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I had fallen into my shadow, somehow, or at least that’s what the Lorica’s bizarre architecture wasme think That was it This was another one of their tricks, possibly even a part of Thea’s test I was getting more and more pissed by the second

Whirling around in the pitch-black, I searched for the right direction to protest, to shout so clever, but everywhere looked the same Just darkness, and ht

Briefly I thought about calling out to Thea, but then quickly reconsidered the stupidity ofo Still What else was I supposed to do?

“Haha Super funny Game’s over, Thea”

Yet even my voice sounded leaden init up The words were heavy, hanging in the air just long enough for round, as if they had gone both unheard and unspoken

Maybe this wasn’t a test at all Maybe it was a trap, and Thea meant to keep ic, and the Veil, and all that other nonsense I didn’t want anything to do with it, not anyainst my will shouldn’t have causedat et out?

I groped around in the darkness, finding nothing to hold on to but justharder to breathe, the air around me thinner, colder as I waited No, that wouldn’t do at all I’d have to get a move on, I knew Pick a direction and head down it Better than waiting there and freezing, or worse, suffocating

I still had no real grasp on s, no concept of up or down, but at leastme in what I could only assume was the sa soress, if only visually I could alht being introduced to , its intensity going softer But that offered little relief, because I could still hear – so

Rather, several sos shifting just beyondas I walked The blackness still terrified me, but somehow, here in the cold, unbreathable pocket I’d foundIt was like being under the watchful eye of a teacher who also happened to be a known terror You knew you were safe, more or less, but you also knew that you were in no way in the clear, that things could still go horribly wrong if you took one false step

That’s what I kept waiting for as Ifor what I could only assuain, an absence of shadow

“Finally”

Again the word dropped to the floor like a stone I tried not to beratethis ti to, anyway? And if I everat the end to try and kill me

But that hen the direw thicker Smokier And I knew that it didn’t make sense, but it was also more – violent, somehow

I wasn’t alone

I broke into a run, speeding down the tunnel, ht I could only assume represented my freedom I didn’t dare look behind me, or even to either side of me, but I becas on the edge of sight They seeanic forms that shifted from tentacles into hands, then claws, then talons I didn’t look, didn’t wait to find out Just kept running