Cel stared down past the thrashing creature, past the torn flesh and pooling blood, into the stomach far below.115Please respect copyright.PENANAy2tTpfCRsd
115Please respect copyright.PENANANW4Mq1YjHG
The glow was spreading. Rising.115Please respect copyright.PENANATmqa73BlkA
115Please respect copyright.PENANAoiatSwgIpf
Something hot and ancient stirred in those depths - corrosive fire that promised to turn everything in this throat to ash.115Please respect copyright.PENANAylpwBwe7Hk
115Please respect copyright.PENANA05fR91eegc
Red light painted the ribbed walls in hellish hues. The stench hit his nose - sharp, acrid, burning with each breath.115Please respect copyright.PENANAf1gpHbL9o6
115Please respect copyright.PENANA12AdaAmxCj
The smaller creature shrieked in rising panic. Its claws gouged frantically at the throat's walls, shredding flesh in its desperation to escape.115Please respect copyright.PENANAd9GZDHiTsX
115Please respect copyright.PENANANDWDG16slD
Heat flooded upward through the worm's body - not seeping, but rushing like water through a broken dam. The flesh around him began to cook. The organic walls steamed, moisture evaporating in seconds.115Please respect copyright.PENANAb6KPkLxiSJ
115Please respect copyright.PENANAhOwtbuAMRf
Instinct screamed at him before understanding caught up.115Please respect copyright.PENANAaggps7ZjBp
115Please respect copyright.PENANAhf328MPrZs
The worm was going to breathe fire.115Please respect copyright.PENANA19Dn0QRVa4
115Please respect copyright.PENANACfCKl6PCqS
And there was nowhere in this entire throat that would protect him from it.115Please respect copyright.PENANAKGV58O3yQA
115Please respect copyright.PENANAZ1b9kOm5Sv
The socket wouldn't save him. The walls offered no shelter. The teeth were his only exit - but the thrashing creature blocked the way, a whirlwind of claws between him and freedom.115Please respect copyright.PENANA9MMAFQxrOZ
115Please respect copyright.PENANAUHriqYb1Pu
Cel's mind raced through options with crystalline clarity.115Please respect copyright.PENANAKwxi4NpADV
115Please respect copyright.PENANA5ednB8siE5
He could try to slip past. Risk those claws tearing him apart while the molten breath rose behind him.115Please respect copyright.PENANAbMM71qbkos
115Please respect copyright.PENANAqWv4MZCuzk
Or…115Please respect copyright.PENANAFIOjm1v2EG
115Please respect copyright.PENANABsZfiK7TRo
His gaze locked on the creature's stone-like back.115Please respect copyright.PENANAMWmTgGjEXC
115Please respect copyright.PENANAFjkMU2aUbe
'Use it as a shield.' The thought arrived cold and certain. 115Please respect copyright.PENANAsIEHDlO1fE
115Please respect copyright.PENANA2HdqcAxMnx
The smaller creature was already dead - it just didn't know it yet. But its body could shield him. Give him a chance to survive the coming inferno.115Please respect copyright.PENANAvM4wsuB1nT
115Please respect copyright.PENANAktgGhPcpJH
But would its flesh hold against that heat?115Please respect copyright.PENANArrM3CDUQgX
115Please respect copyright.PENANAFUYfdg686Z
Doubtful.115Please respect copyright.PENANACSuRzMR0t4
115Please respect copyright.PENANA13JkasIrKE
If he reinforced it though…115Please respect copyright.PENANALoblUjy4tN
115Please respect copyright.PENANAX0MNfGHGmQ
Cel threw himself out of the socket.115Please respect copyright.PENANAci7gFfIFwq
115Please respect copyright.PENANA39QjQsazzN
His feet hit the slick floor and he immediately launched forward - not toward the exit, but toward the thrashing nightmare between him and freedom.115Please respect copyright.PENANA1upeatOvJm
115Please respect copyright.PENANACVJpaKKSC7
The creature was a whirlwind of violence. Its claws tore at the throat's walls with mindless fury, ripping away chunks of flesh in sprays of blood. Its serpentine body coiled and writhed, every movement driven by pure animal panic as the red light grew brighter below.115Please respect copyright.PENANAhjeD9flxYJ
115Please respect copyright.PENANAEgQMTDIGRW
Cel dove into that chaos.115Please respect copyright.PENANA3OEbvpxFJB
115Please respect copyright.PENANACl6yxVcUBm
A claw swept past his face - so close he felt the displaced air. He twisted, using momentum to drive his shoulder into the creature's side. The impact jarred through his already wounded body, but it gave him what he needed.115Please respect copyright.PENANADZks1UytuC
115Please respect copyright.PENANAS5EgkpY9Lr
Contact.115Please respect copyright.PENANA1oYtiymg79
115Please respect copyright.PENANAxXdvyh2x64
His left hand slammed flat against the thing's stone-like back, and frost spread across its skin in a spreading wave.115Please respect copyright.PENANAFiRWqRQcLm
115Please respect copyright.PENANAWeXhjvBDjf
It shrieked - metal dragged across bone - and whipped its entire body around with murderous intent. The thing that had been panicking about the worm was now focused on a new, immediate threat: whatever was touching it needed to die.115Please respect copyright.PENANABmcNm8lrac
115Please respect copyright.PENANAAdyPl6MMZ1
Its remaining claws found Cel's chest.115Please respect copyright.PENANAHj9wd2Wzqv
115Please respect copyright.PENANApy5FScwDoT
Four lines of white-hot agony opened from collarbone to ribs. Blood sprayed across both of them. The creature twisted in his grip like a serpent, trying to tear itself free, trying to reach his face with those needle-ringed teeth.115Please respect copyright.PENANArgExAkpvnS
115Please respect copyright.PENANAfoI58qa707
Cel grabbed it with his left arm and squeezed it against his body despite the pain.115Please respect copyright.PENANAd1Bb1FdELB
115Please respect copyright.PENANAsve6RXm3IC
He wasn't trying to restrain it completely - that would be impossible. The creature was too strong, too frenzied. But he could redirect it. Turn its ice-armored back toward the depths below while keeping his own body behind that frozen shield.115Please respect copyright.PENANAt3TYGKiQ71
115Please respect copyright.PENANAHbbpg0axAa
The creature's assault became even more vicious. Claws raked his arms, his shoulders, his jaw - anywhere they could reach. Each strike opened fresh wounds.115Please respect copyright.PENANAnLeORcHZkp
115Please respect copyright.PENANAJ3LiRvQtMe
But Cel held on.115Please respect copyright.PENANAIXFltUohmb
115Please respect copyright.PENANAUkvf3tuCRB
Held his living shield between himself and the approaching death.115Please respect copyright.PENANAy4duc6XLow
115Please respect copyright.PENANAs0hq7UnCJ5
The red light reached blinding intensity.115Please respect copyright.PENANAl3RpH3NaJ9
115Please respect copyright.PENANAj5yM57gCPm
Heat slammed into the ice-armored back with the force of an avalanche. The frost cracked, shattered, reformed under his intent in rapid succession as impossible temperature met divine cold in explosive conflict.115Please respect copyright.PENANADN2OhHQYzO
115Please respect copyright.PENANACi0POy9ZrT
But heat bled through anyway. The creature shrieked - not just fury now, but agony. The heat was cooking it from behind despite the frost, charring flesh the ice couldn't fully protect.115Please respect copyright.PENANAV32VED5Bd3
115Please respect copyright.PENANAnK2A9gbkfj
Cel's skin reddened, then blistered, then began to char under temperatures meant to melt stone. 115Please respect copyright.PENANAAEMAPMlXb7
115Please respect copyright.PENANAtntvukKXJI
His left arm, wrapped around the creature to anchor the ice against its back, suffered worst. With no frost between flesh and hide, the heat had direct access. The burn went deep, sustained, eating through skin with methodical cruelty.115Please respect copyright.PENANAlnhId7gX8L
115Please respect copyright.PENANAWrsGDR9zC4
Then the pressure wave hit.115Please respect copyright.PENANAsQNloaVI9o
115Please respect copyright.PENANAg4QJwXYZJW
They were launched from the worm's maw like stones from a catapult - hurled into the night sky with such violent force that Cel's vision went white. The creature's weight became meaningless. His grip broke and they tumbled through empty air, spinning, separated by sheer momentum.115Please respect copyright.PENANAgeEsv8yxNF
115Please respect copyright.PENANA1fOiMYNevi
The world spun in chaotic fragments - ash, moonlight, obsidian stones vomited from the worm's stomach alongside them. Massive fragments larger than his entire body flew through the air in a deadly storm, their razor edges catching silver light.115Please respect copyright.PENANAHQexeC0c1G
115Please respect copyright.PENANAi4CCkXks4s
Cel's back slammed into ash-covered ground with bone-crushing force. The air exploded from his lungs. He rolled, tumbled, limbs flailing as momentum carried him across the wasteland.115Please respect copyright.PENANASD4eEimq0c
115Please respect copyright.PENANAg3e6QqV8xB
Obsidian stones rained down around him.115Please respect copyright.PENANAyWDqIQriGK
115Please respect copyright.PENANAIt2I2tmkm7
One struck his leg - a glancing blow that sent fresh agony lancing through already burned flesh. Another whipped past his face, close enough to feel the heat of its passage, before it slammed into the ground somewhere behind him in his spin.115Please respect copyright.PENANAjNPx4dDQIj
115Please respect copyright.PENANAFQg2bQd7C7
He hit the ground three more times during his uncontrolled tumble before finally stopping, sprawled face-down in ash that clung to his wounds like salt in open cuts.115Please respect copyright.PENANAXvVlDOofJF
115Please respect copyright.PENANAxeK8FYyfa6
For several heartbeats, he couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. His body simply refused to obey, overwhelmed by accumulated damage.115Please respect copyright.PENANAW6I7RljEhR
115Please respect copyright.PENANA8qrAbcQ6hP
Then his lungs remembered their purpose.115Please respect copyright.PENANACpjg7olhUh
115Please respect copyright.PENANAIBdVLnAunb
Air rushed in - painful, burning, but real.115Please respect copyright.PENANAX6nWjGE5fS
115Please respect copyright.PENANAZGKF0fZgBD
Cel pushed himself up slowly, ash cascading from his back in gray streams. The air was thick with it - choking clouds stirred up by the worm's breath and the rain of obsidian. 115Please respect copyright.PENANAtHELoYQ1He
115Please respect copyright.PENANApp7rqH998J
He blinked hard, trying to clear his vision.115Please respect copyright.PENANAJY8KU2lGKR
115Please respect copyright.PENANA8M3E68CU41
Movement in the distance caught his attention.115Please respect copyright.PENANAbMu3Pt8t9x
115Please respect copyright.PENANAtvZrvnUo23
The massive worm.115Please respect copyright.PENANAcICscuf1Qf
115Please respect copyright.PENANAUklsgLEdsL
Still surfaced. Its enormous body writhed above ground, steam rising from its open maw where the molten breath had scorched even its own flesh. For a moment it remained there, coiled like a conqueror surveying its domain.115Please respect copyright.PENANAt1vs5LHFGf
115Please respect copyright.PENANA8cBHmrzWUa
Then it began to sink.115Please respect copyright.PENANA8sPeh25jII
115Please respect copyright.PENANAFmDFwwBZkw
Slowly at first, then faster. The ground opened beneath it - not violently, but as if the earth itself welcomed the creature home. Within seconds, nothing remained. Stone sealed behind it like water closing over a dropped pebble.115Please respect copyright.PENANAz3HMaRWS7W
115Please respect copyright.PENANAx6A0oSrS46
Gone.115Please respect copyright.PENANAGJokPiFYw7
115Please respect copyright.PENANAhLhSVCoXkd
Cel's gaze swept across the wasteland.115Please respect copyright.PENANAlOxrL7kB4S
115Please respect copyright.PENANAzibeXrhQJW
The destruction was absolute. Where the breath had touched, the ground was scorched black, cracked like dried clay. Obsidian stones littered the landscape - some still glowing faint red with residual heat, others already cooling to dull black. Ash drifted through the air in lazy spirals, settling over everything in a fresh gray shroud.115Please respect copyright.PENANA8V0WFS8YiA
115Please respect copyright.PENANAGBIgHNHWPd
Then he saw it.115Please respect copyright.PENANA1QO7rpuzSq
115Please respect copyright.PENANANQVe3sTx9N
The smaller creature lay perhaps fifteen steps away, broken and steaming. Its body was shattered - body bent at an angle that shouldn't exist, its remaining arm twisted beneath its torso. Parts of its stone-like skin had cracked from extreme temperature shifts—frozen, then cooked, then frozen again.115Please respect copyright.PENANAOBfeFXQCh9
115Please respect copyright.PENANADLmXb4kW7o
But Cel's gaze didn't linger.115Please respect copyright.PENANAVxpxj4VR1g
115Please respect copyright.PENANAPTjCQV4Rcb
Movement behind the creature caught his attention - something massive shifting on the horizon.115Please respect copyright.PENANAIUpBCKsbHr
115Please respect copyright.PENANABZU65MF4Ox
His eyes traveled past the broken body, past the scattered obsidian, to what lay beyond.115Please respect copyright.PENANAbtgXuAIqS5
115Please respect copyright.PENANAJSSROCo1EF
Ice flooded his veins.115Please respect copyright.PENANAZhunYjGI8X
115Please respect copyright.PENANA30i8NUGYu9
A wall of ash rose in the distance - impossibly tall, impossibly wide. Not drifting lazily like the settling dust around him, but spinning. Churning. A massive tornado of gray and black that devoured everything in its path, advancing across the wasteland with relentless purpose.115Please respect copyright.PENANAzptE5YvReQ
115Please respect copyright.PENANAwZ8kIPHdtu
The sound reached him a heartbeat later - a low, hollow roar that seemed to come from the earth itself.115Please respect copyright.PENANACwmlV9UNMQ
115Please respect copyright.PENANAIRIPenhWhw
Cel spun around, scanning desperately for shelter.115Please respect copyright.PENANAYGGtwEdOAM
115Please respect copyright.PENANARK0ncTWFIp
Distant shapes jutted from the wasteland - ruins, their crumbling walls half-buried in ash. Ancient, crumbling, but they offered something better than standing exposed in the open.115Please respect copyright.PENANAzjLpdRWGWa
115Please respect copyright.PENANA8oi287wFQk
He ran.115Please respect copyright.PENANATAPvMetn3C
115Please respect copyright.PENANAIgDyDJWwAO
His enhanced legs launched him forward in powerful, uneven strides. Each step carried him farther than expected, his burned and clawed body protesting the abuse, but fear drove him harder than pain ever could.115Please respect copyright.PENANAtTrAySqw10
115Please respect copyright.PENANAEJTpCOg8RO
The roar grew louder behind him. Closer.115Please respect copyright.PENANAwWJLOZRixq
115Please respect copyright.PENANA3Uy1CpeVbQ
Movement flickered in his peripheral vision.115Please respect copyright.PENANAQeqcAzrIkH
115Please respect copyright.PENANA05SeUZdoSG
Cel's head snapped sideways.115Please respect copyright.PENANAUguBqkPBsJ
115Please respect copyright.PENANAtu6JNDS4NH
The smaller creature had risen.115Please respect copyright.PENANA8NkAcAtYh7
115Please respect copyright.PENANAGhkX0eizlT
Its shattered body dragged itself forward with impossible determination, stone-like skin cracked and bleeding, leaving a trail of dark ichor through the ash. But its eyeless head tracked him with perfect accuracy.115Please respect copyright.PENANAnAAFeUzora
115Please respect copyright.PENANAsmkBlAbMBN
It was following him.115Please respect copyright.PENANAc6owq6voFE
115Please respect copyright.PENANAC52UWiSxNc
'You've got to be kidding me.'115Please respect copyright.PENANAaO3UdaumBP
115Please respect copyright.PENANAfl1ZQgqGMt
The thing launched itself forward, its single arm clawing at the ground in desperate pulls, dragging its broken body in a lurching charge driven by pure animal rage.115Please respect copyright.PENANAceQUxr2B6g
115Please respect copyright.PENANAGpE9rJ2fyl
The frost. The burns. Being used as a meat shield - the creature remembered. And it wanted revenge.115Please respect copyright.PENANA9m9mX4viAZ
115Please respect copyright.PENANAQ8JwPHsveA
"Mindless bastard!" Cel snarled, pushing harder. "That's going to kill us both!"115Please respect copyright.PENANAWv9sDDQ6Ii
115Please respect copyright.PENANAuTaXyX0n3W
But the creature didn't care. Didn't even glance at the approaching tornado. Its needle-ringed mouth opened in a shriek of pure fury, focused entirely on the one who had hurt it.115Please respect copyright.PENANA7KVBlclXiE
115Please respect copyright.PENANAEHsLt7O39B
And that was Cel.115Please respect copyright.PENANAtujNvKMv1F
115Please respect copyright.PENANAdfXeatGifF
The ruins grew closer. Twenty steps. Fifteen.115Please respect copyright.PENANAhYoQ0CdbeE
115Please respect copyright.PENANAXzcK63YKho
Behind him, the creature was gaining. Its broken body moved with terrifying speed, driven by something beyond reason.115Please respect copyright.PENANAxiLGjqbpa7
115Please respect copyright.PENANAwsXK20ovnq
Ten steps.115Please respect copyright.PENANAG3p9FF3VuA
115Please respect copyright.PENANA2tyFa1RyIb
The roar became deafening. Cel felt the air pressure change against his back, a physical force that pushed him forward even as it pulled ash into spiraling chaos around him. 115Please respect copyright.PENANAKioFDGbi8E
115Please respect copyright.PENANAmVEa2U5NdJ
Five steps.115Please respect copyright.PENANAMVFhTovHF0
115Please respect copyright.PENANAPfBpVobBuu
Behind him, the creature lunged.115Please respect copyright.PENANANgXwj4kJtK
115Please respect copyright.PENANAnLexYcWRut
Cel threw himself forward in a desperate dive.115Please respect copyright.PENANA9ajZYlk7Us
115Please respect copyright.PENANALCyZ7zpagE
The creature's claws whistled past his head as he plunged through a gap in the crumbling wall, his shoulder slamming into ancient stone as he tumbled inside. 115Please respect copyright.PENANAfjm6IP5m69
115Please respect copyright.PENANA61HaFvuLDX
Then the ash storm hit.115Please respect copyright.PENANAdAIEHtUIXr
115Please respect copyright.PENANAxgZmsGFCmF
The creature's silhouette vanished - consumed by the gray wall that crashed over the ruins like a wave. Its shriek cut off abruptly, swallowed by the hollow roar.115Please respect copyright.PENANACGX2NpxNwg
115Please respect copyright.PENANASWjiiJZkXZ
The world disappeared.115Please respect copyright.PENANAuZdSrKPakh
115Please respect copyright.PENANADinnnug6Zb
Cel's chest heaved, relief flooding through him.115Please respect copyright.PENANAUqdtyPG0O1
115Please respect copyright.PENANAAcQRcOyqWq
But that relief was short-lived.115Please respect copyright.PENANAKK7wnrOG9L
115Please respect copyright.PENANAiqjfBvQ01F
Ash poured through every gap in the broken walls, thick as water, choking and absolute. The ruins offered shelter but not sanctuary - wind howled through the structure's wounds, carrying stinging debris that tore at exposed skin.115Please respect copyright.PENANAhFvm8nxpJG
115Please respect copyright.PENANAjkwLwB59vM
Cel curled against the ground, arms wrapped over his head, trying to make himself as small as possible. Stone fragments and ash hammered against his back.115Please respect copyright.PENANABDvLPzgPdW
115Please respect copyright.PENANAmQKfrpeLCc
He pressed his face into the crook of his elbow, one hand cupped over his mouth and nose, breathing in short, desperate gasps. Even filtered, the air tasted of sulfur and ancient dust.115Please respect copyright.PENANAnK0DF3JEuk
115Please respect copyright.PENANAa2adKO1NAx
The roar consumed everything - thought, sensation, awareness. Just sound, pressure and the terrible fear that the walls around him might not hold, that the ruins might collapse and bury him alive in this dead world's fury.115Please respect copyright.PENANAUGN2QGc1BJ
115Please respect copyright.PENANAqughFofuXK
Time became meaningless. Seconds stretched into minutes stretched into—115Please respect copyright.PENANATRnHb2CyoA
115Please respect copyright.PENANAmpHuZp5epI
The stone beneath him cracked.115Please respect copyright.PENANA2L0M23DueX
115Please respect copyright.PENANApABecGVIh1
Cel's eyes snapped open just as the floor split apart directly below his chest.115Please respect copyright.PENANAzBY9wuhCuB
115Please respect copyright.PENANA4fwhPyJAgY
He threw himself sideways, rolling across ash-covered stone as the ground gave way. His burned left arm screamed.115Please respect copyright.PENANAO1NGWzvkoh
115Please respect copyright.PENANAV2MVG0XDWz
That broken, vengeful thing erupted from below in an explosion of ash and fury.115Please respect copyright.PENANATgFHGIJHh7
115Please respect copyright.PENANAuoJSaXi6Bm
It burst through the widening crack - shattered body twisted at impossible angles, stone-like skin cracked and weeping dark ichor.115Please respect copyright.PENANAsIyBVtYsw4
115Please respect copyright.PENANAA43Ts18XBE
The eyeless head whipped toward him.115Please respect copyright.PENANAZXHlI7TxOF
115Please respect copyright.PENANAeS9S0T7k6y
Its needle-ringed mouth opened in a shriek that cut through even the storm's roar.115Please respect copyright.PENANAg9iOfNHCVd
115Please respect copyright.PENANAsj0Kcx3cPw
Cel scrambled backward through swirling ash.115Please respect copyright.PENANAqEcNSfPi2D
115Please respect copyright.PENANAaSVAGou2bU
Silent Moon materialized in his left grip.115Please respect copyright.PENANAxxDxbq2GH1
115Please respect copyright.PENANAs2o5rCSlS6
Four crescents ignited along the blade's length.115Please respect copyright.PENANATL5XZhwrw9
115Please respect copyright.PENANAIe0MXHDvd1
The creature lunged.115Please respect copyright.PENANAh4xcuHaIpf
115Please respect copyright.PENANA40hmxFpFJq
115Please respect copyright.PENANAECSkFnayMY
115Please respect copyright.PENANAV2wEZMyLfb
---------115Please respect copyright.PENANAjGjhMd34YX
Hello, Author here! ^^115Please respect copyright.PENANALKrKBxOhcq
115Please respect copyright.PENANAozByjejoVK
As promised, I've created a Discord server for Lunar Legacy!115Please respect copyright.PENANAtJGfpbeYyr
115Please respect copyright.PENANABdPyToJYLS
Here is the link to the server: https://discord.gg/Uduxc48wfm115Please respect copyright.PENANAefxna0GXsc
115Please respect copyright.PENANAT8VkSZOIGA
Think of it as our little playground - a space for the you to connect and for me to keep you updated on what's going on.115Please respect copyright.PENANALM3JRChUzC
115Please respect copyright.PENANAJJvHQAsNNJ
I'd be happy to get to know you there :)115Please respect copyright.PENANAKlWhkwrgKk
115Please respect copyright.PENANALpyKRdYGTo
As always, thank you for reading and supporting Lunar Legacy. You're all amazing! :)


