Hannah's POV
I climbed down the unfamiliar ladder into the Skull Cavern's depths, my boots hitting golden, uneven sandstone. The air was dry and unnaturally still. With my katana drawn, I scanned the cavern for any glimmer of the Prismatic Shard. Marlon had said it would be hidden—tucked among geodes, easy to miss if I wasn't careful.
A slow drip echoed from the ceiling, the sound eerily rhythmic like the ticking of a countdown. My breath caught when one of the rocks twitched.
Too late.
An iridium rock crab launched from the ground, its jagged claws slashing into my leg. I cried out as pain flared through the muscle, hot and immediate. Gritting my teeth, I slashed down, catching the crab in its exposed core. It split in two, scattering shards across the floor.
I didn't have time to breathe. Three more skittered toward me, fast and relentless, like this was a twisted Beyblade arena and I was the only human on the board.
I bolted, racing to the ladder I spotted across the room. I descended fast—too fast—but I didn't care. My life depended on speed now. One floor down. No shard. Only more darkness and worse sounds.
Behind me came a slow, grotesque crunching noise—the drag of something not quite alive. My blood turned to ice.
A mummy.
I turned just in time to drive my katana through its chest. It collapsed in a heap of bones and rags.
Too easy.
As I backed away, scanning the floor for the next ladder, I heard the same sound again. I turned—too curious—and my jaw dropped.
The mummy I'd just killed was rising. Its body cracked and snapped as it reassembled, bones grinding into place like clockwork.
"No freaking way," I whispered, backing up.
There—a ladder. But between it and me stood not one, but four mummies now. The first had friends.
Biting my lip, I steeled myself.
"Here goes nothing."
I charged.
I spun with my blade, slicing in every direction. My body screamed in protest—my arm, my back, my leg—but I couldn't stop. One wrong move and I'd be done. My bicep flared with sharp pain, a muscle tearing under the pressure. I let out a raw scream but didn't slow down.
The last mummy fell just as the first one started to reform again. I turned and sprinted for the ladder, a cold, rotting hand brushing my hair as I escaped.
My breathing was ragged, sharp as knives in my lungs. Marlon wasn't kidding. This was a different world. This wasn't like the mines. This was death dressed in sand and silence.
I gulped water, hands trembling. My legs felt like they'd betray me at any moment. But the Skull Cavern didn't care. It demanded more.
Then I heard it—a sound like electricity, like a thunderclap without the storm. The hair on my arms stood up.
A massive serpent burst from the shadows, green and coiled like a dragon born from nightmares. Its body shimmered with scales, its fins like blades. I didn't even have time to brace—one swipe cut across my cheek, the sting searing into bone.
Blood ran hot down my face. I gripped my sword tighter.
This was it.
I stared it down, forcing myself to breathe slow and steady, to treat it like it was the final boss in a game, and everything depended on this one hit.
It circled, preparing to strike again, fire in its eyes. I waited... waited... now!
I swung.
I screamed as the blade connected. My arms felt like lead. The impact rattled up to my teeth. There was silence. Then a crash.
When I opened my eyes, the serpent's head was at my feet. Its tail thrashed, nerves still firing, painting the walls with dark violet blood.
No ladder. Only a hole.
A deep, dark pit in the floor, humming with electricity. And then—the sound again. Three more serpents emerged from the shadows, faster and angrier.
I couldn't win.
I looked at the hole. My choice: be torn apart, or take a chance on the unknown.
I jumped.
I slid down a tight tunnel, rocks ripping at my back and shoulders. My head slammed off the sides. I screamed until I had no air left. Then the space widened—emptiness. I fell, knees slamming into stone, my body tumbling into a painful roll.
Everything hurt.
I groaned, clutching my side. My mouth hung open in a silent scream. I couldn't even form words. This place—this cursed cavern—I'd rather face the witch herself with a spoon than keep going here.
I forced myself to my knees.
And there it was.
A glowing, multicolored stone sitting in the center of the chamber. The Prismatic Shard. Radiating power. Radiating hope.
I crawled toward it, tears blurring my vision. My hand closed around it, and I pulled it to my chest like a lifeline. I sobbed—loud, ugly, breathless sobs. I had done it. Against every doubt. Despite every failure. I had done it.
But the moment shattered.
A deafening roar shook the cavern. The ground trembled. From the shadows emerged a monster unlike anything I'd seen—a hulking creature, green-scaled with stubby legs and jagged horns. A lizard? A dinosaur? A nightmare.
I didn't wait to find out. I spotted the ladder and ran—faster than I thought I could, fueled only by fear and survival. My boots slipped on stone, my heartbeat thundered in my ears.
The exit came into view. The Skull Cavern's door.
I ran like the desert air was my only breath.
I ran like I had just lived through hell
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