~Kaida Orion POV~
The forest air was thick with root ink and rainwater, under the collapsed hatch, the chamber trembled. Storm thunder rumbled overhead. I held both girls tight against my chest...Lunara and the infant twin....while Biat and Moon Priest knelt beside, checking on other candles and the archive chest.
The portal above was inaccessible; broken stones and root entanglements blocked the spiraling steps. We were trapped in near total darkness, save for torchlight and flickering root runes etched into walls.
We listened as footsteps landed on wood above...heavier now, echo bounce into the cavern. The voice we'd heard earlier barked through stone:
"Lady Kaida, open this hatch. I know you hear me, you will face watery death otherwise."
My breath shuttered. That voice had come from deep inside the palace, from someone who knew the chest details and the twin existence.
