The ruins moaned as the wind passed through shattered archways and bones of stone. Toyum moved like a shadow, low and silent, her fingers brushing along the faded etchings carved into the old wall—language long forgotten, but her skin twitched at the touch.
The whispers had followed her here.
They no longer waited in the corners. They pushed closer now—near the ear, near the heart. They knew something. Or they wanted her to.
She stepped over cracked earth, where blood once fed the dust. Her boots scraped against a sigil half-buried in ash. It pulsed faintly—then died.
Behind her, a sound.
Too heavy for wind. Too slow for nature. Too confident to be accident.
Toyum didn't turn.
She waited.
One breath. Two.
Then the voice came—low, coarse, amused.
> "Didn't expect to find a girl walking the grave of kings."
She turned.
A figure stood in the broken light. Armor stripped down to bone and cloth, a jagged blade in hand. His face was wrapped in cloth, much like hers—but his eyes burned gold. Not human.
Not anymore.
He stepped forward.
> "You're not supposed to be here."
Her hand slid to her dagger.
Not yet drawn. But her silence said everything.
He grinned.
> "Good. I was getting bored."
He moved first. Fast. The blade aimed for her throat.
She didn't block.
She stepped into the strike, ducked low, and slammed her fist into his ribs. Once. Twice. A twist. A pull. His breath hitched.
Toyum was faster.
[Toyum : the protagonist name]
The blade scraped her shoulder—just enough to taste blood.
And then something shifted.
The air thickened. Her skin burned cold. The whispers screamed—not in fear, but in hunger.
His blade began to glow, drawing energy from the dust, the ruins, the dead.
Toyum's eyes narrowed.
> "You hear them too," she said for the first time.
His grin faltered.
> "So it's true. You're one of them."
> "One of what?"
> "The last silence."
She didn't understand. But her hands moved anyway. Her blade danced. His blade screamed. The ground cracked where they clashed.
And somewhere beneath her feet… something ancient began to stir.