Adventure of Alexios 3

The golden route carries Alexios, wrists secured in ceremonial irons, through a passage beneath the palace foundations. Ahead, an ancient stone gate rises beneath roots and carved crowns.

Three palace guards step from a torchlit watch chamber. Their captain is a broad-shouldered middle-aged woman in black-and-gold scale armor, with a broken nose and close-cropped dark hair; two younger guards flank her, spears leveled.

The elf captain walks beside Alexios with Everburn hidden beneath her weathered coat. Penelope follows close, the bronze tablet concealed beneath the azure-and-crimson shroud around her shoulders.

The guards’ spearheads remain steady across the passage, barring the gate. Golden light glimmers along the ancient carvings, revealing an eye-shaped seal above the threshold.

Penelope’s claw tightens over the hidden tablet. The elf captain keeps her hands visible, while the captain’s gaze shifts between them, waiting for an answer before the gate will open.

The words settle beneath the palace like a struck bell. The guards’ spearpoints remain raised, but uncertainty replaces their first certainty, and the eye-shaped seal brightens overhead.

Penelope draws the bronze tablet from beneath her shroud and holds it forward. Ancient names gleam across its face, while the royal sigil burns beneath the captain’s questioning gaze.

The younger guards obey, lowering their weapons. Stone grinds against stone as the ancient gate parts, revealing a stair descending toward the palace foundations and a hidden chamber marked with fresh gold light.