Into the Hollow Below

The group moved forward, deeper into the dungeon, leaving the slime-streaked lizard chamber behind them. The air felt heavier now—damper, colder, and full of the unknown.

The narrow stone hallway stretched into shadow, just barely illuminated by the soft orange glow of Ignis’s flames. The walls were slick with condensation, and the occasional sound of water dripping echoed like whispers through the dark.

Melissa hugged her arms tightly as she walked, clearly uncomfortable.

“I swear… if another lizard pops out of the walls, I’m just turning around,” she muttered.

Rachel let out a small chuckle. “Then maybe don’t look at the ceiling.”

Melissa did look up, and immediately winced. “You’re the worst.”

Ren smiled slightly but kept his eyes ahead. Something about this stretch of the dungeon felt… off. Too quiet. No monsters. No sounds. Just that steady drip, drip, drip in the distance.

Further back in the group, Sakura walked beside Alex, her fingers trailing idly along the damp wall. “Feels like the dungeon’s watching us,” she murmured.

Alex blinked. “Watching us? That’s... comforting.”

Sakura shrugged. “Some dungeons are alive in a way. Or cursed. Or both.”

Lisa, walking behind them, gave a small sigh. “Don’t say that now. We just got past a room full of lizard slime. Can’t we have ten minutes without a new existential horror?”

Rachel, now walking just ahead of Ren, glanced back. “Honestly, I’d take lizards over more weird silence. At least the lizards made noise.”

Ren didn’t respond. His eyes were fixed on the hallway ahead. The stillness had weight.

“I don’t like it,” he muttered under his breath. “Feels like we’re being led.”

Up ahead, the tunnel opened up into a wider corridor. The floor looked different here—stone tiles, but worn smooth and slightly uneven, like something had dragged across them thousands of times.

Kazuma stepped forward confidently. “Alright, looks like this part's safe—”

CRACK.

The moment his foot pressed down, a deep click echoed from below.

Everyone froze.

“Wait—Kazuma—!” Marie shouted, too late.

The ground gave way.

Suddenly, with a deep mechanical rumble, the entire hallway collapsed inward, the stone tiles pulling apart like the jaws of a beast. A dark pit yawned open beneath their feet.

Ren reacted instantly. He grabbed Melissa’s arm just as she slipped, but the ground was too unstable. It crumbled beneath him, and the two of them dropped.

Rachel lunged to catch them—but the stone at her feet cracked too. She lost balance and fell in after them.

Kazuma tried to leap back, but the collapsing floor was too fast. He shouted a curse as he plunged into the darkness.

Sakura and Alex stumbled, reaching for each other, but both were caught in the shifting ground and fell screaming into the void.

Ignis managed to throw a burst of flame forward in a desperate attempt to light the descent—but even he couldn’t find footing. He fell with a grunt, vanishing into the dark.

Lisa, who had been towards the back, turned to run—but the ground behind her broke apart as well. “No—!” she yelped, slipping as the stone collapsed and pulling her into the trap with a scream.

Marie’s eyes went wide as she staggered back. “Everyone—!” But before she could act, the stone under her crumbled too. She gasped and plunged downward.

Magnus, the last still standing, slammed a heavy fist into the dungeon wall in frustration. “Damn this place—!” But the structure betrayed even his raw strength. The rock split beneath him, and with a roar, he too was taken.

In a matter of seconds, the entire party was swallowed by the collapsing floor, dragged one by one into the pitch-black depths below.

---

Ren woke to the sound of dripping water and the soft flutter of something moving in the air.

He sat up slowly, joints stiff like he’d been lying there for hours—or maybe more. There was no way to tell in a place like this. No sun, no moon, no ticking clocks. Just the stillness of ancient stone and the haunting silence of endless ruins—vast, echoing, and half-lit by scattered shafts of pale light that filtered in from cracks high above.

He glanced around. They had landed in what looked like an old, forgotten shrine deep underground. Vines hung from the walls like veins, crawling over crumbling statues of ancient, faceless deities.

Marie stirred a few feet away, pushing herself up with a groan. “Ugh... What happened…?”

“We fell,” Ren said, standing slowly. “And we got separated.”

Lisa was lying near one of the statues. She let out a soft cough and sat up, blinking sleepily. Her dark long hair was tangled, her clothes dusted with stone grit.

“Is this… a temple?” she murmured.

Ren scanned the ruined hallway around them. Cracks lined the stone walls, and vines crept through broken arches overhead. Debris littered the floor, half-swallowed by time. It looked ancient—but not empty.

“It’s not just ruins,” he said quietly. “Feels like something’s still here.”

He wasn’t sure why he felt that way. Maybe it was just the silence, the way sound didn’t carry. Or how the air felt heavier the further they walked.

Marie dusted off her cloak and stood up. “Then we need to move. The others could be deeper in.”

Ren nodded. “Yeah. Let’s stick together and keep alert. We don’t know what kind of place this is.”

---

The sound of crackling flames echoed off metal walls.

Kazuma opened his eyes to a dim, flickering glow that danced across cracked stone and rusted metal. A faint orange light burned steadily nearby—Ignis, crouched beside him, holding a small flame in his hand. But the room wasn’t entirely dark to begin with. Sconces lined the walls, filled with ancient torches that still burned low, as if lit by something—or someone—long before they arrived.

The chamber around them resembled an old underground prison. Rusted chains hung from the walls, and the air carried the weight of silence and dust. The scent of old metal and damp earth lingered thick in the air.

Magnus was already on his feet, pacing with clenched fists.

“Damn trap,” he muttered. “Broke my fall with my shoulder.”

“Could’ve been worse,” Kazuma grunted, sitting up and rubbing his side. “At least we’re alive.”

Ignis didn’t speak, but his eyes flicked toward a corner of the chamber where old bones lay—gnawed and shattered.

“We’re not alone,” he said finally. “And something down here eats people.”

Kazuma gave a short laugh. “Great. First lizards, now prison ghouls?”

“No… not ghouls,” Ignis murmured. “Something… smarter.”

A mechanical clank echoed from the hall beyond their room.

The three of them tensed.

The dungeon had shifted tone. This place wasn’t organic like the upper levels. It was metallic, angular, humming faintly with arcane mechanisms.

Whatever had designed this section wanted intruders to suffer slowly.

---

Alex awoke with a start, gasping as cold air hit his skin.

He was half-submerged in water, lying in a shallow underground stream. Crystals embedded in the cavern walls gave off a gentle blue light, painting everything in soft, glowing hues.

Rachel was already up, shaking her head and checking her sword. Nearby, Sakura crouched beside Melissa, who was still unconscious but breathing.

“We're in an underground spring,” Sakura said. “It’s beautiful… but also wrong.”

Alex stood shakily, shivering. “Yeah, this is way too peaceful for a dungeon.”

Rachel narrowed her eyes at the walls. The crystals pulsed, as if reacting to their presence.

“I don’t trust this place,” she said. “It’s like it’s trying to lull us in.”

Melissa stirred then, letting out a soft groan.

“You okay?” Alex asked, rushing to her side.

“I think so,” she mumbled. “Feels like I got tossed by a dragon.”

Sakura looked around warily. “Let’s keep moving. I don’t trust this place.”

The corridor ahead shimmered with faint blue light from crystals embedded in the walls. Their glow cast long shadows, some of which seemed to shift as they walked—but it was likely just the uneven surfaces and flickering reflections.

Rachel stayed close behind her, sword drawn. “At least it’s not pitch black down here.”

Melissa frowned. “Still doesn’t feel right.”

They moved in silence, footsteps echoing softly against the stone. The path ahead was quiet—but the kind of quiet that made you pay attention.

Not the end of the road, but the start of something deeper.

To be continued...