The walls, the pillars, even the air itself seemed to ripple as an unseen force surged through the space. Jude spun around, raising his sword, but there was no enemy, no threat, only the shifting of the world itself. The markings on the floor flared brighter, their lines extending outward in all directions like veins of light.
Then, a voice.
Not a whisper, not layered or overlapping like before. This was singular, clear, resonant.
"You have come far, bearer of the keys."
Jude turned slowly, his gaze locking onto a figure standing at the opposite end of the chamber.
It was neither man nor woman, neither young nor old. Its form shifted like mist given shape, a silhouette of shadow and light. No face, no features, only the vague impression of eyes watching him from the void.
"You seek the truth," the figure continued, its voice neither kind nor cruel, neither welcoming nor forbidding. "Do you understand what that means?"
