Adventure of Tuiwen 2

Tuiwen pauses in the black soil and studies the glowing marks. They pulse in time with Dol Guldur, a slow hunger beneath the earth.

The etchings are not a road, but a conduit. Each line drinks a thread of her magic and sends it onward toward the hill.

The Hooded Sentry shifts at her back, no longer a guide but a keeper of the route. Ahead, the hidden path narrows into fir roots and ash.

Tuiwen sees the choice clearly now. This road is the enemy's net, and the pulse in the marks means her own power is lighting the way to the fortress heart.

Tuiwen rises from the black soil and draws her blade close to her chest. The glowing etchings shiver, then loosen, as if her will finds the seam in their binding.

Her unbinding spell snaps through the path. Pale lines peel out of the dirt and unravel into ash, breaking the conduit’s grip on her magic.

The cost lands at once. Heat bites across her palm, and the nearest roots crack with a dry, warning twitch. Far ahead, something in Dol Guldur stirs.

The Hooded Sentry steps back from the threshold and lowers their hand, revealing more of their face to the ash-gray light. The path no longer drinks from Tuiwen, though the forest holds its breath around the opening.