The echo came first, sharp and clear against the hollow stone walls.
"Shellia… help me…!"
Everyone froze.
Orielle flared with golden fire, her voice brisk inside Shellia's head. ["Finally! He speaks! About time we found this elusive high priest."]
Sylas tilted his icy head, unimpressed. ["Or maybe it's another trick. Odds are ninety-nine percent scam, one percent Lumiel."]
Yuki fluttered his ten-year-old body forward, wings glimmering. ["Still, we can't ignore it. Shellia, lead the way!"]
Orryn stomped his hooves, frosty mist curling. ["I'm already betting five shards of ice that this isn't Lumiel."]
Shellia narrowed her eyes, her staff glowing faintly. "If this turns out to be another corrupted priest, I'll personally smash the next panel window with my bare hands."
Veyra snorted with her skeletal lungs, which somehow managed to make a hollow "clink." "That'll be hard, Master. Those windows never break."
