Chapter 174
The chamber descended into chaos the moment the eye opened beneath the floor.
Several wolves stumbled backward while others froze completely, unable to look away from the enormous black eye staring upward through the fractured stone beneath the council hall. The cold pouring from the crack spread fast enough to coat the floor in frost, and the pressure rolling through the chamber no longer felt like ordinary power.
It felt aware.
Ariana's golden light illuminated the darkness just enough for everyone to see the massive shape moving somewhere below the mountain, but not clearly enough to understand what they were truly looking at.
That made it worse.
Kael stepped fully in front of Ariana without hesitation. The movement was instinctive, immediate, and protective enough that even the terrified wolves surrounding them noticed it.
