Daemon stood, dusting himself off as his eyes adjusted to the dim, eerie light. They had fallen into a cavern massive, silent, ancient. The air was heavy with mana, older and denser than anything above. It pressed against the skin like a warning... or a welcome.
A wide underground lake stretched across the center of the chamber. The surface of the water was unnaturally still, as if untouched by time. In the middle, sitting alone on a circular island of stone, was a massive shape.
A rock.
Or so it seemed at first.
The structure was broad, rounded, and jagged with age. Moss clung to its surface, glowing faintly green. A thin stone path led from the edge of the cavern to the platform, cracked and half-submerged in places.
Daemon stared, eyes narrowing.
"That's... not just a rock," he said.
Varian stood beside him, squinting. "Looks like one. A really big one."
"No. Look closer."
Daemon stepped forward slowly, his aura reaching out.
The "rock" stirred.
The moss shifted.
