Chapter 36: Final Stage
"I can't afford to trust the light."
Aric Blackthorn narrowed his eyes at the glowing fissure above him. He had no idea how far the ground was from the exit point of this damned shaft, and risking a blind drop was an idiocy he didn’t plan to add to his record.
He slipped a thin spectral wire from his belt, looped it around the hilt of a blacksteel dagger, and embedded it into the wall with a sharp c***k. The dagger hissed as it sank into stone, runes igniting with a crimson flicker.
Aric wrapped the wire around his forearm and began to descend slowly. The light struck him full in the face as he passed the threshold, searing across his vision. Then—
Solid ground greeted his boots with a quiet thud.
His eyelids peeled open, and his gaze narrowed instantly.
"Of
