Aiden’s POV

As we walked through the hidden door, darkness enveloped us immediately. My heart raced in my chest, the sound echoing off of everything, but I would have sworn it was silent. Her hand in the dark beside mine was a lifeline as we crept slower, and each footstep reverberated dreadfully through that narrowing hall.

I glanced at her, whispering, "Stay near. Her own eyes were sharp and blazing with the same fire that I felt. We had to succeed. Too much depended on it.

The passage then gave way to a dimly lit corridor whose walls were covered in runes that appeared centuries old and aglow with an...