The silence had shattered like broken glass.
The unmistakable crunch of heavy footsteps on dry leaves echoed through the clearing—slow, deliberate, and closing in.
Suddenly, the puppy reappeared from the gloom.
This time, its eyes held a frantic urgency.
It planted its tiny paws in the dirt and began to bark at the rider with a piercing intensity.
As if screaming a single command: "Run! Get out now!"
From the tree line came a terrifying response.
A low, guttural growl vibrated through the air, making the very ground tremble.
Those two dark silhouettes were now at the edge of the light.
Their predatory yellow eyes locking onto the rider's neck.
Her breath hitched. Instinct took over.
Without a second thought, she lunged toward the rusted iron ladder clinging to the side of the massive ship.
Her boots hammered against the cold metal, a frantic rhythm of survival.
Her hands, now stained red with rust, gripped the rungs as she hauled herself upward.
Reaching the deck, she glanced down one last time—
The puppy gave a final, sharp yelp and bolted in the opposite direction, vanishing like a streak of white light.
A long, bone-chilling howl erupted from below.
The wolves were now at the base of the ship.
Desperate for cover, she spotted a heavy iron hatch on the deck.
She threw her weight against it, the rusted hinges shrieking in protest before finally giving way.
Beyond the door lay a dark, cavernous stairwell leading deep into the belly of the ship.
The savage snarls echoing from the forest floor left her no choice.
She stepped into the abyss and pulled the heavy door shut behind her.
The iron stairs felt endless, leading her deeper into the bowels of the ship.
But as she descended further, the air began to shift.
The stench of corroded metal faded, replaced by a crisp, biting freshness.
When she finally pushed through the last heavy door at the bottom, the sight nearly blinded her.
Step by step, the world had turned inside out.
There was no ceiling—only a vast, infinite indigo sky where millions of stars shimmered like scattered diamonds.
She wasn't inside a confined vessel anymore; she was standing in a mysterious, open expanse.
All around her, gargantuan stones were balanced precariously atop one another.
Some were arranged in the shape of massive, ancient archways.
Standing like the ruins of a forgotten civilization.
The way stone rested upon stone felt unnatural, evoking a sense of ancient, silent dread.
Mesmerized, she began to walk.
The ground beneath her boots was no longer metal, but old earth and gravel.
In the distance, a silhouette emerged from the starlight.
It was a crumbling ruin—what might have once been a home.
Its roof had long since collapsed, and the walls were shedding bricks like dead skin.
The rider steadied her breath and approached the wreckage.
She pulled off a glove and pressed her bare palm against the cold, rough stone of the walls.
Centuries of dust clung to her fingertips.
The walls were unnervingly cold, as if they didn't belong to this world.
As her touch traced the jagged edges of the ruin, she felt a faint vibration coming from within the stones.
Instead of rough earth, the rider's boots now pressed into soft, velvet-like green grass.
In the glow of the infinite stars, the tiny blades shimmered like silver.
Strange wild flowers lined the path, their fragrance heavy in the biting cold air.
Enveloped by the eerie peace, she drifted toward the gargantuan stones.
That towered like silent monuments toward the sky.
She rested her palm against a massive, smooth rock.
The chill of the stone seeped through her skin, vibrating through her entire body.
But as she swept her flashlight beam to the other side of the monolith, her breath hitched in her throat.
Etched deep into the hard surface were massive claw marks.
They weren't just scratched onto the surface;
It looked as if something had ripped through the solid rock as if it were soft wax.
Trembling, she placed her own hand inside one of the grooves.
Her palm looked like a toy in comparison—
The marks were at least five times larger and infinitely more terrifying than any human hand.
Her heart hammered against her ribs.
She lowered the beam to the grass.
The soft greenery was trampled and torn.
Pressed deep into the soil were colossal footprints, their weight having crushed the earth beneath.
The shape was alien—nothing human, nothing recognizable.
The sheer width and length of the prints, with deep punctures where razor-sharp claws had gripped the ground.
Spoke of a creature that was both monstrous and ancient.
The ruins no longer felt like a sanctuary; they felt like a cage.
The rider's fingers danced frantically across her phone screen.
She stretched her arm high into the air, trying to catch invisible signals.
Signals that could pull her out of this nightmare.
The words 'No Signal' stared back at her, cold and final.
She paced in circles, her boots heartlessly crushing the damp grass beneath.
Suddenly, a prickle of intuition crawled up her spine.
She was being watched.
High above, nestled among the colossal stones, stood a small dwelling carved into the rock.
At its narrow opening, a small child lay flat on his stomach.
His entire body remained shrouded in the shadows of the interior;
Only his neck and face hung out over the edge, suspended above the void.
The boy was as still as the stone beneath him.
His eyes, unblinking and vacant, were fixed on the rider below.
There was no life in his gaze, only a hollow depth that made the silence feel even heavier.
He had been there, lying in wait, watching every desperate move the stranger made.
As the rider swept her flashlight upward, the beam landed directly on that hanging face.
In the harsh white glare, the boy's pale skin looked spectral.
Her entire body went numb, and she nearly fumbled her phone.
She recoiled, taking two sharp steps back, her breath hitching in her throat.
The child didn't move—he just remained there, a silent sentinel from the world above.
Staring down at her with an eerie, unwavering intensity.
To be continue...