The cavern felt different.
Not exactly louder or brighter.
Just… more aware.
The skull's position had changed subtly, angled slightly toward the center of the chamber.
Toward where he stood.
Kendo told himself that erosion could explain it.
He moved toward the largest remaining ore vein.
The ground vibrated faintly under his boots, as though responding to each step.
He began chiseling quickly.
The strikes echoed deeper than before.
The ore resisted more fiercely.
When the fragment finally broke free, the cavern trembled violently.
This time, the vibration did not fade immediately.
Dust poured from the ceiling in thick streams.
A deep sound echoed through the chamber...he could feel it in his bones.
Kendo staggered backward.
The skull's hollow sockets flickered red again.
Longer this time.
A pressure formed inside his head.
A single impression surfaced clearly.
Grow.
The word was not spoken aloud.
It pressed inward.
He dropped the chisel.
"I'm not yours," he muttered.
The red glow dimmed slightly.
But it did not vanish.
The pressure eased only when he stepped backward toward the rope.
The moment his boot touched the first foothold, the cavern quieted.
As if disappointed.
He climbed quickly.
Hands shaking.
When he reached the surface, he did not pause to look back.
But beneath the earth, within the ribcage of ancient bone, something shifted its weight for the first time in centuries.
A fracture ran along the spine of the skeleton — and one vertebra separated from the rest.