The black, throbbing rune inscribed on Elara's palm throbbed with a nauseating beat, an unholy imitation of the ancient power she had called upon. The ground trembled beneath their feet, the rubble crunching and groaning, as the rumble of a hungry, deep growl echoed from the darkness of the formed chasm. It was a sound that bore witness to ancient power and ghastly rage, a primal echo that resonated with the black rune on her hand, a ghastly symphony of awakening.
From the chasm's depths, there poured a wave of dark energy, a constricting tide that flooded the ruined room. Two colossal, flaming eyes opened in the darkness, looking at Elara and Caius, their light blazing with an ancient, evil power. The air was thick with raw, unbridled power, the scent of ozone and decay surging, a choking pall that suffocated their lungs.
"What is that?" Caius breathed, his voice gruff, his eyes wide with terror as he stared into the abyss.
Elara, her gaze fixed on the blazing eyes, felt a sickening pull, a shadow echo, a connection to the ancient power that emanated from the pit. Her rune on the palm of her hand pulsed, its dark rhythm intensifying, echoing the harsh growl, an evil symphony of awakening.
"I don't know," she replied, her voice taut, her eyes shining with a gentle, red light. "But it's connected to me. To the rune."
The radiant eyes moved, their sight abandoning Elara to alight upon the rune on her hand. A low, guttural voice, an ancient, mighty one, boomed up from the depths of the chasm.
"The vows… they are broken," the voice rasped, its words echoing through the profaned chamber. "But the price… the price is paid in blood. And you, Elara… you are the vessel."
The dark energy surged out of the void, forming a dark silhouette which emerged from below, a horrid figure standing over them, its shape concealed behind boiling darkness, its shining eyes burning into their very essence. Elara's rune on her hand glowed, its black beat intensifying, as if vibrating the figure's strength.
"We need to get out of here," Caius shouted, his voice raw, his hand on the hilt of his sword, his knuckles white. He pulled Elara to the edge of the chasm, a desperate dash from the encroaching darkness.
The dark shape shifted, its form rippling and flowing, its light-filled eyes fixed on Elara. A flash of dark mana burst forth from its form, a whipping tendril of razor-sharp energy that cut off their escape.
Caius parried the blow, the clash of steel and dark energy echoing through the destroyed chamber. The force of the impact sent him stumbling back, his eyes widening in shock.
"It's too powerful," he growled, his voice strained with tension. "We can't fight it here."
Elara was overwhelmed with a surge of raw, untamed energy within her, a black harmony with the rune on her hand. The red sores on her skin pulsed, their glow intensifying, vibrating the black rhythm of the rune.
"The rune," she whispered, her voice little more than a sigh. "It's reacting to it."
The dark figure let out another blast of dark mana, this one forming into a series of razor-sharp projectiles that descended upon them like dark, deadly stars. Caius knocked some aside, but others skirted his defences, striking the rubble around them, splintering the stone into shards.
Elara screamed in agony as a projectile brushed against her side, causing a deep, bleeding gash. The wound throbbed with dark magic, keeping it from healing.
"We must destroy the rune," she yelled, her voice raw, her eyes locked on the dark figure. "It's the key to its power."
Caius nodded, his expression grim. "But how? We have no idea what it will do."
Before they could plan, the dark figure rushed forward, its form twisting into a black, churning whirlpool. Dark mana churned around it; it thickened, coagulating into an unbelievable, heavy force that launched itself at them, shattering them asunder.
Elara crashed into the ruined wall, the wind driven from her chest, her eyes blurring. The abyss churned, the glowing eyes of the figure burning into her very being.
She saw Caius stand up, his face stern, his sword at the ready. The dark figure stood before them, its presence looming, its shining eyes on Elara.
"The vessel is mine," the figure croaked, its voice echoing through the ruined room. "The ancient one stirs. And you, Elara, are its key."
The rune on Elara's palm pulsed, its black beat intensifying, as if echoing the figure's words. The red marks on her skin glowed brighter, their light spreading across her flesh. She was attracted to something, a dark resonance, a link to the ancient power that emanated from the chasm.
"No," she whispered, her voice strained, her hands tightening into fists. "I won't be a vessel. I won't be controlled."
She focused her final will, channelling the wild energy within her, attempting to sever the connection between her and the rune. Her crimson welts tingled, the rune on her palm pulsed out of control, and the room shook ferociously.
The dark figure unleashed a tidal wave of black energy, an uncontrolled, raw power that swept at Elara, trying to hold her back, to make her its vessel. The black energy met the anarchic energy of Elara, creating an explosive burst of light, a savage blast that shook the ravaged chamber.
The beast flinched, the shining eyes vast with horror, a flicker of fear beneath. The mark on Elara's palm surged wildly, the dark beat stammering.
"You cannot challenge the ancient one," the creature croaked, its voice deteriorating, cracked. "It hungers. And you. You are its feast."
The chasm beneath them began to tremble, the ground cracking and splitting, as though the ancient power within was attempting to break through. From the bottom of the chasm, a surge of black energy erupted, a colossal tendril that reached out towards Elara, its form twisting and pulsating with malevolent purpose. As the chasm begins to shudder and open and the tendril of black energy reaches out to take Elara, the rune upon Elara's palm begins to shine with a brilliant, blinding radiance, and the red marks upon her skin pulse with a dark, methodical rhythm, as though responding to the summons of the old power, leaving the reader in suspense over what the rune is, what the ancient one is, and what the fate of Elara will be as the chasm opens its jaws to swallow them all.