Chapter six: The whispering ruins
468 Words
The journey began before sunrise. No one spoke. The mountains stretched endlessly before them, their jagged peaks hidden beneath a sea of mist. Haniel walked in front, his spear resting across his shoulder.
Lyra followed quietly, humming a melody so soft it almost disappeared into the wind.
Eleanor walked behind them, the Alpha Gem hidden beneath her cloak. She couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching them. Hours passed.
Then... Haniel suddenly raised his hand.
"Stop." Everyone froze.
"What is it?" Eleanor whispered.
Haniel slowly knelt and brushed aside the sand covering the ground. Footprints. Hundreds of them. Fresh.
Lyra frowned. "Those aren't ours."
Haniel nodded. "They've been waiting."
Before anyone could react
A voice echoed through the valley.
"Turn back." The three of them spun around.
No one was there.
The wind howled through the cliffs.
Again. "Turn back..."
Eleanor's heartbeat quickened.
"Who said that?" No answer.
Only silence. Lyra closed her eyes.
Her fingers brushed against one of the crystal flutes at her waist. She played a single note. The sound floated through the valley like ripples across water.
Suddenly... The illusion shattered. The mountains vanished.The peaceful valley disappeared.
What stood before them now was something entirely different.
Ruins. An enormous forgotten city buried beneath the desert. Broken towers reached toward the sky. Stone statues lined a cracked road, each with their heads missing.
Eleanor gasped. "It was hidden..."
Haniel's face hardened. "The Whispering Ruins."
"The first kingdom that Theresa destroyed."
Eleanor stared. Destroyed?
Before she could ask another question...
The statues moved. A grinding sound echoed across the city.
One after another...
The stone guardians turned their heads toward the travelers. Dozens.
Then hundreds.
Blue light ignited inside their empty eyes.
Lyra whispered,
"We're not alone. The ground shook.
A giant stone gate at the center of the city slowly began to open.
From the darkness inside... A child stepped out. He couldn't have been older than ten.
He was barefoot.
His white hair shimmered beneath the sun.
In his hands, he carried a wooden staff no taller than himself.
He smiled.
"You're late."
Eleanor frowned.
"Who are you?" The boy tilted his head.
"I've been waiting for the Alpha Bearer..."
"...for five hundred years." A cold chill ran down Eleanor's spine.
Five hundred years? That was impossible.
Haniel didn't move.
Instead... He slowly lowered himself onto one knee.
Lyra did the same. Eleanor looked at them in confusion.
"Why are you bowing?" Haniel spoke without taking his eyes off the child.
His voice was barely above a whisper.
"Because..."
"...he isn't a child." The smile on the boy's face slowly disappeared.
His bright blue eyes turned completely silver. The staff in his hands burst into radiant white light.
The ruined city trembled.
And from beneath the sand... A colossal shadow began to rise.
- Writer
