Chapter 59
[Kyros One – The Caverns, Hour 4]
The air beneath the Ridge was thick with tension. Oil lamps flickered across the stone corridors, casting long shadows over the six hundred men crammed inside the makeshift shelter. Most sat in silence. A few wept for the homes they'd lost. Others sharpened salvaged blades with shaking hands.
Kiro sat alone, cross-legged in the central chamber. His eyes were shut. His blood pulsed unnaturally. Not with exhaustion... but with presence.
A voice stirred in the hollow of his mind—familiar, ancient, patient.
"You cannot hold them here forever, Little Heir. The Arion will burn the surface and drill into the stone. And when they reach you..."
"Then I'll bury them," Kiro snarled aloud.
"They are infinite. You are not. But I can offer you a gate. A way to move these men beyond this world... to safety. The City of Blood still remembers me. It can be opened."
Kiro's eyes snapped open, red light flickering across the walls. "You want to open a gate? Then do it."
Adim's voice grew colder.
"It requires sacrifice. A threshold must be met. Enough life must be consumed to forge the passage. Six hundred men can live—but others must die."
Kiro stood and looked over the chamber. His voice echoed like thunder: