Chapter 172 - A Throne of Secrets

The chamber stretched before them like the hollow of some ancient god's chest, its walls carved from obsidian that seemed to drink the very light from their torches. At its center, rising from the stone floor like a monument to forbidden knowledge, stood the throne. It was not built of gold or marble, but of something far more precious and terrible secrets themselves, crystallized into dark, translucent stone that pulsed with an inner luminescence. Each facet of the throne's surface held whispers trapped like insects in amber, their voices creating a constant, susurrating chorus that made the air itself seem alive with anticipation.