The golden radiance that had completely bathed the cramped quarters finally retreated, sinking back into the pale veins of the jagged stone. The suffocating divine pressure lifted, but the tension inside the room remained.
"You speak to me as if I am merely a scavenger stumbling upon a shiny trinket," Xalvoria said, her voice dripping with cold, ancient pride. She gracefully adjusted her crimson-and-gold mantle. "I know exactly what that stone is because its divine resonance flows directly through my own veins. I am not just a ruler of the First Pillar, boy. I am of the Goddess's direct lineage."
Xavier didn't move, keeping his arms crossed over his chest. "Lineage?"
