The descent was unlike any before. The stone stairs spiraled downward in an impossible loop, suspended in a void untouched by time or gravity. As they moved deeper into the mountain's heart, the air grew warm, humming with power. Lights danced along the stone walls—ancient glyphs reacting to their presence.
At the base of the stairs, a circular chamber unfolded, vast and pulsating with a golden aura. In its center stood an obsidian monolith, cracked and veined with glowing runes. Chains of silver light coiled around it, quivering like they sensed the group's arrival.
"This is it," Lysara whispered. "The prison of Elyndor, the Storm-forged."
Kael stepped forward cautiously, hand resting on the hilt of his blade. "Then where's the guardian?"
Before the words could settle, a gust of wind surged inward, howling through the chamber. The monolith shuddered. Cracks deepened.
A low voice—ancient, layered, thunderous—rolled from the stone.
"Who dares disturb my slumber?"
The chains exploded into light, and from the monolith burst a figure clad in torn robes of skyfire and lightning. Elyndor's body shimmered between physical form and raw energy, eyes like twin tempests.
Riven readied his weapon. "That… doesn't look like a god who wants to talk."
But Elyndor did not attack. Not yet. He looked at each of them, his voice calm but dangerous.
"I see… fragments of fate. Threads unraveled. Why have you come?"
Lysara stepped forward, holding out the memory shard. "The world is dying. The old magic has fractured. We seek the truth. And the balance."
Elyndor tilted his head. "Balance was shattered long ago, when the mortals betrayed the sky. You seek answers—but are you ready to pay their price?"
Suddenly, the chamber transformed. Each of them was separated—isolated in a reflection of their deepest fear. A trial, born from their own minds.
Kael stood before his own grave. Riven faced a battlefield soaked in the blood of those he failed. Seraphine was bound by chains of fire. Lysara floated in a void of silence, her magic gone.
And Elyndor watched… testing.
Only those who conquered their inner storms would be worthy of what came next.