As everyone slowly rose to their feet, weary and drained from the grueling ordeal, their gazes instinctively shifted toward the same raised platform at the far end of the grand hall, the very place where an old man had stood to address them before they were hurled into the forest.
And there he was once again. The old man stood tall and still, his back straight, his aged face unreadable. His eyes, apathetic as ever, scanned across the multitude of candidates without the slightest flicker of emotion.
He did not speak, nor did he so much as gesture. He simply stood there, his presence calm, waiting, waiting for their bodies to steady and their minds to reorient before he began to speak whatever truth was about to follow.
