling, "telling us why he isn't anywhere to be found?"
Kevan's jaw tightened. He glanced at her, then back to Arven. "We checked his quarters and found nothing. We asked the instructors, and that's when we heard about the collapse in the eastern mines. They told us he'd be found." His tone hardened. "So why is it you still haven't found our friend yet?"
Arven gave a slow nod, folding his hands together. His calm was steady, but the silence before he spoke was unbearable. "The search parties are combing through the debris. The four individuals that were found first were injured and have been taken in treated. But as of now…" His gaze sharpened. "Riven is still unaccounted for."
The words landed heavy and Merciless.
Kevan shifted, frustration cracking through his composure. "Then why the hell wasn't anyone told sooner? If…"
A sharp crack cut him off.
Lynn's heel slammed into the floor, and the reinforced concrete beneath her foot split with a small but sharp fissure. Dust rose faintly as the table in front of Arven trembled under the force.
Kevan's head snapped toward her. "Lynn…"
But then both of them froze.
It was as if unseen hands had clamped around their throats, invisible pressure crushing their lungs, pressing them down. Their gazes flicked back to Arven. He hadn't moved but his form shimmered faintly, a veil of white light bleeding into the air around him. His calm eyes now burned like steel.
Kevan's mind stuttered. 'Shit. He's pissed.'
"You will not," Arven's voice was measured and quiet yet thunderous in their bones "forget yourselves in my office."
The shimmering flared once. Then faded as if it had never been.
The pressure lifted. Both Lynn and Kevan staggered back, sweat slick on their brows.
Finally, Arven waved them off with a flick of his hand. "Go."
They hurried out, the door sliding shut behind them.
Kevan exhaled raggedly, running a hand through his hair. "You just had to piss him off, didn't you?"
Lynn scowled, but her eyes glistened. "I didn't do anything. I'm just…" her voice cracked, softer now "I'm just worried sick about him. What if…"
"Don't." Kevan cut her off sharply before she could finish.
She bit her lip, staring back at the office door.
Kevan muttered, lips tight, "Yeah. You felt it too huh. His aura."
She didn't argue. She couldn't. That was what a bonafide Tier One aura felt like, so strong it had stolen her breath and made her feel like her chest was getting crushed.
'And to think I'm Tier One too,' she thought bitterly. 'The gap between a minor and an ascended… sure is far.'
---
Inside the office, Arven sat alone once more. His fingers drummed once against the desk before pulling the mine logs closer. Grainy pictures of the collapse. Lists of names. Reports from search teams.
His gaze drifted to the small file on the corner. A single picture clipped to it.
Riven.
The young and defiant quiet boy who somehow always finds himself in trouble. So much like…
Arven pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled hard. 'Where the hell are you, brat?'
The door opened.
A man stepped inside. It was the very instructor who had ordered Riven's punishment in the mines.
Arven didn't greet him. His eyes stayed fixed on the reports until he finally spoke in a low and sharp tone.
"Instructor Corrin, Sit. We need to talk."
---
His eyes snapped wide open. A sound had jolted him awake.
At first, he thought it was his mind playing tricks on him. His body ached less, but his throat rasped with each breath he took. He groaned, forcing himself onto an elbow as his eyes sweeps his surrounding. Nothing. Only the shadows.
'Am I… hearing things now?'
He shifted, scanning left and right before flicking his gaze back to the entrance. The faint light leaking through hadn't changed.
'I'm imagining it.'
He braced an arm, trying to push himself upright—
Then he froze.
SQUELCH
A sound again. Wet. A crunching, tearing squelch like sound.
His stomach turned cold. Slowly, his head tilted toward the gorge below.
He couldn't see anything. The depths were swallowed by shadow. But the sound was unmistakable. Something was feeding. Tearing flesh from bone.
Then came another sound. A roar that felt low and familiar.
His blood ran cold. It was the deviant.
But before he could process the dread, another roar split the cavern. It was louder and deeper. So forceful it rattled his bones.
The first roar cut off instantly, replaced by sharper crunches, wet tearing that made bile sting his throat.
Then another roar boomed louder than before. So loud the stone vibrated beneath him. So loud something deep in his chest quivered as though his very soul recoiled.
Riven clutched at the rock beside him, knuckles white. His mind screamed only one truth:
Whatever that thing was it had just devoured the lizard-insect deviant and if he didn't move now, he would be next.
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