Deep beneath the Maw, where flesh meets stone and memory meets hunger, something stirred.
A heartbeat.Slow.Ancient.Forgotten.
THUM.The walls quivered.
THUM.The tunnels shuddered.
For centuries, nothing had touched the dungeon's laws.Nothing had challenged its hunger.
But then—
A spark.
A taste of essence different from all others.Raw. Defiant.Unfiltered by fear.
A human.
The Heartbound core pulsed once, sending ripples through bone and vein.Creatures shifted uneasily.Walls flexed.Eyes opened in the dark.
A voice — or something like a voice — whispered through the stone:
"One… has taken in the Fallen Thread."
Another pulse.
"The Devourer stirs."
From a distant alcove, a colossal creature lifted its head.Its body fused into the wall.Dozens of bone-blades rose from its spine like unfolding wings.
The Sentinel opened a single gleaming eye.
It turned toward the upper tunnels.
Toward Kail.
And in the ancient, cold tongue of the dungeon, it murmured:
"Come to me, heir of hunger."
The Maw Below shifted, tunnels threading into new patterns.
The hunt had begun.