The trio moved cautiously through the dark ruins, their only source of light coming from the twin Aetherforged swords held by Lucielle and Caelum. The golden glow illuminated the crumbling walls, casting long, eerie shadows that seemed to stretch and twist unnaturally. The air was thick with dust, each step they took disturbing the remnants of a forgotten past.

  The ruins had clearly once been a place of grandeur, but time had not been kind. Walls bore intricate sculptures, now cracked and weathered with age. Large, regal portraits hung askew or lay shattered on the floor, their subjects lost to time. What remained of the carpets were little more than charred remnants, burned to ashes in scattered patches across the cold stone. Debris cluttered the path, remnants of furniture long since destroyed. The eerie silence of the ruins was only broken by their footsteps and the occasional drip of water from some unseen source.

  "What is this place?" Varithra wondered aloud, her voice hushed, as if speaking too loudly might disturb whatever remnants of the past lingered here.

  "Probably some kind of shelter," Caelum guessed, stepping over a broken chair, his eyes scanning the ruin.

  Lucielle frowned as she examined the architecture. "No, it looks more like a palace," she said with certainty. "I've seen enough palaces in Luminara to recognize one. The way this place is structured... the grand halls, the carved stone... it’s too refined for a mere shelter."

  Varithra hummed in agreement, running her fingers along the jagged remains of what had once been an ornate doorframe. "She has a point. This place was built for someone important."

  They continued their careful exploration, their steps cautious as they made their way deeper into the ruins. As they entered a vast chamber, the sight before them made all three of them gasp.

  "Aureon’s light…" Lucielle whispered, bringing her glowing sword closer to illuminate the room.

  The entire chamber was littered with skeletons.

  Some were slumped over broken furniture, others sprawled across the floor, their bones brittle and yellowed with age. Some lay against the walls, as if they had crawled there in their final moments, trying to escape something. The air carried the scent of decay, old yet lingering, as though the very walls remembered the tragedy that had occurred here.

  Caelum stepped forward, surveying the remains. "They must have died ages ago," he murmured, his voice tinged with unease.

  Varithra swallowed, looking around the room. "Was this a battle?" she asked, her voice quieter than before.

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  Caelum shook his head. "No… look at them. They aren’t wearing armor. Their weapons aren’t scattered like they would be in a fight. And the furniture—this was once a lived-in space, not a battlefield. They died here, but not from combat."

  A shiver ran down Lucielle’s spine. "Then what killed them?" she asked, kneeling beside one of the skeletons and running her fingers along its fractured ribs.

  None of them had an answer. The silence that followed was almost suffocating.

  Lucielle examined multiple skeletons, frustration creeping into her voice. "I can't even determine whether they were Nyxaran or Luminarian. Their bones are too old, too weathered." She clenched her fists. "This whole thing is a mystery."

  Caelum exhaled sharply. "Then let’s not linger longer than necessary. This place doesn’t sit right with me."

  They all silently agreed. Whatever had happened here, none of them wanted to share the same fate.

  Leaving the skeletal chamber behind, they navigated through a broken exit, entering a long corridor lined with multiple doorways on either side. They checked a few rooms as they passed, but nothing stood out—only more shattered remnants of a forgotten past, more collapsed walls, and occasionally, more skeletons resting where they had fallen.

  At the very end of the corridor, they came upon a set of massive doors. Unlike the rest of the ruins, this one stood tall and unbroken, its stone surface adorned with intricate carvings. It was the only part of the ruin that seemed untouched by time.

  Lucielle ran her hand along the doors, tracing the symbols etched into the stone. "These symbols… they represent the gods. Look here—on the left, the sword with wings behind it. That represents Aureon. The leaves—Solmara. The stars—Vaelis. These are the gods of Luminara."

  On the right side, Varithra pointed to different engravings. "And here—this sword with a shadow beneath it. That’s Noctyss. The eye—Zareth. The dark hand—Erythos. These are the gods of Nyxara."

  But what caught all their eyes were the two symbols in the center—simple yet distinct. A sun and a moon, placed side by side.

  Silence hung between them.

  Caelum finally broke it. "So… do either of you know what the sun and moon represent?"

  Both Lucielle and Varithra shook their heads, confusion evident on their faces.

  Caelum raised an eyebrow. "You two were raised in either Nyxara or Luminara. Didn’t either of you learn this in your academy? Never good at history or something?"

  Both women turned to glare at him, their previous uncertainty replaced with annoyance.

  Lucielle crossed her arms. "I have never seen these symbols representing anything before."

  Caelum smirked. "So you really are bad at history."

  Lucielle’s glare sharpened. "I will have you know that I graduated first in my year. No one even came close to my intellect, especially someone like you."

  Caelum shrugged. "If you say so."

  Varithra sighed, placing a hand on the door. "As much as I’d love to watch you two argue, we have a more pressing matter. Do we open this or not?"

  Lucielle frowned. "I don’t like this. I have a bad feeling."

  Caelum nodded. "Same here, but we don’t have much of a choice. This is the only path forward."

  The three of them stood before the towering doors, uncertain of what lay beyond but knowing they had no other options. With a shared nod, they each placed a hand on the ancient stone and pushed.

  The doors groaned as they moved, the deep rumble echoing throughout the ruins.