Somnia Online by K.T. Hanna (reading strategies book txt) 📕

them nodded, Snowy barked, and Telvar grinned. Murmur followed Dev closely as they moved out from the strange circular dead-end rock-room they’d found themselves in when transported. It was like the portal had opened a hole right through the rock and closed after it deposited them in there.

“Look out for rockslides and other rock-like things,” Merlin called in a sing-song voice, and she recalled the strange cage maze with elven children they’d encountered where he’d been impaled by a gigantic wooden spear. The blood, the way his body had twitched, how Sinister had cried when she couldn’t heal him. Images flooded her mind, making her hope they wouldn’t encounter that sort of thing in here. She was all for realism, but sometimes it hurt to realize how horrible things could get.

Casting out her net, she tried to feel through the rock, but there was nothing outside of it. Murmur hadn’t realized quite how dependent on it she’d become. She bit her lip as she tried to navigate the area without it, worried that maybe it had somehow broken.

Stop that! Somnia’s tone was demanding, even if it felt slightly harried.

Are the others okay? Murmur had to ask, because she had to know Sinister was all right. Granted, she would be in the real world, right?

You’re thinking too much. Take a breath and just follow the clues, follow the trail, and you’ll all find each other again. I don’t have much time; there’s too much in here for me to combat. Just trust your gut. And Sin is fine.

Somnia sounded, just for a moment, like her mother used to when Wren got ahead of herself as a child. The tone calmed her down instantly.

Thank you.

No problem. Just—don’t add to my workload. Okay?

Murmur would have rolled her eyes but for two things: Somnia couldn’t see it anyway, and secondly, vibrations began in the tunnels, reverberating down through the soles of her feet. An overwhelming presence exerted pressure, like it was coming to smother all of them with a huge feather pillow.

She glanced down at Snowy, whose hackles were standing on end. His teeth were bared, and while he was growling, the sound from his throat wasn’t what was causing the strange suffocating aura.

“Mur?” Devlish asked without looking back at her.

“Not getting any readings.” She pushed down at the panic, trying to make sure it didn’t take over. Not being able to access the abilities provided to her by her sensing nets proved to be more difficult than she’d ever imagined. Whatever these walls were made up of, she couldn’t see through them, feel through them, or perceive an aura through them.

For once, she was as blind as everyone else.

Telvar spoke softly so the only people that heard were Murmur, Devlish, and Veranol. “This wasn’t in the original schematic. Just in case you were wondering. This dungeon was originally an amalgamation of all the effects we didn’t think anyone would be able to overcome—or at least that they couldn’t overcome without great difficulty.”

“Let me guess. Along with the rest of the game, it hasn’t exactly gone according to plan?” Veranol added in a dry whisper.

“In our defense, though, no one expected an egomaniacal maniac with a god complex to create a headset that allowed him to quasi upload and explode his brain into the virtual word.” Telvar managed to deliver the words with a deadpan face and all in a whisper.

Murmur had to choke down a nervous laugh.

“Not to worry you guys, but that rumbling is only getting worse. We’ll be lucky if we can stand a bit further in.” Devlish’s tone held impatience, though luckily the tiredness seemed mostly gone.

As if to punctuate his comment, the ceiling began to rain down small stone fragments and dust on them all, and Murmur gripped Snowy’s neck fur, trying not to give into that whole claustrophobia thing waiting just around the corner of her brain.

As they kept walking, they moved warily, and the tunnel opened out to reveal a truly massive cavern. What was it with Somnia and caverns lately? Stalagmites and stalactites rose and hung from the floor and ceiling. Beyond the beast that blocked their way, a gorgeous, aquamarine underground lake glistened, a waterfall somehow dropping into it from above. Overall, it wasn’t what she’d expected to see on a prison island.

Something splashed onto the ground with a sizzling finality, and Murmur found herself staring into the face of a beast it took her mind moments to comprehend.

Its jaw appeared to be unhinged, as though it had more than one. Rows of teeth operated independently of one another, glistening like they’d had veneers placed over the top. The roar that rang from its throat made the cavern shake and caused the stone dust to cascade down on everyone. His skin was covered in a fur that reminded her of a polar bear. Coarse and hollow.

This wasn’t a boss. It was a carniverior—or so its stats let them know. Probably ate meat. Big surprise there. It gnashed its teeth at them, flinging out long, gorilla-length arms to attempt to grab some of those people facing it. Luckily, most of their people were able to dodge out of the way. Including Jinna, who suddenly seemed far more capable than he’d been during Glacier Lake.

It also appeared to be one of triplets. The other two were guarding other entrances into the area as well. Though they were so far away that they appeared to be much smaller. Murmur didn’t know whether to be relieved or irritated that theirs wasn’t the only group whose entry was blocked.

Casting out her sensing net, Murmur sighed with relief as she felt Sinister there. Far away, but there. Sure, Somnia had told her she was fine, but Murmur needed to know for herself. The relief was short lived when the roar reached her nose. Why everything they fought had to have some sort of stench lately, she wasn’t sure, but she attempted not to breathe in as she began casting. Devlish had