Chapter 23 The Final Clue

The air in the cave was thick and suffocating. A stale, damp cold settled over Lila and Kai, each breath they took pulling in the musty scent of moss and ancient stone. The flickering light of their lantern barely cut through the darkness, casting long shadows on the jagged walls. It felt as though the world had closed in around them, trapping them in the belly of the earth with no way out. But this wasn’t just any cave. This was the place they had been drawn to—the place where they hoped to find the last clue to the artifact's location, the key that would either save them or seal their fate forever.