The Vale captain and his riders remain on the shrine road, carrying Lord Edran’s renunciation toward the northern courts. Illith, Windsteel, Bubblegum, and Edran descend to a roofed stone wayhouse below the hill.
Inside, a cold hearth, rough benches, and a rain barrel offer shelter. Windsteel sits beneath a narrow window while pale celestial light seals the last of his wound.
Bubblegum
I found this place because the shrine called me. In my dream, roots crawled beneath black stone, and green fire burned where a doorway should be.
Bubblegum tears bread beside a steaming pot, her mushroom dress dusted from the road. She gestures with one hand while gripping her spoon like a tiny battle standard.
Windsteel
That sounds less like a welcome and more like an invitation written by something that dislikes ordinary doors.
Lord Edran Vale
The shrine reacted before she spoke. If the covenant knows her, I fear my family’s bargain reached farther than any record admitted.
Bubblegum
Maybe it knows Illith too. The dream ended when a great shadow stood beside the roots, holding fire in its hands.