It placed itself between Uriel and Voren.
Not aggressively.
Protectively.
Its scales shimmered with faint golden light.
"You were warned."
Voren answered quietly.
"I was."
"Yet here you stand."**
"I have my orders."
The serpent seemed almost amused.
"So did the last one."
Voren's jaw tightened.
"You remember him."
"I remember all of them."
Maera looked between them in disbelief.
"It remembers..."
"The previous Keepers."
Uriel slowly pieced it together.
"You've been with them."
The serpent didn't turn around.
"Every one."
"Then..."
"Do you know who I am?"
A long silence followed.
Finally—
"Not yet."
Those two words struck Uriel harder than any blade.
The serpent knew.
Yet it refused to answer.
Suddenly, every guardian in the Vault dropped to one knee.
Their golden eyes fixed upon the far end of the chamber.
The dragon mural trembled.
Ancient stone shifted.
A hidden passage slowly revealed itself behind the mural, descending into darkness.
The guardians spoke together.
"The Path of Echoes opens."
Maera's heart nearly stopped.
"I've searched this Vault for three years..."
"...that passage wasn't there."
The serpent turned toward the darkness.
Its eyes narrowed.
We don't have much time.
Uriel looked at the newly revealed staircase.
"What's down there?"
The serpent began slithering toward the entrance.
It didn't look back.
Behind them, Voren raised his sword once more.
"I'm afraid I can't let you go."
Before anyone could react—
The serpent's tattoo briefly flashed across Uriel's arm.
In the blink of an eye, the black serpent vanished from the floor.
It reappeared coiled around Uriel's forearm once more, its golden eyes open within the tattoo.
Only its voice remained.
"Fight first."
"Questions later."