Eternal Embers
Alexander Vale leaned close behind her, his voice a soft murmur against the hush.
“This is the hour,” he said, nodding toward the mantle, where the contents of the ancient sketchbook lay splayed: cryptic maps, ciphered verses, and the faint outline of a serpent-headed key. “When the Circle’s wards weaken. The flame that once protected our ancestors now flickers thin.”
Isabelle’s breath caught. She reached out, fingertips trembling, to touch the sketchbook’s leather binding. “And if the flame is hollow,” she whispered, “what then remains to light our path?”
Sikat na Kabanata