The stair remains open, its red-lit depths unmoving. For a brief moment, the chapel falls silent except for the ember's soft pulse beneath Velocity's quills.
Ser Caldrin Vey kneels beside the fractured coffin, brushing ash from its inner rim. Beneath the soot, lines of gold inscription emerge across the black stone.
Ser Caldrin Vey
These words name the buried heart as the kingdom's final ward, forged when the first Hollow King rose beneath the castle.
His gaunt finger follows the script. Several passages have been deliberately gouged away, but the surviving marks glow whenever the red ember answers beneath Velocity's quills.
Ser Caldrin Vey
The castle did not fall to siege. Its rulers opened the lower sanctum, seeking power enough to command death, and invited the Hollow King through.
Ser Caldrin Vey
The heart defeated him once, binding his shadow beneath these foundations. The binding endured only because every guardian surrendered their life to the vigil.
Ser Caldrin Vey
I remained behind when the kingdom fled. Now I accompany you below, ember-bearer, for the inscriptions say the second defeat cannot be won by a guardian alone.
Uncover Caldrin's role in creating the Hollow King's prison