The ruins were alive with a hum, faint but insistent, as though the stones themselves were breathing. The air was thick with an ancient energy, one that Elara could feel in her very bones. It was intoxicating, almost overwhelming. Her fingertips brushed against the cold stone of the altar, and for a moment, she swore the world around her shifted, as if the very fabric of reality had stretched thin and was about to snap.
Aiden's voice broke through the tension, soft but urgent. "Elara, this is too much. We need to leave. Now."
But she couldn't. She didn't want to. Every part of her being was drawn to the altar, drawn to the power that lay dormant, waiting. The Void whispered to her, its presence both terrifying and tantalizing. She had felt it before, but now, standing here in the heart of the ruin, it felt different—closer, more real. It wasn't just a force she had sensed in the distance. It was inside her, around her, calling to her.