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My vision blurred, not from any physical obstruction, but from the emotional onslaught I was undergoing.
For a brief moment, the creature’s eyes softened, the mask seemingly unable to hide its genuine sorrow. “This is the way it must be,” it murmured.
Desperation gripped me, my senses screaming in protest.
The vibrancy of the colors around me, the distinct sounds, the heightened sensations — everything felt so much more acute in that moment of anticipated loss. “No!” I shouted, a raw scream that echoed throughout the temple. “You can’t!”
Isla’s eyes were wide, terror evident in every line of her face.
Tears spilled down her cheeks, the droplets catching the dim light, looking like a cascade of shimmering stars.
The vortex began to pull, its suction increasing.
I strained against my restraints, muscles bulging, but it was futile.
The feeling of impending doom was almost tangible, wrapping around me like a smothering cloak.
They were never going to stop.
They couldn’t.
They didn’t know how to.
How many times had I had this same conversation with them?
How many times had I tried?
Tried… and failed?
And then, just as the pull of the vortex intensified to an almost unbearable level, I screamed one last time, a raw and primal sound, my voice filled with anguish and desperation.
Tried… and failed.
17
ISLA
The temple echoed with the monotonous drone of the chanting figures, a deep chorus that resonated through every stone and bone.
My skin prickled as the ancient words, incomprehensible and haunting, filled the chamber.
Each phrase seemed to rattle inside my head, bouncing off the walls of my skull and making me even more disoriented.
Bound to the cold, hard concrete, I felt the bite of the thin strings that tied me down.
They looked as delicate as spider’s silk, but their strength was unyielding.
Every time I tried to move, they dug deeper into my skin, a sharp, stinging reminder of my helplessness.
Their magical potency was evident; they not only restrained my body but also seemed to be sapping my strength, leaving me weaker by the moment.
Across the room, I caught Thillak’s eyes, those deep pools of determination and fear.
His face, usually so confident and self-assured, was a canvas of raw emotion.
His eyes spoke volumes, trying to convey words of comfort, but the anxiety lurking in their depths was unmistakable.
We were both out of our depth, ensnared in a web spun by forces we couldn’t comprehend.
