The opening of the third set of gates did not sound like the first two.
The first wave had marched out with the heavy, steady rhythm of ancient soldiers waking from a long sleep, and the second wave had arrived like a storm of iron and siege weapons, crossbows, spears, and fast assault units turning the lower hall into a battlefield of collapsing pillars and broken marble.
This time, however, the sound that rolled out from behind the newly opened gates was deeper and far more oppressive, a low metallic groan that seemed to crawl through the entire treasury and sink into the bones of everyone inside.
The golden runes carved across the walls dimmed for a breath, then flared with a darker, heavier glow, as if the ancient defense system had finally stopped testing them and had decided to release something meant to erase intruders completely.
