The Hooded Figure staggers at the crack, one shaking hand thrusting the brass key toward Kara while violet light leaks harder from beneath their cloak. Frost crawls over the stone, and the hall drinks in their ragged breath.
The Hooded Figure
Take it. If I fall, the seal follows.
Their knees buckle, but they force the key closer, eyes fixed on Kara as if choosing her is the last work they can do.
Kara
The key is warm. The cloak is bleeding light.
Cold air surges through the fissure, and the frost lines jump wider along the crack. The Hooded Figure swallows a gasp and braces one palm against the wall, trying to stay upright.
The Hooded Figure
Do not let it be taken. Not by her.
The violet glow thins to a weak shimmer under the cloak, pooling darkly at their boots as the hall waits for Kara's next move.
✓ Quest Accepted
Keep the seal from failing
+ New Item Acquired
Brass Key
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The key leaves the Hooded Figure's hand, but the transfer is not clean. Their fingers snag Kara's wrist for one desperate heartbeat, and the brass slips between them as the wall gives a wet, grinding shudder.
A thin seam of darkness splits open beside the frost, and the violet glow surges through it like a held breath finally released. The Hooded Figure jerks back, staring not at the crack, but at the key in Kara's grasp.
The Hooded Figure
Too late... it heard me choose.
Cold air spills harder into the hall. Somewhere beyond the stone, something drags itself toward the opening, and the seal trembles under Kara's hand.