Chapter 27: The Rootwalker Stirs
The clinic was too quiet.
Elric sat on the edge of his bed, the silver ring heavy on his finger, the sigil on his wrist glowing faintly — a heartbeat not his own.
Visions from the Root Throne haunted him.
And the warning echoed louder with every hour.
The Rootwalker was stirring.
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Downstairs, Cai was drawing again—this time in careful circles—on the clinic floor.
"What are you making?" Elric asked.
Cai smiled. "The dreams told me. The Rootwalker is remembering."
He pointed at the image: a towering figure of bark and bone, crowned in red blossoms, with arms stretched wide over fields of frozen, rooted faces.
Keera knelt beside him, her ears twitching nervously. "The old songs spoke of it. The One Who Walks From the Soil."