Chapter Sixty

Miriam's face was pale with strain as she held the gleaming artifact on high, her hands trembling with the exertion. The light it radiated was more or less a beacon, pushing back the onerous obscurity that encompassed them. Ethan felt its warmth, a stark difference to the cold, pernicious energy of the chasm. But indeed as he recaptured his strength, he saw that the artifact's light was blurring, the brilliance that had driven back the shadowy figure starting to dim.

Ethan battled to his feet, his body still hurting from the surge of dull energy that had almost overpowered him. He drew closer to Miriam, his voice pressing. “We have to move, now and fast! This place is waking up, and we can't be here when it does.”

Miriam gestured, her breath coming in brief pants. “The light won't go on much longer,” she said, her voice tinged with fear. “We have to discover the source of the obscurity and crush it before it destroys us.”

Ethan looked around the chamber, the old carvings on the divide