The amulet's light, though weakened, created a protective barrier around Isla, pushing back the serpentine woman's corrupting influence. The woman hissed, her golden eyes flashing with frustration. "You cling to that pathetic light," she sneered, her voice laced with venom. "It will only lead to your destruction."
She turned her attention to Kai, who lay wounded on the forest floor. "He is dying," she purred, her voice dripping with false sympathy.
"But I can save him. In exchange for your surrender, Isla. Embrace the darkness, and I will spare him."
Isla's heart pounded in her chest. The choice was a cruel twist of fate, a desperate bargain offered by the very darkness she sought to extinguish. She looked at Kai, his face pale, his breath shallow.
The woman's words echoed in her mind, a tempting whisper of power, of control.
"You lie," Isla choked out, her voice trembling. "Your promises are poison."
The woman's smile widened, revealing sharp, obsidian teeth.
"Do I?" she hissed. "Then watch him die." She raised a hand, her obsidian nails glinting in the dim light, and a dark energy began to coalesce around Kai's wounded form.
Isla knew, with a chilling certainty, that the woman was capable of fulfilling her threat. The shadow offered a terrible bargain, and Isla was caught in its cruel grip.