New Chapter
: Whispers Beneath the Moon
The night air was thick with the scent of burning incense and old secrets.
Lila stood by the riverbank, barefoot and trembling. The moonlight kissed the surface of the dark waters, but it was the silence that haunted her most—the kind that came before the storm. Behind her, the shadows of the Omodukwu forest swayed like watchful spirits, ancient and hungry.
She turned as Lucy approached, her white lace wrapper smeared with earth. "You called us here," Lucy said, her voice low. "What did you find?"
Lila raised her hand. In her palm was a bronze pendant, shaped like a serpent coiled around an eye. "It was buried behind the shrine. Right beneath the stones where they said Chief Priest Obika used to pray."
Lucy's eyes widened. "That's a mark of the forbidden cult. The same one Eze warned us about."
Just then, Sunday emerged from the trees, his machete slung across his back. Behind him followed Wigwe, face tense, and Cole, who kept glancing over his shoulder like something was stalking them. Ethan trailed last, unusually quiet, as if sensing the shift in the night's rhythm.
"We have a problem," Sunday said without preamble. "Obinna is missing."
"What do you mean missing?" Wigwe snapped.
"He went into the shrine this afternoon. He said he needed to speak to the spirits. He never came out."
They all exchanged uneasy looks. The shrine had been silent for days. Even the birds avoided it. And now Obinna—one of the last remaining elders—was gone.
"It's connected to this," Lila said, closing her fingers around the pendant. "This village is under a curse, and the chief priest knew. He was never praying for us. He was praying against us."
Eze's voice echoed from the shadows. He stepped into the clearing slowly, his white hair glowing like silver in the moonlight. "You finally understand," he said.
Everyone turned. Ethan stiffened beside Cole.
"We kept the truth hidden for too long," Eze said. "The famine. The sickness. The deaths. They weren't just the land's punishment. They were the result of a pact. One Obika made with the Old Ones."
Wigwe's face darkened. "So you knew all along."
Eze nodded, grim. "I knew. But breaking the curse comes at a price. One of us must go into the shrine—and never return."
A chilling silence settled over the group. Lila looked at each of them, heart racing. The fate of Omodukwu hung on the edge of a blade—and someone had to bleed.