The silence in the cavern was suffocating. The air hung thick, saturated with an unseen energy that made Ochieng's skin prickle.
Cassandra was gone. Taken.
And Ochieng had no idea where.
His breathing was controlled, but his fists were clenched so tightly that his nails dug into his palms. His heartbeat was steady—too steady.
Something inside him was stirring.
Something that had been asleep for far too long.
Lin Feng's voice was hushed but urgent. "Ochieng, we need to leave. Now."
Ochieng didn't move. His eyes were locked on the spot where Cassandra had vanished.
It wasn't just a disappearance. It was an erasure.
The cavern walls were lined with strange symbols that seemed to glow faintly in the dim torchlight.
They hadn't been there before.
Ochieng took a step forward.
A whisper slithered through the air.
Not in a language he knew—but one he understood.
Lin Feng must have heard it too, because his hand went straight to his sword. "What the hell was that?"
Ochieng's eyes darkened.
"I don't know," he muttered. "But it's watching us."
Lin Feng's body went rigid. "What is?"
Ochieng didn't answer.
Because he already knew.
The entity that had taken Cassandra was still here.
Watching.
Waiting.
Testing him.
His pulse remained steady, his mind unnervingly clear. The symbols on the walls… the whispering… the feeling of something pressing down on his very soul—
This wasn't an ordinary attack.
It was a message.
And Ochieng knew exactly who it was meant for.
Him.
Lin Feng exhaled sharply. "We need to go. Now."
Ochieng didn't argue.
For now, there were no answers here.
But he would find them.
And when he did—
Whoever had taken Cassandra would wish they had killed him instead.