Jax kept the leash glowing faint blue to light the way, the cold blue light flickering off slick walls covered in faint, moving script that rearranged itself whenever he looked away.
Every step sent echoes of Lena's voice whispering through the links, softer now but no less sharp… Water at her neck. Eyes half-closed. Still whispering his name.
Three moves ahead, he told himself, forcing the math to stay cold. Reach the god-corpse. Use whatever power we find to slow the bleed. Get back before the water covers her mouth. The leash felt heavier with every echo it had taken, almost affectionate, like it enjoyed carrying pieces of his guilt.
Mira moved right behind him, her left shoulder dipping hard with every third step. The burn scars on her forearms from earlier fights stood out angry red in the blue light. "They're not far behind," she said, voice low and rough. "I can hear the chains rattling. If they catch us in here, it's over."
Lira brought up the rear, one hand trailing along the wall while the other traced slow, desperate circles on her thigh. Blood had dried in dark tracks down her face, but fresh drops kept forming. "The nullifier is gone," she whispered. "Futures are back… but they're ugly. In most of them the Choir leader reaches the god-corpse first. He wants your leash specifically. He thinks it's the key to becoming something eternal."
As they walked further, the tunnel narrowed, forcing them into a single file. The air grew thicker, heavier, pressing on their lungs like the Expanse itself was breathing down their necks. Jax felt the leash pulse once, warm against his skin, as if it approved of the tight space. Kael's voice slid in, dry and close.
They are right to want me, meat. I have worn gods before. I could wear you and end this race. Or you can keep pretending you are still the one holding the handle.
Jax ignored him outwardly. Inside he filed the threat away. The leash is learning to sound reasonable. Dangerous. He kept moving, boots splashing through shallow puddles that reflected the blue glow like broken mirrors.
A low rumble rolled through the stone ahead. Not the sea creature. Something deeper. The tunnel opened suddenly into a vast cavern, the ceiling lost in shadow. In the center, half-sunken in black water, loomed the god-corpse they had come for. It was a colossal, twisted skeleton of something that had once been alive on a scale that made the towers look like toys. Barnacles the size of men clung to the ribs, each one etched with tiny screaming mouths that opened and closed silently. The ribs themselves were carved with the same rearranging script, words crawling across bone like living tattoos.
Riven had been right. The god-corpse was waking. Faint green light pulsed from its empty eye sockets, and the water around it rippled with unnatural currents.
Mira stopped beside Jax, lightning flickering weakly across her knuckles. "That thing is huge. How do we even take something from it without it crushing us?"
Lira pressed her hand to the cavern wall. Blood dripped from her nose again. "The futures are shifting fast. The Choir leader is already on the far side. He brought nullifiers and binders. If we don't claim a piece of the corpse before he does, the leash will be the least of our problems."
Jax stared at the massive skeleton. The leash in his hand vibrated, eager. He could feel it wanting to reach out, to bind something ancient and powerful. But every new shadow made the voices louder. Made Lena's drowning face clearer. Made the corruption faster.
Calculate the risk, he thought. Take too little and we stay weak. Take too much and the leash starts speaking with her voice permanently. Choose wrong and Lena dies while I become the monster that failed her.
A new sound cut through the cavern; boots on stone, dozens of them. The Hollow Choir was entering from the opposite side, their chanting rising in perfect unison. At their head walked a tall figure in a hooded robe, chains wrapped around his arms like living serpents. His mask was different; cracked porcelain with a vertical slit that bled faint green light. The Choir leader.
He stopped at the edge of the water and raised one hand. The nullifiers they carried flared, and Lira gasped, clutching her head.
"The futures are fading again," she whispered. "He's blocking me."
The Choir leader's voice carried across the cavern, calm and reverent. "The leash-bearer. We have waited for one strong enough to carry what we need. Give us the echo you hold and we will make you a vessel worthy of eternity. Refuse… and we will take it from your corpse while your girl drowns in the real world."
Jax felt the words like a physical blow. The bleed was wide open now. Through the leash he saw Lena clearly: water at her chin, head tilted back, one last desperate breath. She was still whispering his name, weaker each time.
The leash around his wrist tightened, almost affectionate, as if it wanted to comfort him while it destroyed him.
Mira's lightning flared brighter, her shoulder twitching violently. "Over my dead body."
Lira's finger-circling had stopped completely. She was shaking. "One future left. Barely. We claim a piece of the god-corpse… or the Choir takes the leash and everything ends here."
Jax stepped forward to the edge of the black water. The god-corpse's ribs towered above them, the carved script crawling faster, spelling out warnings and promises in languages that hurt to read. The Choir leader watched him with glowing green slits, waiting.
The leash pulsed again, warmer, hungrier.
Jax smiled.
"Then let's see who pays first," he said.
He uncoiled the leash and lashed it toward the nearest rib of the god-corpse as the Choir surged forward with a unified scream, their chains whipping through the air like a thousand hungry mouths.
The cavern exploded into chaos, and the leash drank deep.