Nina, steeling her nerves, looks to the Keeper and says, "If all that is true, then my task in these woods is complete." The air in the chamber stills. Nina then follows up with, "Could you point the way out?"
The Keeper's resonance pauses, the rhythmic pulsing of its inner light faltering for a heartbeat before resuming, slower now, as if contemplating. Ronan shifts, a low rumble in his chest, his gaze fixed on the keeper with a mixture of apprehension and... something akin to understanding. Rex whines softly, his head resting on Nina's leg, sensing the shift in the atmosphere. The silence stretches, heavy and thick with unspoken implications. Finally, the Keeper's voice, still more of a resonance than a voice, replies.
"Your task... complete? You believe that by simply acknowledging the depth of Xalzar's corruption, you have fulfilled your purpose? That the lives of those lost are of no further consequence?" The light within the Keeper flickers, casting elongated shadows that seem to writhe and twist. "Child," the resonance continues, its tone more forceful now, "you underestimate the gravity of the situation. To turn away now, to leave the Whispering Woods and its captives to their fate... that is a choice with consequences far greater than you can comprehend." The Keeper pauses, allowing its words to hang heavy in the air.
Then, in a quieter tone, almost a whisper, it adds, "Yet, you have shown courage, a willingness to face the truth even when it is painful. That much I will grant you." The Keeper's spectral hand gestures towards a section of the wall, previously unnoticed in the shadowed gloom. The stone seems to shimmer, and a faint, ethereal doorway appears, almost as if drawn from the very fabric of the chamber. "The way out is before you," the resonance murmurs, "but know this: Leaving now does not end the threat. It merely postpones it and allows Xalzar to fester and grow stronger. The choice remains yours. But the consequences... they will follow you."
The ethereal doorway pulses with a faint, otherworldly light, a silent invitation and a silent warning. The fate of the Whispering Woods, and perhaps much more, hangs in the balance.