Oblong paused. "It is will. Hunger given consciousness. The first shadow cast when magic learned it could consume itself."
I remembered then. The night our skies went black. The moment the forest screamed. The thing that spoke without words.
"You stayed," I said slowly. "You chose to stay."
Oblong's mouth curved—not quite a smile. "I chose to become the lock." Silence stretched between us, thick and suffocating.
"If you leave this place," I scanned the place and whispered, already knowing the answer, "the seal breaks."
"Yes." Oblong looked around at the dead valley and sadness echoed his dark eyes "If the stones are fully removed—"
"It will wake." I nodded.
"And that bald duke—"
