The tunnel Zoya dragged him into wasn't a tunnel anymore.
It was shuddering.
Alive.
Vibrating like lungs being forced to breathe.
Behind them, the Under-Root creature slammed into the collapsed vault with a roar that rattled every metal rib in the corridor.
Manraj didn't look back.
He didn't have to.
He felt the vibrations crawling up his spine like an echo of his own heartbeat.
"ZOYA—IT'S COMING THROUGH—!"
"I KNOW!" she shouted, pulling him faster. "KEEP MOVING!"
The ground split behind them with a shriek.
Manraj turned for half a second—
—and the creature's hand burst through the floor like a skeletal claw made of shadows, fingers stretching far longer than any limb should.
"GO—GO—GO—!"
The hand slammed down, ripping up metal, pulling its monstrous body through.
It wasn't made of pieces anymore.
It had formed a shape.
A single, towering, distorted humanoid mass with too many joints, too many eyes, too many mouths breathing in sync.
The Under-Root had stopped mimicking things.
Now it was learning them.
And the first thing it learned—
Was him.
The creature's head snapped toward Manraj with sickening precision.
Manraj felt his lungs lock.
"Zoya… it SEES me."
Zoya didn't spare a glance.
"It doesn't just see you—it's reading you."
"What does that mean?!"
"It's learning your movement patterns—your fear responses—your breathing rhythm—RUN FASTER!"
They tore down the corridor as the creature charged after them, the entire tunnel buckling under its weight.
Manraj stumbled over a broken pipe—
The creature lunged—
And Zoya FLUNG her arm backward.
Silence exploded from her palm like a concussive white blast.
BOOM.
The shockwave slammed into the creature, staggering it, cracking its form. But instead of retreating—
It opened one of its mouths and inhaled the Silence like vapor.
Zoya froze.
"…oh hell."
Manraj's heart stopped.
"Zoya—did it just EAT that—?!"
"YES—MOVE—NOW!"
---
THE CRUMBLING PATH
They sprinted up a sharply sloping ramp.
The creature followed with impossible speed, its limbs bending backward to fit through the narrowing passage.
The Root-light overhead flickered violently as if it didn't want to watch.
Zoya darted to the left, dragging Manraj into a maintenance bridge hanging above a deep shaft. The metal groaned under their steps.
Manraj gasped:
"This thing won't hold—"
"It doesn't need to hold," Zoya said.
She reached the far side—
—and SLAMMED her Silence into the support anchors.
The bridge SCREAMED—
Cracked—
And collapsed just as the creature lunged onto it.
The entire structure plummeted into the shaft.
Manraj dropped beside Zoya, panting, trembling.
"Did—did we kill it?"
A body hit the bottom.
A beat of silence.
Then—
A hundred hands clawed upward.
Climbing the walls.
Too fast.
Far too fast.
Zoya whispered:
"…it's not even tired."
---
THE DECISION THEY DIDN'T WANT TO MAKE
Manraj stumbled back.
Zoya grabbed his face, forcing him to focus.
"Listen to me. Look at me. RIGHT HERE."
He tried—but the creature's climbing screeches were getting closer.
"Manraj, the Stabilizer froze your countdown. That thing KNOWS it. It knows you're not moving anymore. So now—"
Her voice broke.
"…now it's coming to take you manually."
Manraj's chest tightened.
"Zoya… what do we do?"
She swore under her breath.
"There's only one option left."
"What option—"
She grabbed him.
Hard.
Too hard.
"Let the Root pull you."
Manraj stared at her like she had stabbed him.
"No."
"Manraj—"
"NO! I barely survived it last time!"
"You won't be alone this time!"
He shook his head violently, voice cracking.
"Zoya—I can't—!"
She cupped the back of his neck.
Her forehead touched his.
"You choose your life. Not the Root. Not the Under-Root. YOU."
The creature's claws scraped into view.
Close.
So close.
Manraj whispered, breath shaking:
"If I let it pull me… what happens?"
Zoya's eyes softened with something like apology.
"Either it saves you—or we lose you."
He trembled.
"But if you don't—"
She nodded toward the shadow climbing toward them.
"…that thing WILL."
Manraj's throat closed.
"Zoya—what if I don't come back?"
Her voice cracked.
"Then I'm coming to get you."
The Under-Root creature ROARED, pulling its body over the ledge.
The entire world shook.
Zoya grabbed Manraj's hand and pressed it to his chest.
"CALL IT."
"I can't—"
"CALL IT NOW!"
The creature lunged.
The tunnel collapsed.
Root-light exploded around them—
And Manraj screamed:
"—TAKE ME!"
The world split open.
The creature's claws slashed through empty air—
Because Manraj was gone.
Torn sideways into Root-light.
Zoya jumped after him.
Too late.
Her fingers closed on nothing.
The Under-Root creature exploded toward her—
And the chapter ended in a shockwave of light and shadow colliding.