Kael’s POV
They didn’t arrive quietly.
The moment the keep shifted again, deeper this time, heavier, the air in the corridor changed in a way that had nothing to do with the thing behind us. This was different.
Colder.
Controlled.
Deliberate.
The elders.
Of course they came.
The space ahead of us opened as figures moved into the corridor, not rushed, not panicked, but precise in a way that made everything tighten. They had already decided what this was.
And what needed to be done.
“Elara,” I said.
Her name was quieter now.
Grounding.
She was shaking.
Not violently.
But enough.
“I know,” she whispered.
The bond pulsed between us.
Unstable.
Strained.
And beneath it—
Something else still pulling.
Still reaching.
The elders stopped several steps away.
Not too close.
No
