The hand crossed the channel up to the wrist before meeting resistance. The structure was too large to belong to any creature capable of physically existing inside the Heart Chamber, formed from dark skin, golden plates, and inscriptions that reorganized whenever they touched the air of the North. The fingers opened above the frozen lake and tried to reach the blue chain, but Strax pulled it back at the same instant, using his own body as an obstacle between the manifestation and the anchor. The mark across his chest burned when the entity realized the trap. The black lines penetrated deeper, tightening around his heart and trying to seize control of his mana channels, while the golden eye formed from sand turned directly toward him.
"You called me a key," Strax said, keeping one hand closed around the chain and the other prepared in front of the manifestation. "Then you should have realized that a key can also lock a door."
