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Chapter 7 - Chapter 7 – The Whisper of Ruins

The winds had changed.

Rey could feel it—the air no longer carried only the stench of blood and rot. There was something… old riding the wind now. Something heavy with time.

He walked for hours, cradling his injured arm, the monster-tooth blade swaying against his hip. The wound was still raw, but it had stopped bleeding. The pain was dull now, as if even it had grown tired of screaming.

Ahead, the terrain twisted. Black rocks rose like jagged teeth, forming a narrow pass. Beyond it, the land dipped into a crater.

And in that crater stood a structure.

At first glance, it looked like a collapsed mountain. But Rey squinted—no, it had shape. Intent. Angles too precise to be natural.

> "A ruin…" he whispered to himself. "No—something more."

He approached carefully, sliding down the slope on one knee. The earth here was darker. Redder. Cracked in patterns that looked eerily like writing—ancient, unreadable glyphs that seemed to shift when not directly stared at.

The entrance was broken—a massive stone archway, half-buried in rubble. Two towering statues flanked the doorway, their faces eroded by time but their posture still noble, guarding the passage like ancient sentinels.

Rey paused beneath the arch. The air that flowed out from within was cold. Not the kind of cold that stung the skin—but the kind that whispered to the bones.

He stepped inside.

---

The ruin was dark.

Not pitch black—rather, it was dim, like twilight forever trapped inside stone.

Rey's footsteps echoed through hollow corridors lined with broken pillars and shattered murals. Moss-like growth clung to the walls, pulsing faintly with a sickly green light.

He didn't speak.

Didn't dare.

Even his breath was quiet.

Because this place… it felt alive. Not in the way a creature lives and breathes, but in the way a nightmare lingers behind closed eyes.

Rey passed a collapsed hallway, where a giant creature's skeleton rested—twisted, partially fossilized, its skull shattered from within. Whatever had killed it… hadn't been kind.

He found a second chamber deeper inside—circular, with a spiraling path that descended below ground. As he stepped into it—

A low growl.

His body froze.

Then the growl became a snarl.

From the shadows above, something lunged.

---

The fight was a blur.

A larger beast this time—four arms, plated back, needle-like fangs. Rey dodged by instinct, pain flaring in his side as he tumbled. The blade tore across the creature's face—but not deep enough.

He felt claws rake across his shoulder. Warm blood spilled.

He bit back a scream.

He rolled beneath its strike and jammed the tooth-blade into its jaw. It howled but didn't die.

> Too strong… not like before.

Rey kicked off the beast and sprinted down the spiral path. The creature followed, its roars shaking the walls. He didn't look back.

He couldn't.

---

By the time he reached the base of the spiraling corridor, his legs were screaming. His lungs burned. His shoulder was soaked in blood.

But the creature had stopped.

It didn't follow him down here.

It couldn't.

The tunnel had narrowed at the end—too small for the monster to enter.

Rey collapsed against the wall, panting, shivering from the cold and blood loss.

Then… he looked up.

And he saw it.

The true chamber.

Massive. Circular. Lined with pillars.

And in its heart…

A platform.

Upon it… something stood.

Something that did not belong to this age.

Something ancient.

Rey's breath caught in his throat.

But he didn't move toward it.

Didn't speak.

Didn't even blink.

He just stood there…

Silent.

Eyes wide.

A single tear sliding down his cheek.

He turned away.

And walked deeper into the silence.

---

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