Chapter 15: The Cursed Artifact

The air grew colder as I descended deeper into the passage, the walls narrowing around me. The scent of earth and decay filled my nostrils, each step bringing me closer to a secret that had been buried for centuries.

My heart pounded in my chest, the echo of each beat reverberating in the confined space.

The passage finally opened into a wide chamber, its walls lined with ancient carvings that seemed to tell a story—a story that had been forgotten by time.

My breath caught as I stepped inside, the faint glow of the moon filtering through cracks in the stone ceiling, illuminating the room in an eerie light.

In the center of the chamber stood an altar, carved from stone and covered in strange symbols. And atop the altar, resting on a worn piece of cloth, was a small, intricately designed artifact.

It was made of some dark, gleaming metal that seemed to pulse with an otherworldly energy, its surface covered in symbols similar to those on the walls.

I approached it cautio