Smoke drifts off the fractured ridge. The tremor under the Whispering Crags fades to a tense hush, but the air still tastes of ash and old magic. The Inquisitor lies slumped against jagged stone, staring at the sealed seam in Surazal's chest like it is a verdict.
The Inquisitor
Scouts are already climbing the Crags. If the Order finds this hive before we move, their highest mages will tear it open.
He drags in a ragged breath and forces himself upright, one hand pressed to his side. His gaze flicks from Surazal's chest to the dark ridges below, then back again, measuring the only exit.
The Inquisitor
Take the mountain path with me. Stay hidden. Reach the lower pass before dawn, or both of us are dead.
Below the stone, the necrotic hive stirs in answer, a cold pulse pressing against Surazal's sealed core. The warning is no longer about pursuit alone. It is about whether Surazal can keep the hive concealed long enough to leave the Crags alive.
Surazal
The scouts are the immediate threat. The hive is the larger one.
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach the lower pass before dawn
✓ Quest Accepted
Keep the necrotic hive concealed