They all flinched, instinct taking over as weapons were drawn in a blink.
Taria's spear snapped to position.
Rauk's eyes flared silver-grey.
And Kaedros began silently weaving a spell in his mind.
The short metal statue before them crackled. Its empty sockets lit with yellow flame. "It's been years! Finally! Finally! Finally!
"You are here! You're here!"
The castle behind them shuddered. And then… Kaedros felt it.
Unseen eyes.
Thousands of them staring at them from within the strange castle.
Eyes that locked onto him and his companions with a curious, hungry interest as if they're staring with a piece of meat they've not had the chance of eating for years.
But among them… Kaedros felt one eye. Different. Burning like a coal against his soul.
It saw him, not as a man, but as the Dragon beneath his illusion.
Yet even then, he felt no hostility from the eyes, no hate or baleful intent.
Only expectation.
