Chapter 18
The Seal of Ages
They choose to uphold the seal, performing a ritual described in the journal. The Custodian resists, but their combined will and understanding prevail.
The air in the forgotten ruin thrummed with a tension that vibrated not just in the stone and dust, but deep within Alistair's bone marrow. The journal, its brittle pages clutched in his trembling hand, lay open on a moss-slicked altar, illuminated by the flickering, uncertain light of Clara’s flashlight. Each symbol, each faded script, seemed to pulse with a malevolent energy, a testament to the ancient pact that bound this place, and by extension, their town, to a slumbering darkness. The Custodian’s presence was no longer a subtle unease; it was a tangible weight pressing down, a silent roar in the cavernous space. Alistair could feel its ancient, possessive rage, a primal force loath to relinquish its charge.
"This is it, isn't it?" Clara’s voice, usually a beacon of unwavering pragmatism, was hushed, laced with a tremor Alistair hadn't heard