39 Discount Menace

The ground rumbled, pounding in Zoe's chest like a giant's heartbeat, each tremor unsettling the air around them. 

Dust spiraled from cracks in the linoleum, curling like smoke as the tension thickened. 

Below, the gaping void churned, shadows swirling as something massive coiled with predatory grace, an ancient serpent poised to strike.

A presence pressed against her, vast and suffocating, as though the shard itself were alive and watching. 

Zoe tightened her grip on her staff, her knuckles whitened as she braced against the shard's pull.

The loud crack of shifting stone shattered the uneasy stillness, and the edges of the void buckled. 

A chunk of ground heaved upward, groaning as it rose. 

The team staggered, struggling to hold their footing. 

The ground heaved and groaned as it rose, forming an uneven platform large enough to hold them as they braced for what was coming.