15^th Illumis, 460 AG, 12:05PM, Heodal Kingdom

The entrance to the ruins was a simple brownish circle of wood, camouflaged with the forest floor, disguised beneath a layer of dead leaves and a tangle of roots. Xyron had found it three months earlier and never had the courage to share his secret with anyone for just as long, until this moment.

It was just past noon, and the blue sky hid above the green leaves from the trees. What was supposed to be a casual hunt turned into something way different.

Xyron and Kai ducked inside the mysterious trapdoor with the practiced recklessness of boys who had never actually been hurt by anything that mattered.

The ladder was iron and stained. Its hardened rust was so old that it stuck faintly to the hands. Xyron dropped down first, boots stomping into the dead air.

“Clear!” He called out, even though he had no idea if that was true.

The walls themselves gave off a white glow, like daylight squeezed through paper, enough to notice shapes but not faces. Xyron blinked, squinted, and muttered a sharp word.

“Lesser Flame.”

As its name suggests, a small flame appeared upon his palm, warm and orange. Thanks to it, the layout of the ruins was now clear, just like the fact that they were scarier than anticipated.

Kai landed silently behind him. He wore the expression he always wore, serious and cautious. He noticed his friend’s magic but chose not to comment. Even so, if Xyron felt confident enough, he would trust it.

The ruins began with a corridor stretching in both directions. To the left, pale and featureless stone. To the right, a passage pinched by a web of cracks, crawling away from where the wall had caved in. Xyron chose to go left, since it felt way less troublesome. He put a hand out, palm grazing the wall, and set off at a marching pace.

The air did not move; there were no drips or breaths of cold, no small gusts of wind even from the open trapdoor behind them. Only the smell of stone and, just under it, a sourness similar to burnt hair.

Their steps echoed, but the echo never landed where it should. It bounced from every direction, so that sometimes Xyron heard himself coming up from behind, sometimes even from ahead.

“This feels wrong…” Kai said with a troubled voice, only after a minute of walking.

“Maybe we’re just not used to it.” Xyron swung the flame onto his right, revealing another passage. It was low and square, with a smooth and unbroken floor.

From time to time the boys would pass through metallic doors, but they led only to shallow cells or empty alcoves, nothing to see, nothing to take. Xyron checked them anyway, poking his head in, sometimes his whole body, and always coming back with the same verdict: “Nothing again. Let 's continue.”

Kai followed with his eyes flicking from wall to wall in every new room they entered. Nothing about that place made sense.

“Who would build this? And what for?”

“No idea,” Xyron said. “Guess we’ll never find out.”

They kept walking in silence, only to come across more deserted hallways. The corridors split and merged, sometimes crossed themselves so that the boys looped the same stretch of wall four or five times without noticing. Xyron thought it was hilarious, but Kai didn't find it as amusing as his friend did. After a few more steps, he stopped.

“Wait!”

Xyron stopped, with his flame held high. “What is it?”

“We’re not even counting our steps… If this goes on, we’ll never be able to find our way out of this!”

“I’m… Marking it.” Xyron said while averting eye contact.

“You are not. We should go back and make sure we know where we’re going.”

Xyron sighed, finally giving up on his foolishness. Deep down, he knew Kai was the right one; if they weren’t careful, they’d be worrying about food and water sooner rather than later. As he turned around, ready to return the way they came from, Kai stood still, looking over his friend’s shoulder.

Crack~

Shivers ran through both their bodies, unaware of the cause of the sudden noise. It resembled rocks smashing into each other.

“Did you hear that?” Xyron whispered.

Kai nodded, mouth sealed and shoulders shrugged, clearly afraid.

They didn’t move for quite a long moment. Xyron was just as scared as his friend, even counting his breaths. They waited and waited, expecting to see another person or maybe some wildlife.

But there was nothing.

“Probably just the walls falling apart.” Xyron faked a laugh, but even to himself, it sounded pathetic.

They backtracked, this time at a slow and steady pace, not daring to run. The echo followed them, twisted so much that sometimes it seemed like a third set of feet was closing in, while other times it was already waiting for them up ahead. Xyron did his best to ignore the horrific scenarios in his mind.

Trying to soften the mood, the boy brought up a good memory.

“Remember last winter, when the river almost froze solid? My dad said we’d never have enough food for the festival, but then we- “

Kai cut him off.

“Left turn next. That’s where the ladder is.” Xyron understood it wasn’t the time for happy recollections and focused on the present as well.

The corridor opened abruptly into a wide, round chamber. Xyron stopped at the entrance with his flame extended. Kai’s hand was now gripping his sleeve so hard it pinched.

The walls were tainted with weird marks, almost like something had tried to bring the whole place down. The harder the boys looked, the clearer it was that those were specifically claw marks. Not only that, something shadowy and ominous clung to all the damaged walls, almost like smoke. In fact, the whole room had it.

“Don’t you dare… Let’s turn back!” Kai warned, but Xyron stepped in anyway. The room appeared bigger than it actually was. The floor dipped slightly in the center, and Xyron approached it slowly.

“Don’t touch anything…” Kai whispered, but Xyron was already crouching down at whatever was placed in the center.

He held the flame low, noticing a strange drawing on the ground. Its shapes were something he had never seen, but he could feel it; he could sense the magic in the drawing.

Just as he was about to bring his finger to it, a sudden growl made its way to the boys’ ears. Xyron got up faster than ever before, bringing his flame high to illuminate the room. But there was nothing, completely empty just as before.

“Back. Now.” Kai hissed, and Xyron quickly returned to him.

In the doorway where they had come in, the air wavered, as if someone had lit a fire on the other side of the wall. The wavering condensed, and then finally, the source of the noises revealed itself.

It was shaped like a wolf… No, more like the idea of a wolf, sketched and exaggerated by someone who had never seen one but heard stories from people who feared them. It was way too big, so much so that its head almost grazed against the ceiling. Its body was too long, its limbs larger than should be possible. Its fur was black, but every edge gleamed and bled dark smoke, similar to the smoke in that room.

It did not make a sound; instead, it just watched the frightened boys. The space inside Xyron’s chest went tight, almost making him cry.

The flame in his hand started to flicker; he could no longer focus on keeping the magic running. Kai’s grip closed hard on his arm.

“Don’t move.” He whispered.

The wolf tilted its head to the right, slowly and curious, before moving into the chamber. The air behind it snapped cold, and for a second the entire room was filled with the bitter smell of scorched hair and old flesh. Xyron felt the heat leak out of his palm, the flame shrinking more and more, until it was nothing but a single, shivering thread of orange between his fingers.