Elaren stepped back slightly.
"Help us. Reach the core. Stabilize the field. And don't break anything."
Lucen raised an eyebrow.
"That's a lot of trust for someone you almost sent wolves after."
"You passed."
Lucen smirked. "You sure?"
Elaren returned it. Just slightly.
Then turned.
"Follow if you're serious."
And walked off.
Lucen waited a beat.
Then looked at Varik. "Thoughts?"
Varik shrugged. "Could be a trap."
Lucen exhaled. "Cool. I'm going anyway."
—
Lucen stepped over a crooked frost-root and kept walking.
'Let's just follow for now.'
Elaren led them down what wasn't quite a path, more like mana erosion carved into snow. The drift hadn't formed roads. The magic had shoved space around until this made sense.
Snow here glowed faintly at the edges. Like starlight stuck to frost.
Lucen muttered, "Any reason it looks like someone spilled soul powder all over the floor?"
