Chapter 492

Captain Baldred, a man whose face was as weathered as the Tekarr Mountains themselves, surveyed the scene. One thousand soldiers, clad in iron and leather, stood arrayed around the base of a colossal stone pillar, its surface etched with intricate, pulsating runes that glowed with an unsettling purple light.

The air hung heavy with an unnatural silence, broken only by the rhythmic thud of shovels and pickaxes against stone. A thick fog clung to the ground, obscuring the jagged peaks that towered above.

"Send in the men to dig," Baldred commanded, his voice a low rumble that carried across the assembled troops.

The designated work crews, a mixture of laborers and less experienced soldiers, moved forward. They began to excavate a pit around the base of the pillar, their efforts illuminated by flickering torches held by other soldiers. The engravings on the pillar precisely matched those on the parchment clutched in Baldred's gauntlet, confirming their location.