Chapter 116: Chapter 116: Shadows in the Sunlight

The desert seemed endless, a vast expanse of golden sands stretching out in every direction as far as the eye could see. The sun, now a fiery orb descending toward the horizon, cast long, stark shadows behind the group as they trudged across the dunes. Each step seemed to take them deeper into the heart of a world that felt more alien with every passing moment.

Ethan glanced back, his eyes narrowing at the faint outline of the ravine they had just escaped. The temple was gone, buried beneath tons of rock and sand, but the events of the past hours lingered like a dark cloud over them. The ground still trembled occasionally, the aftershocks of the temple's collapse sending ripples through the sands. It was as if the earth itself was struggling to swallow the ancient structure, to hide the secrets it had harbored for millennia.