Year 217 After the Era of the Scourge

  25th Day of the Month of Ashes,

  The winds, heavy with ashes, swept across the desolate plain. Kael, Lysara, and Darius walked in silence, their boots sinking into the barren earth. Before them stood the ruins of what was once a great city.

  Broken towers, buildings gutted by time, and roads fractured by ancient explosions. The remnants of a bygone era.

  Kael frowned.

  He could feel it.

  A forgotten past weighed upon these stones.

  They reached the first structures—tall, collapsed buildings whose facades bore strange inscriptions, long faded by time.

  — "This was an enormous city… but it wasn't abandoned naturally," Lysara said, brushing her fingers against a wall riddled with impacts.

  Darius nodded.

  — "This looks like a war zone… But who could have fought here?"

  Kael stopped at the edge of a wide avenue.

  Scattered across it lay metallic vehicles, overturned or charred. Their design was strange—smooth and advanced, unlike the carriages and mounts they knew.

  Then, he saw them.

  Skeletons.

  Human remains littered the street, their bones bleached by time. Some still bore fragments of unknown clothing, others lay near the vehicles as if they had tried to flee something.

  Lysara tensed.

  — "…They weren’t armed."

  Kael crouched and picked up a dented metallic helmet.

  A strange object, too sophisticated to be mere soldier’s armor.

  His gaze shifted to a towering structure in the distance, its summit collapsed.

  — "We might find answers there."

  The trio advanced cautiously.

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  The air was heavy, charged with an invisible presence. As if something was watching them.

  Darius gripped his sword.

  — "Do you feel that?"

  Kael nodded.

  A threat. Hidden in the shadows.

  Lysara crouched behind debris, scanning their surroundings.

  — "We’re not alone…" she whispered.

  Kael slowly drew his weapon.

  A noise.

  A metallic click echoed somewhere in the ruins.

  Then… footsteps.

  A strange, inhuman echo.

  Lysara stiffened.

  — "Something is coming."

  Kael braced himself.

  Behind a shattered building, a dark shape slipped through the gloom.

  Then, a second noise…

  And finally, a voice, distorted by the ruins’ echo:

  — "…Intruders detected."

  Kael barely had time to react.

  Two figures emerged from the rubble.

  They were not human.

  Metallic beings, with red eyes like the Guardian in the underground chamber, but slimmer, faster.

  Lysara nocked an arrow and fired.

  The impact rang out… but the projectile bounced off.

  — "Their armor is too strong!"

  One of the monsters lunged at Darius, its integrated blade slashing downward in a flash.

  Darius barely blocked in time, but the impact sent him stumbling back several steps.

  Kael dashed forward, striking at the creature’s neck.

  A spark burst forth.

  The enemy staggered slightly but countered with a vicious backhand.

  Kael rolled to the side, narrowly dodging a second attack.

  — "Aim for the joints! Like with the Guardian!"

  Lysara fired an arrow under one monster’s arm.

  This time, the impact pierced through.

  The enemy let out a strange static noise and wavered.

  Darius seized the opening and severed the creature’s leg.

  It crashed to the ground, its red eye flickering out in a final glint.

  Kael was still locked in combat with the other monster.

  He parried its strikes, but the enemy was fast.

  Too fast.

  So, he took a risk.

  He lowered his guard for a fraction of a second.

  The enemy struck instantly.

  Kael dodged at the last moment, letting the blade graze his side, and drove his sword with all his might into the joint at its neck.

  A metallic crunch rang out.

  The monster shuddered… then collapsed, lifeless.

  Silence fell once more.

  Kael caught his breath and studied the mechanical corpses.

  These things… Why were they still functional after all this time?

  Darius inspected one of the bodies and noticed a symbol etched on its back plate.

  A circular mark, surrounded by unreadable inscriptions.

  Lysara frowned.

  — "They were guardians, like the one in the underground chamber… but they weren’t protecting anything. They were patrolling."

  Kael stood up.

  — "That means there are more of them."

  He cast a glance toward the towering structure dominating the ruins.

  If they wanted to understand what had happened to this world, they had to press on.

  There, in the forgotten heart of the fallen city, long-buried truths awaited discovery.