Elena's heart raced as confusion swept across her face.
The ground beneath her feet trembled violently, sending tiny fragments of stone scattering across the floor. Cracks spread along the ancient walls, and the sound of breaking stone echoed through the chamber.
"Dante!" she screamed. "I think we need to get out of here! This place is going down!"
Dante didn't reply immediately. His expression hardened as he studied the trembling walls, his eyes moving from the ceiling to the widening cracks beneath their feet.
They were running out of time.
A deep rumble rolled through the temple, shaking dust loose from the ceiling. Somewhere behind them, a pillar groaned ominously.
Yami smirked.
He had been waiting for an opening, and Dante's momentary distraction was all he needed.
"Never get distracted in a fight, boy!"
His axe came crashing down.
Dante reacted at the last second, twisting his body to evade the fatal blow. However, the edge of the weapon caught his arm, slicing through his sleeve and cutting deep into his skin.
"Ah!"
He grunted, biting down on his lower lip as pain shot through his arm. His knees struck the stone floor, and he had to brace himself with his other hand to keep from collapsing completely.
Blood began to seep through the torn fabric.
For a moment, Yami stared at him with surprise. Then his grin widened.
"Not so untouchable after all, are you?"
Dante glared at him, but he didn't waste his breath responding.
He had more important things to worry about.
Another tremor shook the temple.
A chunk of stone broke loose from the ceiling and crashed between the two men, forcing Yami to retreat.
"Amber! Move!"
Amber coughed as dust swept through the chamber. She covered her mouth, squinting against the thick cloud that had begun to fill the air.
"What about the artifact?" she shouted. "We came here for it!"
"We need to be alive before we think about finding it!" Yami snapped.
He grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the exit.
Amber stumbled after him, but just as they approached the entrance, something caught her attention.
A crack had appeared in the floor.
It stretched across the ancient stone, branching into smaller lines like a spiderweb. Through one of the wider gaps, a faint red light flickered.
Amber stopped.
"Wait!"
Yami turned sharply.
"What now?"
"That crack on the floor! I saw a light shining through it."
He glanced at the ground.
For a brief moment, the red glow appeared again.
Then it vanished.
Amber's eyes widened.
"Yami, I think the artifact is beneath the—"
A deafening crash interrupted her.
A massive pillar broke loose above them, falling directly into their path.
Yami's expression changed.
He tightened his grip on his axe until his knuckles turned white.
With a furious swing, he sliced through the falling stone. The pillar split apart, its broken pieces crashing to either side of them.
"Whatever is down there can wait!" he growled. "Move!"
Amber hesitated, glancing back toward the crack.
The red light was gone.
"Amber!"
Yami's sharp voice pulled her back to reality.
She hurried after him.
They raced through the entrance just as another section of the temple collapsed behind them. The ground shook beneath their feet, and stones tumbled down from above.
They barely escaped before the entrance was buried beneath enormous piles of rock.
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
Amber bent over, coughing violently as she tried to catch her breath. Yami stood beside her, his axe hanging at his side, his chest rising and falling.
The temple had swallowed whatever secrets it held.
"That light..." Amber muttered.
Yami's jaw tightened.
"We'll come back for it."
He turned away, but the expression on his face suggested that the matter was far from settled.
---
The deep rumbling finally stopped.
Silence settled over the ruined temple, broken only by the occasional fall of loose stones and the strained sound of breathing.
Dante forced himself to his feet.
Pain shot through his injured arm, but he ignored it as he staggered toward Elena and Lena.
"Are you both alright?"
His eyes darted between the two girls.
Lena was unconscious.
Blood stained her dress, spreading across the fabric and pooling against the dusty stone beneath her. Her pale hair lay scattered across her face, and she didn't respond when Elena gently shook her shoulder.
Elena sat frozen beside her.
Her arms were wrapped protectively around Lena's body, and her eyes were squeezed shut as tears streamed down her cheeks.
She pressed a hand against Lena's chest, almost afraid to feel for a heartbeat.
When she felt the faint rise and fall of Lena's breathing, she released a shaky breath.
She was alive.
For now.
But Elena couldn't tell how badly she was injured, and the sight of the blood on her dress made her stomach twist.
Her pressure magic had died down, but she could still feel it pulsating beneath her skin.
Stronger than before.
It coursed through her veins like a restless current, responding to something she couldn't understand.
She had never felt anything like it.
Not even when her magic had first awakened.
Elena lifted her head and stared at the ruined chamber around them.
The walls were fractured. The pillars had crumbled. Their only visible exit was buried beneath enormous piles of stone.
They were trapped.
And somewhere outside, Leo and the others were still fighting.
Yami and Amber were free.
The transformation potions were in their hands.
Her chest tightened until it hurt.
"This place isn't ordinary, Dante..." she whispered.
Dante knelt beside her.
"What do you mean?"
"I can feel it."
Elena looked down at her trembling hands.
"My magic responds to this place. The moment I stepped inside, I felt something. And now it's stronger than ever."
She swallowed hard.
"It's my fault we're trapped here."
"Elena—"
"No!"
She shook her head, refusing to let him interrupt.
"I insisted on coming here. I wanted to save Amber so badly that I dragged everyone into this mess."
Her gaze fell to Lena again.
"Look at her, Dante. She's hurt because of me."
"That isn't—"
"And Leo! What about Leo and the others? They're still out there fighting people who are willing to use those horrible potions without caring who gets hurt."
Her voice rose with every word.
"What if they don't make it? What if we get out of here and find out that everyone is dead?"
She tried to steady her breathing, but the fear had already taken hold.
"And Amber..."
Elena looked away.
She could still hear her friend's voice in her head.
You chose wrong.
The words hurt more now that she had time to think about them.
She had spent so long searching for Amber, holding on to the hope that somewhere beneath the curse was the friend she knew.
She had imagined their reunion countless times. She had pictured Amber crying in her arms, apologizing for everything that had happened, and finally coming home.
Instead, Amber had tried to kill her.
Elena's fingers curled into her palms.
"I thought I could reach her," she whispered. "I thought that if she saw me, if I explained everything, she would listen."
Her voice cracked.
"But she looked me in the eyes and tried to kill me, Dante."
She pressed a hand against her mouth.
"What if there's nothing left to save?"
Dante's expression softened.
For once, he had no playful remark to offer her.
He looked at Lena, then at Elena's tear-streaked face.
He understood why she was breaking down.
She wasn't only afraid of losing the people around her. She was terrified that every choice she made to save them would end up getting them killed.
Dante clenched his teeth.
"No. There's not."
Elena barely heard him.
"What?"
"It's not over yet."
He placed his uninjured hand against the floor and closed his eyes.
The air changed.
The remaining light inside the temple began to fade as shadows gathered around Dante's fingers. They crept across the stone, spreading outward like dark liquid before rising into the air.
Elena felt the temperature drop.
She opened her eyes and gasped.
Shadows poured from Dante's body, rushing through the cracks and gaps in the ruined walls. They moved with strange purpose, twisting and stretching until they began to take on human shapes.
Shadow assassins.
One after another, they emerged from the darkness.
Dante's breathing grew heavier.
His shoulders trembled as he forced more energy into his magic. Sweat gathered along his forehead, and his injured arm hung uselessly at his side.
He could feel the strain spreading through his body.
Creating a few shadows was manageable.
Creating this many, while injured and already exhausted, was something else entirely.
But he had no choice.
Leo and the others needed help.
And if he allowed his shadows to disappear now, Yami would have a clear path to them.
Dante gritted his teeth and pushed more energy into his magic.
With a final movement of his hand, the shadows shot in every direction, slipping through the ruined walls and vanishing into the darkness beyond.
Silence followed.
Dante's hand slipped from the floor.
He collapsed onto his side, breathing heavily.
"Dante!!" A scream tore out of her throat.