Chapter 216: The Wandering Merchant’s Quest (5)
The next morning arrived, crisp and cool, as the group continued their steady climb up the mountainside.
The boy’s gaze kept drifting toward Ketal. There was a restless energy in the way the boy watched Ketal, something between curiosity and anxiety, as if he was trying to unravel a puzzle only he could see.
Noticing this, Seraphina asked the boy with gentle concern, “Is something bothering you? Are you interested in spirits, perhaps?”
Startled, the boy shook his head with a hastily muttered, “N-no, not at all...”
However, his denial was half-hearted. Even as he looked away, his attention soon slipped back to Ketal, almost against his will. The others in the party glanced at the boy’s repeated stares, but Ketal himself appeared unconcerned, smiling quietly as he observed the others fight monsters. Ketal had the look of someone watching a lively play unfold before him, content to be an audience rather than a participant.
The boy’s frown deepened as he kept staring at Ketal..
At last, their journey brought them to a stop. Ahead of them, nestled near the peak of the mountain, was a cave, one whose gaping entrance was wide enough to swallow an entire castle. It was so massive that anyone with eyes could see its purpose, and only a fool would fail to grasp it immediately. This was unmistakably a dragon’s lair, a place built for a creature of impossible scale.
Yet the cave’s size was not the only thing that drew their attention.
“There’s a guardian,” Bloodedge muttered.
“Looks like it,” Spellweaver agreed.
Standing sentinel at the entrance to the lair was a massive golem, its body the color of rich earth, radiating the weight and presence of solid stone. The golem’s form was vaguely humanoid, but there was nothing human in the blank intensity of its gaze. It stood so still it could have been mistaken for a statue, but every instinct screamed that it was dangerous.
They all understood at a glance: this golem was no ordinary sentry. Each member of the party realized that if they faced it one-on-one, they could not guarantee victory. The air crackled with tension as they considered their options.