"Let's stay focused," Thorne interrupted. "Can you disarm it, Dain?"
The tinkerer shook his head. "Not without risking activation. But we can avoid the trigger points if we know where they are." He looked at me expectantly.
Suddenly I was the center of attention, exactly where I never wanted to be. But my new skill was practically screaming at me now, highlighting danger points all over the chamber floor.
"There," I said, pointing to safe spots. "And there. We need to move along the outer edge of the chamber, staying at least three feet from each tunnel entrance."
Following my directions, we carefully made our way around the chamber to the passage directly opposite from where we'd entered. According to Dain's device, it had the second-strongest crystal resonance without showing signs of recent collapse or disturbance.
The new tunnel sloped down more steeply than the entrance passage, and the red veins in the walls grew thicker, pulsing faster. The air became noticeably warmer, and that metallic taste intensified.
"We're approaching a crystal chamber," Thorne whispered. "Everyone be ready. Last time, we encountered guardians just before the main formation."
"Guardians?" I asked quietly.
"Labyrinth constructs," Kira answered. "Like stone golems, but made of the same material as the walls. Tough bastards."
Great. Just what I needed, enemies that couldn't be outrun or easily hidden from.
The passage widened gradually, then opened into a much larger chamber than the first. This one was roughly oval, maybe sixty feet long and forty wide. The ceiling rose in a dome at least twenty feet high at its center.
And there, growing from the far wall like some massive, crystalline tumor, was our objective: a crimson crystal formation larger than a man, with dozens of jagged protrusions extending outward. It pulsed with light, much stronger than the veins in the walls, almost like a massive, beating heart.
But it wasn't the crystal formation that made us all freeze in the entrance.
It was what hung from the ceiling above it.
Cocoons. Dozens of them, suspended from the domed ceiling by thick, fibrous strands that resembled the red veins in the walls. Each cocoon was roughly human-sized, wrapped in translucent material that allowed glimpses of the shapes inside.
Human shapes. Some still moved.
"Previous explorers," Thorne breathed, horror evident in his voice. "Captured, not killed."
"This wasn't here before," Dain hissed. "Never seen anything like this in our previous expeditions."
As we watched, one of the cocoons pulsed with red light. The human shape inside contorted, and a high, thin wail echoed through the chamber—quickly cut short.
"We should go," I said immediately. "Now."
For once, I wasn't just thinking of my own survival. The scene before us went beyond dangerous into the realm of nightmarish. No amount of points would be worth getting caught in one of those cocoons.
Kira shifted her warhammer to both hands. "We came for crystal. That's the biggest formation we've ever found."
"Those people are beyond saving," Thorne added, though he didn't sound entirely convinced. "Probably bait for a trap."
"Of course they're bait for a trap," I hissed. "This entire chamber screams trap. Look at the floor."
Now that I'd directed their attention, they could all see what my skill had immediately highlighted: the floor of the chamber wasn't solid. Sections of it were slightly different in texture and color, forming an elaborate maze-like pattern across the space between us and the crystal formation.
"Trigger tiles," Dain confirmed, kneeling to examine the nearest section. "Step on the wrong one, and... well, I don't want to find out."
Another cocoon pulsed, another cry of pain echoed. Then another. And another. Soon the entire ceiling was a rhythmic light show of suffering.
"They're waking up," Kira said grimly, raising her hammer into a defensive position.
"They're changing," Thorne corrected, his face pale. "Look."
In the cocoons that had pulsed longest, the human shapes were distorting. Limbs elongated unnaturally. What might have been arms split into multiple appendages. In one cocoon near the crystal formation, a shape that had once been human was now distinctly insectoid, its head bulging with multiple eyes that caught the light with disturbing awareness.
And those eyes were looking directly at us.
A low, chittering sound filled the chamber, growing louder as more of the transformed captives became aware of our presence. The cocoons began to sway, the fibrous strands holding them flexing as their occupants struggled.
"We need to leave," I said, backing toward the passage. "Right now."
For once, no one argued with me.
As we turned to flee, the chittering behind us rose to a deafening pitch.
Something had just emerged from its cocoon.