The Omega Mated To The Four

As we stepped deeper into the pyramid, the air grew heavier, filled with an ancient energy that pressed against our skin. The walls of the corridor shimmered faintly, etched with symbols that seemed to shift when we weren't looking. It was clear that this place was more than just an old ruin-it was a temple, a sacred space dedicated to the goddess.

The air inside the temple was thick with an ancient energy that made my skin tingle. The deeper we moved into the temple, the more I felt as if something or someone-was watching us. The walls were carved with strange symbols and statues of wolves, shifting and shimmering like they were alive. I traced my fingers over one of the engravings, feeling warmth pulse beneath my fingertips.

"What is this place," Isaiah muttered beside me, his eyes scanning the dimly lit chamber.

I nodded, pulling out the map. The moment I unfolded it, the markings shifted, rearranging themselves before my eyes. The old map of the uncharted realm vanished, replaced by an intricate layout of the temple.

"The map changed," I murmured.

The others gathered around, their expressions tense.

"What's it showing now?" Alex asked, leaning in.

"There are four levels," I explained, my eyes darting over the new pathways. "We're at the very top, and we need to make our way down to the bottom. Collecting all four shards at each level." "There are four layers to this pyramid," Stormi said, her voice thoughtful. "We're at the very top, and we the bottom. That's where we'll find all the shards." eed to make our way to Austin groaned. "Of course, they couldn't have just left them out in the open for us." "And where's the first one?" Alex asked impatiently.

I lifted my gaze from the parchment and scanned the chamber, That's when I saw it-at the far end of the room, raised on a stone pedestal, sat a gleaming shard of crystal, locked inside a glass case. It shimmered like moonlight, pulsing with a faint glow..

"There," I said, pointing.

Austin grinned. "Well, that was easy." A knot of unease twisted in my stomach. "Nothing about this has ever been easy." But Austin wasn't listening. He was already stepping forward, his confidence practically radiating off him. "Careful" I warned.

"Relax, Stormi. It's right there. What could go wrong?" The moment his foot touched the first step leading to the pedestal, sharp click echoed through the chamber. Everything moved.

hells trembled, ancient carvings lighting up with a sinister red glow. The ground beneath us shifted, deep cracks forming as massive stone slabs siid apart, revealing bottomless chasms. Hidden mechanisms activated with a deafening clang, and suddenly, spears shot out from the walls, narrowly missing Austin's head.

1/3 Chapter 197 Isaiah groaned. "You idiot." Austin stumbled back, looking sheepish. "Okay... maybe sthings could go wrong." The temple had turned into a death trap. The once-silent chamber now roared with grinding stone and snapping mechanisms. The floor was a shifting puzzle, moving unpredictably, and at any moment, one of us could fall. "We have to move!" I shouted.

We had no choice but to get to the pedestal before the temple buried us alive. The problem was-how? The shifting ground was a maze of collapsing tiles, and the spears weren't slowing down.

Alex was the first to act. He lifted his hands, summoning flames that illuminated the room, casting eerie shadows against the walls.

"There's a pattern!" he called. "The floor moves in cycles. If we step carefully, we can avoid falling." I studied the movements. He was right-the stones weren't shifting randomly. There was a rhythm to it.

"Follow my lead!" I shouted, stepping onto one of the stable platforms.

The others followed, watching the floor carefully. The temple was fighting us at every turn-spears launched from hidden slots, swinging blades sliced through the air, and at one point, Austin nearly fell into a pit before Alex grabbed him.

Elijah, though still injured, moved with surprising agility. He barely avoided a collapsing column, dodging at the last second. His crutch was long gone.

Halfway across the room, the temple threw another obstacle at us. Sections of the ceiling started dropping like massive hammers, threatening to crush us.

Austin turned to Alex, panting. "Any chance you can melt these traps away?" Alex shook his head. "The walls are enchanted. Fire won't help." "Then we just have to be faster," I said.

I took a deep breath and ran. A giant slab of stone dropped from the ceiling, but I managed to roll under it just in time. The others followed, each of us barely escaping the crushing weight.

Finally, we reached the pedestal. I reached out for the glass case, but Isaiah grabbed my wrist.

"Wait," he said. "This thing is obviously trapped." I hesitated, then looked down at the pedestal. Around the glass case, tiny symbols were carved into the stone. They looked familiar. Then it hitthey were warnings.

"If I break the glass, the temple will collapse," I realized.

"Then let's make sure we have an escape plan first," Alex said.

Isaiah scanned the map again. "There's a secondary passage behind the pedestal. If we're fast, we can get out before this place caves "Got it." I said, taking a deep breath. "Everyone, get ready to run." Austin and Alex moved into position near the shifting floor, keeping an eye on the traps. Isaiah and Elijah stood beside me, 2/3 Chapter 197 prepared to coverif anything went wrong.

With one final glance at my pack, I smashed the glass.

The instant it shattered, the temple screamed.

The walls cracked, the ground quaked, and a deafening roar filled the chamber. The ceiling split apart, sending massive chunks of stone plummeting toward us.

"RUN!" Isaiah yelled.

I grabbed the shard and bolted for the passage. The others followed, dodging falling debris. The ground was disintegrating behind us -if we stopped for even a second, we'd be buried alive.

The passage was narrow, barely wide ah. As enough for us to squeeze through.

O I ran, dust and rubble filled the air, making it hard to breathe. The temple was collapsing, taking centuries of history with it.

We barely made it through before the entire chamber gave way. A ve thunderous crash shook the earth, and a massive dust cloud billowed out from behind us. I coughed, trying to clear my lungs as we stumbled out into a safer section of the temple. For a long moment, nobody spoke. We just stood there, catching our breath.

Then, Austin let out a nervous laugh. "Well... that was tic." I looked down at the shard in my hand. It still pulsed with soft light, cool against my palm.

"One down," I said. "But we still have more to find." Isaiah wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Next time, let's not trigger any traps." Alex smirked. "Where's the fun in that?" hrough.

I sighed. We had barely survived this trial, and we still had three more layers to get through. If this road ahead was going to be even deadlier.

But I wasn't afraid together, we were going to finish what we started Chapter Comments LIKE POST COMMENT NOW just the first challenge, the