The manager’s shoulders shook with heavy, violent sobs, her frame collapsing inward as she pressed a wet, crumpled tissue against her face.
"After she went inside... alongside all those brave, elite soldiers... we waited," she choked out, her voice breaking into frantic gasps. "We waited for a full twenty-four hours. Then two days passed. Then an entire agonizing week. She never emerged. Not a single warrior from that entire unit ever returned to tell us what took place in the dark. It was as though the cavern swallowed them whole."
Jason remained completely silent for a long moment. His dark, impenetrable eyes locked onto the polished surface of the table as if he were staring straight into an open grave. He raised his glass, taking a slow, heavy swallow of the dark liquor, his jaw clen
