*MOONLIT SHADOW*
*Chapter Fourteen: The Jungle's Teeth*
The jungle was no longer just a maze of trees — it had become a living thing, and it was watching them.
After the clash with Khan, the clearing was deathly silent. The air pulsed with the residue of dark energy, and the altar at the center no longer glowed. Whatever power had once rested there had gone quiet… or withdrawn.
Jun stood in front of the stone, hand hovering inches from the surface. "It's not gone," he whispered. "It's hiding."
Mark approached slowly, still pale from his earlier wounds. "Then we need to find out why. This relic may be our only chance."
Niran circled the altar, her expression grim. "Khan was never meant to reach this place. If he could step into this sacred ground, something is wrong with the veil."
Dao crouched, brushing fingers over spirit-scored dirt. "Or someone is helping him."
Everyone turned at that. The unspoken word between them was *traitor*.
---
---
The group broke camp in tense silence the next morning.
Thick mist clung to the undergrowth, and the once-clear paths had twisted overnight. Jun felt it first — a shifting energy in the air, like the jungle itself had changed direction.
"We're being redirected," he said, pausing mid-step.
Lek frowned. "By what?"
"By *something* that doesn't want us to find the Heart," Jun replied.
Niran unsheathed her dagger. "Then we push through."
They hadn't gone far before the jungle attacked.
Vines lashed from the trees like whips. Phantom shapes darted between branches. One lunged at Mark, claws flashing — Jun reacted instantly, flinging a barrier of shimmering light between them.
Mark caught his breath, eyes locking with Jun's. "You saved me."
Jun smiled faintly, even as his fingers trembled. "I told you. I'm not losing you."
But even as they survived the ambush, the real threat was rising unseen — *within* their group.
Someone had tampered with Jun's protective seals while he slept. A ward stone went missing from Dao's pack.
And no one was talking.
---
The silence that followed the attack was heavy.
They regrouped by a fallen tree, breathless, bruised, and covered in scratches from both plant and spirit alike. But something deeper had been cut — their trust.
"I don't lose things," Dao growled, turning out their empty ward pouch. "Someone took it."
Jun's gaze moved from face to face, lingering on each of them. "We're the only ones out here."
Mark stepped forward, jaw tight. "Then we have to consider the possibility we've been infiltrated."
Niran raised a brow. "You think Khan has someone in our group?"
"No," Jun said softly. "I think someone is hiding something… and it's drawing danger to us."
---
They pressed deeper into the jungle, and the trees changed. Thicker trunks. Symbols carved into bark in a language only Jun recognized — spirit script. It wasn't just a jungle anymore. It was a tomb.
The deeper they went, the more Jun felt something pulling at his soul — familiar, ancient… and afraid.
That night, as the others rested, Jun wandered toward a pool glowing faintly with moonlight. There, a vision took him — one not from the veil, but from memory.
His mother's voice. Her final warning. "If you ever find the naga's heart… do not trust the one who wants it most."
He turned — and behind him stood Mark.
Watching.
---
Mark stepped forward, his presence heavy in the stillness.
"I didn't mean to scare you," he said softly.
Jun turned, heart still racing from the echo of his mother's voice. "You didn't. Just… the jungle's loud tonight."
Mark hesitated. "You've been quiet since the fight."
Jun looked away. "Something feels wrong. Someone among us is lying. And… I think my past is tied to all this more than I realized."
Mark moved closer. "Tell me."
Jun's voice cracked. "My mother warned me, long ago. About the naga's heart. She said never trust the one who wants it most."
Mark went still. "You think it's me."
Jun met his eyes. "I don't want to. But the pact in you… it's reacting to the relic. And we still don't know who gave it to you."
The moment stretched long and painful.
Mark finally whispered, "I don't remember. That night… it's blank."
Jun's heart clenched. "Or someone made you forget."
Before Mark could answer, a scream shattered the jungle's silence.
They ran back to camp.
Dao stood over Lek — unconscious, ward scars burned into his skin.
Niran's dagger was missing.
And above them, carved into the tree, was one word: *TRAITOR*.
---
betrayal strikes, a hidden enemy makes a move, and the emotional stakes rise:
---
Dao backed away from Lek's body, blade drawn, eyes narrowed.
"He's alive," they said. "Barely. But something drained his spirit energy."
Jun knelt beside Lek, placing his hands over the wounds. "These burns… this wasn't a normal spirit. This was dark magic. Human-made."
Mark scanned the area, his own power starting to stir, darker and hungrier. "Niran's gone."
Dao cursed. "She said she was sent by the elders."
Jun's expression shifted. "What if she was sent by Khan instead?"
Silence.
Then, a groan.
Lek stirred, barely conscious. "The dagger… she whispered in a language I couldn't understand. Then everything… went black."
Jun stood slowly, rage in his voice. "She's the traitor."
Mark's pact pulsed dangerously in his chest. "She's working with Khan. She brought us here — led us straight to the altar."
Dao's grip tightened. "We walked into a trap."
Jun met Mark's eyes. "We need to stop her… before she gives Khan what he needs."
Just then, a dark pulse echoed through the trees. The jungle trembled.
Far ahead, toward the naga altar, a column of violet light erupted into the sky.
"She's already begun the ritual," Jun whispered.
Mark took his hand, gripping it tight. "Then this ends tonight."
To be continued.