Chapter Nine - The Fall

Night draped the world in its endless cloak, the stars veiled by swirling clouds that churned like restless specters. The tower loomed above the cliffs, its ancient stone blackened by centuries of salt spray and shadow. Beneath it, the ocean roared, a cacophony of crashing waves and howling winds. It was a place forsaken, forgotten, and yet alive with unseen menace.

From the base of the cliff, Tengukensei’s whispered command set Nuke and Woolah into motion. Best mates, bound by loyalty and purpose, they moved as shadows against the jagged face of the tower. Nuke's clawed metal limbs clicked softly as he dug into the stone, his unnatural weight a burden even for his mechanical form. Woolah, flesh and bone, climbed with gritted teeth, his every muscle taut as the winds ripped at him like talons. They carried with them a thick rope of braided hemp and steel, ending in a cruel clawed hook. It swayed as they climbed, twisting in the gales like a serpent eager to strike.

Higher they rose, swallowed by the night.

The open window glowed far above them, a beacon of pale, unnatural light that spilled like molten silver down the tower's surface. From this height, the world below was chaos: the waves were an endless maw of frothing, inky darkness, their sound a dull roar barely heard over the scream of the wind. The cliffside receded into black nothingness, their comrades somewhere far below, unseen and unheard.

Twice they nearly fell. Woolah's foot slipped on a mossy stone, the gritty crunch of his boot barely saving him. Nuke’s claw, caught on a weak edge, cracked the rock before he swung himself, metal grinding stone, to safety. Breathless, with their limbs trembling, they reached the ledge below the window—a narrow strip of crumbling stone barely an inch wide.

“Quiet,” Nuke muttered, his voice little more than a mechanical hiss, his sensors flickering in the moonlight. Woolah nodded, pressing himself flat against the icy stone.

The two hung there, listening intently. Inside, the voice of Azahl drifted down to them, a silky snarl that sent shivers through the night.

“…almost ready for Kelpie Bay,” he hissed, his words sharp as broken glass. “Creatures beyond imagining. Oh, the Runiverse will pay.” His laughter was a cruel thing—soft, low, and edged with madness. “The Coccyx is only the beginning. You’ll see, old friend.”

Woolah’s breath caught. The faint scrape of boots paced across the floor above, a rhythmic sound like the ticking of some unseen clock. A shadow passed across the window, blocking out the light for a heartbeat.

Then a second voice spoke, its tone soft, deep, and unfamiliar. Woolah strained to make it out, but it was a murmur, only fragments reaching him:
“…unavoidable… perfect timing… sacrifices.”

Woolah exchanged a glance with Nuke, both suddenly more aware of the void beneath their fingertips. The ledge trembled slightly, worn and brittle. A mistake here would be death—a cold, brutal one against the rocks below.

Then everything went still.

The pacing stopped. The voices silenced. The wind itself seemed to pause, holding its breath.

A beat.

Two.

And then hands.

Strong slender fingers, shot out over the ledge—one closing around Woolah’s wrist, the other gripping the edge of Nuke’s mechanical hand. There was no cry, no time to fight. With unnatural strength, they were yanked upward before being let go, their bodies thrown backwards into the abyss.

For a single, eternal moment, they hung suspended in the air. Above them, framed in the open window, the light burned brighter now, like the cold glow of a distant moon. Azahl’s face appeared, smiling—a mask of cruel satisfaction. Beside him stood the tavern owner, the small furred gnome whose kindly eyes now held only malevolence. The two watched, wordless, as Woolah and Nuke fell.

The wind swallowed their screams.

Down, down they plummeted. The tower’s shadow stretched like a hand, reaching to claim them as the cliffs rose to meet them. Far below, the ocean raged, its waves transforming into a seething chaos of foam and darkness. Nuke’s mechanical body twisted, reaching for something—anything—to latch onto, but the air offered no hold. Woolah flailed, the rope uncoiling uselessly from his pack, whipping through the night like a broken chain.

The rocks waited. Jagged fangs slick with seawater, black as obsidian, and ready to tear them apart. The roar of the ocean became deafening.

Woolah saw Nuke turn midair, his metal limbs poised protectively, sparks flickering along his joints. The last thing Woolah thought before the darkness claimed him was the gnome’s smile—the simple betrayal of it—a face now etched forever into his memory.

---

Meanwhile, beneath the cliffs, Tengukensei and Sachiko moved cautiously through the smuggler's cavern. The air was damp and close, filled with the rank stench of salt, decay, and something fouler still. Tengukensei led the way, his spelllight hovering before him like a pale, wavering orb. Shadows danced across crates stacked with unspeakable cargo: limbs encased in blocks of frost, faces frozen in eternal screams.

The cavern opened to a narrow path etched into the cliffside, barely a ledge above the churning waves. Waves smashed against the rocks, sending up fine sprays of foam that chilled their skin. They followed it blindly, Tengukensei’s light bobbing like a will-o’-the-wisp through the dark.

And then, they saw it.

A vast, cavernous maw in the cliffside, sealed by a rusted portcullis thick as a castle gate. The metal bars dripped with salt and rot, their strength untouched by time. Just as Tengukensei stepped forward, his light revealed the eyes.

Hundreds of them.

They shone from beyond the gate, blinking and reflecting the spelllight like shards of glass. Deep breathing rumbled from within, the sound of massive lungs pulling in air, rattling with damp, monstrous hunger.

“What—” Sachiko began, but her voice choked as the first limb thrust through the bars. A horrid, malformed arm, too long, its sinew twisted and skin flayed, shot out toward them with a sickening lurch.

“My god…” Sachiko whispered, stumbling back. “There are hundreds of them!”

The breathing intensified, a collective growl rolling through the cavern like thunder. The gate shuddered as the beasts beyond slammed against it, their claws scraping metal, their teeth gnashing against the bars.

Tengukensei froze, his mind racing, as the sound of something far above reached him—a distant scream, carried by the wind. His heart clenched.

Nuke and Woolah were falling.

And somewhere beyond the gate, Azahl’s abominations stirred, their chains rattling, eager for release.

Entered by: 0xe9a1…78d3