After the bright light had faded and the atmosphere in the temple had calmed down, Jacob stood still, immersed in a strange feeling of both power and emptiness. The trees surrounding the temple were gradually regaining their calm, but they couldn't forget what had happened. The ground was still shaking beneath their feet, as if the gate that had opened to the old world had not been completely closed. Deep down, Jacob knew that what had happened was only the beginning of something worse.
"Did we... did we do the right thing?" Liara asked, looking at Jacob anxiously. Her gaze moved between him and the temple, as if searching for any sign of whether or not they had succeeded in the mission.
Jacob shook his head, a hint of doubt in his eyes. "I don't think we closed it completely. This feeling... it's like the temple itself still retains some of that power." The words were coming out of his mouth with difficulty, and he knew that what had just happened couldn't be trusted. Even though the darkness had receded, there was something else looming, something that had yet to be completed.
As he stared at the temple, he felt something strange pulsing in his heart. He felt that the spirit that had bound itself to the stone was still a part of him, and that he was carrying a heavy burden that he could not fully comprehend yet.
"We must leave, before something else happens." Zara said, stepping slightly away from the stone, turning to take a deep breath. It was clear that the scene they had witnessed had left a deep impression on all of them.
But before they could take another step, Jacob felt something invisible moving on the horizon. It was a strange energy spreading from somewhere far away in the depths of the forest. This was not just a gut feeling, it was a real alert. Something was about to return.
"We cannot leave the temple now." Jacob said in a firm tone. "There is something we have not been able to close. Perhaps this stone is just a portal, and the darkness is still there somewhere else, waiting for an opportunity."
Liara, who had been afraid of facing the darkness, looked at him with questioning eyes. "You mean what we did wasn't enough?"
"Yes," Jacob replied, trying to control himself. "The darkness is merciless, and it won't simply disappear. If we close one gate, there are many more. And we won't stop until we're sure the darkness is gone for good."
Then they heard the same sound they had heard before they approached the stone: a deep roar, which seemed to come from far away. This time, the sound was getting louder, and it was coming from deep within the forest itself. The sound carried a new threat, and it reverberated throughout the entire temple.
"It's coming!" Liara shouted, turning in every direction. "We need to leave now!"
But Jacob was still where he was, breathing deeply, trying to gather his thoughts. "No, we can't run anymore. We need to find out where this voice really came from. We need to go to where it is."
Zara was confused, but he knew Jacob was right. "So, where is it?"
Jacob looked out to the horizon, where dense, misty trees swept across the landscape before them. "There, deep in the forest. We need to head there. If darkness returns, we must face it there."
Without hesitation, they began moving toward the heart of the forest, where the trees were growing denser, and the light was slowly fading. The atmosphere was charged with an invisible energy, as if the ground itself was warning them of danger.
As they advanced deeper into the forest, the silence grew thicker around them. Even the animal sounds that had previously filled the place had disappeared, and the forest had become a completely dark place. There were wisps of mist covering the path ahead of them, and everything seemed increasingly eerie.
"This place... doesn't feel safe." Liara said in a low voice.
But Jacob, who was leading the group, was trying to control his anxiety. "We have to keep going. Whatever awaits us, we have to face it."
Finally, after hours of walking through the dark forest, they arrived at what seemed like an old, abandoned site. The ground here was filled with ancient ruins mixed with tangled trees. On the ground, there was a circle of rocks, as if it had formed an ancient ritual.
Jacob cautiously approached the circle, and as he examined the place, he felt something strange deep within him. There was a tremendous energy gathering in this place, a dark energy surrounding them on all sides.
"We are here. This is the point of conflict," Jacob said, pointing to the surrounding rocks. "This is the gate."
At that moment, a tremendous dark energy exploded from within the circle, as darkness began to reshape itself before them, emerging from the ground itself. This was the moment they had been dreading.
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