The Unraveling - It Spreads

Barghest’s senses sharpened, the cold seeping into her fur and settling in her bones as she stepped deeper into the cavern. The chill wrapped around her like an old lover, familiar and unforgiving. She took in the glistening walls that seemed to pulse with an otherworldly light, refracting hues of deep blue and shimmering white. Her breath curled in wisps before her before dissipating into nothingness.
A smirk curled at the edge of her muzzle. The restlessness gnawing at her soul whispered that there would be answers here, or at the very least, a test worthy of her mettle. The silence, broken only by the groaning ice and the steady clink of her claws and the sounds of the other explorers she cared little to acknowledge at the moment.
And then from above ice falls, chunks of it—one she had to dodge. But what emerged from the ceiling was far more exhilarating. A creature, with spikes and petal-like appendages hangs, silent and still. Like a flower, or a venus flytrap. Barghest stills, letting the icy mist settle as she gauges what would come next. Would it attack? Was it… waiting for something?

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