Year 217 After the Era of Ruin

  20th Day of the Month of Ashes,

  Kael slowly pushed himself up, every muscle aching from the impact of their fall. The wind howled in gusts, stirring up fine dust that seeped into his lungs. He coughed, squinting his eyes as he scanned the surroundings.

  This wasn’t just another field of ruins like the ones he had crossed before.

  It was something else.

  A suffocating silence hung over this place, as if time itself had frozen.

  The black structures around him bore no trace of human craftsmanship. No carved stone, no wood, no sign of conventional construction. Only smooth, angular forms that seemed to defy both nature and time. Strange symbols pulsed faintly across their surfaces, casting a pale glow that contrasted with the surrounding darkness.

  A shiver ran down Kael’s spine.

  This place had been dead for a long time.

  But something was still watching.

  Behind him, a groan broke the silence.

  Darius staggered to his feet, rubbing his head.

  — "What the hell…?" he murmured.

  Lysara was still on the ground, her eyes unfocused.

  But her expression suddenly changed. Her pupils shrank, her face went pale, as if she had seen a ghost.

  — "We… we shouldn’t be here," she whispered, barely audible.

  Kael frowned and turned to her.

  — "You know this place?"

  She shook her head, but her gaze remained locked on the black structures, filled with a terror he had never seen in her before.

  — "No… but I can feel something. A presence. Something ancient. Something dangerous."

  Kael instinctively tightened his grip on his sword.

  He felt it too.

  Then, the metallic voice resonated once more—cold, inhuman.

  — "Reactivation protocol initiated. Data verification… Error. Intruder identities unknown."

  A low rumble rose from the ground.

  The floor trembled beneath their feet.

  The lights flared, illuminating the black structures with an eerie glow.

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  And something stirred beneath them.

  The tremors intensified. Kael exchanged a glance with Darius and Lysara, both frozen, listening to the ominous, resonating sound filling the air.

  Then, the structures moved.

  One of the massive buildings suddenly cracked, a piercing noise splitting the air. Entire blocks of that strange black material shattered and crashed down with a deafening impact.

  Beyond the debris, an opening appeared.

  A passage.

  An enormous archway of black metal, framed by glowing symbols.

  And beyond it…

  A pulsing, blue light.

  A surge of adrenaline shot through Kael’s spine.

  He turned to his companions.

  — "We shouldn’t go in," Lysara murmured.

  Darius gritted his teeth.

  — "You’d rather stay here, with whatever’s chasing us?"

  Kael made a decision. They had no choice.

  — "We move. Stay alert."

  Lysara hesitated, gripping her cloak tightly, but eventually nodded.

  They approached the passage.

  And stepped through the gate.

  The moment they crossed the arch, the atmosphere shifted abruptly.

  The air grew heavier, charged with an unknown energy. A chilling current brushed against their skin, sinking deep into their bones.

  They entered a vast hall.

  The floor was a black mirror.

  A smooth, icy surface that reflected their silhouettes with unsettling clarity. Towering pillars supported a ceiling so high it was swallowed by darkness.

  But the walls…

  Thousands of luminous symbols ran across them, forming incomprehensible patterns that seemed… alive.

  Kael cautiously approached one and held his hand inches away from the glowing symbols. They reacted immediately, pulsing in sync with his breath.

  — "This isn’t a ruin," he whispered. "It’s a sanctuary."

  But at the center of the room…

  A throne.

  Carved from the same smooth, black material, devoid of ornamentation. A seat not for a king—but for an entity.

  And before it, a corpse.

  Or rather… what remained of one.

  A skeleton, clad in armor corroded by time. A blade resting at its feet.

  Kael slowly stepped closer.

  Then, the metallic voice echoed once more.

  — "Data corrupted. Partial retrieval in progress. Sequence activated."

  The ground trembled.

  The walls lit up with images.

  Kael took a step back as visions came to life around them.

  Cities engulfed in flames.

  Titanic machines marching across a scorched land.

  Human silhouettes reduced to ash beneath a sky torn apart by crimson lightning.

  And then—a figure.

  A man, draped in a dark cloak, his gaze as cold as death.

  He spoke, but no sound reached them.

  Then, silence.

  The vision vanished.

  Kael’s breath was shallow.

  What had they just witnessed?

  Darius cursed.

  — "That was… before us, wasn’t it?"

  Lysara closed her eyes.

  — "That was the world… before its fall."

  Kael clenched his fists.

  These ruins weren’t just remnants of the past.

  They were a warning.

  And they had just awakened something that should have remained forgotten.