The air beyond the stone doorway was thick, heavy with an unnatural weight. Kaelen could feel it pressing against his chest like invisible hands, the sensation crawling over his skin. The ruins of Avaras stretched out before them—twisting corridors of broken stone, stairways leading into shadowed depths, and walls lined with faded inscriptions that no longer made sense. The place felt wrong, as though it had been abandoned not just by men but by time itself.

  Sigrid’s grip on her dagger tightened. She had been in cursed places before, but this was different. The silence wasn’t just the absence of sound—it was alive, a thing that slithered through the cracks in reality, waiting. Her magic hummed at her fingertips, but it felt distant, as if the very air here was dulling it.

  Kaelen exhaled, rolling his shoulders. His sword was already in his hand, the golden glow in his eyes faint but ready. The instinct to move, to hunt, warred with the part of him that told him this wasn’t like anything they had faced before.

  The Master stepped forward, his movements slow and deliberate. His gaze swept across the ruins, reading the faded symbols, his expression unreadable. Then he placed a hand against the nearest wall, fingers tracing over the stone. "The corruption runs deep," he murmured. "Avaras was once a sanctuary. Now it’s a wound that refuses to close."

  Kaelen’s smirk was humorless. "Fantastic. A haunted ruin with a death wish. Just what I wanted."

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  Sigrid shot him a look. "Now would be a good time to take this seriously."

  Kaelen’s eyes flicked toward her, and for once, he let the joke die before it left his lips. He nodded.

  The Master motioned ahead. "There is something waiting for us. The Veil has made sure of it. If we are to find the talisman, we must move quickly. The longer we stay, the more it will… notice."

  Sigrid frowned. "It?"

  The Master didn’t answer immediately. He turned and stepped forward, deeper into the ruins. "You will see soon enough."

  Kaelen and Sigrid exchanged glances before following.

  The deeper they went, the worse it became. The walls seemed to shift when they weren’t looking. Doors appeared where there had been none. The stone beneath their feet felt solid one moment and treacherous the next. The air grew colder—not the natural cold of stone ruins, but something that seemed to steal warmth straight from their bones.

  They passed murals etched into the walls, depicting hunters standing against beasts of all shapes and forms. But some of the figures weren’t hunters. Some had too many eyes, too many limbs, or nothing where a face should be.

  Kaelen stopped at one of the murals, his jaw tightening. "These hunters…" He traced the carving of one, noticing the warped shape of their features. "They didn’t just disappear, did they?"

  The Master’s voice was low. "No. They became part of this place."

  Sigrid inhaled sharply, eyes scanning the shadows. "Then we’re not just walking into a cursed ruin. We’re walking into something that feeds."

  The Master nodded. "And it hasn’t eaten in a long time."

  A noise echoed from the depths of the ruins—a distant, shuddering breath. Not human. Not beast. Something else.

  Kaelen turned toward the sound, his sword already raised. "Right. And here I was hoping we could just have a peaceful walk through ancient horrors."

  The Master exhaled, his gaze locked on the dark corridor ahead. "Be ready. The Veil is watching us now."

  Sigrid’s magic flared faintly, a pulse of silver light that briefly pushed back the shadows.

  Then the ruins shifted again, and something moved in the darkness ahead.

  They're now deep inside Avaras, and something unnatural is aware of them.