The monolithic road portal remained closed below while the companions climbed the stairwell toward the upper palace sanctum.
Inside the high memory court, sprawling tendrils of invasive grey corruption crept across the ancient flagstones like poisonous ivy.
Frightened minds stirred fitfully beneath the bark of the living wood, trapped within the hive mind's suffocating resonance.
Vella stepped into the contaminated chamber, raising her pale medical ring so that a soft sapphire glow illuminated her fingers.
"The keeper is still himself, though the foreign core wrapped his consent around every mind it touches."
Eirwen paused at the court entrance, holding the crystal expedition writ securely against her travel coat.
"Can you separate the captive people from the core without separating the keeper from his own free choice?"
Vella studied the intricate network of grey fibers climbing across the high masonry vaults with clinical detachment.
