The tunnel tilted.
Not metaphorically—
literally.
The ground pitched upward as the guardian's massive body forced itself through the ruptured vault chamber, stone snapping like brittle bone under its weight.
Zoya nearly lost her footing.
Azhar didn't.
His shadows surged beneath the collapsing floor, creating momentary platforms—fractured, trembling—but enough to keep them from plummeting.
"DON'T STOP!" he shouted.
Zoya tightened her grip around Manraj's waist.
He was limp again. Unconscious. But twitching—like something old inside him was trying to force him back toward the voice.
The guardian's six white eyes burned through the darkness below.
Each eye moved independently—searching— tracking— fixating.
"ERYTH—" the voice rumbled, echoing up the slanted tunnel, "—COME BACK TO ME."
Zoya clenched her teeth.
"Not happening."
The guardian reached upward again.
A stone limb the size of a tree trunk slammed into the underside of the tunnel—
cracking it upward—
pushing it toward them.
Azhar's shadows snapped into a shield formation.
The impact sent a shockwave down the corridor—
Zoya and Manraj were thrown forward into Azhar's barrier; Azhar grunted, knees buckling, shadows screaming under strain.
Zoya crawled back to her feet, spitting dust.
"Azhar, how fast can it climb?!"
Azhar wiped blood from his mouth.
"It's not climbing."
Zoya blinked.
"…What?"
BOOM.
The tunnel ceiling buckled above them.
Azhar's voice dropped to a terrified whisper.
"It's PULLING the ruins upward."
The entire structure shuddered—as if the guardian was dragging the ancient vault up toward the city.
Zoya's stomach dropped.
"That's—impossible."
"Everything tonight is impossible!" Azhar barked.
The guardian's voice rose again—closer:
"YOU WERE MINE. YOU WERE CHOSEN. YOU WERE SILENCE BEFORE FIRE."
Manraj twitched violently in Zoya's arms.
A word escaped him—
hoarse, ancient, pained:
"…Stop…"
Then another—
"…I didn't… abandon you…"
Zoya's heart cracked.
"He can hear it," she whispered. "Even unconscious—he hears everything."
A crack split the tunnel ahead of them, earth collapsing in a cascade of stones.
Azhar grabbed Zoya's shoulder and pulled her aside just in time.
"We're running out of tunnel!"
Zoya gasped. "Then we get out before everything caves—"
BOOM.
The guardian's hand punched through the tunnel behind them, fingers clawing through the earth like a monstrous digging beast.
The hand reached—
felt—
grasped.
Zoya screamed, dragging Manraj forward.
Azhar's shadows wrapped around the guardian's wrist, pulling, binding—
They snapped instantly.
CRACK.
The guardian growled, annoyed.
"YOU WILL NOT RUN FROM ME AGAIN."
Zoya felt cold terror slice down her spine.
"Azhar—can we outpace it?"
Azhar shook his head once.
"No."
Zoya swallowed.
"Can we fight it?"
He looked back at the six burning eyes.
"…Definitely not."
Zoya's throat tightened.
"Then what CAN we do?!"
Azhar closed his eyes, then opened them with grim resolve.
"We buy time."
He shoved Zoya forward with every last ounce of strength left in him.
"Get him OUT."
Zoya choked.
"Azhar—NO—!"
But he had already turned.
Shadows erupted behind him—
wings of pure black—
dozens—hundreds—each one trembling but rising.
"HEY!" Azhar roared at the guardian.
"COME AND TAKE ME INSTEAD!"
The six white eyes snapped toward him.
The guardian growled—
a low, ancient, betrayed sound.
"YOU ARE NOT MY BEARER. YOU ARE JUST HIS SHADOW."
And it lunged.
Zoya screamed—
"AZHAR—MOVE!"
But Azhar didn't move.
He met the charge head-on, shadows exploding outward in spears, whips, claws, anchors—
anything to slow the guardian down.
Zoya had no choice.
She ran.
Dragging Manraj with her, her breath sharp, her legs burning, her chest tight with guilt.
"I'll come back for you," she whispered to Azhar, though she knew he couldn't hear her over the roar.
"For both of you."
Behind her—
Stone split. The guardian roared. Azhar's shadows screamed like torn fabric.
And Manraj, unconscious in her grip, whispered in a voice that wasn't his:
"…Don't… hurt him…"
Zoya glanced back—
just once
—
and saw Azhar swallowed by darkness and white light as the guardian struck.
She bit her lip hard enough to bleed and ran harder.
Because if she stopped now—
they would all die underground.