Chapter 196: still

Emily's breath was still ragged as she stood up, her legs shaking beneath her. The relic felt colder now, as if the energy it had unleashed had left it hollow, just like her. She glanced at Calem and Mara, both of them equally exhausted, but their eyes betrayed the same thought swirling in her mind: this wasn't over. Whatever force had conjured that shadow creature had greater control over the darkness than they had anticipated, and it would come for them again.

"We need to keep moving," Emily whispered, her voice hoarse. She looked around the eerily silent forest, which had fallen back into an unsettling calm. "There's something else… something bigger."

Mara glanced at her sword, its blade slick with the creature's remnants, and frowned. "Bigger than that thing? What could be worse?"

Emily stared at the ground, her mind grappling with the truth she had been avoiding. "That was just the beginning. I can feel it."