Semua Bab The Cobra of Smoke - The Burden of Sight: Bab 1 - Bab 10

Shantali grabbed her phone and stood. "My shift ends in two hours. I'm finishing it."She strode past him, ignoring his sigh. In the corridor, she checked that he wasn't following before making a sharp turn toward the security monitoring room instead of returning to her patrol route. The night supervisor, Garcia, was on his dinner break—she'd have fifteen minutes, maybe twenty, to review the footage herself.The monitoring room hummed with the soft electronic breathing of a dozen screens. Shantali slid into the chair and quickly navigated to the Egyptian wing's camera feeds, rewinding to 2:45 AM. She watched herself enter the frame, flashlight beam sweeping methodically across the displays.Then she stopped, just as David had described. The camera angle showed her profile as she stood facing the canopic jars, her posture alert but not alarmed. No smoke visible. No cobra manifestation. Nothing but her, frozen in place while the timestamp ticked forward: 2:46... 2:47...At 2:48, she saw

She stared at the text, then at the ancient warning on the page before her. Was she already following Khenti's path? The very act of researching these prophecies felt like the beginning of the obsession the texts described.But she needed to know more. In Dr. Thorne's posthumously published journal, she found a passage that made her heart race:The serpent smoke phenomenon appears to manifest during periods of intense electromagnetic activity around certain artifacts. My preliminary research suggests that individuals with heightened sensitivity to these fields may experience what can only be described as temporal displacement—brief glimpses into probability streams rather than fixed futures. The danger lies not in the visions themselves, but in wanting to understand more about them so that the receiver can control the outcome. If you are reading this and have seen visions given by the cobra, don’t overthink the visions, live your life with those who love you, not what ifs, or all that

"No," she whispered. "But what if the visions were warnings? What if something terrible happens and I could have prevented it?"David's eyes held hers steadily. "Tali, even without mystical smoke serpents, we never know what the future holds. That's what makes each choice meaningful." He gestured around the gallery. "These artifacts have survived thousands of years, witnessing countless human lives with all their joys and tragedies. The only certainty is change."As if responding to his words, the heating vent near by began spill what first looked like vapor but quickly be came thinker, darker like smoke and the smell of burning jasmine began to fill the air.David's grip on her hand tightened as the scent intensified, his eyes widening as he witnessed what she'd tried to describe. The smoke didn't rise randomly—it moved with purpose, coiling upward in spirals that defied the gallery's air circulation patterns."Jesus," he breathed, but his voice held wonder rather than fear. "Tali, d

The vision flickered in her memory, but softer now, stripped of its ominous weight. Just life, with all its inevitable difficulties, made bearable by shared commitment."I love you," she said simply."I love you too." He raised his wine glass. "To new beginnings and mysterious smoke creatures who know better than we do what we need."They clinked glasses, and Shantali felt something settle into place—not the desperate certainty of prophecy, but the quiet confidence of choice freely made.As they walked to David's car after dinner, the October night crisp around them, Shantali's phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number: Dr. Hassan, MMAA. Heard you've been researching serpent smoke phenomena.Shantali responded: Somethings aren’t meant to be researched to much, they’re meant to be gifts for those who need clarity when their lives come to a crossroad as they let fear take hold. Life is meant to be lived with those we love and love us not to chase what ifs.The response came quickl

When she finally looked up, David was watching her from the doorway, two mugs in his hands and love in his eyes."How's it coming?" he asked, setting her coffee beside the laptop."It's not about understanding anymore," she said, realising the truth as she spoke it. "It's about honouring the experience by letting it go."David nodded, understanding completely as he always did. "That's how you know the cobra chose well."Shantali saved the document and closed her laptop. The story would wait. Right now, the present moment—with its coffee aroma and morning light, with David's smile and the weight of the ring on her finger—demanded her full attention.And for the first time since smoke had coiled into prophecy, she gave it willingly, choosing the life before her over the mysteries behind."I like the name change," David said, settling beside her on the couch. "Imogen has a certain mystique to it.""I thought so too." Shantali closed her laptop and leaned into his warmth. "Fictional enoug