The cavern did not collapse when the Watchers vanished.
That alone unsettled Aurelia.
The stone should have cracked. Power should have recoiled. Reality especially after everything that had just been said should have demanded payment. Instead, the silver-lit walls dimmed slowly, as if the place itself were choosing restraint.
Aurelia stood still long after the last glow faded, listening.
Nothing screamed.
Nothing followed.
Nothing chased them.
“That’s worse,” Kane muttered.
She nodded. “Much worse.”
They made their way out of the cavern cautiously, each step echoing against memory-heavy stone. The exit opened into a narrow ravine carved deep into the earth, its walls streaked with old runes half-erased by time and pressure. Pale light filtered down from above, unfamiliar and sharp
