CHAPTER 38: BLOOD ON MY HANDS

The air changed.

It smelled wrong.

Rot.

Something thick and sweet underneath.

Mira was the first to notice. She tensed, her steps slowing. "Do you smell that?"

Julien wiped sweat from his face. "I don’t smell anything but death."

Leo groaned. "Maybe that’s because we’re walking through a goddamn crypt."

I ignored them.

Because I did smell it.

And it was getting stronger.

Like the air itself was turning sour.

Then—

A hiss.

Mira’s eyes snapped to the ceiling. "Above."

I looked up.

And saw it.

It didn’t have a shape.

A mass of shifting limbs, twisting between the cracks in the cavern’s roof.

Too many eyes.

Too many mouths.

And its skin?

Slick. Glowing.

Dripping.

It moved too fast.

A blur of limbs and teeth.

By the time I reached for my dagger—

Mira was already hit.

A single strike.

A deep slash across her shoulder.

At first, she barely reacted.

She stumbled, one hand pressing against her wound. "Tch. Annoying."

Then her breath caught.

Her legs trembled.

And her body collapsed.

Leo’s eyes widened. "MIRA?"

She gasped, fingers digging into the dirt. Her lips turned blue.

My stomach dropped.

Poison.

Leo reached for her, but she shoved him back, her hands shaking. "Don’t touch—" She coughed, her breath shuddering. "It’s in my blood."

I dropped to her side.

Her pupils were already dilating.

Too fast.

Too wrong.

Julien backed away, panicking. "We—We can fix this, right?"

I didn’t answer.

Because I knew the truth.

There was no fixing this.

Mira knew it too.

Her breathing slowed.

Her voice weakened.

She let out a dry chuckle, staring at her trembling hands. "Didn’t think I’d go out like this."

Leo shook his head. "No. No, you’re not—"

She turned to him, her smirk still there.

But it didn’t reach her eyes.

"Leo," she murmured, voice growing slurred, "don’t be sad. You hated me anyway."

Leo choked. "Shut up."

Her lips parted, maybe to tease him again.

But the words never came.

Because she stopped breathing.

Just like that.

Leo’s hands clenched into fists.

Julien froze.

I closed my eyes.

Then forced myself to stand.

No time to mourn.

No time to stop.

Because the creature was still here.

It moved again, a whisper of slick limbs curling along the walls.

Leo snapped.

He grabbed a rusted sword from the ground and charged.

"Leo!" I reached out—

Too late.

His blade sank into the thing’s eye.

It screeched.

But it didn’t die.

Instead, it struck back.

A single swipe.

Too fast to dodge.

Too hard to block.

Leo flew.

His body slammed into jagged stone.

The sound it made—

Horrible.

A wet crack.

I ran to him.

Leo gasped, blood dripping from his lips.

His stomach—ripped open.

Deep.

Too deep.

I grabbed his hand. "Stay with me."

Leo tried to laugh. "Professor... this is... bad, huh?"

I pressed down on his wound.

He screamed.

But I didn’t stop.

"Don’t talk. Just—just breathe."

Leo didn’t listen.

Instead, he turned his head, looking at Mira’s lifeless body.

His grip tightened.

"She’s... waiting for me, huh?"

"Don’t," I snapped. "You’re not going anywhere."

His breathing shuddered.

His grip went slack.

He smiled.

Then—

Leo stopped moving.

Just like that.

Gone.

Julien made a sound.

Choked.

Broken.

I didn’t have time to react.

Because the cavern shook.

The creature was still watching.

Still waiting.

Julien grabbed my sleeve. "Professor," he whispered, voice barely holding together, "what do we do?"

I looked at him.

His eyes were wild.

Desperate.

I knew what he wanted me to say.

That we’d make it.

That we’d survive.

But I didn’t lie.

Not anymore.

So I said the only thing I could.

"We run."

The cavern felt smaller.

The walls were too close.

The air was too thick.

And the bodies—

I didn’t look at them.

I couldn’t.

Leo’s blood was still on my hands. Mira’s body lay limp a few feet away.

Julien was pacing, his fingers twitching. His breathing—ragged.

Cassandra stood motionless, her eerie calm somehow worse than the panic.

And me?

I just wanted to tear something apart.

"Two left, huh?"

Julien’s voice broke the silence.

I snapped my head toward him.

He grinned—wrong. Forced.

"Guess that makes us the final party members."

I didn’t speak.

Because I knew what he was doing.

That stupid, desperate habit.

Joking. Laughing. Trying to ease the pain.

Julien ran a hand through his filthy hair. "So what do you think, Professor? Are we getting some kind of survival achievement for this?"

His voice was too light. Too fake.

I clenched my fists.

"Julien," I warned.

He ignored me.

"Or maybe it’s one of those nightmare trials by the academy, huh?" He gave a shaky laugh. "Like—damn. Can’t even rest for a second without losing someone."

My vision blurred at the edges.

Blood.

Walls.

The stench of death.

"Julien."

"I mean, what’s next?" He threw his arms out, voice rising. "Are the gods gonna throw some final boss at us? Maybe a nice, scripted escape sequence?"

My pulse thundered in my ears.

"Julien."

"Or hell—maybe we should just lay down and let the next thing eat us, yeah? Cut out the suspense?"

"Julien!"

His grin froze.

I grabbed him by the collar.

Slammed him against the cavern wall.

His breath caught.

My voice—low. Shaking.

"Shut up."

Julien blinked. "P-Professor—"

I slammed him again.

"Shut. Up."

His grin broke.

Something flickered in his eyes—fear, maybe. Or understanding.

Because I wasn’t joking.

Not anymore.

I could feel the rage.

Gnawing at me. Burning.

Because it wasn’t fair.

None of it.

Wallace—dead.

Felix—dead.

Garrick—dead.

Mira—dead.

Leo—dead.

And now Julien was laughing?

I shook him. "You think this is funny?"

He flinched. "I—"

"You think this is some joke?" My grip tightened. "That if you just smile enough, the bodies will stop piling up?"

He swallowed. "Professor, I—"

"You can’t fix this." My voice cracked. "None of us can."

Silence.

Julien stared at me, lips slightly parted.

For once—he had nothing to say.

My hands shook.

I could feel everything.

The weight. The exhaustion.

The cold, raging fire in my chest.

I was so tired.

Then—

A voice.

Soft.

Emotionless.

"Let him go."

I turned.

Cassandra.

Her pale eyes watched us, unreadable.

Like she wasn’t surprised.

Like she was just waiting.

I exhaled sharply.

Then—I let go.

Julien stumbled forward, gasping.

I didn’t apologize.

He didn’t expect me to.

Instead, we just stood there.

Silent.

Waiting.

Because deep down—

We all knew.

This wasn’t over.

Not yet.