Darkness swallowed Kaelen whole.
The shadows weren't just an absence of light they were alive, writhing tendrils of something ancient and malevolent. A force pressed against his chest, suffocating, dragging him downward into the temple's depths.
He struggled, but it was like fighting the current of a raging sea. His Crimson Power flared instinctively, trying to burn through the void, but the moment it touched the darkness, something pushed back.
This isn't ordinary magic.
A cold voice echoed in his mind.
You are not welcome here.
Then, pain searing, sharp, not of the body, but the soul. Kaelen gritted his teeth as his vision blurred. The abyss twisted around him, forming grotesque shapes whispers clawing at his sanity.
"Kaelen!"
Seraphina's voice was distant, but it was enough. He forced himself to move, focusing his energy. The Crimson Power pulsed, brighter this time, raw and untamed. A deep red glow carved through the darkness, shattering the tendrils binding him.
Air flooded his lungs as he stumbled forward, emerging from the void just outside the temple's inner sanctum.
Seraphina and Dorian stood at the entrance, weapons drawn. Behind them, the ruins stretched into an eerie corridor lined with ancient carvings, all depicting the same thing a crimson figure surrounded by wailing souls.
Kaelen's stomach clenched. The Crimson Power's history... was it tied to this place?
Rael, still slumped against the wall, coughed out a chuckle. "Took you long enough."
Kaelen ignored him. His gaze locked onto the corridor ahead. The oppressive force hadn't faded it was growing.
"We need to move," he said, voice tight. "Something's waking up."
Seraphina hesitated, looking between him and the ominous passage. "And if we're walking straight into its trap?"
Kaelen tightened his grip on his sword.
"Then we make sure we're the ones setting it."
With that, they stepped into the abyss.
To Be Continued…