The landing stretched before them, a corridor hewn from black stone. No glyphs, no spirals—only stillness. The silence was so heavy it pressed against their ears, louder than the stair's roar.
Lyra paced slowly, her molten blade dimmed but still alive in her grip. "This feels wrong. Too quiet."
Kaelen crouched, running his fingers along the stone floor. It was cool, solid, unyielding. But beneath the surface, he could feel it—a faint pulse, slower than the stair's, like a heartbeat muffled behind a wall.
"The stair may be behind us," he murmured, "but the Tower itself is alive."
The candle-bearer trailed after them, their flame faint but stubborn. The little light bobbed across the walls, illuminating carvings half-hidden in the shadows. Rows upon rows of figures etched into the stone—humanoid, but with elongated limbs and hollow eyes.
Lyra stopped, her face hardening. "They're watching us."
The carvings weren't just art. Their eyes followed, no matter where they moved. The flicker of the candle's flame made them seem to shift—stone heads turning ever so slightly, mouths opening in silent mockery.
Kaelen felt the hair rise on his neck. He reached for fire, but held it back. "Don't feed it," he warned. "This place… it might be waiting for us to act."
As if answering him, one of the stone figures cracked. A sliver of dust drifted to the ground. Its hollow mouth widened.
The others followed.
One by one, the stone watchers split open, not shattering, but unfolding—like shells giving way to something that had always been inside. Their eyes flared with pale light, and a low hum filled the corridor, vibrating through bone.
Lyra raised her blade, tension coiled in her stance. "Kaelen. They're waking up."
Kaelen swallowed hard, fire simmering in his hands. The candle-bearer's flame quivered, shrinking against the unnatural glow rising from the watchers.
And then, with movements stiff and deliberate, the first of them stepped down from the wall.
Stone no longer. Flesh. Hollow-eyed, yet alive.
Kaelen whispered, voice barely audible: "The Tower remembers us."
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