The descent bites cold and sharp. Rune-lines on the tunnel walls pulse like a throat trying to swallow the mountain whole, their glow jittering with the summit’s fear-bound seal.
Ahead, the corridor opens onto a vast stone arch buried in the peak. Its surface is split with old grooves, a gate shape hidden inside a prison shape, and both are shaking.
Kaelen the Stone-Singer
Do you feel it, Isaru? This lock was made to hold back terror, not to serve the door beneath it.
Talimaryl
Then the fear is the wound. If we want the gate to answer, we must stop feeding the seal panic.
The Exiled Lord
So the mountain is not failing. It is being strangled by its own guardianship.
Kaelen plants one claw against the stone, and the arch flares in reply. The runes split into two currents, one rigid and clenched, one deep and waiting, both hungering for the same threshold.
For the first time, the path is clear, the summit’s containment is actively blocking the gate itself.
Prevent the gate from opening