Arix took out the painting and handed it to Lyra, who put her bowl down and stood up with it.

  She raised the painting and held it toward the road. The road, the houses, even the angle—everything matched perfectly.

  “Oh my… look at this!” she called out to everyone.

  Arix, Tarin, and Meilie went to her and looked at the painting.

  “This painting was made from this exact spot.” Tarin took the painting from Lyra’s hands. Arix and Meilie both leaned in. Standing beside Tarin, Lyra rose onto her toes to see the painting better, searching for any clues that could help

  “These Loms… they stand in the same order every night.” Arix stood behind Meilie and leaned forward over her shoulder.

  “What do you mean?” Tarin asked. Noticing his height made it hard for the others to see, he lowered the painting to everyone's eye level.

  “I mean that every day these Loms stand in the same order as they are in the painting,” Arix said.

  “And what does that have to do with our way out?” Tarin squinted and leaned closer to the painting.

  “Wait a minute.” Arix’s eyes widened as he took the painting from Tarin’s hands. He lifted it higher. “Look at this. There are two towers in front of us, but they aren’t in the painting.”

  Meilie started nodding quickly. “Holy shit, you’re right.” Tarin’s jaw slowly dropped. His eyes went wide, and his face went blank with shock.

  “Maybe there is something on that tower,” Lyra said, pointing toward it.

  “Then let’s go,” Arix said.

  They all started to head toward the tower, and not long after, they reached it. It was a big circular structure made of wood, with four pillars at the bottom to support it. There was a ladder in the middle of the pillars.

  The ladder creaked as they climbed toward the top. Arix was the first to climb, followed by Meilie, Lyra, and finally Tarin.

  Once at the top of the ladder, Arix saw a huge bell in front of him with text painted on it. “ONE OF THE THREE, THE BELL TO FLEE.”

  “What can this text mean?” Lyra asked.

  “Maybe we have to ring three bells like this. And then we will be able to escape this place.”

  Arix took a step forward. He grabbed the thick rope tied to the clapper, leaned back, and pulled with all his strength. The bell answered with a deep, heavy clang.

  A large clang echoed in everyone's ears—not only from the bell in front of them, but from the other side of the village too, where they could see the next tower.

  Everyone covered their ears and squeezed their eyes shut, but it didn’t help.

  “This is too loud!” Arix screamed as he sat down on the floor on his knees and bent his head on the wooden floor. He had been standing very close to the bell.

  After a while, the bell sound faded away. Silence settled in Arix's ears again. He got up from the ground and took a deep breath.

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  “Let’s go to the other tower,” he said and made his way to the ladder.

  The way to the other tower was filled with silence, as no one spoke. Only the sound of wind and footsteps echoed around them. The other tower was on the opposite side from the first.

  In the far distance, beyond their view, the same figure emerged who had stood on the cliff. His two tails wiggled in the air slowly. All four eyes—two on each neck—stared at the group clearly, noticing their every step. His dark brown fur was swaying in the wind.

  He took a deep breath and whispered, “He better not fail like the guardian.” After a while, he turned around and headed east from the village.

  When they reached the next tower, they saw the same wooden tower structure as the first one. They all made their way up, and stood behind another bell with the text “TWO OF THE THREE, THE BELL TO FLEE.” painted on it.

  “You ring it,” Arix said, looking at Tarin.

  Tarin sighed and went ahead. He grabbed the rope and pulled with all his strength. Another heavy clang echoed through their ears. “Aghh… this is too loud,” Tarin screamed, holding his ears and lifting his head up with his eyes closed.

  Another clang came to everyone’s ears from the direction of the tree.

  They all turned toward it.

  After a while, Lyra removed her hands from her ears. “Maybe the third bell is somewhere near the tree. Let’s go.”

  Everyone made their way down the ladder and went straight to the tree.

  They reached the tree after some time and started looking around it for the third bell. They searched the houses near the tree, but didn’t find any kind of bell. Tarin looked around the tree multiple times, searching for anything that could resemble a bell. Unable to find anything, he lifted his head and sighed, putting both his hands on his waist.

  Then a structure at the top of the tree caught his attention. Among the branches shooting skyward, he saw the third bell.

  “EVERYONE, COME HERE!” he shouted.

  Everyone gathered—Arix came from one of the houses, and Lyra and Meilie emerged from searching the left side of the tree

  “There it is,” he said, looking up toward the bell.

  “How can we climb this straight tree?” Lyra sighed and sat on the ground, staring at the bell.

  “Let me try,” Tarin said. He grabbed the trunk, found a foothold, and climbed inch by inch. Arix was standing below him, ready to catch him in case he fell.

  By late afternoon he reached the top, he saw the parallel trunk stretching before him, with many branches shooting up into the sky. He walked toward the bell and reached it quickly. There was another text painted on the bell: “THREE OF THE THREE. THE BELL TO FLEE.” He grabbed the rope and pulled again with all his strength. The loud clang echoed in Tarin's ears, and he quickly retreated from the branch.

  Below, where Lyra was sitting, something clicked. The ground trembled, and with a deep grinding sound, a hidden slab slowly slid aside, opening a dark passage below. She scrambled backward, away from the opening. Arix looked down. A ladder descended into darkness, with no end in sight.

  By the time Tarin climbed down, the sun was setting. He peered into the dark passage and said, “We should climb down tomorrow. It'll be dark soon.”

  Everyone agreed, and they settled at the tree's base for the night.

  At night, ghosts started appearing again. Arix was sitting there, watching a ghost drift toward the spot where they all gathered each night.But instead of stopping at his usual spot, he kept walking straight toward Arix and the group. Another ghost followed him, and then another. Without stopping, they all moved toward the group

  Arix stood up immediately.

  “Guys, they're not stopping like they usually do!” he shouted to the group.

  Lyra, Meilie, and Tarin all got up. Tarin put his hand on his greatsword, ready to draw it, and Lyra put her hand on her needle.

  Meilie took out her staff and pointed it toward the ghosts. “Wait. Let’s see what they do first.”

  Arix looked at one of the ghosts and saw tears streaming from its eyes. It was screaming—or trying to—but no sound came from its mouth. They held their hands out as they approached the group.

  When they reached the group, they all sat down on their knees and put their hands together in a begging position. They were all trying to scream but failed. Every ghost in the village was sitting there, circling them and begging.