Filip was practically glued to his laptop when Rio stepped into the room. His fingers flew across the keyboard as windows opened and closed in rapid succession, lines of data flashing by too quickly to follow.
"Rio. Seriously. Come here," he said, still staring at the screen.
With a tired sigh, Rio stopped behind the chair and leaned forward. Displayed on the screen was a high-resolution satellite image of dense forest—except for one detail. A strange, perfectly shaped form disrupted the natural chaos of the trees.
It looked old. Too old.
"And?" Rio said after a moment. "That's just an old temple. There are tons of those."
Filip finally spun around in his chair, eyes shining with barely contained excitement.
"No. This isn't a normal temple."
"You always say that."
"And this time I have proof." Filip leaned aside so Rio could see better and pointed at the image. "There are no recorded excavations, no historical references, no local legends. Nothing. It doesn't exist in any database."
Rio raised an eyebrow. "And how can you possibly be sure?"
Filip inhaled deeply, as if he had been waiting for that exact question.
"I checked archives, old maps, university databases. I even emailed a professor of archaeology who specializes in this region. He said—word for word—'If that exists, it shouldn't be possible.'"
The room fell silent.
Rio studied the image again. The shape bothered him the longer he looked at it. It wasn't just ancient—it was precise. Deliberate. As if it had been placed there on purpose.
"…So how far away is it?" he asked at last.
"Two days on foot," Filip replied without hesitation.
Rio let out a slow breath. His mother's weekend chore list flashed through his mind—pulling weeds, trimming hedges, hours of mindless work under the sun.
"Fine," he said. "But if we die out there, I'm blaming you."
Filip's grin spread instantly, wide and victorious.
***
The forest swallowed them almost immediately.
Sunlight filtered through the thick canopy in thin, broken beams, barely reaching the ground. The air was heavy with moisture and the smell of soil and decay. Insects buzzed constantly, and every step demanded attention to avoid tangled roots and loose stones.
As the hours dragged on, Rio's patience steadily eroded.
"You said we'd be there by now," he muttered, shoving a branch out of his face.
Filip stopped walking. He checked his map, frowned slightly, then glanced at his GPS.
"It should be… around here."
"Should be?" Rio clenched his fists.
Before Filip could answer, the forest changed.
The buzzing insects vanished. The distant bird calls cut off mid-song. It was as if the world itself had taken a breath and refused to let it go.
They took one more step forward.
And the forest opened.
Before them rose a massive pyramid, so enormous it made Rio feel small—insignificant. Dark stone blocks towered upward, cracked and overgrown with moss, yet disturbingly intact despite their age.
"…No way," Rio whispered.
Filip stood frozen beside him, eyes wide, barely blinking. "It really exists…"
Encircling the pyramid were colossal statues shaped like animals—some resembling lions, others reptiles. One in particular drew Rio's attention: a massive, wolf-like figure with sharp ears and powerful claws. Thick vines and roots twisted through its cracked stone, as if nature itself had tried—and failed—to erase it.
They rested briefly, but Rio couldn't relax. No matter where he looked, he felt watched, as though the statues' hollow eyes followed his every movement.
Eventually, they split up to search for an entrance.
"Nothing here!" Rio called after a while.
"Wait!" Filip answered. "I think I found something!"
A staircase ran along the side of the pyramid, almost invisible beneath layers of moss and dirt. Strange runes were carved into the stone—twisting symbols Rio didn't recognize, yet they sent a chill across his skin.
The higher they climbed, the colder the air became, as though the structure itself resisted their ascent.
At the top stood a copper statue, remarkably well preserved. It depicted a fox, its head slightly tilted, frozen in a listening pose. Its eyes were hollow, yet somehow… alert.
"It almost looks alive," Rio murmured.
Filip was already looking past it. "Look over there."
Behind the statue yawned an opening.
A spiral staircase descended into darkness.
***
Their footsteps echoed hollowly as they went down. With each step, the air grew drier, heavier, carrying a faint metallic scent. At last, the staircase opened into an enormous underground chamber—far larger than anything Rio had imagined.
At its center stood a statue.
Over six meters tall, forged of gold and silver, it depicted the same fox—its features carved with unsettling precision. Its expression was calm, wise, and overwhelmingly powerful.
"This…" Rio swallowed. "This changes everything."
"No one's ever going to believe us," Filip laughed, the sound edging toward hysteria. "But I knew it. I knew it."
Rio's attention drifted downward, drawn to something resting at the statue's feet. Half-buried in dust lay a small object.
A medallion.
It was simple in shape, yet engraved with the same symbols as the runes on the staircase. As Rio stepped closer, his heartbeat quickened. A faint warmth spread through his chest—paired with a strange resistance, as if something deep inside him was urging him to stop.
Still, he couldn't look away.
"Rio?" Filip said from behind him.
"I'm just… going to take a look," Rio replied, more to himself than to Filip.
He knelt down slowly.
"It can't hurt," he whispered.
His fingers hovered just centimeters above the medallion.
The warmth inside him intensified, spreading outward like ripples through his body. His heartbeat thundered in his ears, drowning out all other sound. For a brief moment, fear clawed at the back of his mind.
It's fine, he told himself. Just a look.
The instant his fingertips brushed the cold surface, the chamber reacted.
The runes flared with a dull, silent light. The air grew heavy, crushing against his lungs. A sharp ringing filled his head as his vision blurred, as if reality itself were coming undone.
"Rio—!" Filip's voice echoed, distant and distorted.
The towering statue loomed above him, its fox-like eyes seeming to glow for just a fraction of a second.
Then the ground vanished beneath his feet.
Light collapsed inward. Sound ceased. Every sensation was swallowed whole
and everything went dark.