Round 7

As Halie's silver holy symbol glowed softly, its light danced across the ancient carvings, illuminating the runes with a gentle, ethereal radiance. The air vibrated with the hum of the ward, and Seraphine's eyes narrowed as she studied the pattern, her quill scratching out notes in the leather-bound notebook. Varrika stepped closer to the gate, her eyes tracing the revealed runes with a practiced intensity, her brow furrowed in concentration. "The silence, that's the key piece we're missing," she muttered, her voice low and gravelly, as if drawn from the depths of the earth itself.