Le Secret de la Basilique

Previously

…He hesitated, his heart pounding a frantic drum against his ribs. The weight of centuries, of forgotten lore, of a secret guarded with such ferocity, pressed down on him. He had sought knowledge, and now, knowledge had found him, and with it, a shadow that promised to engulf him. He knew, with a certainty that chilled him to the bone, that his quest had just become far more perilous than he could have ever imagined. The quiet scriptorium, once his sanctuary, now felt like the epicenter of a storm he had unwittingly conjured.