The council chamber fell silent after the creature dissolved, leaving only the empty cage and the weight of the name it had spoken. Erebus. The word echoed in my mind, ancient and cold, stirring echoes of memories that were not entirely my own.
Kaelen was the first to speak. "Does anyone recognize that name?"
Torvin shook his head, his scarred face grim. "I have never heard it. Not in the old sagas, not in the records of the Mountain Watch. It is not a northern name."
Runa echoed him. "Not in the borderlands either. The elders have no such word in their stories."
Elara, who had entered quietly during the interrogation, spoke from the doorway. "I've searched every text in Frosthold's library. Nothing. It's not in any language I know."
All eyes turned to me.
"Rosalind?" Kaelen's voice was gentle, but I saw the tension in his jaw, the fear beneath his calm.
