Knight (1)

They didn't hear him at first.

Just the drip of water from somewhere unseen, and the sound of their own boots hitting stone. One step. Then another. Then twenty more.

The corridor narrowed again before it opened.

Lucen stepped past the last archway and paused.

The chamber ahead wasn't huge. Not like the grand hall upstairs. This one felt closer. More personal. Like it had been carved by hand. For something specific.

Stone columns ringed the edges, each etched with vertical slashes and runes faded to scratches. The floor was smooth. Polished in a way that didn't make sense. Like no one had ever touched it, and yet it had been walked for centuries.

And in the center stood the man.

Tall. Still.