Asher walked deeper into the fortress, the air growing heavier with each step. The dim light barely reached the corners of the corridor, and the silence pressed against his ears. It wasn't the natural quiet of an abandoned ruin—this was the silence of something watching him. Something preparing.
And Asher could feel it.
Someone, or something, was trying very hard to stop him.
Not with a single guardian.
But with an entire army.
He exhaled slowly, almost amused.
"Finally," he muttered, "something to make this boring expedition less dull."
He took another step—and the fortress reacted.
Metal groaned. Walls shifted. A cold echo ran through the corridor like a warning.
Then came the sound:
clink… clink… clink…
Dozens of footsteps scraped against the steel floor.
