The Last Temple / Season 1, Episode 10
Tunnel of Treachery
Miriam’s breath scraped her throat raw as she pressed her back against the jagged stone, the tunnel’s damp chill seeping through her torn cloak. The faint light they’d glimpsed moments ago—a sliver of hope cutting through the endless black—now seemed a cruel trick, wavering as if taunted by the wind. Her hand clamped over Salome’s mouth, the girl’s trembling lips hot against her palm, her small frame shuddering with each shallow gasp. The sound of Roman boots echoed closer, not from behind this time, but ahead, where that cursed light flickered. They were trapped, caught between the dark they knew and a brightness that might mean death. “Shh,” Miriam hissed, her voice barely a thread, her own heart hammering so loud she feared it would betray them. The scroll, bound tight against her chest with strips of her husband’s old sash, felt heavier now, a stone dragging her down. She could feel its edges through the cloth, sharp as guilt. Elazar’s words clawed at her mind—Guard it with your blood, Miriam. It is older than our laws, older than our pain. She hadn’t asked what it held, hadn’t wanted to know. But now, with the weight of it pulling at her every step, she cursed her ignorance. Salome’s wide eyes darted up to hers, pleading, not for release from the...