The stronghold’s main hall lay in uneasy silence when Elinora stepped out of the chamber.
The torches along the cavern walls burned with that faint violet light, but the air itself felt different — charged, like the moment before a storm breaks.
Behind her, Riven and Kaelen were still in the room, the tension between them thick enough to choke on. She didn’t wait for them to follow. The shadows at the far end of the cavern tugged at her senses, like a thread pulling her forward.
This way, her wolf urged.
She crossed the hall quickly, slipping between two stone pillars and into a narrow side passage. The air cooled immediately, carrying a damp, mineral scent that told her this way led deeper underground.
The walls here weren’t carved by hands — they were raw, jagged stone, slick with c
