Chapter Fifty

When the light blurred, Ethan found himself standing alone within the clearing, the box still clutched in his hand. The mist had lifted, the forest around him was frightfully quiet, and there was no sign of Lena or Selene. The old tree with its turned branches was gone, clearing out nothing but a charred fix of every where it had stood.

“Lena! Selene!” Ethan called out, his voice reverberating through the purge scene. There was no reaction, just the oppressive silence that appeared to close in around him.

His heart beat as he attempts to understand what had happened. One minute, they had been on the brink of a last showdown with the Abyss, and now… nothing. Had the Abyss succeeded in separating them? Or worse, had it already won?

Ethan’s grip tightened on the wooden box. The runes on its surface had gone dark, their eerie glow extinguished. Whatever power the box held, it was dormant now, and Ethan couldn’t shake the feeling that time was running out.

He took a deep breath, forcing hi