Vesk's soldiers filed out of the chamber behind him, boots echoing up through the tunnel until the sound faded into the ruins above.
The light along the c***k settled into a low, steady pulse, the old entity's presence quiet now, patient in a way that felt almost restful after everything else that had happened tonight.
Bellan moved back toward the wall the moment they were alone, running his fingers over a section of inscription he hadn't finished translating before Vesk's arrival interrupted him.
"There's more here," he said. "Something about the choice your father made. Not just the tether. What he considered before choosing it."
Gad crouched beside him. "The mirrored seal."
"Yes." Bellan traced the symbols slowly, sounding out fragments under his breath before speaking clearly. "H
