Chapter 152: Whispers in the Shadows
"I did what I thought was right. We needed answers."
In spite of her composure, the storm in her eyes was subdued. Clinging to the fallen temple were vines and mist partially submerging the temple in the surrounding fog. A few dim, ancient glyphs struggled gently on the worn stones of the temple, giving a feeling of life sullenly trapped in stone.
"What do you mean?" Alison narrowed his gaze. He crossed his arms and answered softly, firmly.
"You opened the seal without consulting us," snapped Kael, stepping forward. "That was a reckless move, Natasha. What if you've awakened something we can't handle?"
A bitter silence followed. The silent jungle had a watchful verdant heart beating in pace with the troubled voices.
Natasha exhaled slowly. "The inscriptions matched Ira's visions. The temple has some vital information about the trials. I couldn't wait. Time isn't on our side."
"But trust is," Josephine murmured, looking down at her.
Silent strain lay thick in the air and could be broken by even the slightest disturbance. The flimsy sense of unity fumblebashed by near-misses and enemies under camouflage were on the threshold to collapse.
Then Ira swayed.
For a moment her knees buckled but she pulled herself upright against the temple wall. Her fingers caught on a glowing symbol, and she yelped from sudden pain, as if she had been burned.
"Ira?" Natasha rushed forward.
However, the face of the witch changed to some extent. Her pupils dilated, voice hushed. "No... This place... It's not a temple. It's a tomb. A sealed zone. The corridor was not for us.
"What are you talking about?" Cyprian frowned.
For a second, Ira looked above and her irises flash a silver light. The glyphs were not meant to ward of intruders. Such symbols were meant to imprison something.
Jungle continued all around them in silence, its silence cold. Birds stopped chirping. A remote rumble was extending from the forest quickly replaced by complete silence. Stillness. There was silence – and it was as though it had spread through the entire forest.
Alison reached for his machete. "Something's wrong."
"We should go back," Josephine whispered.
However, the ground they were standing on shook. Just slightly. Just enough to notice.
Scream emerged all of a sudden – faraway, guttural and warped. Human… but not quite.
"What was that?" Kael spun, his blade drawn.
No one answered. Instead, Natasha's eye was pulled to the wall of the temple again – this time to a newly illuminated relief. It was dull at the beginning, then it blazed one time with spooky green light. It was her name.
Natasha.
Not scratched in. Not carved by human hands.
Burnt into the will of the jungle itself.
Her breath caught.
And then came the whisper.
Soft. Feminine. Stone scraped over metal cold.
"Power, eh…do you not…? I can let you have it. I can make them follow. Make them fear."
She stumbled back. "Who's there?"
No one answered. Only the jungle. The trees shivered. Leaves danced in non-existent breeze.
Ira stumbled this time, coughing and her fingers trembling. "It's trying to suppress me… My magic—it's... slipping.
"You said this is a cursed place", Cyprian said tightly.
Ira nodded, teeth clenched. "It's more than cursed. It's awake now."
Footsteps sounded and jerked them back to the trail whence they came.
Fresh. Human. None of them had however moved.
Josephine kneeled at the side of the mud path, pale. "We're not alone. Someone's watching."
Alison turned and looked at the trees with a narrowed expression. "Another team?"
"No," Ira said hoarsely. "Something else."
Stealth traps ahead of them had gone off – but not by anyone of them. Tripwires snapped. Baited spikes had been kicked out of the way, which was too neat and too planned. Whatever or whoever was ahead knew how not to leave a trace while hunting.
And yet… faint footprints remained. Deep enough to be visible but not deep. Guiding down into the shadows of the temple.
Natasha clutched her blade. Her pulse thundered. The voice returned—gentle this time. Almost kind.
Why do you succumb to their ruling? You have the strength. I can unlock it. Just say yes…"
"No," she whispered, jaw tight. "You're not real."
The jungle, however, wasn't generous with her: she had a few animal encounters
They camped close to the ruins on that night. Fires played restlessly, throwing long shadows which would not stay in place
No one spoke much. Tension clung like sweat.
Until there was a scream that cut through the silence.
"Josephine?" Natasha bolted upright.
But her tent was empty.
The group scrambled, torches flaring. Footprints carried through the ruins – toward a clearing that no one of them had ever seen.
There, under the moon light, there was a stone altar. Cracked. Ancient. Blood-marked.
And chiseled on its face in great ragged letters:
JOSEPHINE.
And beneath it…, the stone moved. New letters carving in real time, smoke coming from the burned stone.
NATASHA.
She stared.
And the voice purred in mind again.
"You cannot save them all. But I can save you…"