Cassian dropped to his knees beside the cracked hole where Elara had fallen.
"Elara!" he shouted again.
No answer.
He stood, fists clenched, trying not to panic. The air down here was strange- too thick, too warm. It felt like the cave was closing in around him. He grabbed his flashlight and pointed it into the hole.
All he saw was darkness.
"I'm coming down," he muttered, even though she couldn't hear him.
He spotted a stone ladder carved into the side of the hole- narrow, uneven, and deep. Without a second thought, he slipped off his jacket, slung his bag over one shoulder, and started climbing.
Each step echoed with a low hum, like the stone itself remembered something painful.
Below…
Elara stood frozen.
The figure behind the glass- the one with the spiral on its palm- was gone. Or hiding.
Her name had faded too, like mist on a mirror.
She looked around. The room was shaped like a circle, and the walls shimmered with faint, moving light. Inside the glass were shadows- always shifting, always watching, but never clear.
She walked slowly, the cold stone biting into her bare feet.
She had landed hard, but she didn't feel pain. Only… lightness. Like part of her had been left behind in the fall.
Then the whispers returned.
But this time, they weren't just whispers. They were words.
Her voice.
"Don't read it, Elara. Don't listen. It lies."
She froze.
That was her voice, but not from her mouth.It was coming from the wall.
The shadows behind the glass laughed softly.
Above…
Cassian finally reached the bottom. He dropped into a smaller chamber and spotted Elara's flashlight lying near the wall. He grabbed it, shouting, "Elara!"
Her voice drifted faintly from deeper inside the chamber.
He ran.
The stone corridor twisted like a serpent. Every few steps, he saw markings on the wall- different from the usual spirals. These were drawings.
One showed a girl trapped in a book.
Another showed a face being erased.
And another…
Cassian stopped.
It was his brother.
Drawn in red, carved roughly. His face, his eyes, his smile- exactly as Cassian remembered. But with one difference:
A spiral was carved right through his chest.
Far away… but not forgotten…
Maris sat on the cold floor, her back against the wall. Her hair was messy, her lips dry, her eyes tired.
She had stopped counting days. Time didn't work here.
But she still remembered one thing.
Elara.
She had seen her. Not clearly, but in flashes, in pages, in dreams. The book let her see sometimes. Just enough to break her heart.
She remembered the day she disappeared.
The book had shown her a page.
Just one.
And on it was a promise.
"Bring the book to life."
She hadn't known what it meant.She had read the page aloud.And the spiral on her skin had burned for the first time.
Now, she was part of the Grimoire. A voice in the pages. A memory that screamed behind glass.
Still… she hadn't lost hope.
"If she's here," Maris whispered, "she might find me."
Then she stood- slowly, shakily.
And for the first time in forever, she walked toward the glass.
Back in the chamber…
Elara spun around when she saw movement.
A girl. Behind the glass.
Tired. Pale. But familiar.
"Elara?" the girl mouthed.
Elara gasped.
"Maris!"
The glass glowed.
So did Elara's spiral.
So did the ring in her pocket.
Then the voices whispered again- louder, more urgent:
"Two voices wake.One must break."
The floor shook.
The lights flickered red.
And somewhere above, Cassian was running straight into the dark- toward her.