Silence fell, all at once.The echo of their footsteps shattered against a wall...of something strange.
And then,in the trembling light,it appeared:a monumental fresco,carved directly into the stone,as if it had been waiting for them all along.
Around a sharp bend,they came face to face with a vast mural that dominated the entire wall.Time itself seemed to pause.
The image was breathtaking—and utterly intimidating:a scene etched in stone,depicting a colossal tower stretching toward the heavens,a lone figure in its shadow,surrounded by ruined devastation.
Its architecture felt almost supernatural,belonging to no known era or civilization.Around the tower,human shapes scattered in every direction,their faces frozen in expressions of sheer terror.
Yet what struck them mostwas not the image itself,but the door set in the center of the mural.
It was framed by carved symbols,almost as if the door were part of the fresco itself.The double doors were ink-black,blending seamlessly into the wall in a waythat made their presence both obvious and… wrong.
The wall behind them shared the same texture as the others—black and polished,smooth to the touch,a perfect surface,showing no trace of wear or passage.
Adam stepped closer to the mural,eyes scanning every detail,as if the scene held a secret buried just beneath its surface.
He turned toward Kael,a shiver running down his spine."This... this is the same scene I saw in Egypt...But much more detailed," he whispered."The mural there was more than half destroyed...like a memory erased."
Kael, observing the image in silence, nodded slowly,his gaze fixed on the door.
He didn't need to ask what Adam meant.He, too, remembered a similar scenefrom their expedition in Peru—a half-erased fresco,half-consumed by time.The same image of the tower,the same ominous figure.
But this time,everything was intact.
An echo of the past, frozen in stone—yet clearly tied to their own discoveries.
"Yes... I remember," Kael said softly."It's like something was erased—intentionally."He paused."But here... it's untouched. Why?"
They stood there for a moment,studying the mural and the door,wondering what it all meant.
Was it a threshold?A hidden passage?Or something more sinister?
All around them,the darkness seemed to close inlike an invisible grip.A faint cold wind slipped through the cracks,and the silence felt heavierby the second.
Yet neither dared touch the door.Not until they understood.
Kael's gaze drifted to the engraved symbols.Something stirred in him.
Four large glyphs,carved with unearthly precision—one north, one south, one east, one west.
But something was wrong.They looked familiar...too familiar.
He recognized these motifs.They resembled the ones he had seen in Egypt.But there was something off.
His eyes locked onto the northern symbol.It was the same one from the Egyptian fresco—the one placed at its center.
And it was now perfectly aligned with the door.
A wave of vertigo washed over him.
The symbols were there...but in the wrong places.
He spun toward Adam,his face pale and tense,his voice sharp and sudden—like a burst of light in the oppressive dark.
"Adam,in Egypt—were the frescoes laid out like this?"
Adam, caught off guard in thought, blinked and turned toward him."Huh...? Yeah, I told you—same thing. Why?"
Kael stared at him, hard."Are you absolutely sure?Look again!Were the symbols in the same places?"
Adam flinched.He turned back toward the glyphs,his gaze narrowing.
A flicker of confusion crossed his face.Then he turned to Kael, stunned."Well… no, actually.Now that I look closer…Two of these were in Egypt, yeah—but they were in different positions.Not even close to the same layout."
Silence.Thick.Suffocating.
The weight of the revelation settled over Kael.
His mind raced.
If the symbols were misaligned—that meant something far bigger…something more disturbing.
He turned back toward the mural,eyes flashing.
"Four temples..."The words escaped his lips in a whisper.Each symbol could correspond to one temple.And each temple...might hold a door.
A chill ran down his spine.Equal parts wonderand dread.
If his theory was right,this door wasn't the end.
It was the beginning.
There weren't just more murals to find—but more doors.Four temples.Four keys.
And maybe…one of them was here.Right now.
Suddenly, Adam surged forward,bursting with energy,eager to prove himself.
He marched to the door,brandishing lock picks and tools,as if he could brute-force it open.
His movements were fast,erratic—each gesture more hurried than the last.
But the door didn't budge.
"C'mon!" he snapped, punching it in frustration.Nothing.
Kael watched him, unimpressed,shaking his head.
Adam turned, flustered, eyes burning with challenge."What're you waiting for, huh?I'm blowing this thing open!"
He yanked a block of C-4 from his pack,grinning like a man about to settle a grudge.
Kael sighed, rubbing his forehead."Really?That's your plan now?"
But Adam ignored him.He was too deep in the thrill.Too desperate for action.
He wired the charge,placed it carefully...and backed away.
The blast came—but when the dust settled,nothing had changed.
Not even a scratch.
Adam stood there, stunned."What...? Nothing?That was C-4! It should've blown it sky-high!"
Kael stepped forward calmly,fingers brushing the smooth black surface.
And then—the door vibrated,groaned,and slowly opened.As if…it had been waiting for him.
Adam stared in disbelief."You... you've gotta be kidding me.You just touched it—and it opened?!"
Kael simply nodded,a faint smile tugging at his lips.
Adam, still muttering curses,rubbed his face and sighed.
"Fine.Whatever.So... where now?"
Kael didn't answer.
His eyes were locked on the abyss beyond the doorway.The cold air spilled out in wisps,brushing his skin.
A shiver crept through him.
His heart pounded.
He swallowed hard.The unknown stretched before them—dense, silent, impenetrable.
He turned to Adam,his voice low, cracking slightly under the pressure."What do we do now...?"
The door creaked wider,slow and ominous.
And beyond it...was onlya blackand endlessvoid.