Chapter 78
Shadows Unleashed
The whisper slithered through the room like a snake, cold and taunting.
“You think you’re safe in here?”
The air in the cabin thickened, pressing down on Elena’s chest like an unseen weight. The others felt it too—she could see it in their rigid postures, in the way their hands hovered over weapons, in the sharp, shallow breaths filling the silence.
The lantern flickered violently, casting jagged shadows across the walls. And in the darkest corner of the room, those golden eyes gleamed.
A figure took shape, no longer just a whisper in the dark.
It was here.
Elena’s pulse pounded in her ears.
Richard moved first, drawing his gun and firing off a round. The bullet sliced through the shadow, hitting the wooden wall behind it.
It didn’t even flinch.
Instead, it laughed—a deep, guttural sound that sent a shiver down Elena’s spine.
A Battle Against the Unknown
“We need to move!” Naomi snapped, pulling Elena back just as the shadow lunged forward.
The cabin shook as an unseen force slammed into the walls. Dust rained down from the ceiling, the old wooden beams groaning in protest.
Amira was flipping through her notebook, frantically searching for something.
“There has to be a way to contain it,” she muttered, flipping page after page. “Something in the texts—”
Mateo grabbed her wrist. “We don’t have time to read, Amira!”
“We can’t fight something that’s not fully here!” Amira snapped back. “We have to bind it before it gains form!”
Elena barely heard them.
Her eyes were locked on the shadow.
It was growing.
The golden eyes glowed brighter as it pulled itself from the darkness, gaining mass, becoming more real.
The seal wasn’t just broken.
It was failing.
The Last Line of Defense
“Elena!” Richard barked. “Tell me we have a plan!”
She gritted her teeth. “Amira’s right. We need to contain it—before it’s too late.”
Naomi’s gaze darted to the table. “The sigils—what if we redraw them?”
Amira’s head snapped up. “That could work. It won’t hold forever, but it’ll buy us time.”
“Then let’s do it!” Richard ordered.
Mateo was already clearing the table, shoving aside papers and weapons. Amira grabbed a piece of chalk, her hands steady as she began sketching the intricate symbols.
The shadow snarled, sensing what they were doing.
“You think you can trap me again?”
The room shuddered, the air thick with static.
Elena’s chest tightened as the voice slithered through her skull.
It was inside her mind again.
For a split second, she felt it—a glimpse of its hunger, its rage.
It wasn’t just trying to escape.
It wanted revenge.
She staggered, her vision blurring, but Naomi’s grip on her arm kept her grounded.
“Stay with me,” Naomi said. “We’re almost there.”
Amira completed the last sigil, the symbols glowing faintly on the wooden floor.
“Now!” she shouted.
Elena dropped to her knees, pressing her palm against the center of the symbol.
The air crackled.
The shadow howled, thrashing as the sigils ignited with a blinding golden light.
For a moment, Elena thought it would resist—thought it would break free anyway—
Then, with one final, earsplitting scream, the shadow was yanked back into the darkness.
Silence fell.
The air cleared.
The oppressive weight lifted.
For a long moment, no one moved.
Then, Mateo let out a shaky breath. “Holy hell…”
Elena’s hands trembled as she pushed herself up. They had won this round.
But she wasn’t foolish enough to believe it was over.
Not yet.
A Temporary Victory
Richard was the first to break the silence.
“We need to leave,” he said, voice firm. “Now.”
Elena nodded. “We bought ourselves time, but that thing—it’s not gone.”
Amira closed her notebook, her expression grim. “No. It’s still out there. And next time, it’ll be stronger.”
Naomi wiped sweat from her brow. “Then we better figure out how to stop it for good.”
Elena looked at the glowing sigils, at the faint echoes of power still lingering in the air.
They had held the line tonight.
But the real fight was just beginning.
