The wind howled as they sprinted from the Spire, boots pounding against the cracked stone of the ancient road. Behind them, the massive iron gates slammed shut with a thunderous boom, cutting off the nightmarish scene they had left behind.
But Kael knew it wasn’t over.
He cast a glance back. The scarred captain still stood before the rift, his expression unreadable as the swirling darkness behind him pulsed and writhed. More figures—hulking shadows with glowing red eyes—lurked beyond the veil.
More demons.
“Keep moving!” Phantom’s voice snapped Kael’s attention forward.
The terrain stretched before them—an abandoned trade route cutting through jagged cliffs, the remnants of an old civilization etched into the crumbling ruins around them. Once, this place had been a bustling hub between cities. Now, it was a graveyard of forgotten wars.
Lyria fell into stride beside him, wiping sweat from her brow. “Please tell me we’re heading somewhere and not just running for the sake of running.”
Phantom answered without slowing. “There’s an outpost a few miles from here. We can regroup and figure out our next move.”
Elysia kept her eyes locked ahead, her breathing steady despite the battle they had just endured. “If demons are being summoned, the world’s balance is shifting.”
Kael shot her a wary glance. “You say that like you expected this.”
Elysia’s gaze flickered toward him, something unreadable in her expression. “I knew the Spire was experimenting with ancient magic. I didn’t expect them to succeed.”
Kael scoffed. “Great. So we’re running from something even you didn’t plan for. That’s reassuring.”
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Lyria nudged him. “Oh, shut up and be grateful we’re still breathing.”
The old trade road led them into the heart of the ruins—twisted remnants of an age long forgotten. Towering statues, their faces eroded beyond recognition, loomed like silent sentinels. The air carried a strange heaviness, thick with an unnatural stillness.
Phantom slowed. “Stay alert.”
Kael frowned. “What, more demons?”
“No,” Phantom murmured. “Something older.”
Lyria’s fingers twitched toward her daggers. “That’s not comforting.”
Elysia paused beside a half-buried pillar, running her fingers over the strange carvings etched into its surface. Her expression hardened.
“This place…” she whispered. “It wasn’t just a city.”
Kael raised an eyebrow. “Mind cluing the rest of us in?”
Elysia exhaled. “It was a battleground. A long time ago, humans fought something they weren’t meant to.”
The wind shifted.
A low, guttural whisper drifted through the air.
Kael’s hand shot to his pistol. “Did anyone else hear—”
The ruins trembled.
Shadows coiled between the broken pillars.
A deep, hollow voice murmured from the darkness.
“...You should not have come here…”
The air froze.
Phantom’s grip tightened around his blades. “We’re not alone.”
From the shadows, figures began to emerge—tall, slender beings wrapped in blackened armor, their eyes void of light. Their movements were fluid, unnatural.
Kael’s pulse hammered. “Uh, are these demons?”
Elysia’s expression turned grim. “No.”
One of the creatures stepped forward, its voice like grinding metal.
“You are trespassing.”
Lyria muttered, “Okay. Now I regret coming this way.”
The creature tilted its head. “Leave… or join the dead.”
Kael didn’t need to hear that twice. “Yeah, I vote leave.”
But Phantom didn’t move.
Instead, he studied the creatures, his expression unreadable.
“These aren’t demons,” he said quietly. “They’re something else.”
Elysia nodded. “Something that was left behind.”
Kael groaned. “Fantastic. We traded a demon-infested prison for an undead-infested ruin. I love this plan.”
Phantom turned to the leader of the strange beings. “Who are you?”
Silence.
Then—
“We are the Forgotten.”
The wind howled.
The ruins trembled.
Kael’s grip tightened on his pistol.
Something told him they had just stepped into a problem far bigger than escaping the Spire.
