Saluthe, Thorkin, and Sinafay—awoke to a cosmic test. Runes ignited beneath their feet, and each fell into a separate trial.

Sinafay faced webs of whispering temptation—dominion, ambition, release—and only by surrendering did she escape the grasp of power.

Thorkin stood before three obelisks—Bone, Breath, and Memory—balancing life, death, and the names of those he loved to stabilize a reliquary over a devouring void.

Saluthe endured a gauntlet of stone warriors, dying again and again, until she realized she could not march alone. Only by freeing her companions and fighting as one did she prevail.

They emerged changed, their shards dimmed, the pulse now in the walls themselves. Following it, they crept through a rib-bone tunnel into a vast cavern where a rotating lens revealed alien stars. A translucent figure whispered to their minds:

“You’re too late… but I hoped someone would see.”

Heavy footsteps echo… and their next actions could decide the fate of all.