It rose from the ground in fragments, as though something had once stood tall and proud here before being deliberately, violently toppled. Liora approached it slowly, tracing her fingers along the weathered stone, and found, carved into what remained of its surface, an inscription still legible despite the damage time had inflicted upon it.
*To Choose Is To Accept Responsibility For What Returns.*
She stood before it for a long moment, letting the words settle over her, before she felt a presence arrive quietly at her side. The Keeper had followed her, drawn by something in the resonance of the place, and when Liora glanced toward the ancient being, she saw recognition flicker across features that rarely betrayed emotion at all.
"You know this place," Liora said.
