Got it! This chapter will be even longer, diving deeper into the ruins, unraveling the past, and intensifying Elara's internal conflict with the villa
The whispers didn't stop.
They coiled around me, a chorus of voices speaking in a language long buried by time. I clenched my fists, forcing my breathing to steady, but the sound pressed against my skull like invisible hands trying to pry open my mind.
I could still see it.
The memory.
The temple standing tall, unbroken by time. The power that radiated from the man who had once been me.
But that wasn't who I was.
It wasn't.
"Elara."
Cairon's voice cut through the fog, sharp and steady. His grip on my shoulder tightened. "What did you see?"
I swallowed hard, the air thick in my lungs. "It was—" I hesitated. "It was him."
