Fire filled the cavern behind me.

I threw myself through the broken wall as the flames swept across my back. The blast struck the edge of the opening, scattering burning fragments of moss and dried debris across the concrete.

92/100 HP

I landed hard beside the drainage channel, but the fire continued eating through my health.

89/100 HP

I dropped into the shallow water and rolled, dragging the burning section of my armor beneath the surface. Steam hissed around my shoulders as the flames went out.

I pushed myself onto the ledge, caught the tunnel wall for balance, and ran.

Stone cracked behind me beneath something heavy.

Aureophis entered the tunnel through the broken opening with its wings folded tightly against its body. Its talons tucked close beneath its feathers while the long snake tail compressed and released, propelling it forward in fast, fluid waves.

I kept my gaze low as Aureophis released the same sharp note I had heard inside the cavern.

The sound passed through my body, and my next step nearly folded beneath me.

The muscles in my legs tightened as though someone had replaced my boots with blocks of iron. My arms grew heavier, and even turning my head required more effort than it should have.

So the sound really did slow anything that heard it. Good to know, but this was a terrible time to confirm it.

The minimap remained pinned at the edge of my vision. The maintenance junction was less than a hundred meters ahead.

I forced my legs to keep moving.

The shallow water beside the ledge reflected Aureophis in broken pieces: golden feathers, red scales, and fire gathering behind a hooked beak.

I looked away before its reflected gaze rose into view.

A burst of flame struck the wall beside me. Heat rolled across my armor, curling the tips of the pale spider hair around my collar, but the layered carapace beneath it held.

The next junction came into view. It was the same place where I had stopped to bandage my leg and eat the slime bun.

Aureophis was already closing the distance. I couldn’t keep running long enough to search for another route.

The maintenance passage ended at a steel gate, leaving nowhere to escape, but it also contained the raised platform, ladder, and iron control wheel I had noticed earlier. I had no idea what the wheel controlled, but it was the only thing nearby that might help.

I turned into the dead end.

The steel gate filled the wall ahead, with no opening large enough to squeeze through. To my right, the maintenance ladder climbed toward the raised platform and the iron wheel above it.

Scales scraped rapidly across the concrete behind me.

I grabbed the ladder and climbed. The slowing effect still weighed on my limbs, making every rung harder than it should have been. Aureophis entered the passage before I reached the top, its body flowing around the corner as its snake tail drove it closer.

I pulled myself over the railing and stumbled toward the wheel.

From below, the corroded plate attached to its base had been impossible to read. Up close, several words remained visible beneath the rust.

EMERGENCY FLUSH CONTROL
KEEP CHANNEL CLEAR

That sounded promising.

I grabbed the wheel with both hands and pulled.

Nothing happened.

I adjusted my footing and tried again. The wheel moved half an inch before stopping.

Aureophis continued advancing.

I planted one boot against the base of the control housing and dragged the wheel toward me. Rust cracked around the central shaft, and something shifted inside the wall with a deep metallic knock.

The wheel resisted until I forced it through one full rotation.

Something heavy unlocked inside the wall.

The mechanism took over with a grinding roar. Gears turned beneath the platform, and the steel gate shuddered before beginning to rise on its own.

A narrow black gap appeared beneath it.

No water came through.

The gate continued climbing while a chain of metallic impacts traveled deeper into the concrete. A distant vibration passed through the platform as machinery moved somewhere beyond the wall, echoing through a space far larger than the passage in front of me.

Then came a low rumble.

Water was coming, just not yet.

Aureophis raised its head.

A dull orange light pulsed beneath the golden feathers on its chest, then climbed slowly through its neck until the skin along its throat shone like heated metal.

I kept my gaze below its eyes, but from the platform I could clearly see what was happening inside its open beak. Two narrow ducts unfolded along either side of its tongue, spraying a pale, oily mist into the air with the sharp gasoline smell I had noticed inside the cavern.

A point of fire appeared deep in the back of its throat.

The instant it touched the mist, the flame detonated.

I snapped the shield up in front of me.

The explosion struck at point-blank range. Fire swallowed the front of the shield, and the pressure wave hit a fraction of a second later, lifting me off my feet and throwing me backward over the platform railing.

For one weightless moment, all I could see was orange flame curling around the edge of the spider carapace.

Then I dropped toward the tunnel floor.

[Shield Durability: 75/100]

The spider carapace had darkened but not ignited. Its layered surface absorbed most of the heat before it could reach my arm.

The black-iron rim reacted differently.

Heat raced through the metal and concentrated wherever the rim pressed against my forearm. My armor kept it away from bare skin, but the heat was already seeping through the leather and carapace beneath it.

One blast was manageable. Blocking several more would cook my arm inside the armor.

The explosion had torn my hand from the inner grip, but the second strap kept the shield secured to my forearm.

I hit the tunnel floor beside the drainage channel and rolled onto one knee.

Above me, Aureophis’s chest began glowing again.

This time, I recognized the sequence immediately.The iron rim against my forearm was still burning through the armor. Blocking another blast would be a terrible idea.

The spark ignited at the back of its throat.

Directly beneath the flush gate, the drainage channel dropped into a deeper trough. It was one of the few places in the tunnel with enough water to submerge completely. I threw myself into it and flattened against the bottom.

The explosion passed over the channel with a deafening crack. Fire swept across the surface, turning the water around me from cold to hot within seconds. Heat pressed down even beneath the surface while bubbles and steam rolled past my face.

I stayed submerged until the orange light faded, then pushed myself up, coughing filthy water from my mouth.

Aureophis stood between me and the passage entrance. The gate was behind me, and the ladder rose above and to my left.

The distant rumbling continued, but the darkness behind the rising gate remained empty.

Aureophis stepped closer.

I drew the fang dagger and backed toward the steel gate, listening for the water behind me. Lowering my stance, I kept the shield between us.

Aureophis struck with its beak.

I angled the shield and redirected the blow toward the wall. The beak scraped across the carapace with enough force to spin me sideways.

[Shield Durability: 61/100]

I stabbed beneath its jaw.

The fang slipped through the thinner feathers and sank into the soft flesh behind the lower beak.

Aureophis recoiled with a harsh cry of pain.

I had found a weak point.

Its snake tail lashed across the entire width of the channel in one furious sweep.

I tried to jump, but my slowed legs reacted too late. The scarlet coils struck both calves and ripped my feet out from under me.

44/100 HP

Aureophis lunged.

I rolled beneath the edge of one wing and raised the shield as a talon came down. The claws struck the iron crest near the top.

The rim bent.

[Shield Durability: 43/100]

I shoved upward and slid free before its other foot could pin me.

The cockatrice turned with surprising speed for something so large. Its folded wing slammed into the concrete wall, sending dust through the tunnel.

I kept my gaze below its neck, tracking its talons, chest, and the base of its wings while carefully avoiding its eyes.

The reflection in the water shifted as Aureophis raised its head again. Orange light spread across the surface.

Fire.

I crossed the shield over my body and dropped behind it.

The flames struck from above.

The spider carapace held for the first second. Then the heat reached the straps and burned through the leather around my arm.

The iron rim glowed a dull red.

[Shield Durability: 28/100]

I tried to pull my arm away, but the shield remained strapped in place. The heated rim pressed against my armored forearm, and pain burned through the layers beneath it.

40/100 HP

The carapace had handled the fire better than iron armor would have. It didn’t conduct the heat across its entire surface, nor had it softened or caught fire.

The rim, however, was becoming a frying pan attached to my arm.

Aureophis snapped its beak toward my head.

I ducked beneath it and rolled under the creature’s chest, sliding between its legs before it could strike again.

The softer feathers along its belly were directly above me.

I drove the fang dagger upward.

Aureophis spread its wings before the point could connect. One powerful flap lifted its body out of reach, while the wind pressure slammed into me from both sides.

I flew backward across the deep drainage trough and struck the concrete wall beside the gate opening hard enough to knock the air from my lungs.

20/100 HP

The steel gate had risen high enough to expose the empty concrete conduit behind it, which climbed into darkness.

For a moment, it looked like another way out.

Then the rumble beyond the wall grew louder. Whatever was coming through that conduit would reach me soon, and climbing directly toward it would be the stupidest possible choice.

I had run out of space, and the concrete beneath my feet was beginning to vibrate.

Still no water.

Aureophis advanced and raised one talon above me.

Survival Instinct took over.

For a fraction of a second, I saw the only angle that might work. If I moved too early, Aureophis could adjust. If I moved too late, the talon would drive the shield straight through my arm.

I waited until the claws began to descend.

Then I stepped into the strike and turned the shield.

[Perfect Block]

The talon struck the curved carapace at an angle and skidded violently across its surface. The impact traveled through my entire body, but instead of crushing me against the wall, the redirected force twisted Aureophis’s leg sideways.

The cockatrice lost its footing and stumbled backward across the channel.

My shield arm went numb from shoulder to fingertips, but the durability had not dropped.

That wouldn’t work twice.

While Aureophis recovered, I pulled out the strongest healing potion I had and emptied it in one swallow.

70/100 HP

Aureophis lowered its head and rushed me.

Its beak appeared in the dark water of the drainage trough as a warped reflection, followed by the edge of one golden eye. I tore my gaze away and threw myself aside as the hooked beak struck the concrete beside the open flush gate.

I drove the fang dagger beneath its wing. The point sank through the thinner feathers and bit into soft flesh.

Aureophis ripped itself away.

Its throat tightened, and a single clear note rang through the tunnel, higher and sharper than the one it had released inside the cavern.

The sound passed through my body, and the slowing effect deepened instantly.

My legs locked beneath me. The weight that had hindered my movements suddenly multiplied until both feet felt anchored to the concrete.

Aureophis’s snake tail rose above the channel. The scarlet coils tightened before the entire length came down toward me like an axe.

I tried to move, but my legs barely responded.

There was no time to evade.

I raised the shield with both arms and braced beneath it.

The tail slammed down.

The impact drove the shield against my chest and launched me backward beneath the control platform. I struck the concrete beside the ladder hard enough to nearly tear the fang dagger from my hand, but I tightened my grip before it could fall into the water rushing around my boots.

22/100 HP

[Shield Durability: 6/100]

The shield had survived, but another hit like that would finish it.

Above me, the steel gate had almost completely disappeared into the ceiling. The reservoir passage stood open behind it, but only a narrow stream ran over the raised lip and spread around my boots.

The machinery beyond the wall thundered loudly enough to shake dust from the ceiling.

The main release still had not arrived.

Aureophis turned toward me.

Its chest began to glow.

Orange light climbed through its neck, and the two narrow ducts opened beside its tongue. Oily mist poured from its beak and spread across the space between us.

I was too far from the drainage channel to dive beneath the surface again.

The spark appeared at the back of its throat.

I raised the shield and braced it with both arms.

The mist detonated.

The explosion crushed the shield against my chest and drove me into the concrete beneath the platform. Fire poured around its edges while the remaining carapace split beneath the warped black-iron rim.

[Shield Durability: 0/100]

10/100 HP

The broken shield remained strapped to my forearm, its surface sagging inward as smoke curled from the scorched leather.

Aureophis stared at me through the fading steam.

The fire had failed to finish me.

Its chest began glowing again.

I couldn’t dive beneath the water this time. My legs still felt anchored to the concrete, and the ruined shield could no longer stop another attack.

Aureophis opened its beak.

The two narrow ducts released another cloud of oily mist into the passage.

I slid the fang dagger beneath the scorched straps and sliced through them, freeing the broken shield from my arm.

Then I threw it.

The broken carapace spun once through the air and struck Aureophis inside its open beak.

[Throw Weapon XP +50]

The impact snapped its head sideways.

The fire at the back of its throat vanished before it could ignite.

Aureophis released a furious roar that shook the platform above me.

Its golden feathers began changing from the chest outward. Red spread through them like heat moving across metal, swallowing the gold along its neck, and wings.

The cockatrice rose on the coils of its snake tail and lifted its body above the channel. Both wings spread to their full span, filling the maintenance passage from wall to wall as it towered over me.

The oily mist continued drifting through the air. The gasoline smell had become strong enough to burn my nose.

The entire passage was filling with flammable vapor.

If Aureophis produced another spark, the fire wouldn’t stop at its beak. The whole passage would ignite around us.

The glow returned beneath its chest.

This time, it was blue.

The light climbed through its throat, brighter and hotter than before. Aureophis opened its beak wide, revealing blue fire forming deep behind its tongue.

The flame surged toward the mist.

The reservoir struck first.

A wall of water erupted through the open gate and struck Aureophis in the chest and head like a speeding truck. The cockatrice vanished inside the impact, its spread wings catching the current as its tail was torn from the concrete and its entire body hurled backward through the passage.

The surge reached me almost immediately. Water climbed past my knees and pulled my weighted legs toward the tunnel, but I caught the lowest rung of the ladder beside me. The slowing effect still weighed on my arms, and my fingers slipped against the wet iron as I dragged myself upward.

By the time I hauled myself over the railing and collapsed onto the platform, the passage below had become a rushing river and Aureophis had disappeared beneath the white spray.

Water streamed from my armor. One shoulder plate hung loose, the pale spider hair had burned black along the edges, and my forearm throbbed where the heated rim had pressed against it.

I leaned against the concrete wall until my breathing steadied, drank another healing potion, and opened a first-aid kit. The system wrapped the worst cuts and burns while the flood roared below.

My health began climbing.

The slowing effect still weighed on my limbs, although it had weakened enough that I could finally stand without feeling as though the floor was pulling me down.

I looked through the safety railing. The flood continued pouring through the open gate, but the level had already begun dropping. Whatever reservoir fed the system was emptying quickly.

The current had carried Aureophis out of sight.