The light intensified as Julius stepped closer.
Not abruptly—there was no sudden flare or blinding flash—but with the quiet inevitability of something waking after a very long sleep.
The lines etched themselves deeper into the stone, resolving into layered geometric patterns that spiraled inward toward the seam dividing the door in two.
The ring on Julius's hand grew warm.
Then hot.
He flexed his fingers once, jaw tightening as sensation bled through metal and skin alike, but he did not pull away.
"This is it," he said quietly.
He raised his hand and placed the ring flat against the door, aligning it with a shallow depression that had formed at chest height—so subtle it would have been invisible without the light.
For a breathless moment, nothing happened.
Then the stone accepted his 'key'
The glow flowed outward from the point of contact, racing along the lines like water filling dry channels.
