~Kaida Orion POV~
The chamber shifted and one of the stones in the wall cracked. A burst of violet light flared...and suddenly the medallion around my neck grew hot, so hot I gasped. The child's eyes fluttered open and she looked at me. Exactly at me! The Second Sister! I couldn't move.
She stared as if she had been waiting, as if she had known I'd come.
Then her lips parted again. "You're not ready."
I found my voice. "Who are you?"
Her gaze softened. "What you left behind."
Before I could ask more, the chamber trembled and roots snapped free from the ceiling above us. Earth rumbled under my feet. A voice...not hers...echoed through the tunnel.
"You should not have come, Kaida."
I turned sharply. "Who's there?"
From the wall, a figure began to emerge, a body made of soil and vines, its eyes glowed red.
"You brought the medallion," it said, voice like breaking stone. "Now the key must be taken back."
I grabbed the dagger from my thigh. "Over my dead body!"
