Brute 274

Chapter 274 

ATASHA’S POV 

“We have been inside this cave for fifteen hours.” 

The King’s voice cut through the chamber, leaving no space for argument. He stood near the center of the junction, his gaze moving from one dark passage to the next as if committing them to memory rather than choosing between them. 

“The best thing we can do now,” he continued. “Is withdraw.” 

My jaw clenched. 

Fifteen hours. That much time, that much blood, and we had not even finished exploring the first pathway. 

I understood the logic. I understood the risk. There was no part of me that believed charging blindly deeper into unknown tunnels with the next surge closing in was a smart decision. Still, the order settled heavily in my chest, because retreat meant walking away with nothing except questions and the weight of Nicho’s sacrifice pressing against my ribs. 

I said nothing. 

I kept my expression still, even as my thoughts churned. What unsettled me more than the order itself was the silence that surrounded it. We had not encountered the level of resistance that should have been waiting for us. Aside from the bears earlier, the cave had been almost empty, and that absence felt wrong in a way I could not explain away. 

If we were truly closer to what the King called the core, then there should have been more beasts, not fewer. The closer you were to a source like this, the more violently it should have reacted. Instead, the cave had felt restrained, as if something was holding its breath. 

I glanced at Cassian, waiting for him to speak. 

He did not. 

His eyes met mine, as if he was checking whether I would object. When I did not, he turned his attention back to the King. listening without interruption. 

The King continued, his tone shifting slightly. “We will attempt another expedition after gathering more data. I accept that 1 was careless in assuming this would be straightforward.” 

That admission made my brow tighten. A King admitting carelessness was not something that happened lightly, especially not one like him. 

“We return now,” he said. “Immediately.” 

Cassian looked at me again, and this time he gave a small nod, a silent confirmation that we would move when ordered, regardless of what lingered between us and the darkness ahead. 

We turned. 

The first tremor hit before we took more than a few steps. 

It started low, almost subtle, a vibration that traveled through the soles of my boots and climbed into my bones. Everyone froze for a fraction of a second, heads lifting as the stone around us groaned. 

Then the ground shook harder. 

Expressions shifted instantly, tension snapping tight across every face. 

15:49 Sat, Jan 

Chapter 274 

“Move,” the King ordered sharply. “Now.” 

No one hesitated. 

20 youstiers 

Cassian was on me in the same breath, his arm sliding around my back as he lifted me off the ground without breaking stride. He did not carry me carefully. He carried me fast, like weight was irrelevant and speed was everything. My arm hooked around his neck automatically as he started running, his boots pounding against stone in long, powerful strides that ate distance faster than my legs ever could. 

Grace and Rio followed immediately, weapons still in hand as they ran, their movements sharp and focused. The King kept pace beside them, his expression hard, eyes flicking upward as the ceiling began to crack. 

The shaking did not stop. 

It intensified. 

Stone split with sharp, echoing cracks, fractures racing across the ceiling like veins as chunks of rock tore free and slammed into the ground behind us. Dust filled the air, thick and choking, making it harder to breathe, harder to see. The cave groaned around us, the sound deep and violent, like the earth itself was tearing open. 

My heart slammed against my ribs. 

This felt wrong in a way that went beyond danger. 

It felt familiar. 

The memory dragged me back to that night when the ground had folded in on itself, when the world had broken without warning and beasts had poured out like a tide that could not be stopped. 

“Faster,” the King shouted, his voice barely audible over the sound of collapsing stone. 

Cassian did not need to be told. 

He pushed harder, leaping over widening cracks in the floor as the ground began to split beneath us. The stone underfoot fractured, pieces dropping away into darkness below, and every impact sent another shudder through the cave. 

The ceiling started to come down in earnest. 

Large sections broke free, crashing into the paths behind us, blocking off routes we had walked only minutes before. The air filled with debris and the smell of crushed stone, the heat rising sharply as if something deep below was forcing its way upward. 

I clung tighter, my gaze darting around as another violent tremor threw us off balance for a moment before Cassian recovered, landing hard and continuing forward without slowing. 

This was no random collapse. 

The ground pitched sharply to the left, then dropped without warning. The path ahead fractured into uneven slabs that shifted the moment weight touched them. Cassian adjusted instantly, changing his stride mid–leap as stone broke away beneath us and vanished into the dark below. 

Behind us, someone cried out. 

It was not a scream at first, just a sharp intake of breath, the sound a person made when they realized a step had gone wrong. 

“Grace-!” I shouted, my voice tearing out of me before I could stop it. 

I twisted in Cassian’s arms, looking back just in time to see her stumble. Her foot slipped on loose rubble, her balance tipping forward as the ground beneath her cracked and collapsed. She tried to catch herself, her hand reaching for the rock 

15:50 Sat, Jan 31 

Chapter 274 

wall, fingers scraping stone, but the surface crumbled under her grip. 

She fell. 

Not straight down, but sideways, her body slamming hard against a lower ledge before rolling again. Her weapon skidded from her grasp, clattering uselessly as she slid toward a widening in the ground that yawned open beneath her. 

“Grace!” I screamed, panic ripping through my chest so violently it stole my breath. 

But instead of stopping, Cassian surged forward, leaping across another split in the ground as the ceiling above us cracked open, massive chunks of stone tearing free and crashing down where we had been seconds earlier. Dust exploded through the tunnel, swallowing sound and sight alike, and the roar of the collapse drowned out everything else. 

“No!” I screamed again, my voice breaking as I thrashed against his hold, trying to twist free. “Cassian, stop! She fell–she fell!” 

He tightened his grip. 

His arm locked around me like iron, holding me firmly against his chest as he kept moving, his jaw set, his focus fixed forward as if looking back would cost all of us our lives. 

Another violent tremor hit, stronger than the last. 

The floor behind us gave way entirely, collapsing into a chasm that swallowed the place where Grace had fallen just moments ago. Stone slammed into stone. The path vanished in a cascade of debris and darkness. 

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