After a few minutes of descent, the tunnel opened into another, smaller chamber. This one was perfectly circular, with a domed ceiling. In the center of the room, on a raised dais of pure white stone, floated a single, palm-sized crystal. It pulsed with a gentle, amber light.
Surrounding the dais were four guardians.
These were different. Smaller, denser. They were humanoid in shape, carved from obsidian so dark it seemed to drink the light. Violet energy crackled along their seams, and their movements as they turned were fluid, almost graceful. Each held a weapon shaped from solidified shadow—a sword, a spear, an axe, a halberd.
Smarter. Faster.
The golden path led directly to the floating crystal, then through the far wall.
"A key?" Su Lan whispered.
"A toll," Xueya answered.
The four obsidian guardians stepped off the dais in unison, forming a loose semi-circle between the trio and the crystal. They didn't charge. They waited.
