Asher stepped closer, staring at the rippled ground where the creature had dissolved. "That wasn't just a dungeon boss. It fed on who you are—memories, pain, pieces of identity."
Veyra didn't respond right away. Her glaive was still in hand, faintly glowing with the last traces of her Thorned Eclipse. The frost-blood petals along its edge were slowly melting, droplets running down the blade like warm condensation. The obsidian walls around them had begun to crack and fall away. The strange pulsing from earlier was gone. Whatever power had sustained this place had vanished with the monster.
Valeris stepped up beside her and extended a hand. "Come on. We've still got another one to go."
Veyra took her hand, nodding. The three of them turned and left the collapsing chamber. Behind them, the gate to the Lurker's Cradle crumbled. The glowing runes that had once marked its entrance dimmed and peeled away like fading ink.
Ninth Mountain — Stormlit Crypt
