The staircase ended in a vast chamber a hall so large that Lee couldn't see the other end. The walls were lined with statues, each one a warrior in armor, each one holding a weapon. Swords. Spears. Axes. Bows.
"The Sun King's personal guard," Ren said quietly. "A thousand of them. The best warriors in the Iron Dominion. They swore to protect me until the end of time."
"And now they're ghosts," Inyocha said.
"And now they're ghosts." Ren stepped forward. "I'm sorry, my friends. I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I'm sorry I left you here to guard an empty tomb."
The statues began to move.
Stone cracked. Armor groaned. Weapons rose. One by one, the thousand warriors stepped down from their pedestals, their eyes glowing with pale, ghostly light.
"The Sun King returns," a voice echoed deep, resonant, filled with sorrow. "But he is not the same. He has changed. He has diminished."
"I have," Ren said. "I am no longer your king. I am no longer worthy of your service. But I ask you beg you to let my friends pass. They seek the Dawnblade. They seek to kill the Hollow King."
"The Hollow King cannot be killed," the voice said.
"Then they will find another way. But they must be allowed to try."
The ghostly warriors gathered around Ren, their glowing eyes studying him, judging him.
"You have changed," the voice said again. "But perhaps... perhaps change is not weakness. Perhaps change is growth. Perhaps change is survival."
The warriors stepped back, forming a path through the hall.
"You may pass," the voice said. "But know this: the Dawnblade is not a gift. It is a burden. It will test you in ways you cannot imagine. And if you fail..." The voice trailed off.
"We know," Lee said. "We'll become part of the Mausoleum."
"Then go. And may the shattered sun have mercy on your souls."
They walked through the Hall of Ghosts, past the thousand warriors who had guarded this place for three hundred years. And as they walked, Lee felt their eyes on him watching, waiting, judging.
Don't fail, Onyx Tempest whispered. Don't you dare fail.
"I won't," Lee said.
But even as he said it, he felt the weight of the Dawnblade's test pressing down on him.
And he wondered if he was strong enough to bear it.