The words settled like a stone in my gut: something worse. I wanted to argue, to dismiss it as fear talking, but deep down, I knew Will was right. Whatever those shadows were guarding, it had to be something powerful—something dangerous. The question was, had we disturbed it, or were we walking straight into its grasp?
Ava wiped dust from her face, her voice steady despite the tremor in her hands. "We can't stay here. There's got to be another way out."
"Look!" Cole said, pointing to the far side of the room.
The wall, where the carving had cracked open, was no longer sealed. A narrow fissure now split the stone, leading into an even darker tunnel. Unlike the rest of the chamber, there were no glowing symbols—just a black void that seemed to absorb the light.
Ava's brow furrowed as she studied it. "It's the only way forward."
Will shook her head vehemently. "No. We don't even know what's in there. What if it's worse than those… things?"
Cole glanced back at the closed tunnel we'd come through. "You want to wait here and find out if they're really gone? Because I'm not taking that chance."
Ava made the decision for us, moving toward the fissure with her knife still drawn. "We're not splitting up. Stay close, and don't lose sight of each other. If something comes, we fight."
I exchanged a look with Will before grabbing her hand. She was trembling, but she nodded, letting me pull her along. Cole followed last, muttering curses under his breath as we squeezed through the narrow opening.
The air in the new tunnel was heavy, like it hadn't been breathed in centuries. It smelled damp and metallic, and every sound we made—boots scraping stone, shallow breathing—was swallowed by the dark. I felt like we were walking into the belly of something vast and ancient, a creature that might wake at any moment.
Cole's voice cut through the silence, low and uneasy. "Do you feel that?"
"Feel what?" I whispered back, though I already knew what he meant.
The air was vibrating again, faintly this time, like the deep hum of something far below us. The same sensation we'd felt in the cavern—and at the door. It pulsed through my chest, through my bones, as though it were alive.
"It's getting stronger," Will whispered.
She was right. The hum grew with every step we took, until it wasn't just something we heard—it was something we felt. It seemed to come from all around us, echoing through the tunnel walls.
And then we saw it.
The tunnel opened abruptly into another chamber, this one vaster than anything we'd encountered before. The ceiling was so high it disappeared into darkness, and at the far end of the room sat an enormous structure. It looked like an altar—or maybe a throne—carved from black stone, its surface covered in spiraling symbols. Unlike the glowing ones we'd seen earlier, these were dark, their patterns twisting across the stone like veins.
But what made me stop cold was what sat on the throne.
It was a figure—tall and gaunt, its form cloaked in what looked like tattered shadow. I couldn't make out its face, only a suggestion of hollowness where its features should have been. Its head tilted slightly, as though it were watching us.
Will gripped my arm so tightly it hurt. "It's… it's awake."
The figure didn't move, but the humming in the room intensified, so loud now it was rattling my teeth. Ava stepped forward, her knife trembling in her hand. "What is that?"
The figure rose.
It didn't stand like a person. It unfolded, its movements unnatural, fluid, like smoke being poured into the shape of a body. It loomed taller than any of us, its presence pressing down on the room like a weight.
A voice filled the chamber—not a voice we could hear, but one that seemed to echo inside our minds, scraping against our thoughts like claws.
"You have come far."
Cole stumbled back, his face pale. "What the hell is that? Who—what—are you?"
The figure's hollow head turned toward him, and the voice whispered again, sending chills through my entire body.
"I am the First. The Warden of the Threshold. And you…"* It paused, as though savoring the words. "You are trespassers."
Will let out a choked sob, and Ava shouted, "What do you want?"
The Warden tilted its head again. The dark symbols on the throne behind it began to pulse faintly, spreading like cracks of black lightning through the walls and floor.
"Your presence has broken the seal. You have awakened that which sleeps beyond."
The ground trembled, and the air seemed to ripple, distorting as though the room itself was alive. The black symbols burned brighter, and the shadows began to move—not the jagged creatures this time, but a wave of darkness spreading from the throne.
Ava grabbed my arm, her voice sharp with terror. "We need to go. Now."
I didn't need to be told twice. We turned and ran, sprinting back toward the fissure we'd come through, but the shadows moved faster. The darkness spread across the floor, crawling up the walls, swallowing everything it touched. I could hear the Warden's voice still whispering, its words like poison in my veins.
"The seal is broken. The end begins."
"Faster!" Cole shouted, shoving Will ahead of him as we scrambled through the narrow fissure. I felt the darkness brushing my heels, cold and hungry, but I didn't dare look back.
We tumbled back into the chamber with the altar, gasping for breath. Ava spun around, her eyes wide. "The door—it's still closed!"
I looked at the stone where we'd entered earlier. It was still sealed, the symbols dead. The shadows poured from the fissure behind us, spreading across the walls like ink.
Cole grabbed my shoulder, his voice frantic. "What do we do?"
My mind raced, desperation clawing at me. The altar. It had worked before—it had burned the shadows away. I stumbled toward it, slamming my hands against the stone.
Nothing happened.
"No, no, no!" I shouted, pounding the surface. The symbols didn't light up. They remained dark, lifeless.
The shadows were closing in now, coiling around us like a storm. Will screamed, and Ava spun in a circle, her knife useless against the tide.
Cole grabbed my arm, his eyes wild. "We're out of time!"
The Warden's voice echoed through the room, so close it felt like it was coming from inside my skull.
"You cannot run. You cannot hide. The door has opened, and the darkness will claim all."
And then, through the chaos, I saw it—another symbol, faint and flickering, on the far side of the altar. It looked different, unfamiliar, but it pulsed weakly with light.
"Over there!" I shouted.
Ava didn't hesitate. "MOVE!"
We ran for the symbol, the shadows closing in around us. I reached out, slamming my hand against it. The moment I touched it, the light exploded outward, brighter than before, searing through the darkness with a blinding flare.
The Warden's voice let out a roar of fury as the shadows shrieked and writhed, their forms dissolving in the light. I felt myself falling, pulled into the blinding glow, my body weightless.
And then—everything went dark.