Chapter Forty-One

Ethan and Selene stood at the threshold of the gigantic chamber, the dividers around them carved with complex carvings that delineated an antiquated ritual. The faint gleam of the runes on the central altar cast ghostly shadows over the room, enlightening the faces of the mages carved into the stone, each one frozen in a moment of strong concentration, as though they were still channeling the powers that once held this fortress together.

The air was thick with harsh energy, the remnants of the antiquated enchantment that had been summoned here ages back. The cold that had been their steady companion since entering the Frozen Wastes was now nearly intolerable, but Ethan knew they were near. The storm outside of the fortress had escalated, the crying winds battering the dividers as though the Guardian was attempting to break through and stop them.

“This is the heart of the fortress,” Ethan said, his voice resounding off the stone dividers. “The source of the enchantment that binds the s