The spiral carvings beneath Sylas's palm blazed to life, their blue-green glow intensifying until the entire chamber pulsed with ancient power.

The light crawled up the walls in geometric patterns, forming sigils Soren had never seen, yet somehow recognized deep in his bones.

"Brace yourself," Sylas commanded, his voice cutting through the approaching thunder of armored footsteps.

The pursuing Inquisitors burst into the chamber's entrance, black robes billowing like storm clouds. Behind them came Calvian, golden and terrible in his fury, Solbrand's fire painting his perfect features in stark relief.

"Heretic!" The knight's voice shook dust from the ceiling. "Your corruption ends here!"

But as the first Inquisitor crossed the threshold, the spiral's light flared violently. A shimmering barrier materialized, rippling like water yet solid as stone.

The black-robed figure slammed into it with bone-jarring force, thrown backward as if struck by an invisible fist.

Calvian pushed forward, Solbrand raised high. "Pathetic tricks," he snarled, golden fire streaming from his blade as he hurled it against the barrier.

The flames struck the shimmering wall and... disappeared. Not extinguished, not reflected, simply absorbed, drawn into the ancient carvings that now pulsed brighter, drinking the sacred fire like parched earth swallowing rain.

Only the walls behind them blackened, scripture scorching into ash where the residual heat radiated outward.

'Older magic,' Valenna whispered in Soren's mind, her voice stronger than it had been in days. 'The stones remember what came before their temples.'

Calvian's perfect face contorted with rage. He hurled another stream of golden fire, this one more focused, more intense. Again the barrier drank it without effort, the spiral carvings beneath Soren's feet humming with absorbed energy.

"This changes nothing!" Calvian shouted, his voice distorted by the shimmering wall between them. "There is nowhere in this world you can hide from Solmir's judgment!"

The floor beneath Soren's feet shifted, ancient stone grinding against stone. The spiral's center began to sink, revealing a narrow staircase that corkscrewed downward into impenetrable darkness.

The opening exhaled stale air that carried the scent of centuries, mineral-rich, untouched by living breath for longer than Soren could comprehend.

"Move," Sylas ordered, gesturing toward the revealed passage. His assassins formed a protective ring around the opening, their curved blades ready though the barrier still held.

Soren hesitated, the enormity of his choice suddenly crushing down on him. Behind lay the Cathedral, the Inquisitors, Calvian's relentless pursuit, certain death or worse. Ahead stretched unknown darkness, guided by a man whose motives remained as shadowed as his hooded face.

The shard pulsed cold against his chest. 'Down,' Valenna urged. 'What awaits below is older than their self-righteous flames.'

Sylas's green eyes fixed on him, impatient but calculating. "Choose quickly or die slowly boy."

Soren took a deep breath and descended into the darkness.

The stairs wound downward in a tight spiral, each step worn smooth by feet that had walked this path long before the Cathedral existed above them.

The blue-green light from the chamber above faded with every turn, leaving them in darkness broken only by a faint glow emanating from Sylas's curved blade.

The air grew colder with each step, heavy with the scent of damp stone and mineral deposits. Soren's lungs burned with each breath, the oxygen thin and ancient. His wounded shoulder throbbed in time with his heartbeat, a steady reminder of how close he'd come to death, and how close he might still be.

One of Sylas's assassins took the lead, moving with the confident grace of someone following a memorized path. Another fell in behind Soren, footsteps nearly silent despite the close confines. The others maintained their positions around Sylas himself, a living barrier of blades and bodies.

After what seemed like an eternity of descent, the staircase opened into a cavernous chamber supported by massive stone columns.

Unlike the Cathedral's ornate pillars carved with scripture and saints, these were stark geometric shapes, hexagonal prisms rising from floor to ceiling, their surfaces etched with the same spiral patterns that had formed the barrier above.

"Keep moving," Sylas commanded from behind him. "The seal won't hold forever."

They crossed the chamber in tense silence, their footsteps echoing against stone that had stood untouched for centuries. Soren's gaze darted between the towering columns, each one carved with symbols that seemed to shift when viewed directly, like words in a language that refused to be read.

'The old tongue,' Valenna murmured, her voice carrying notes of recognition. 'From before the Sword Kings fell. Before the Church claimed the fire for itself.'

The assassins guided him through a series of interconnected chambers, each one revealing architecture more ancient than the last.

Arches curved overhead without keystones, seemingly held in place by principles of geometry Soren couldn't comprehend. Walls bore frescoes faded by time, figures wielding weapons wreathed in colored light, fighting enemies whose forms blurred into shadow.

In one chamber, the ceiling opened to reveal what might have been a night sky, though Soren knew they must be deep beneath the Cathedral by now.

Stars glimmered in impossible patterns, constellations he had never seen despite nights spent studying the heavens from Northaven's highest rooftops.

'Not stars,' Valenna corrected. 'Memory stones. They captured light from above, preserved it below when they sealed these halls.'

As they moved deeper into the labyrinth, one of the assassins approached him. A slender figure with quick, efficient movements, they produced a small leather pouch from within their cloak.

"For your wounds," they said, voice muffled by the fabric covering the lower half of their face. Without waiting for acknowledgment, they began applying a pungent salve to the cuts across Soren's face and arms. Their touch was clinical, neither gentle nor rough, simply functional, like a craftsman repairing a damaged tool.

"Thank you," Soren managed, wincing as the salve burned against raw flesh.

The assassin didn't respond, simply finished their task and melted back into formation as they continued their descent.

After what felt like hours of winding passages and ancient chambers, Sylas finally called a halt. They had reached a junction where three corridors branched outward like spokes from a wheel.

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