"How long," Gad said. "Before it gets here."
‘I cannot measure time the way you do,’ the old entity said. ‘Only distance and hunger. Both are closing.’
Doran was already moving, grabbing the fallen torch from where Bellan had set it down. "We need to leave this chamber. Now."
"And go where?" Talven asked, voice climbing toward panic. "You heard it. That thing knows this place. If we run into the open ruins, we're just as exposed."
"Then we move toward the outer wall," Bellan said. "Away from the sealing site entirely. If it's tracking this location, distance is the only advantage we have."
Mira grabbed Gad's arm as he moved toward the tunnel. "Can you feel it. The way you felt the one in the courtyard."
Gad focused past his own exhaustion, searching for that same current under his sk
