The crackle of fire was the only sound for a while.
Lucas sat on a smooth piece of stone, legs stretched forward, arms resting loosely on his knees. The smell of roasted meat still lingered in the air, and for the first time in what felt like ages, his stomach didn't ache from hunger. His armor was off, resting near his bag, and his muscles, though sore, finally felt like his own again.
Across from him, Lyss sat with her back straight, quietly poking at the embers with a broken stick. The soft orange light danced across her pale face, giving her silver hair a soft golden hue. She hadn't said much since they finished eating.
Lucas's gaze drifted upward.
The sky above was still the same — a vast dome filled with unfamiliar stars. Beautiful, strange, and completely fake. He hated how calm it looked.
He broke the silence.
"So… what now?"
Lyss didn't answer immediately. She glanced up at him, then back at the fire.
"…We rest. Then decide where to go."
Lucas exhaled through his nose, letting his head tilt back slightly.
'Rest. Yeah. As if that actually helps in this damn place.'
His eyes closed for a moment, but the warmth on his face grounded him.
"I mean after that," he muttered. "We're stuck under a mountain, no exit in sight, and we've got a goddamn haunted city in front of us."
She nodded slightly. "Yeah. That."
Lucas glanced at her again.
Even now, she seemed composed. Tired, sure, but not shaken. Not like he felt inside.
He leaned forward, grabbing a loose rock and tossing it into the fire absently.
"We need a plan."
Lyss didn't answer right away. She pulled her knees up slightly, resting her arms atop them, her eyes locked on the fire.
Lucas waited.
"I know," she finally said. "We can't just sit here forever."
He snorted. "No shit."
Her lips twitched for a second, almost like a smile. But it vanished just as fast.
Lucas turned his head to glance at the towering walls of the ruined city not far in the distance. Shadows danced between buildings under the strange starlight. From their position, the spires of the castle still loomed like sentinels over the silent city.
"That light we saw earlier," he said, "it's still glowing. Might be someone in there."
Lyss followed his gaze, her eyes narrowing.
"Could be a person. Could be a trap. Could be… something worse."
Lucas shrugged. "At this point, not like we've got better options."
Silence settled again, the fire crackling softly between them.
Then he added, more to himself than to her, "Maybe there's a way out in that place. A path to the surface. A clue. Anything."
Lyss nodded. "Cities like that weren't built for no reason. There might be a Nexus Gate hidden inside. Maybe something the elves used before the humans arrived."
Lucas arched an eyebrow. "So you're thinking this place… it's old. Real old."
"Older than anything I've seen," she admitted. "The architecture. The energy. It's alive, but ancient."
Lucas let that sink in, frowning slightly.
He rubbed his temple.
'This whole thing's fucked up. We were supposed to train. Hunt. Not… discover lost cities under the world.'
His voice was low when he spoke again. "You think others could be here?"
Lyss tilted her head, eyes thoughtful. "The first day of spring wasn't that long ago."
Lucas nodded slowly. "So yeah. Could be more unlucky bastards like us, dumped here at sixteen."
She didn't respond, but the idea lingered between them — heavy, quiet, real.
He looked back toward the city.
"…If they're alive, they've been surviving in this place longer than us."
The fire popped, sending a tiny spray of embers into the air.
Lucas stared into the flickering flames, watching the light dance against the dark stones. "If there are others… maybe they found something. Maybe they figured out how to live here."
"Or died trying," Lyss said flatly.
Lucas glanced at her, but there was no bitterness in her voice—just realism. And exhaustion.
He leaned back against a nearby boulder, stretching his legs and rolling his shoulders. The stiffness was still there, but it was fading. Slowly.
"What if the light's not from someone?" he asked after a pause. "What if it's… something else?"
Lyss looked at him, brows slightly raised.
"You're thinking like a Crucible native now," she said.
Lucas scoffed. "You mean paranoid?"
"No. Smart."
He raised a hand and mimicked a mock toast. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."
She gave a tiny nod of acknowledgment, then turned her gaze back toward the city. The light they had seen earlier shimmered faintly in the distance—soft, pale, and steady.
"Whether it's a person or a thing," Lyss said, "we need to check it out. There's no food here. No proper shelter. And if that place is alive, it might hold answers."
Lucas frowned.
"It's also the most obvious place to die."
"True," she admitted.
"But you still wanna go?"
"I don't see another option," she said, her voice low. "We explore. Carefully. We gather what we can. We learn. And we figure out how to get the hell out of here."
Lucas let out a breath.
'Yeah. Figuring things out. Sounds easy when she says it.'
But deep down, he agreed.
They couldn't stay here forever.
Sooner or later, something else would find them.
Lucas grabbed a small stick and began drawing shapes in the dirt beside the fire. Circles, lines—nonsense, really. Just something to keep his hands busy while his mind spun in circles.
"We head toward the light tomorrow?" he asked, not looking up.
"Not yet," Lyss replied. "We need to rest one more night. Regain some strength. Make sure we're sharp."
Lucas didn't argue. The soreness in his limbs still clung to him like chains, even if the water from the river had revived them a little. His armor was still damp in places. His legs ached. His head pounded faintly behind his eyes.
He stopped doodling in the dirt and stared at the glowing city once again.
It was beautiful… and ominous.
"Something about this place makes my skin crawl," he muttered.
Lyss didn't respond right away. Then, softly, she said, "Same."
Lucas looked over at her. She wasn't watching the city anymore. Her gaze had turned upward—to the sky.
"These stars…" she murmured. "They're… wrong."
He followed her eyes. The sky above shimmered with unfamiliar constellations—patterns that twisted into strange, uncanny formations. The longer he stared, the more they seemed to move. Or maybe it was his tired mind playing tricks.
"They don't feel real," Lucas whispered.
"No," Lyss said, her voice quieter now. "They're not fake. Just… off. Like they're staring back."
A cold breath scraped through his lungs.
Lucas rubbed his face. "Great. A secret magical city under a cursed mountain, with a creepy sky and nightmare fish."
"Don't forget the monster ambushes and near-death experiences."
He shot her a look. "You're enjoying this way too much."
She smirked. Just a little.
It didn't last long.
Because even as they sat beside the fire, even as warmth filled the air and water had finally touched their lips…
The light from the city pulsed.
Once.
Faintly.
Like a heartbeat.
Lucas tensed.
And Lyss was already watching it, her expression unreadable.
The gentle pulse of light from within the city faded just as quickly as it came, as if nothing had happened.
Lucas stared at it, unmoving. "Did you see that?"
Lyss nodded slowly, her eyes narrowed. "Yeah."
"It pulsed. Like it was breathing or something."
The words felt ridiculous coming out of his mouth, but he said them anyway.
Lyss didn't mock him. If anything, she looked even more tense. "It wasn't just light. Something moved with it. I felt it… like a shift in the air."
Lucas felt the hairs on his neck rise. "Whatever that thing is, it's not just for decoration."
"No," she agreed, her tone flat. "It's not."
They both went quiet again, the fire crackling gently between them, casting dancing shadows across the carved stone around their temporary camp.
Lucas tilted his head toward the sky, watching the uncanny constellations shimmer above. The stillness of the world gnawed at him.
"It's too quiet," he muttered. "I've been to graveyards that felt livelier than this."
"Graveyards are peaceful," Lyss said softly. "This place isn't. It's… waiting."
Lucas looked at her.
"You think something's alive in there?" he asked.
"I don't know," she admitted. "But it doesn't feel dead."
He let out a slow breath and leaned back, arms crossed behind his head as he stared up at the wrong sky.
"We'll need a plan," he finally said. "If we go poking around and something goes sideways, we're screwed."
Lyss nodded. "We scout the outer buildings first. No castle yet. We learn the layout. We keep track of time."
Lucas snorted. "What time? There's no sun. No moon. Just… fake stars."
"We'll figure it out," she said. "We always do."
He glanced at her and raised a brow. "Is that what you tell yourself every time you drag someone to a cursed ruin?"
Lyss actually smiled.
"A couple times, yeah."
That smile made something strange twist in Lucas's chest. He looked away quickly.
Back at the city.
Back at the light that pulsed just once… and hadn't again.
Not yet.
The fire had dimmed to embers, casting a warm glow over the broken stone. Lucas sat with his arms draped over his knees, his eyes locked on the strange horizon. The weight in his chest hadn't vanished, but at least now he could breathe.
Lyss lay on her back nearby, watching the shimmering sky through the ruined ceiling. Her expression was quiet, thoughtful, but her muscles remained tense under the surface.
Lucas spoke first. "You ever wonder how no one's found this place before?"
Lyss didn't turn to look at him. "The Crucible's huge. Most of it hasn't been mapped. There are entire regions untouched by humans."
Lucas frowned. "Still, a whole damn city? A river? A castle? Just… here?"
She nodded slowly. "It happens. Explorers find things all the time. Dungeons. Caves. Old ruins. Most of them empty. But this… this isn't ruins. This place feels intact."
Lucas glanced toward the glowing tower in the distance. "Then maybe it matters."
Lyss sat up, pulling her knees close. "Could be. If it hasn't been recorded yet, this city might shift how we understand the geography of The Crucible. Whoever charts it first… they'll be remembered."
Lucas tilted his head. "You want the credit?"
"No," she replied. "But someone will."
A silence passed between them as they stared into the distance.
Then Lucas let out a low sigh. "How long do you think we should stay?"
"At least two days," Lyss said firmly. "You need to recover fully before we even think about moving again. We don't know what's out there, and you're still running on fumes."
He didn't argue.
Instead, he leaned back on his hands and stared up at the sky that didn't feel like the one he knew.
'Just another corner of this fucked-up world… and we're the first ones to see it.'
He didn't say it aloud. But as the silence settled again and the wind brushed softly against them, he knew that part of him—just a part—was already curious about what lay ahead.