The ruins appeared first as a shadow against shadows, a dark cluster that existed within a scattering of trees in a depression just right ahead.
Nero stopped at the edge of the clearing and studied the structure carefully. At first glance it resembled an enormous tree cluster, its trunk thick as a small building and covered in vines that climbed hundreds of feet into the canopy.
He activated his Heretic Eyes for three seconds.
The structure blazed with residual Ein Sof, far more concentrated than anything else in the immediate area. Corruption threaded through it in thick veins that pulsed with a slow rhythm.
There, beneath the vegetation that covered it like a head curtain, he could see the truth of what he was looking at.
Massive blocks of cut stone fitted together with precision to create walls that had once stood fifty feet high, now collapsed in places and overgrown with centuries of plant life. A castle keep, ancient beyond measure, reclaimed by the dark wilderness.
