The stairwell was narrow and steep. The deeper they went, the colder it got. The stone walls had no carvings, only long cracks—like veins.
Pao's Lanternmark began to burn. It wasn't hot like before. This time it was sharp, like a warning jab under the skin.
They reached the bottom after fifty steps.
Ahead was a hall. Torches were mounted to the walls.
Lit.
Karis raised a hand. "Lanterns burning. This place isn't empty."
They moved slowly.
At the end of the corridor was a wide stone chamber lit with soft orange fire. Five figures stood near the far wall—backs turned, heads tilted to the side. They swayed gently, hands clasped like in prayer.
Pao felt the pressure build in his chest.
"They're not right," Elian said quietly. "Look at how they're standing."
Karis stepped forward. "Guild recovery team," she called. "Identify yourselves."
One of the people turned.
A man—grey-skinned, sunken cheeks, blank eyes.
He smiled slowly.
"We've heard it breathe," he said.
The others turned next.
Their bodies looked human.
But their shadows didn't match.
Elian stepped closer, flipping open his notebook. "Those shadows aren't theirs. They're out of sync—classic whisper parasite signs."
"They're hosts," Pao muttered.
Tarn dropped into a low stance, unsheathing his wrapped greatsword.
The shadows began moving on their own.
That's when they attacked.
Two of them lunged toward Elian.
"DOWN!" Karis yelled.
Tarn moved first, stepping between Elian and the nearest figure. His sword swung wide, crushing into the attacker's ribs and sending the body into the wall.
Bones cracked—but it got up anyway.
Karis dashed to the center and slammed a healing rune to the ground. It pulsed outward, shielding the team and slowing the infected movements around them.
"Stay inside the field!" she barked.
One host broke through the edge of the field and tried to claw at her.
She struck it across the throat with a reinforced glyph glove—normally used to force breath back into wounded lungs.
The blow crushed its windpipe—but it didn't stop moving.
Elian threw a quick glyph onto the floor—a basic reveal rune. It exposed the twisting parasite inside one of the hosts—a black thread moving beneath the skin, puppeting the body from inside the spine.
"They're controlled like marionettes!" he yelled. "Aim for the center spine!"
Pao spun toward a host sprinting his way.
He cast Verun Kaa, slamming a repulsion tag at the creature's feet.
The blast threw it backward. It hit a wall and dropped.
But the other two were already circling around.
Karis kicked one attacker in the knee, forcing it to stumble, then slapped a burst tag under its ribs. "Pao—light it!"
He cast Lantern Burn through the mark.
The tag ignited in a bright flare.
The parasite screamed—a shrill, hollow voice that echoed through the stone.
The body collapsed.
Tarn, now bleeding from a scratch, roared and used his greatsword to knock two more attackers back against a column.
They didn't rise again.
The last host didn't charge.
It ran for the firepit and leapt into it willingly.
The fire turned green.
Pao rushed forward. "It's trying to activate something!"
Elian threw a seal glyph over the flames—one usually used for unstable scrolls.
The fire hissed, then died out.
What was left in the pit didn't move.
A body burned black. Inside the chest—stone, not organs.
Just like the creature they fought before.
Karis sat down, holding her ribs.
"Three hits. I'm still clear," she said, checking her skin for black veins.
Tarn stood over the bodies, guarding in silence.
Elian knelt beside one, studying the black line running through the host's spine.
"They weren't turned all the way," he said. "There was still something left. I think that's why they didn't explode like the others."
Pao stood still.
His mark was still burning.
FLASHBACK
He was younger.
Solon knelt beside a burned outpost, drawing lines into the dirt.
"You want to save people?" Solon asked. "Then learn who can't be saved."
"That's cruel."
"No," Solon said. "That's focus."
He looked Pao in the eye.
"These things infect fast. If you don't stop it at the root, you'll lose everyone."
Present
Pao knelt beside the corpse in the pit.
He touched the chest.
The mark on his own chest pulsed twice.
Then stopped.
"We're getting close," he said.
"The seal's here," Karis replied.
"And Lawrence?" Elian asked.
Pao stood.
"He's ahead of us."