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The Bound Shadow (Chapter Nine)
The Shattered Bond
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The temple fell silent when the ritual ended, as they completed the last words of the rite. They could see the wisp of the bond’s entity lingering around, fractured and diminished, no longer whole, but they suspected that in another 10,000 years it would inhabit the bond of the next star-crossed couple that would be chosen.
They wandered through the labyrinth, with Raelith’s inhuman memory easily recalling the way back, guiding them through the twists and turns that Elara would not have been able to find by herself.
The murals were already fading away, as were the messages that were relevant to them. Their faces were blotted out on the paintings, and new ones would eventually take their place.
The presence of the temple was still there. They thought something else was looking at them; as to what it was, they could not even imagine. They felt like they had been judged and accepted. It felt like they had been tested, but having passed, they knew there was nothing to fear from the temple itself.
So it was a benevolent feeling they had as they wandered through the tunnels. The entity that had been taken from the bond was following them; they could tell. As it flickered sometimes between…
