The ruins had not seen life in centuries.
But tonight, they would witness death.
---
A Predator in the Dark
Kaelen gripped his sword tightly, eyes locked on the shifting shadows at the temple entrance.
The Hunter did not move like a man.
It did not breathe like one, either.
Its form was wrong—more shadow than flesh, shifting and flickering like a fire struggling against the wind. Its long, clawed fingers flexed, its head tilting slightly as if listening to something unheard.
Lirien stepped beside Kaelen, daggers in hand. "This is bad."
Kaelen swallowed. "No argument here."
The Hunter took a slow step forward. The torches along the temple walls flickered, their flames dimming as if something unseen was devouring the light.
Then the Hunter vanished.
Kaelen barely had time to react before the air behind him shattered.
He twisted, raising his sword just as the Hunter's claws slashed toward his throat. Sparks erupted as steel met darkness, the force nearly sending him sprawling.
Lirien lunged low, daggers flashing, but the Hunter moved impossibly fast, twisting away and striking at her with inhuman precision. She barely dodged, rolling across the stone floor.
Kaelen didn't hesitate—he stepped forward, blade singing through the air. His strike should have cut deep.
It didn't.
The Hunter's body split—not with flesh and blood, but with darkness unraveling like mist, reforming an instant later.
Kaelen's stomach twisted. "What is this thing?"
Lirien's voice was tight. "Something that doesn't die easily."
The Hunter's head tilted. It studied them for a moment.
Then it moved again.
Faster.
Deadlier.
And this time, it did not miss.
---
The Blood Price
Pain exploded in Kaelen's side.
The Hunter's claws pierced him, not like a blade through flesh—but like ice sinking into his bones, cold and burning all at once.
Kaelen gasped, his vision blurring as his body rejected the unnatural wound.
Lirien shouted his name, but he barely heard her.
The Hunter loomed over him, its face shifting—expressionless, featureless, but somehow smiling in the way the shadows curled around its form.
It raised its claw for the final blow.
And then the ruins screamed.
A deep, guttural sound erupted from the walls around them, shaking the ground. The carvings on the temple pulsed, the black sun engraved in the stone twisting.
Lirien's eyes widened. "Move!"
Kaelen didn't have a choice.
A force—ancient and unseen—pulled at him. His body was wrenched backward, away from the Hunter's strike.
And then the shadows attacked.
Not Kaelen. Not Lirien.
But the Hunter.
Dark tendrils erupted from the temple walls, wrapping around the Hunter's shifting form. The air filled with a sound that was not quite a scream—something deeper, something older.
The Hunter struggled.
For the first time, it hesitated.
And Kaelen realized—it was afraid.
---
The Voice of the Ruins
Lirien grabbed Kaelen's arm, pulling him to his feet. His vision swam, his wound pulsing with cold fire, but he forced himself to focus.
"We need to go," she said.
Kaelen nodded, but his gaze remained fixed on the Hunter.
The shadows had not killed it.
But they had halted it.
And deep beneath the temple, something stirred.
A whisper brushed against Kaelen's mind. Faint. Broken.
"You do not understand…"
Lirien's grip on his arm tightened. "Kaelen."
The shadows around them pulsed. The Hunter twisted, its body shifting, its form breaking apart.
But its eyes—if they could be called eyes—locked onto Kaelen.
And in that moment, a single word formed in his mind, not from the Hunter, not from Lirien—
But from the ruins themselves.
"Run."
---
Fleeing the Dead
They ran.
Kaelen barely felt his wound as adrenaline surged through him. He followed Lirien as she navigated the ruins, avoiding crumbling stone and twisted corridors.
Behind them, the shadows shrieked.
The Hunter had broken free.
And it was coming.
Lirien didn't stop. "There's a passage ahead!"
Kaelen forced his legs to move faster. The temple walls around them continued to pulse, the air thick with something unseen. The ruins were awake, and they were angry.
They reached an archway—half-broken, crumbling with age. Beyond it, the cliffs dropped off into a vast canyon.
No way forward.
No way down.
Kaelen turned sharply. "Lirien—"
The Hunter was there.
Blocking the entrance.
Its form flickered, shifting between solid and mist. But it did not attack immediately.
It watched them.
As if waiting.
Lirien gritted her teeth. "Damn it."
Kaelen's grip tightened on his sword. His body ached. His breath was ragged. But he wasn't going to die here.
Not like this.
Not today.
The Hunter stepped forward.
And then—
A hand grabbed Kaelen's wrist.
Cold. Not human.
Not Lirien.
And a voice—not whispered, not broken, but strong—spoke into his mind.
"Jump."
Kaelen barely had time to think.
The ground collapsed beneath them.
And then he was falling.
Into the Abyss
Falling.
The wind roared past Kaelen's ears, his stomach twisting as the darkness swallowed him.
He couldn't see the bottom.
Couldn't tell if there even was a bottom.
Lirien was beside him, her cloak whipping around her as they plunged deeper into the abyss.
And then—
The darkness moved.
Not empty. Not lifeless.
Alive.
And waiting.
---
The Catcher of the Fallen
Kaelen braced himself, expecting the impact of stone, jagged rocks, or something far worse.
Instead, something unseen slowed their descent.
Not wind. Not magic he could recognize.
But an invisible presence.
Like hands reaching out from the abyss, catching them before death.
The shadows thickened, and suddenly—
They were no longer falling.
Kaelen landed hard on a cold surface, gasping for breath. The air around him was heavy, thick with the scent of damp earth and something older.
Lirien landed beside him, rolling to a stop. She cursed under her breath, gripping her arm where she had hit the ground.
Kaelen pushed himself up. His heart pounded. His body still ached from the Hunter's strike, but the worst of the pain had faded.
They were alive.
But the question was—
"Where are we?"
---
The Temple Below
They had landed in a cavernous chamber.
Massive stone pillars stretched high above, vanishing into the darkness. The walls were lined with carvings—more depictions of the Black Sun, of kneeling figures, of something rising from the depths.
A temple.
But not like the ruins above.
This place was untouched by time.
Lirien exhaled sharply, glancing around. "This isn't possible," she muttered.
Kaelen shot her a look. "After everything we've seen, this is where you draw the line?"
Lirien didn't answer.
Because something else had caught her attention.
The chamber wasn't empty.
---
The Guardians of the Deep
Statues lined the temple walls—figures cloaked in robes, their faces hidden beneath hoods.
Each held a long, curved blade.
Each stood in silence, as if watching unseen intruders.
Kaelen stepped forward cautiously. The air was thick with something unseen, something waiting.
"Are they just statues?" he asked.
Lirien didn't answer immediately. She stepped closer to one, eyes narrowing.
Then, slowly, she reached out—her fingers barely grazing the stone.
A whisper echoed through the chamber.
Not words. Not a language he understood.
But something ancient.
Something waking up.
Kaelen stiffened. "Lirien—"
The nearest statue's head snapped toward them.
And then the others began to move.
---
The First Trial
The statues stepped down from their pedestals, moving with slow, deliberate grace.
Not alive.
Not entirely.
Their blades gleamed in the faint light, untouched by rust or time.
Kaelen immediately drew his sword, stepping in front of Lirien. "Tell me we can fight these things."
Lirien was already reaching for her daggers. "We're about to find out."
The first Guardian moved, striking with unnatural speed. Kaelen barely blocked in time, his arms jolting from the force. The impact was wrong—too heavy, too sharp.
Lirien ducked beneath another swing, rolling to the side and striking with her dagger. It connected—
And did nothing.
The Guardian's stone body did not bleed. Did not break.
Lirien cursed. "This isn't good."
Kaelen dodged another attack, gritting his teeth. He couldn't keep this up forever.
Then, from the shadows—
A voice.
"You must not fight them."
Kaelen spun, searching for the source. "Who said that?"
The Guardians did not pause.
The voice came again, deeper this time.
"Prove yourself. Or be forgotten."
And suddenly, Kaelen understood.
This was a test.
Not of strength.
But of something else.
Lirien met his gaze. "What do we do?"
Kaelen took a slow breath. Then, hesitantly—
He lowered his sword.
The moment he did, the nearest Guardian halted.
The others did the same, their glowing eyes flickering.
Kaelen's heart pounded. "They're testing us."
Lirien frowned but lowered her daggers as well.
Silence.
Then—
The Guardians stepped back.
The air shifted. The heavy pressure eased.
And ahead, at the far end of the chamber—
A door slowly creaked open.
---
The Path Forward
Kaelen exhaled shakily. "That could've gone worse."
Lirien shot him a look. "We fell into a cursed temple and nearly got cut in half. This is worse."
Kaelen let out a breathless chuckle. "Fair point."
But despite everything—the Hunter, the fall, the Guardians—one thing was clear.
They were still alive.
And something wanted them here.
Kaelen turned toward the open door.
Beyond it, darkness awaited.
And answers.
"Let's go," he said.
Lirien hesitated. Then, silently, she followed.
And the temple watched them go.
---
Threads of Fate
Kaelen and Lirien survive the fall, but only because something caught them.
They find an ancient temple, untouched by time, hidden beneath the ruins above.
The Guardians test them, forcing them to prove their worth.
A mysterious voice speaks, hinting that they were meant to come here.
A door opens, leading deeper into the abyss.
The Black Sun's secrets are waiting.
And the deeper they go, the harder it will be to turn back.