The night seemed unnaturally quiet after the tremor that had rattled the ground. The storm had passed, but something far more dangerous lingered in the air—an oppressive silence that weighed down on Elyra's chest. Her breath was shallow, the dark ruins around her pressing in like the walls of a tomb. She could feel it—feel the ancient power stirring, awakened by Kael's actions.
The archway loomed in front of them, its surface now glowing faintly, pulsing with a rhythm that was too deliberate to be a mere illusion. Elyra instinctively took a step back, her eyes darting between Kael and the arch. The echoes of her vision still haunted her, fragments of ancient whispers that she could not fully understand. She had seen the power, yes, but there was something else—something darker. The void that had been buried for centuries. The one they were now so dangerously close to unleashing.
Kael was silent, his face tense as he studied the archway. His hand was still hovering over it, his fingers twitching as though fighting an invisible force.
"We shouldn't be here," Elyra whispered, more to herself than to Kael.
Kael didn't look at her, his gaze fixed on the arch, and his jaw clenched. "It's too late. We're already in it."
Elyra's heart thundered in her chest. "What do you mean? We've awakened it, haven't we? The power... the darkness."
"Not yet," Kael muttered. "But we're getting close. The seals will hold—for now."
"For now?" Elyra repeated, her voice rising. "Kael, we're playing with forces we don't understand!"
"I know." Kael's voice was rough, and for the first time, Elyra saw a flicker of doubt in his eyes. "I didn't want this. But this is the only way. The only way to stop what's coming."
Elyra took a step forward, her thoughts racing. "You keep saying 'what's coming.' What is it, Kael? What is it that we're trying to stop?"
Kael was silent for a long moment, his face cast in shadow as he turned back toward the ruins. His eyes seemed distant, lost in something beyond the present moment. Then, he spoke again, his voice low and grim.
"A god," he said quietly. "An ancient god, one that's been sleeping beneath these ruins for millennia. But it won't stay asleep forever. And when it wakes… it will devour everything. This place… is a prison, Elyra. The seals are all that keep it from breaking free."
Elyra's blood ran cold. A god. The thought was too much to comprehend. But there was no denying the gravity in Kael's tone. He was telling the truth—or at least, part of it.
"The seals," Elyra murmured, trying to understand. "If we leave them broken…"
"Everything ends," Kael finished for her. "But they won't last. They can't. Not forever."
The weight of those words settled between them, like a shadow growing darker with each passing second. Something was coming. Something beyond their control, beyond their understanding. And as the arch pulsed with ancient power, Elyra realized with a sickening certainty that no matter what they did, they were racing against an unstoppable force.
"I have to go further," Kael said, breaking the silence. "The heart of the power lies deeper in the ruins. I have to find it before the god can escape."
Elyra's instincts screamed at her to stop him, to tell him it was too dangerous. But she knew that whatever choice they had made, they had already crossed the point of no return.
"I'll go with you," she said, her voice steadier than she felt. "I won't let you do this alone."
Kael's gaze softened for the briefest of moments, but he didn't argue. Instead, he gave a single nod, and together, they began to descend deeper into the heart of the forsaken ruins, unaware that every step brought them closer to the awakening nightmare that awaited.