The maintenance corridor swallowed them in dim amber light.
Steam hissed from cracked pipes overhead, coating the air with the thick smell of cocoa and burnt sugar. The walls pulsed faintly, like the city itself had a heartbeat.
Felix hated that he could feel it now.
---
Aya led the way, boots splashing through shallow puddles of cooling chocolate.
"No one talks unless we have to," she whispered.
"These corridors carry sound."
Leo nodded too fast.
"I'm very good at not talking."
Tomas snorted.
"You're terrible at it."
---
Above them, the faint hum of drones passed again.
Felix flinched at the sound.
"They're sweeping," he murmured.
"Slow. Careful."
Nia glanced at him sharply.
"How do you know?"
Felix hesitated.
"I… taste it."
Aya grimaced.
"I don't like that answer, but okay."
---
Lina suddenly stopped.
Everyone nearly crashed into her.
Her eyes were unfocused again.
"They're not just looking," she whispered.
"They're listening."
As if on cue, a speaker crackled overhead.
"Unauthorized presence detected in lower maintenance sector."
Leo muttered, "Oh that's bad."
---
Aya cursed softly and yanked open a side hatch.
"Inside. Now."
They squeezed into a narrow service duct just as bright light swept across the corridor.
A drone hovered inches from the hatch.
Felix held his breath.
The key burned against his skin.
The drone's lens lingered.
Paused.
Then drifted away.
---
They waited.
Ten seconds.
Twenty.
Finally, Aya exhaled.
"Clear. Move."
They crawled through the duct, emerging into an abandoned loading bay lined with stacked crates stamped with faded cocoa emblems.
Tomas brushed dust from his hands.
"Okay. What's the plan now?"
---
Felix didn't answer.
He was staring at the far wall.
At a symbol carved deep into the concrete.
A spiral.
Broken.
Rooted.
The same symbol he'd seen in his vision.
Nia followed his gaze.
"That wasn't here by accident, was it?"
Felix shook his head slowly.
"No. It's a marker."
"For what?" Leo asked.
Felix swallowed.
"For the heart."
---
The floor vibrated.
Not violently.
Not yet.
A slow pulse rolled beneath their feet.
Once.
Twice.
Lina clutched her head.
"It's closer than before."
Aya's jaw tightened.
"How much closer?"
Lina's voice trembled.
"Close enough to feel us."
---
A door slid open at the far end of the bay.
Smooth.
Quiet.
Too quiet.
A tall figure stepped through.
Crisp coat.
Polished shoes.
Silver cane tapping once against the floor.
Ambrose Vellum.
---
He smiled.
"Well," he said pleasantly, eyes sweeping over them.
"This is unfortunate."
Felix's blood went cold.
---
Ambrose adjusted his gloves, unbothered by their shock.
"I warned you not to wander," he continued.
"And yet here you are. In places best left forgotten."
Aya stepped forward.
"You built something down there."
Ambrose chuckled softly.
"Built? No."
He tapped his cane.
"I uncovered it."
---
Felix felt the key flare.
Ambrose's gaze snapped to him.
Ah.
There you are.
"You feel it too, don't you?" Ambrose said.
"The hunger."
Felix clenched his fists.
"You used kids."
Ambrose tilted his head, genuinely curious.
"Used?"
He sighed.
"Sacrifices are such ugly words."
---
The floor pulsed again.
Stronger this time.
Cracks spidered across the concrete.
Ambrose frowned slightly.
"…That's earlier than expected."
Lina whispered, terrified,
"It's waking up."
Ambrose's smile thinned.
"Yes," he said quietly.
"And that's why I need Felix."
---
Drones dropped from the ceiling.
Encircling them.
Weapons humming.
Aya lifted her rod.
"Over my dead body."
Ambrose smiled.
"I was counting on it."
---
The lights cut out.
The floor split.
And something deep beneath the city roared.