The Midnight Key

The wind howled through the ruins, carrying with it a voice that should not have existed.

"You were never meant to come back."

Rene barely breathed. Her fingers clenched around Rena, who remained calm—too calm. The child's silver eyes reflected the ruins around them, as if she were seeing something none of them could.

Lucien's golden gaze scanned the area, his fingers twitching toward his sword. Nyra's own blade was already drawn, and Adrian and Adriel stood like statues, their cold silver light pulsing faintly.

Kieran, as usual, seemed amused. "I'll be honest, I was hoping for something a little more dramatic." He smirked. "A thunderstorm, maybe. Some eerie chanting. 'You were never meant to come back' is a bit... overdone, don't you think?"

Nyra threw him a sharp look. "Shut up."

But the tension in the air didn't ease.

Rene's heart pounded as she stepped forward, forcing herself to speak. "Who's there?"

Silence.

Then—

A whisper, so soft it barely existed.

"You know me."

A flicker of movement in the corner of her eye. A shape shifting between the broken pillars.

Lucien moved in an instant, sword raised. "Show yourself."

Another whisper. This time, closer.

"You cannot kill a memory."

The ruins groaned. The very stones beneath them seemed to pulse, like a heartbeat deep within the earth.

Rene shuddered. The voice… it sounded familiar.

Not just to her.

To Rena.

The child in her arms exhaled softly. Her silver eyes flickered, and then—

She smiled.

And the ruins trembled.

The whispers turned into laughter.

Distorted, echoing from all directions.

Lucien's grip on his sword tightened. "We need to move. Now."

But before anyone could react—

The ruins came alive.

—

The Forgotten Ones

The ground beneath them shifted.

The symbols Lucien had uncovered pulsed brighter—no longer warnings, but something awakening.

The laughter twisted, morphing into words.

"You were meant to stay buried."

Shadows unfurled like ink spilling across the ruins. They stretched high, twisting into grotesque forms—half-seen figures with hollow silver eyes.

Adrian and Adriel moved first. Their silver light flared, ice creeping across the ground in an attempt to hold the shadows back.

But the darkness didn't freeze.

It shattered the ice.

Lucien cursed. "They're not like the Hollow Ones."

No. These things were different.

Older.

Stronger.

And aware.

Nyra lunged, blade flashing, but the moment her sword cut through one of the figures, it dissolved—then reformed behind her.

Rene's breath hitched. "They're not real."

Nyra spun back. "Excuse me?"

Lucien's expression darkened. "They're not physical. They're—"

Rena, small and still in Rene's arms, lifted a hand.

The shadows stopped.

Silence fell.

The laughter cut off abruptly, like someone had pressed a hand over a mouth.

Rena blinked, tilting her head. "You don't belong here."

The words weren't spoken in fear.

They were a command.

The figures trembled—distorted—as if something was unraveling them.

Rene barely breathed. Rena knew what these things were.

The tallest of the shadows leaned forward, its empty silver eyes fixing on the child. Then, softly, it spoke:

"Neither do you."

The ruins collapsed.

Stone cracked apart. The ground caved beneath them.

Rene barely had time to hold onto Rena as they all fell.

---

The Chamber Below

Darkness swallowed them.

The air rushed past Rene as she braced herself, but before she could even panic—

She landed.

Not on stone.

On something soft.

A cold wind rushed through the air, flickering with silver mist. The others landed nearby, groaning as they staggered to their feet.

Lucien cursed. "What in the—"

His words cut off as he looked around.

So did Rene.

They weren't in the ruins anymore.

They had fallen into something else.

A vast underground chamber stretched before them. Not broken, not ruined—intact. The walls gleamed, lined with silver markings that pulsed like a heartbeat.

At the center of the chamber was a throne.

And on it—

A figure sat.

Still as stone.

Watching.

Waiting.

Lucien exhaled sharply. "Selene."

Rene's heart thundered.

Because it wasn't just Selene.

It was all of them.

The ones who had vanished.

The ones who had been waiting.

And the ones who had planned this from the start.

To Be Continued…