Nymera’s POV
The stairs wound downward forever.
The air turned colder with every step, ancient and dry like nothing had breathed it in centuries. Kaelith walked beside me in silence, one hand on his sword, the other hovering near my arm like he didn’t trust I’d stay standing.
I didn’t know if I would either.
The deeper we went, the louder the spiral throbbed under my skin. It pulsed like a second heartbeat now. Not just magic. Memory.
“I hate this,” Lira muttered behind us. “This whole place feels like it’s watching.”
“It is,” I said without turning. “It’s been waiting.”
“For you?” Graeven asked from the rear.
“For all of us,” I replied. “But mostly me.”
The door at the bottom was carved from stone darker than night, veined with silver threads that shimmered when I touched them. N
