Veil Of The Wild

Aiden and Elena followed Tenwa deeper into the ruins, their own steps echoing off the empty shells of what was once a thriving village. The quiet that enclosed them became oppressive with every step. Failing walls rose like worn sentinels, their faces slumbering under creeping moss and weathered carvings. The scent of damp stone mixed with something acrid-scented, a remnant of the past still hanging in the air.

Aiden's mind echoed Tenwa's words: "A village falls not due to the wicked alone. It falls when the good sit silent." The weight of those words dawned upon his heart. How was it that an entire village sat silent while shadows fermented until they engulfed them all?

Tenwa came to a halt, his cat-like eyes scanning at a worn-down entrance before him. "We are near," he whispered. His tail quivered, and his claws extended against cracked stone beneath them. "After this, the core of the village lies.

Elena moved closer, tracing her fingers over the peculiar symbols carved into the archway. They were unknown but seemed to carry an uncomfortable familiarity, as if they spoke something just out of reach. "These symbols… They don't resemble normal writing."

Tenwa's eyes grew dark. "They are warnings."

Aiden exchanged a look with Elena and moved past the archway. The air seemed to thicken, to become heavier, charged with something unseeable. The ruins beyond seemed practically untouched by time—columns still standing, doorways still whole, as though waiting for someone's return.

They walked past vacant houses, their interior consumed by shadows. Others had signs of a struggle—deep scratches in the stone, shattered dishes on the ground. Others looked weirdly preserved, as if whoever lived there simply vanished at a moment's notice.

And then, they saw something unusual.

A curving stone plaza lay in the center of a broad courtyard, its face inscribed with lovely runes that cast a pale, magical glow. Around the edge of the plaza stood a row of broken statues—human figures with deformed, beast-like faces twisted into cries of agony.

"something?" Elena gasped, advancing cautiously.

Tenwa inhaled deeply. "A judgment place."

Aiden knelt, brushing away dust from one of the radiating symbols. The instant his fingers made contact, a jolt ran through his body—visions danced in his mind's eye. He was viewing the village as it once was—it was alive and thriving. He saw villagers gathered around this same platform, their faces filled with fear as something unseen loomed over them. Then, he saw what altered—their bodies twisting, reforming into twisted monstrosities as wails filled the air.

Aiden pulled back, gasping. His pulse pounded against his head. "I saw. I saw them change."

Elena placed a hand on his shoulder, her expression one of worry. "Are you okay?"

He swallowed hard and nodded. "This place—it holds the memory of what happened."

Tenwa crouched next to him, his eyes sharp. "The village didn't collapse overnight. The curse didn't just happen. It was woven into the tapestry of this place long before it happened."

Aiden scrunched up his face. "You mean someone did it?"

"Someone specific," Tenwa explained. "The curse wasn't a punishment. It was a reckoning. A penalty for decisions made and forgotten."

Aiden's gaze drifted back to the glowing runes. If it was here where answers lay, then he had to learn them. He stood up and walked to the nearest building, which was a huge building with crumbling pillars and shattered stained glass windows. "We have to keep going. There has to be more.".

They moved cautiously, picking their way through the ruins, their senses heightened. The further in they went, the stranger things grew. The ground became uneven, tilting a little beneath their feet. The air chilled, thick with a power that caused their skin to prickle.

Then, in one of the largest buildings—a hall, perhaps a temple—they found something that took their breath away.

A hidden chamber.

The doorway had been filled with dropped rubble, but time had eroded the stones. Struggling, they pushed their way in, and an untouched room was revealed to them. The walls were adorned with further carvings, scenes of the history of the village—people kneeling before some giant creature, pleading. Others showed them being judged, changed.

At the center of the room stood an altar, and its tabletop was filled with symbols that seemed to glow with the light of life. And there, embedded in the ceiling above, was a massive radiating crystal.

Aiden stepped forward, his gaze fixed on the crystal. Something emanated from it—something old, alive. It watched.

Elena breathed in shakily. "This. this is where it all started, isn't it?

Before Tenwa could speak, a low growl emanated from outside the chamber.

Aiden's blood ran cold.

Something was coming. They had been seen.