I do not like it.
I do not trust it.
But I push the irritation aside, locking my attention on the task before us.
“Dagan,” Kael says, nodding to the earth Lord. “We start with you. The stone is yours to command.”
Dagan grunts, then steps forward until his boots rest a hair’s breadth from the glowing seam of ember.
He crouches and spreads his large hands over the ground on either side of the Vein.
The cavern responds instantly.
The floor shudders.
Rings of stone rise in slow, grinding arcs, encircling The Ember Vein in layered ribs of rock. Pillars push up from the ground and reach toward the ceiling, connecting with stalactites in a series of sharp, echoing cracks until the whole chamber feels… held.
“Anchoring lattice is set,” Dagan intones, breath coming heavier. “The earth will know if someone tries to break through. It will scream an alarm that runs right through me.”
“Good,” Alaric says. “Now we give it teeth.”
He closes his eyes, drawing in a breath that chills the already hot air. Silver symbols unfurl around his hands—circles, runes, angular characters older than Nightfall itself.
Illusion magic coils out of him in shimmering waves, seeping into the stone lattice Dagan has raised.
Lines of pale light trace along the rock, weaving patterns of misdirection and hidden blades.
“Anyone not keyed to us who enters this chamber will see what I wish them to see,” he says, voice distant, threaded with power. “Dead ends. Collapsed tunnels. Empty rock. And if they pierce the illusion…”
The symbols flare.
“…they will bleed for the privilege.”
That earns a sharp, satisfied smile from me.
Kael steps up next.
The air cools, picking up a faint salt tang despite the miles of rock between us and any ocean.
“Stand back,” he warns.
We obey.
He stretches his arms wide, fingers splayed. The moisture in the air thickens, condenses, then rushes past us in a violent gust.
A wall of shimmering, liquid force slams down between us and The Ember Vein—a vertical tide, translucent and lethal.
It doesn’t douse the ember light.
It refracts it, turning the glow into a rippling aurora that dances along the water’s surface.
“Deep pressure seal,” Kael murmurs. “Only those of our blood—or those you and I specifically name—will pass through unharmed. To everyone else, it will feel like drowning in stone.”
My mouth curls.
“Acceptable.”
Three elements are in place.
