<b><i>"Repeat after me,"</i></b><b> Madeline instructed, her voice smooth yet commanding. She stood just outside the carefully drawn circle of salt, watching Irene with an intensity that sent a prickling sensation down her spine.</b>


    <b><i>"Vala’sin morathé, kethira do’en thalos,"</i></b><b> Madeline intoned, her words fluid, rolling off her tongue like an incantation from another time.</b>


    <b>The language was unlike anything Irene had ever heard—ancient, foreign, heavy with an eerie weight, as if it had been buried beneath centuries of silence. It clung to the air like smoke, curling into the shadows of the cave.</b>


    <b>Swallowing her unease, Irene hesitated before repeating, </b><b><i>"Vala’sin morathé, kethira do’en thalos."</i></b><b> The moment the words left her lips, a sharp gust of wind tore through the cavern, rattling through the stalactites like a whispered warning. The salt at her feet shifted ever so slightly. A chill slithered up her spine.</b>


    <b>Madeline continued, her tone unwavering. </b><b><i>"Feyrin no’a luthras, iridian nyal othir."</i></b>


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    <b>Irene repeated the phrase, her voice faltering. As she spoke, a sudden crack of thunder split through the cave, shaking her bones. She inhaled sharply as cold droplets of water splattered onto her face. Tilting her head up, she caught sight of the sky through the circular gap in the cave’s ceiling—a pale, ghostly moon hanging heavy above, rain trailing in slow, deliberate drops before giving way to a steady downpour.</b>


    <b>Madeline chuckled softly, a knowing amusement laced in her tone, but she pressed on. </b><b><i>"Thayrin dol marath, luth o’kaiyan."</i></b>


    <b>The moment the final words were uttered, the wind surged with a brutal force, howling through the cave like a wounded beast. Rain lashed down in sheets, drenching Irene’s clothes, making them cling to her skin.</b>


    <b><i>"Ugh,"</i></b><b> she muttered, shivering from the cold.</b>


    <b>Then—she felt it.</b>


    <b>A strange, tingling sensation spread beneath her skin, creeping through her limbs like an unseen current. It wasn’t just the rain. It was something deeper, something crawling inside her veins. Nerves? Fear? Or was it the spell itself?</b>


    <b><i>"Madeline, I don’t thin—"</i></b>


    <b>The words caught in her throat. Her vision twisted, the cave warping around her as if she were staring through shattered glass. A pressure built in her chest, suffocating, immense. Her breath hitched.</b>


    <b>And then—</b>


    <b>Everything went black.</b>