I looked around at everyone. "Let's get ready. We have one and a half minutes before the Cursed Spirit might return. If it doesn't come, good. But let's assume it will."
The group started to move.
Mira gathered the children close, whispering softly to calm them down.
The kids clung to her coat.
They were still sniffling but no longer crying.
Lars rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck.
"Ready when you are," he said, giving me a short nod.
Calliope stood a few steps behind us, holding her staff tightly.
She looked pale, but her eyes had a stubborn light in them.
"Don't force yourself. Just focus on keeping us alive," I said quietly.
She nodded without speaking.
The air around us was still. Too still.
The silence pressed down like a heavy fog.
Mira kept glancing toward the end of the corridor, checking the clock in her hand again and again.
Her brow furrowed deeper each time.
