The ground does not settle after the temple rises, because something deeper has only just begun.
Three nights after I reject the goddess publicly, the tremors return, but this time they do not stop at the exposed chamber we uncovered, and instead the earth splits again along a fault line that runs beneath the old stone staircase and reveals a deeper descent carved with markings far older than the surface ruins.
Axel orders the perimeter secured immediately while Atticus clears the lower chamber of civilians, and I feel the pull before I even step toward the opening, because whatever lies beneath was not exposed accidentally and whatever was sealed there was never meant to remain dormant forever.
The air inside the deeper chamber is colder and thicker than before, and the walls are etche
