The passage narrowed as they descended.
Steeper.
Darker.
The torchlight struggled against the weight of the shadows.
Corvyn led.
Halric followed close behind.
No words now.
Only the sound of their steps against ancient stone.
And something else.
A low… pulse.
Faint.
But steady.
Like a heartbeat beneath the earth.
Corvyn felt it before he fully understood it.
Each step downward made it stronger.
Closer.
Alive.
Halric exhaled slowly.
"You hear that?"
"Yes."
"Tell me it's just my imagination."
"It isn't."
The passage opened suddenly.
A vast chamber revealed itself before them.
Larger than the one above.
Far older.
The air was colder here.
Heavy enough to taste.
At the center of the chamber—
A pit.
Wide.
Deep.
Endless darkness stretching below.
And from it…
The pulse.
Stronger now.
Clear.
Alive.
Halric stepped forward slowly.
"That's not natural."
Corvyn said nothing.
His eyes were fixed on the pit.
The edges of it were carved.
Marked with the same ancient symbols.
But here—
They were intact.
Unbroken.
Powerful.
As if they had been meant to hold something in place.
The pulse quickened.
Once.
Twice.
Stronger.
The ground trembled beneath their feet.
Dust fell from above.
Small stones tumbled into the pit…
And never made a sound when they landed.
Halric swallowed.
"I don't like that."
Corvyn stepped closer to the edge.
The darkness below seemed to move.
Not empty.
Not still.
Something was there.
Waiting.
A whisper rose from the pit.
Faint.
Unclear.
Not words.
But something that pressed against the mind.
Cold.
Ancient.
Watching.
Corvyn's grip tightened on Nightfeather.
The blade trembled slightly in his hand.
Not from fear.
From something else.
Recognition.
Halric noticed it.
"That sword doesn't like this place."
"No," Corvyn said quietly.
"It doesn't."
The pulse surged suddenly.
Stronger than before.
The entire chamber shook.
A crack split across one of the carved markings along the pit's edge.
Small.
But real.
Halric stepped back.
"That's bad."
Corvyn didn't move.
His eyes remained locked on the fracture.
Another pulse.
Another crack.
Spreading.
Breaking the ancient seal.
The whisper grew louder.
Sharper.
Closer.
As if something below had sensed them.
Had found them.
A shape shifted within the darkness.
Huge.
Indistinct.
But rising.
Halric raised his sword instinctively.
"Corvyn…"
Corvyn took a slow step back from the edge.
For the first time—
Caution overtook curiosity.
"This is not something we fight," he said.
The pit pulsed again.
Violently.
Cracks spread across the stone in all directions.
The chamber groaned under the strain.
Halric didn't argue this time.
"Then we leave."
Corvyn nodded.
"Now."
They turned.
Moving quickly back toward the passage.
Behind them—
The darkness surged.
The whisper rose into something louder.
Almost a voice.
Almost… awake.
And deep beneath the Wolfswood—
Something ancient began to rise.