"Stone remembers what flesh forgets." , Inscription, Vault of the Forgotten Hunt
The growl of the Alpha still vibrated in the stone, a low thunder that refused to fade. Each tremor rattled the cracked arches above, shaking loose threads of dust that drifted like falling ash. The mist thickened, damp with the scents of moss, blood, and something far older, something that had waited, buried, for centuries beneath these ruins.
Leo stood at the center, green light coursing along his skin, pulsing in time with his heartbeat. His breath came sharp, ragged, each inhale dragging whispers with it, whispers that belonged to the fragment, yes, but not only to it. The ruins themselves had begun to speak.
A shiver passed through the earth.
