The walls shuddered, deep fissures splintering across the stone. Shadows leaked from the breaks, curling like smoke, whispering in tongues long forgotten. The spirits twitched, their forms unraveling, as if something was pulling at them—something deeper, something older.
Mara's grip tightened on her staff. "Wei Lin," she said slowly, "tell me this Codex of yours has an answer to whatever this is."
Wei Lin barely heard her. The pages flipped faster, ink bleeding through, reforming, reshaping. It was speaking to her, but the meaning twisted, like a half-formed thought.
An opening. A cost. A choice.
Her breath came quick. It was never a test of strength. It was a test of understanding.
But the Codex was giving her something else. Something far worse.
Selene's voice cut through the thickening shadows. "Lin!"
The ground buckled. The sigils shattered.
And then, the cavern exploded.
