Chapter 27 A Choice To Make

The air inside the temple was thick, almost suffocating with tension. Every breath felt like a heavyweight, every sound amplified, bouncing off the stone walls that had witnessed the rise and fall of so many before them. Lila’s chest tightened with every heartbeat, her gaze fixed on the glowing artefact in the chamber’s centre. It pulsed, its light flickering erratically like it was alive—alive and demanding something from them. The figure that had emerged from the shadows was still standing, silent, waiting. Its presence was oppressive, like the darkened room was drawn to it, as though it were the centre of everything. Lila could feel the air grow colder, and she involuntarily shuddered. It was as if the space between them and the figure was increasing, the distance between their lives and the decision that loomed before them growing ever larger.