Chapter 13: The Echoing Descent

The silence in the chamber was suffocating, thick with the weight of something unseen. The shadows that had dissipated moments ago left behind an eerie stillness, as if the ruins themselves were holding their breath. Elliot exhaled sharply, his grip on the shard tightening. He could still feel its pulsing energy beneath his fingertips, as though it was reacting to the lingering presence of something far greater than the creature they had just vanquished.

Seris, ever watchful, paced around the markings left behind by the fallen guardian. "This symbol," she murmured, crouching to trace its outline with gloved fingers. "It means something. It wasn't just a mindless monster we fought—it was protecting something important. And whatever it was, it's still here."

Elliot frowned. "You think the shard has something to do with it?"

"Without a doubt," she replied. "But that's not what worries me."

"Then what does?"

She stood, eyes scanning the darkness beyond the ruined chamber. "The fact that something—or someone—was watching. And I have a feeling they still are."

A sudden gust of wind swept through the ruins, carrying with it an unnatural whispering—faint, almost unintelligible, but layered with a sinister undertone. Elliot stiffened as the voices brushed against his ears, each word slipping through his mind like fragmented thoughts, scattered and incoherent.

"Do you hear that?" he whispered.

Seris nodded grimly. "The ruins are speaking. And we'd best listen."

Elliot took a cautious step forward, the glow of the shard illuminating the ancient symbols on the walls. They twisted and shifted under the light, as though reacting to his presence. The whispers grew louder, forming hushed words in a language he couldn't understand, yet somehow felt strangely familiar.

Then, the ground beneath them trembled.

Seris snapped her gaze downward. "Move!" she barked, shoving Elliot aside just as a massive stone pillar collapsed where he had stood. Dust and debris filled the chamber, choking the air. From the depths of the ruins, a low, resonant hum reverberated—a sound neither mechanical nor entirely natural.

A passage was opening.

The shifting stone revealed a spiral staircase leading deeper into the ruin's abyss. The air was thick with an unexplainable tension, as if the darkness below was waiting, anticipating their descent.

"Well, that's inviting," Elliot muttered.

Seris sheathed her dagger. "Only one way to find out what's down there."

Elliot hesitated. Every instinct screamed at him to turn back, but he knew there was no going back—not when he was this close to answers. Taking a deep breath, he followed Seris as they began their descent.

Each step downward felt heavier, as though an invisible force was pressing against them, urging them to retreat. The whispers continued, growing louder with each level they passed, until the voices became an overwhelming chorus of murmured secrets and forgotten prayers.

Then, they reached the bottom.

A massive chamber stretched before them, illuminated only by the faint glow of bioluminescent veins running through the stone walls. The architecture was unlike anything Elliot had seen before—towering spires of obsidian-like rock jutted from the floor, arranged in a seemingly deliberate pattern.

At the center of it all stood an altar.

It was ancient, adorned with intricate carvings that pulsed with faint light, similar to the shard in Elliot's possession. But what caught his attention most was the object resting atop the altar—a fragment of crystal, larger than the one he held, and humming with a deep, resonant energy.

Seris exhaled. "Another shard."

Before Elliot could respond, the chamber trembled again.

The whispers stopped.

And in their place, a deep, guttural voice spoke.

"You are not the first to seek it. You will not be the last."

Elliot's blood ran cold. The air around them crackled, the very walls vibrating with the presence of something colossal stirring in the abyss beyond.

The hunt was far from over.