The mountain loomed like a sleeping god.
Aria stood at its base, wind tugging at her cloak, eyes narrowed at the jagged peaks shrouded in mist. The Broken Seal behind them had only been the beginning. Mara's true anchor—her final tether—was buried deep in the heart of Mount Umbryn. And now that the spirit gate had fractured, time was bleeding. The worlds were overlapping faster. Spirits walked through stone. Wolves howled at moons no one else could see.
And Aria knew: they had to act now.
She turned to face the others. Caleb stood beside her, his eyes shadowed but alert. Elena held her staff with trembling fingers, pale but determined. Rowan's blade was sheathed across his back, his shoulders squared like a warrior ready to die.
"We go in," Aria said, her voice calm, unshaken. "There's no turning back from this point."
"No one's asking to," Caleb replied, his voice low.
Aria nodded once. Then she led them forward.
