CHAPTER 14 - UNSPOKEN REFLECTIONS

The corridor was closing in around us like a stone trachea. Moisture oozed from the walls, no longer in isolated droplets, but in continuous sheets, as if the rock itself were sweating. The air was heavier. Charged. Saturated with that acrid smell of body heat, somewhere between sweat and dried cum.

I stopped short. One second too late and Myrr would've kept walking, instinctively. I raised a hand.

"Inverted cross formation," I ordered. "Kal, rear guard. Yulrik, stay at shooting distance. Myrr... not one more step without my signal."

She nodded, cheeks flushed. Her breath was too short. I knew it. They were all still marked by the vapors of the previous chamber. And the heat wasn't helping. I could smell the animal stench on each of them. Especially the women. The soaked leather, clinging tunics, intimate odors mingling with metal and moss.

I turned my head toward Sae. She wasn't looking at anyone. Staff glued to her palm, she hadn't spoken a word since the sanctuary incident. But her eyes didn't lie. She was struggling. With the fatigue. With the images. With what this fucked-up place was awakening inside her.

I took a slow breath. The corridor was straight, but the walls pulsed. Literally. At regular intervals, a wave of heat climbed along the dark veins running across the stone, as if the place itself were breathing around us.

"No contact with the walls. Even by accident."

Tessa let out a soft chuckle. A single syllable, strangled. She hadn't spoken in hours, but the laugh rang false. Nervous. Almost... shameful. Her blouse was half open — she'd lost a button the day before, I remembered. But she hadn't tried to close it. And I could see, distinctly, her breasts rising beneath the soaked fabric. Her nipples were poking through. Hard. Visible. She didn't even realize anymore. Or maybe she didn't care.

The system clicked in my head.

[System]

Expanding sensory anomaly.

Affective cohesion recommended.

Global emotional status: unstable.

"Cohesion, my ass," I muttered under my breath.

They didn't want emotional bonds. They wanted control. Cold blood. A line. A fucking line to hold onto, even in a heat-drunk tunnel.

I started walking again, blade drawn, each step placed with calculated slowness. Beneath my boots, the stone was spongy in places. A new elasticity. Disturbing. I could feel it — this corridor was going to change. This level didn't want to kill us. Not yet. It wanted to dissolve us. Let our nerves melt, our instincts, our shame. And I wasn't going to let it.

Not while I could still walk straight.

Behind me, Kal advanced in total silence. But even he had sweat beading between his brows. Sweat... or something else. The air was vibrating. So was my chest.

I raised my hand again.

"Total silence. Until further notice."

Not a word was spoken.

But in that shifting humidity, even silence had a smell.

The mist thickened with every step. Denser, stickier. It slipped beneath clothing like an invisible tongue. No draft. No apparent source. Just this clammy fog that entered through the nostrils, through the pores, through the thoughts.

Tessa was the first to crack.

I heard her breathing heavier. Too heavy. A breath caught in her throat. I turned just in time to see her hand clench around the leather strap at her waist. She had stopped dead, eyes wide open.

"He... he's shirtless..."

Her voice was low. Lost. But I caught it easily. I followed her gaze.

She was staring at Kal.

He was walking ten steps ahead of her, fully armored, cape smeared with grime. Nothing exposed. Nothing sexy. But in her eyes, he was naked. Naked and dripping. I saw it in her dilated pupil, in the way her lips parted.

"Fuck..."

She licked her teeth. Twice. Then lowered her hand slightly, as if adjusting her belt. But her fingers slipped too low. They brushed the waistband of her pants, and I saw her hips jolt.

"Tessa." My voice cracked like a blade.

She jumped, as if waking from a dream. She blushed suddenly, a moist, humiliated red, and pressed her legs together with a mumbled sorry that sounded more like a sigh than an apology.

I didn't have time to resume the march.

Sae moaned.

A brief sound, sharp, like a hiccup. She brought her hand to her temple, stumbled. Her staff scraped against the floor in a wet screech.

"She... she called me."

Her voice was trembling. She was staring at the wall.

"A voice. A woman. She said my name. Not the first one. The real one. The name from when I was..."

She stopped. The words died on her lips. I felt her stomach tighten, her thighs go rigid. Her hand gripped the staff like a bedpost. She wasn't looking at anything anymore, but her body was moving. Slowly. An unconscious rocking of the hips. As if she were already half-mounted by that voice.

I stepped forward. Raised my hand.

And slapped her.

Not hard. But clean.

A sharp smack against her cheek, just enough to snap her out of it.

She blinked. Exhaled a ragged breath. And lowered her head in shame. Her legs were shaking. And between them, I saw — very clearly — a dark stain spreading on her tunic.

I growled. I wasn't going to lose them now. Not here. Not because of a corridor sucking out our souls through our nostrils.

I turned to Myrr.

And she was staring at me.

Not the walls. Not the ceiling. Me.

Her lips were parted. Her breath uneven. And on her face, a slow smile. Visceral. The kind you only see in dreams. Or during a good wank.

"What?"

She didn't answer. But she took a step toward me. Just one. And I saw her eyes drop to my belt.

I understood.

She saw me naked.

I extended my arm. Hard. And pushed her against the opposite wall — not violently, but with all the authority I could muster in this fucked-up place.

"Wake up."

She inhaled sharply, came back to herself at once. And gritted her teeth.

"Sorry. I... I saw something."

"I saw that you were horny."

She shot me a dark glare, but didn't reply. And in fact, her crotch was wet. Her pants clung to her hips, and the stain on the front was unambiguous.

I slowly turned on myself. They were all staring at me. All understood. And none dared speak.

"Not another word," I whispered. "Total silence until further notice. You speak, I hit you. You touch a wall, I cut off your hand. You drip, you deal with it."

Even Kal lowered his chin slightly.

I resumed the march.

But this time, I heard everything. The leather sticking to thighs. The friction of soaked underwear. The breath from parted lips. And above all, the slow beat of an invisible heart, somewhere beneath our feet.

A heart that was getting hard with us.

The door was a breath. Not a panel. Not a clear opening. Just a passage where the mist spiraled, like a tongue trying to lick from the inside.

I placed a hand on the surface. It wasn't hard or soft. It vibrated. Warm, pulpy. Like a living membrane you could pass through... if you were wet enough.

I went in first.

And immediately, the smell changed.

No more sweat. No more mold. Here, it smelled like clean sex. Warm orgasm. The sheet still hot from a body that just came. A fragrance of half-vanilla, half-fluid. And the air... slid along the skin. Not like wind. Like fingers.

"Move."

They entered one by one. And when the last — Sae — crossed the veil, the room closed behind her with a sigh. Literally.

All around us, mirrors.

No. Not mirrors. Reflective walls. Wet. Vibrating. As if every surface had a consciousness. And was watching us.

I took a step. My reflection didn't move.

A second step. Still nothing.

And when I stopped... it wasn't me I saw.

Just an eye. Red. Split like a vulva. The system's eye. Planted there, in the center of the wall.

Behind me, a small moan.

Myrr.

I turned.

She was staring at a wall, mouth parted, eyes hazy.

"That's not possible..."

I approached slowly. What she saw wasn't herself. It was me. But not how I looked now. Not dirty, not tense.

Naked.

Straight.

Hard.

And her too.

In her reflection, she was naked, arched, legs spread, my hand around her throat. She was getting fucked against a wall. My hips hitting hers in a slow undulation. Her face in ecstasy. The image didn't move. But the motion was palpable.

She reached a hand. Brushed the surface. A shiver ran up her arm.

And I watched her pants soak again. In real-time.

"Myrr, back off."

She stepped back. Just one step. Enough.

But Sae was already approaching another mirror.

I turned.

And saw her, frozen, facing an impossible image: Tessa, naked, kneeling between her legs, tongue out, eyes gleaming. And Sae, in her reflection, was gripping her hair. Her face glowing with pleasure.

She gasped loudly.

And instinctively placed a hand on her thigh. Her fingers trembled.

I took three quick steps, placed myself between her and the image, and struck the wall with my blade.

A dull sound. But no shatter.

The mirror vibrated.

And the image changed.

This time, it was me. Naked. Kneeling. Head between her legs. She was climaxing, arched, breasts taut, thighs shaking.

"Enough."

I struck again. Nothing.

Behind me, Tessa burst out laughing.

A deep laugh. Troubling. Almost sensual.

I turned.

She was staring at her own image.

Her, being ridden by Irla. Both sweaty. Entwined, like lovers who never knew they desired each other.

Tessa licked her lips.

And slid a hand into her shirt.

"TESSA."

She jumped. As if my shout had slapped her.

But her fingers stayed a moment between her breasts. I saw her index slip beneath the fabric. Slowly. Too slowly.

I moved forward. Raised my blade.

And this time, I struck with all my might.

The mirror shattered. A sharp scream rang out. Not a human voice. A beast's cry. A wail from an emptied womb.

The system vibrated in my head.

[System]

Host resistance: 97%

Sensory integration denied.

Emotional overload neutralized.

The ground shook.

The other mirrors cracked by themselves, one by one. The images vanished. Breaths rose. Moans faded. And the room emptied all at once.

Just air. Damp. Without reflections.

I turned. They were all staring at me.

Flushed. Ashamed. Breathless.

And me, my hand still clenched on my weapon's hilt, and a persistent bulge in my pants. But I controlled it. I wouldn't fall now.

Not here. Not in a mirror.

The corridor that followed the Hall of Reflections looked like nothing I'd ever seen in the Abyss.

Neither stone nor metal. Just organic matter, warm, almost soft underfoot. The ground breathed. Literally. Slow waves raised the living tiles, as if we were walking on the side of a sleeping beast.

I slowed down.

Behind me, the group was struggling to hold formation.

Kal was bringing up the rear, straight as a pillar. But his temples were shining, and he blinked too often. The others... no better. Yulrik was muttering low, a spell on his lips. Irla walked trembling, eyes fixed on the ground. Tessa... Tessa had reopened her shirt.

Not a word. Not a button. Her belly gleamed. And her breasts were exposed. Right there, offered to the mist.

I turned abruptly.

"Button up. Now."

She looked up. Stopped. But her hands didn't move.

"Tessa."

— I can't. I'm too hot, chief. Too hot.

Her voice was hoarse. Damaged.

She placed a hand on her stomach, slowly, and slid it upward. Her palm passed between her breasts, up to her throat. She closed her eyes, bit her lip.

I stepped toward her.

"If you keep going, I'll drop you with a backhand."

She opened her eyes.

Red. Not from tears.

From pure desire.

And in a breath, she replied:

— Maybe that's what I want.

Myrr growled.

She had stopped to my left, back against the wall, legs slightly apart. Her gaze went from Tessa to me. And on her face, a tense grimace.

— She's going to drag us down. Just like Sae, the other night. That's not her talking.

I nodded.

"We split up."

A murmur of protest rose. Kal frowned.

"We stay together, chief. Now's not the time to..."

— I decide the time, Kal. And right now, this corridor is alive. It reacts to us. To our bodies. To our state. The more of us there are, the more active it becomes. We need to desaturate it.

I held up three fingers.

"Kal, Roud, Irla, Yulrik: head up the west gallery. Leave a magical trace so we can follow."

Kal clenched his jaw. But nodded.

I turned to the others.

Myrr. Sae. Tessa.

— You stay with me.

Myrr said nothing. But she drew her weapon and held it firmly at her hip. A new tension filled her gaze.

Sae had gone pale. She was staring at Tessa with an almost animal terror. As if she sensed a chasm about to open.

And Tessa... Tessa wasn't smiling anymore.

She was panting.

Her legs were trembling. And between them, I saw — very clearly — the slick line of uncontrolled pleasure running through her pants.

I took three steps toward her, grabbed her by the collar, and slammed her against the organic wall.

— You're going to look at me. Straight in the eyes.

She blinked. A drop of sweat rolled down her temple. Her breasts bounced against my chest.

— If you let this shit control you, I'll tie you up. Got it?

She nodded. But her breath stayed ragged.

I stepped back.

"Kal. Separate now. We meet at the junction in two hours. If we're not there, you leave."

— Chief...

— No debate.

Kal nodded, then led the rest of the group into the west corridor.

I turned to the three remaining members of my close unit.

— Now we move. And if you feel anything abnormal... you tell me. If you're wet, you tell me. If you see visions, you describe them. No silence. No secrets. Not here.

Sae nodded timidly.

Myrr growled, already moving.

Tessa... Tessa was sobbing.

She was at her limit.

And I knew this was only the beginning.