Chapter One Hundred

As Marcus lay recovering, Clara’s heart ached with relief, but her mind couldn’t shake the looming sense of dread. The tremors had subsided, but the darkness that had briefly returned wasn’t gone, it was hiding, waiting. The sky, once brightening with the new dawn, seemed veiled in an eerie, gray mist that swirled as though alive.

Marcus slowly sat up, his body still weak from the ritual, but his eyes were clear. “Clara...,” he began, his voice hoarse.

“Don’t speak,” Clara urged, gently pushing him back down. “You need to rest.”

“I’m fine,” he insisted, though his strength was clearly not back. He looked into her eyes, his hand finding hers. “You saved me, Clara.”

A brief, tender silence passed between them, but there was no time for it to last. Ethan stepped forward, his expression tense. “We need to move,” he said. “Whatever that was, it’s not over.”

Clara nodded, and though she wanted to stay by Marcus’s side, she knew Ethan was right. The battle wasn’t done yet.

The group didn’t l