Falling wasn’t fun.

Ren had enough experience with bad decisions to know this firsthand. He’d once fallen off a rooftop while dodging an angry shopkeeper, and that had only been a two-story drop.

This was worse.

For one, he had no idea where the bottom was. The tunnel stretched downward in a spiral of shimmering light, the golden runes along its walls blurring as they plummeted. The woman—who, by the way, still hadn’t introduced herself—had grabbed his wrist mid-fall, and now they were spinning wildly through what could only be described as a very magical, very bad decision.

Ren managed to twist his body just enough to glare at her. "You—are—terrible—at—directions!"

She didn’t dignify that with a response. Instead, she flicked her free hand, and suddenly their descent slowed.

Well, hers did.

Ren, unfortunately, kept falling.

"Oh, come on!"

The ground rushed up to meet him. A heartbeat before impact, something yanked him sideways. Ren crashed into the floor less painfully than expected, skidding to a stop next to the woman. She landed gracefully—which was infuriating—and brushed nonexistent dust off her coat.

Ren groaned. "I hate magic."

"You say that a lot," she noted.

"Yeah, because it keeps trying to kill me."

She ignored him, surveying their surroundings. The chamber was vast, stretching in all directions like a massive underground cathedral. Massive, twisting pillars of metal and stone lined the edges, their surfaces engraved with spiraling runes.

At the center of it all sat a book.

It hovered, spinning slowly in place, its pages turning without wind. The Ledger.

Ren eyed it warily. "So… let me guess. That thing is also cursed?"

She shot him a sharp look. "It’s a historical artifact."

"Which means cursed."

"Which means important."

Ren sighed, pushing himself to his feet. "Alright. Let’s grab the ancient doom-book and get out of here before something horrible happens."

They took two steps forward.

The chamber shook.

Ren groaned. "You have got to be kidding me."

The pillars rippled—like metal and stone shouldn’t—shifting as if they were waking up. Symbols across the walls lit up, pulsing brighter and brighter. A deep hum resonated through the chamber, the sound of something very, very old coming back to life.

The woman’s eyes widened. "Something’s wrong."

"Oh, really?" Ren threw up his hands. "What gave it away? The earthquake? The ominous humming? The fact that the walls are glowing ominously?"

She shot him an exasperated look, then turned back to the Ledger. It was reacting—the pages turning faster, glowing symbols rising off the parchment like fireflies. The very air seemed to bend around it.

Ren took a cautious step back. "Uh. Should it be doing that?"

"No," she admitted.

"Cool. Cool cool cool. So—exit plan?"

The pillars moved.

Not shifted. Not trembled. Moved.

Ren watched in horror as the twisting metal uncoiled like serpents, shapes emerging from the stone. Figures—humanoid, massive, their bodies composed of interlocking gears and runes. They stepped forward in eerie synchronization, eyes glowing with cold, blue light.

Ren exhaled. "Yup. Definitely cursed."

The first construct lunged.

Ren did what he did best—ran.