"Don't," whispered a fellow Warden behind him.
The iron wall didn't shatter. It folded —neatly, quietly, like a curtain parting. Dust rose. Sunlight poured through the Arch for the first time in a century. arch unblocked
Kaelen stepped through. The air tasted sweeter. "What is this place?" "Don't," whispered a fellow Warden behind him
"You unblocked it," she said, not surprised. "We wondered who would." " she said
For seven generations, the people of Veridia lived in the shadow of the Great Arch. It wasn't a literal shadow—the Arch stood a mile outside the city, a perfect, silent curve of white stone carved with forgotten runes. But its presence loomed over everything. Their laws, their fears, their dreams—all bent under the Arch's unspoken rule.
Kaelen turned the wheel.