Elder Council Chamber
The chamber was carved deep into the stone beneath the stronghold.
Not built.
Carved.
Every wall bore markings older than memory, etched with symbols that twisted and curved in patterns no longer fully understood. The air carried weight, thick with history and something older still—something that pressed quietly against anyone who entered, reminding them that this place did not belong to the present.
It belonged to what came before.
Five figures sat in a half-circle of stone seats, their positions deliberate, their silence heavier than any argument. No one spoke at first. They didn’t need to.
They had all felt it.
The shift.
Not Kael’s.
The bond.
“It has awakened faster than expected,” one of them said finally.
His voice was aged but steady, carrying autho
