The air grew still.
Borik didn't meet anyone's eyes as he rolled the scroll back with shaking fingers. His usual sharp, sarcastic tone was gone—buried beneath something heavier. Something older. The fire in the middle of their camp crackled faintly as silence stretched.
"We're not here for power…" he said finally, his voice low. "We're here for something else."
He looked up slowly at Liam, and then at each of them—Sophia, Marcus, Eleanor, Jason… even Mariel and Von.
And then he said it.
"At this point, I think it's the right time to tell you everything."
The group went still. Jason took a step forward, squinting as if he didn't trust what he'd just heard. Sophia's arms loosened from across her chest. Eleanor narrowed her eyes. Von tilted his head, glancing cautiously between them all.
"In that tomb… beneath the palace," Borik continued, "where the power lies—yes—but there's something else. A chest. We don't know exactly what's inside. But we know what we need it for."
