The room remained silent.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
The soldier standing near the staircase looked as though he wished he had never discovered whatever waited upstairs.
General Caelan studied him for a moment.
Then nodded.
"Show us."
The soldier swallowed.
"Yes, Commander."
The group immediately followed.
The atmosphere inside the ruined building had changed completely.
A few minutes ago, they had discovered a single skeleton and a warning carved into stone.
That alone had been disturbing.
Now they knew there were more.
Much more.
The staircase groaned beneath their weight as they climbed toward the upper floor. Ancient wood cracked softly under heavy boots while dust drifted through the air.
The building felt old.
Very old.
Yet somehow it had survived centuries of neglect.
Perhaps the cold preserved it.
Or perhaps something else did.
Aren hated that thought immediately.
The second floor consisted of several connected chambers overlooking the ruined plaza below.
Most of the rooms were empty.
One wasn't.
The moment Kael stepped through the doorway, he understood why the soldier looked pale.
The room was filled with skeletons.
Not dozens.
Hundreds.
Silence descended.
The remains covered the floor from wall to wall.
Some rested against pillars.
Others lay collapsed beside shattered furniture.
A few still sat upright as though they had died where they were sitting.
No signs of violence were visible.
No broken weapons.
No evidence of battle.
Just bones.
Countless bones.
The air suddenly felt colder.
Aren stared.
Then stared some more.
Then immediately regretted continuing to stare.
"Okay."
Nobody answered.
The boy's voice sounded unusually quiet.
"That's... a lot."
No one disagreed.
Lyra slowly moved forward.
Her expression had become serious.
Very serious.
The skeletons weren't wearing Frostwatch uniforms.
That fact became obvious immediately.
The armor was different.
Older.
Much older.
Several soldiers had already reached the same conclusion.
One of the officers crouched beside a set of remains and carefully examined the rusted armor.
Then frowned.
"This isn't modern."
General Caelan looked toward him.
"Age?"
The officer hesitated.
Then shook his head.
"I don't know."
A pause.
"But old."
That wasn't exactly helpful.
Yet nobody expected precise answers.
Not here.
Not now.
The expedition had just discovered evidence that an entire group of people had died inside the ruins long before Frostwatch existed.
The implications were disturbing.
Aren pointed nervously toward the skeletons.
"So..."
Nobody liked that tone.
"If these people aren't from Frostwatch..."
He paused.
Then looked around the room.
"...who are they?"
The silence that followed was answer enough.
Nobody knew.
That was the problem.
The city wasn't on any map.
The architecture wasn't familiar.
The symbols covering nearby walls remained untranslated.
And now there were hundreds of unidentified skeletons resting inside a forgotten building.
Every answer seemed to create three new questions.
General Caelan moved deeper into the room.
The military commander studied the remains carefully.
His expression remained calm.
Yet Kael had spent enough time observing him to notice the subtle change.
The commander was concerned.
Very concerned.
That realization alone made the situation worse.
One of the researchers accompanying the expedition suddenly froze.
The elderly scholar adjusted his glasses.
Then stepped toward a nearby wall.
His expression changed immediately.
"Commander."
General Caelan turned.
"What is it?"
The scholar pointed.
Several symbols had been carved into the stone surface.
Ancient symbols.
The same symbols visible throughout the city.
Only these were different.
These had been painted.
Dark crimson lines stretched across the wall in elaborate patterns.
The shapes resembled circles.
Chains.
Eyes.
The sight made Kael uncomfortable.
Not because the symbols looked threatening.
Because they looked familiar.
Very familiar.
A strange sensation pulsed beneath his glove.
The mark.
For the briefest moment, the ancient mark hidden beneath the fabric seemed to react.
The feeling vanished almost immediately.
Yet it was enough.
Kael's expression darkened.
Lyra noticed.
"What is it?"
He hesitated.
Then looked toward the symbols.
"I've seen patterns like those before."
The room became quiet.
Several people turned toward him.
Including General Caelan.
Aren immediately pointed.
"There it is."
Nobody understood.
The boy sighed.
"The mysterious thing."
"What mysterious thing?"
Aren pointed toward Kael.
"Every ancient mystery somehow knows him."
Nobody laughed.
Mostly because the observation was becoming difficult to deny.
General Caelan approached the wall.
The military commander studied the symbols.
Then looked toward Kael.
"Where?"
A brief silence followed.
Kael considered his answer.
"The gate."
The room froze.
The word carried weight now.
The expedition knew enough about the academy incident to understand its significance.
Several officers exchanged glances.
The scholar looked alarmed.
General Caelan's expression became unreadable.
The commander returned his attention to the symbols.
The atmosphere shifted again.
Because suddenly the ruins weren't merely ancient.
They were connected.
Connected to the gate.
Connected to whatever mystery had begun unfolding beneath the academy.
And possibly connected to the monument waiting somewhere farther north.
The realization settled heavily over everyone.
Aren sighed.
"I miss exams."
Nobody disagreed.
---
The investigation continued for hours.
More buildings were searched.
More discoveries were made.
Unfortunately, most of those discoveries only deepened the mystery.
Additional skeletons appeared throughout the ruins.
Some were isolated.
Others gathered in groups.
A few entire buildings had become tombs.
Yet the pattern remained consistent.
No signs of violence.
No evidence of combat.
No obvious cause of death.
Just bones.
Thousands of them.
The city truly was a graveyard.
By late afternoon, the mood throughout the expedition had deteriorated significantly.
The initial excitement surrounding the ruins had vanished.
Now only unease remained.
People spoke quietly.
Laughed less.
Stayed closer together.
Even the soldiers seemed uncomfortable.
The city had that effect.
Aren sat atop a broken section of wall overlooking one of the larger plazas.
For once, he wasn't talking.
Kael immediately became concerned.
The boy noticed.
"What?"
"You're quiet."
Aren looked offended.
"I can be quiet."
"No."
"I can."
"No."
The argument lasted several seconds.
Then the boy sighed.
"Fine."
He looked toward the distant temple.
The enormous structure dominated the skyline of the ruins.
From this distance, it resembled a mountain of black stone rising above the city.
Aren frowned.
"You know what bothers me?"
Kael already regretted asking.
"What?"
The boy pointed toward the temple.
"We still haven't gone inside."
That was true.
The expedition had spent the entire day investigating the city.
The temple remained unexplored.
General Caelan had deliberately postponed entering it.
Apparently he wanted more information first.
The decision made sense.
Yet it also created anticipation.
The tracks led there.
The bell seemed connected to it.
And somehow, everyone knew the answers were probably waiting inside.
That was precisely why nobody wanted to enter.
Lyra approached a few moments later carrying several documents.
Her expression immediately drew attention.
"What happened?"
She handed one of the reports to Kael.
The information wasn't encouraging.
Additional tracks had been discovered.
Fresh tracks.
Not old.
Not ancient.
Recent.
The same type they had followed through the city.
Only now they had been found in multiple locations.
Aren read part of the report.
Then frowned.
"How many?"
Lyra folded her arms.
"Nobody knows."
The answer wasn't reassuring.
At all.
The boy looked toward the surrounding ruins.
The city suddenly felt much larger.
And much less empty.
---
That evening, General Caelan called a meeting.
Representatives from every expedition team gathered near the center of camp while officers discussed the day's findings.
The atmosphere was grim.
Nobody needed to say it.
Everyone felt it.
The military commander stood before a large projection displaying the ruins.
Several locations glowed.
Discovery sites.
Investigation zones.
Points of interest.
The temple occupied the center.
General Caelan looked toward the assembled expedition.
"We have enough information."
The conversations immediately stopped.
The commander pointed toward the temple.
"Tomorrow morning, we enter."
Silence followed.
Nobody seemed surprised.
The decision had been inevitable.
Still, hearing it spoken aloud made the reality feel heavier.
The military commander continued.
"The tracks lead there."
Another point appeared on the map.
"The bell originated there."
A third.
"The highest concentration of symbols exists there."
A pause.
"Whatever answers this city possesses are likely inside."
Nobody argued.
The logic was obvious.
The problem was that everyone suspected the same thing.
Answers weren't the only thing waiting inside.
Aren slowly raised his hand.
General Caelan sighed.
The boy ignored that.
"Question."
The commander nodded.
Aren pointed toward the temple.
"What if we don't like the answers?"
Several students laughed.
The sound was brief.
Nervous.
General Caelan's expression didn't change.
"Then we adapt."
Aren sat down.
"I walked directly into that one."
The meeting continued.
Plans were finalized.
Assignments were distributed.
Precautions were reviewed.
Eventually, people began returning to their tents.
The expedition would enter the temple at dawn.
Nobody was excited about that.
Not really.
As darkness settled over the ruins once more, Kael found himself standing near the outer edge of camp.
The city stretched endlessly beneath moonlight.
Ancient buildings cast long shadows across frozen streets.
The silence had returned.
Yet it felt different tonight.
Heavier.
As though something was waiting.
Watching.
The same sensation from Frostwatch had returned.
Stronger than before.
A faint sound drifted through the darkness.
Kael froze.
A bell.
One ring.
Then another.
Far away.
Deep within the city.
The sound lingered briefly.
Then vanished.
The camp immediately became alert.
Voices spread.
Soldiers moved.
Yet Kael barely noticed.
Because this time, the bell wasn't the only thing he heard.
For the briefest moment—
Just before the sound faded—
He could have sworn he heard something else.
A voice.
Not speaking.
Singing.
And somewhere within the darkness of the ruined city, beyond countless streets and forgotten monuments, the black temple stood beneath the moonlight.
Waiting.
For them.