The last automaton collapsed with a metallic crash, its body scattering sparks before going still. Silence rolled back over the chamber, heavy and suffocating.
Noel staggered a step, Revenant Fang still thrumming faintly in his grip, the cursed edge drinking in the remnants of his mana. His lungs burned, his ribs ached, but the worst was the exhaustion flooding every part of him.
Selene lowered her wand slowly, the glow fading until only the faint shimmer of frost clung to her lashes. She stood straight, her breathing steady, but Noel didn't miss the way her shoulders shifted, tension bleeding out after the storm she had unleashed.
Then the ground trembled.
The statue of Elarin groaned, stone grinding against stone. Cracks of light spread across the floor before the base shifted aside with a deep rumble. Dust poured from the seams as a hidden passage revealed itself—an opening wide enough for them to walk through, yet swallowed in pitch-black shadow.
