Chapter 23

**Embracing the Darkness**

Egnand was a land of shadows, a realm where the light barely touched, leaving the world cloaked in perpetual twilight. The air was thick with an ominous energy, the kind that made even the bravest souls falter. Yet, as Lucifer guided Athena through his domain, he couldn't help but feel a pang of doubt. What if she couldn't handle it? What if the darkness of Egnand was too much for her? The thought gnawed at him, unsettling in a way he hadn't felt in eons.

Athena, however, walked beside him with a calm that defied the world around her. Her eyes, wide with curiosity, took in the towering obsidian spires, the rivers of molten lava that flowed like veins through the landscape, and the twisted trees with leaves black as night. She didn't flinch, didn't shy away from the shadows that seemed to reach out for her. If anything, she appeared more intrigued than frightened.