The light above grew fainter—each flicker swallowed by the crushing depth as Zarek sank deeper into the lake. He was still resisting, still holding out, caught within the tightening jaws of the mother. The pressure around him intensified, the beast's fangs threatening to crush him into nothingness. Bubbles spiraled upward as the monster closed its mouth in a slow, suffocating snap.
But Zarek had already slipped free.
The faintest glimmer of light remained above, no more than a memory now. He was far—too far—from the surface, the cold tightening around him like a shroud. Yet the monster's eyes, glowing like twin lanterns in the deep, never wavered from its prey.
