The gate didn't make a sound. Like it was holding its breath for us. Like it was waiting. Waiting for us to decide if we were gonna stand here all day or step in and fight for whatever little life was left.
I put my hand on the cold, rough iron. Felt the rust, the cracks—like scars on something that's already broken but still not done yet. Liora was right there beside me, her eyes locked on the thick fog pressing hard against the bars, like it was alive and waiting too.
"Ready?" she said, barely above a whisper, but I could hear the tremble underneath—the part of her that didn't want to be ready at all.
I didn't say anything. Just nodded, heart pounding so hard I thought it would jump right out and run away.
Together, we pushed. The gate fought like hell—screaming and groaning so loud it stabbed my ears after all the quiet we'd been living in.
And then—just like that—the fog swallowed us whole.
Everything shifted into pale gray. The stones disappeared beneath my boots like they never existed. The cold wrapped all around me, thick and heavy, like breathing underwater—every breath a struggle I had to force.Liora's hand found my arm. "Stay close," she said.
We moved forward, blind and slow, feeling our way through the arms of the fog like kids learning to walk in the dark. Shapes flickered—shadows blurred and stretched. We heard things too—maybe voices, maybe the city itself trying to remember it still belonged to someone.
My scythe throbbed in my hand. Not glowing, not shaking, just beating slow and steady like it was alive, like it was watching with me.I told myself again and again: "It's just fog. Just fog."
But no. It wasn't just fog.
Something was watching. Waiting.
A sound slid under the silence—low, rumbling like a beast stirring beneath the surface. I swallowed the tight lump in my throat, trying not to lose it.
"Did it follow us?" I whispered without turning.
Liora shrugged, breath puffing out in little clouds that vanished right away. "Doesn't matter. We're in now."
Every step felt like a dare. Careful but fast. Like if we stopped, the fog would curl tighter and never let us go.
Suddenly—a snap. Like a bone breaking or metal cracking somewhere ahead.Liora dropped to a crouch, eyes darting all around."Weapon?" I breathed.
"Maybe. Or a trap."
We slowed way down, eyes straining to see anything in the pale gray. But the fog held its secrets tight.
My skin buzzed, every nerve alive with things I couldn't see but felt all the same. The city felt miles away—like a dream slipping through tired fingers.Then—footsteps. Quick, sharp. Coming straight for us.I clenched my scythe tight. Liora had her blade out before the sound hit full stride.The thing that appeared wasn't just a shadow. It was the fog itself—twisted and jagged, with eyes burning cold fire.
It lunged.
I barely had time to swing. Claws ripped through the air where my arm had been.
The creature moved wrong—limbs stretching, twisting like a nightmare made of smoke.
Liora slashed hard, but her blade went through it like cutting nothing.
It snarled, then folded itself back into the fog, gone like it never touched the ground.No relief came. Just silence.
"Whatever that was," Liora said softly, "it's not the worst."
I nodded, trying to catch my breath. The fog thinned as the path bent ahead. A warm light flickered—soft, golden. A promise.Step by step, we moved closer.
When the mist finally blew away, we stood in an old courtyard—stones cracked and worn, walls crawling with dead vines.
No monsters. No shadows. Just… the city.
Liora crouched near a broken fountain, tracing ancient symbols worn into the stone."This," she said, voice small, "is the tower's blood. Old magic hiding right under our feet. It's why the fog won't forget us."
I knelt beside her, feeling the faint pulse beneath the broken stones—quiet and steady, like a heart still beating under layers of dust.
We sat in that silence for a while, listening to water drip and a lonely bird far away.
"This place…" I said, "it's full of secrets."
"Yeah," she said. "And we've just woken some of them."
We stood, the weight in our bones heavier than any fight. Fatigue that goes deeper than tired muscles.
"Ready for what's next?"As ready as I'll ever be.We stepped forward. Into silence, into whatever comes next.
To be continued.....