Thin, black threads shot up from the floor and coiled around my arms and chest. I tried to pull free, but they moved too fast.
My feet slipped. The threads yanked me backward across the stone.
"Elara! RUN!" I shouted.
She reached for me, but more threads came from behind her. They wrapped around her legs and pulled her to the ground.
A faint veil of light sealed over the chamber's entrance.
Then the room filled with sound. It wasn't speech or chanting. Just broken whispers from all directions.
"Lucian," Echo said sharply. "This is a binding ward. It doesn't hold the body, it locks the soul. If it completes the seal, you will have hard time to escape."
The threads climbed toward my chest.
"Elara!" I turned my head. "Can you reach the glyph by the arch?"
She struggled, one hand outstretched. "I can't. The stone is draining my mana.."
I looked at the floor. The runes flickered, blinking in and out like they were misaligned.
The formation wasn't stable. If I directed just enough energy into the structure, I could force it to break.
"I'm breaking it," I said.
"Do it now," Echo replied.
I pressed my palm to the glyph and focused. The Ouroboros mark reacted instantly, pushing power down through my arm.
The floor groaned. A crack split through the center of the seal. The threads recoiled, tearing away from our bodies as the energy collapsed.
The whispers fell silent. The barrier broke apart with a sharp release of pressure. The air returned to normal.
Elara sat up, breathing hard. "That wasn't just a trap. It was a defense mechanism, meant to trap someone who triggered it."
"Someone like us," I said. I pushed myself to my feet and looked toward the pile of bones near the wall.
One of the bones shifted. A rib cage turned slightly. The skull tilted, then locked into place.
"Elara," I said. "Get up. Now."
The bones started pulling together. The movements were stiff and uneven, like something forcing the pieces to fit faster than they should.
Flesh started forming. It didn't grow naturally. It covered the bones in thin layers, pale and cold.
Veins appeared after, running across the surface. One eye opened. The other stayed closed, sealed under damaged skin.
Shadow clung to its left arm. Light shimmered from its right. Both pulsed in uneven rhythm, pushing against each other.
Elara backed away. "What is that?"
"Ghoul," Echo answered in my mind. "It's what happens when someone fails to convert from one god to another. The power clashed breaking their soul. What's left becomes that."
The ghoul stepped forward.
"Elara," I said, "stay behind me."
It moved fast. I caught the first strike with my forearm and staggered from the impact. The strength didn't match its frame.
I let the power flow in and hit back. My fist connected with its chest. Bone cracked, but the wound sealed immediately.
"It regenerates," Echo said. "As long as both energies remain balanced, it will keep going."
Elara raised both hands. Light gathered in her palms.
She pushed it forward in a sharp burst. The ghoul staggered but kept moving.
"I can't hurt it," she said. "It's not reacting to the light."
"It's not alive," I said. "You can't purify it. Just draw its focus."
I moved to the side and stepped in close. The ghoul turned toward me. I slipped behind it and drove my fist into its back, pushing my mana through the strike.
The body jerked. Its arms shook.
A surge of shadow spilled from its side, followed by a wave of light that cracked the floor beneath it.
"It's tearing itself apart," Echo said. "Push both forces out of sync."
"Elara!" I called. "Pour your mana on it chest."
She nodded. Light gathered again, stronger this time. She aimed a narrow beam.
I moved in as it hit, driving my fist into the center of the ghoul's chest.
The ghoul froze. Its body shook, then collapsed inward. Shadow and light pulled apart, and the rest of it fell into ash.
Elara stood still, hands faintly glowing. She looked down at the remains. "That used to be someone," she said quietly.
Before I could respond, something shifted near the back of the room.
I turned. Another pile of bones was moving. Then another.
Three more forms started to take shape. Layers of flesh began to form over them, piece by piece.
Elara took a step back. "Why are more rising?"
"That formation didn't just trap us," I guessed. "It was also keeping them contained. Now that it's broken, nothing is holding them back."
More ghouls rose from the corners of the room. Four, maybe more hidden in the dark. Their bodies weren't fully formed yet, but they were stabilizing fast.
"Lucian," Echo said. "You can't fight them all. If you stay, you'll die."
I grabbed Elara's arm. "We're leaving. Now."
"But what if-"
"They're already gone," I said. "There's nothing left to save."
The closest ghoul started moving. Light flickered under its skin, clashing with shadow that poured out from its back.
One of them released a shockwave of magic Elara dropped to her knees. I pulled her behind a pillar.
Echo spoke again. "The chamber is reacting. The energy is spreading. More rune are activating."
The ceiling above us started to glow. Runes vibrated across the stone, growing brighter.
"We need to find the exit," I said.
"There's a path," Echo said. "Behind that one." He pointed toward a sealed arch behind the ghouls.
"Can I break it?"
"Yes, but are you sure? You'll need to use the remaining blessing from the pries to create light construct spell."
I didn't reply, I looked at Elara. "Stay close. Blind them if they come too near. Don't try to fight."
She nodded.
I moved quickly. The ghouls responded, but their movements were still slow and unstable.
One reached out to strike, but I stepped past it and drove a blow into its leg, knocking it down. Behind me, Elara released a burst of light. The second ghoul hesitated, its body stiffening as the glow hit its eyes.
I pushed forward and reached the archway. The seal covering it was still active, glowing with a mix of shadow and light.