Chapter 24: The Second
Descent
The
shard-guided path led them to the next trial: an enormous chasm filled with
glowing, floating stones. The shards in their possession began to vibrate,
pulling them toward a series of narrow ledges that formed a precarious path.
“This place
is more alive than the last,” Rhea observed. The faint whispers they’d heard in
the first trial were absent here, replaced by a strange hum that seemed to
resonate through their bones.
As they
crossed the ledges, the ground trembled, and pieces of the path began to
crumble. Kiran leaped ahead, landing on a stable platform. “Move fast! This
place doesn’t want us here!”
The hum
grew louder, and from the depths of the chasm emerged a creature unlike
anything they’d seen before: a massive, stone-framed serpent with glowing eyes.
Its body was lined with sharp, crystalline spines that shimmered with light.
“Of
course there’s a guardian,” Mira muttered, her voice tense.
The
serpent coiled, blocking their path. It didn’t attack immediately, but its
glowing eyes bore into each of them, testing their resolve.
“We don’t
have time for this!” Kiran said, raising his shard.
“Wait,”
Rhea said, holding out a hand. She stepped forward cautiously, her shard
glowing brighter. “I don’t think it’s here to fight. It’s guarding something.”
The
serpent hissed, its movements deliberate but not hostile. As Rhea extended her
shard, the creature seemed to calm, lowering its head to reveal a glowing
pedestal behind it.
Mira’s eyes widened. “The second fragment.
