The hidden passage gaped before them like a wound in the stone, its black throat swallowing the lamplight with a hunger that seemed alive. A breath of air seeped from it, cold, stale, carrying the faint stench of ash, rot, and something older, something unplaceable that clung to the lungs and made the heart thrum faster.
Leo's hand pressed against the rough stone at the threshold. His pulse matched the fragment's rhythm: a ceaseless, insistent thrum that pressed against his chest like a drumbeat of destiny. The whispers surged, a chorus of fire and shadow: Deeper, vessel. Step forward. Beneath lies truth. Truth lies beneath.
He forced his jaw tight, voice low, steadying himself against the surge of voices clawing at his mind. "We're going in."
Evelyn's lantern flickered in the gloom, her pale face drawn with fear. "Leo… what if it's not just a passage? What if it's a trap designed to end us?"
