The heavy wooden doors of the main hall stood before us, cracked and worn from years of neglect. The iron bands that once reinforced them were rusted, and the carvings that had adorned the wood had faded into obscurity. Karis hesitated for only a moment before pushing against the door, the ancient hinges groaning in protest as it creaked open, revealing the cavernous darkness within.
The hall was vast and hollow, its once grand architecture now a shell of what it had been. Pillars lined the space, reaching up to the vaulted ceiling far above, but many were cracked or broken, and the tapestries that had once told the story of the Order's victories had long since rotted away. The floor was covered in a thin layer of dust, disturbed only by the occasional drip of water from a leaky roof.
"It's been abandoned for years," Karis muttered, her voice barely audible in the gloom. She stepped forward, her boots crunching against the debris scattered across the floor. "I doubt we'll find anyone here."
Leon followed us into the hall, his steps slow and deliberate, his eyes scanning the shadows with a haunted emptiness. I could tell he wasn't really seeing the place for what it was—his mind was somewhere else entirely.
I stepped further into the hall, feeling a strange sense of unease settle over me. This place had once been a beacon of hope, a stronghold for the Order's most devout. Now, it was nothing more than a tomb, a reminder of what we had lost.
"We should check the lower chambers," Karis said, her voice breaking the silence. "If there are any survivors, they may have retreated below."
I nodded in agreement, though I had little hope that we would find anyone. The desolation of the place was overwhelming, and the silence felt like it had been undisturbed for far too long. But we had to try. If there was any chance that someone had survived, any chance that we could find answers about what had happened here, we had to take it.
Karis led the way, her movements swift and deliberate as she crossed the hall toward a stairwell that descended into the bowels of the fortress. The air grew colder as we moved downward, the stone walls slick with moisture from the rain that had seeped through the cracks in the structure. The sound of water dripping echoed around us, a constant reminder of the decay that had taken hold of Redstone.
At the bottom of the stairwell, we found ourselves in a long, narrow corridor, lined with doors that led to various chambers. Some of the doors hung open, revealing empty storerooms and barracks that had long since been abandoned. Others were locked or barred, though it was clear that whatever had once been behind them was no longer of any use.
Karis moved from door to door, checking each one with methodical precision. Leon remained at the back, silent and distant, his face unreadable. I stayed close to Karis, my hand resting on the hilt of my sword, though I doubted we would encounter anything more threatening than a few rats.
After what felt like hours of searching, we reached the end of the corridor, where a heavy iron door stood closed, its surface covered in a thick layer of dust. Karis hesitated for a moment, her hand resting on the handle.
"This is the last one," she said, glancing at me. "If there's anything left, it'll be here."
I nodded, my heart pounding in my chest as Karis pushed the door open. The hinges squealed in protest, the sound echoing down the empty corridor behind us.
The room beyond was small and dimly lit, the only light coming from a single torch mounted on the wall near the far end of the chamber. A table sat in the center of the room, covered in maps, books, and various artifacts, all coated in a fine layer of dust. Shelves lined the walls, filled with ancient scrolls and tomes that had clearly not been touched in years.
But it wasn't the room or its contents that caught our attention. It was the figure slumped against the far wall, barely illuminated by the flickering torchlight.
Karis moved forward cautiously, her hand on the hilt of her dagger, as she approached the figure. As she got closer, I saw that it was an old man, his robes tattered and filthy, his face gaunt and pale. He was breathing, but just barely, his chest rising and falling in shallow, uneven movements.
Karis knelt beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "He's alive," she said quietly. "Barely."
I rushed forward, dropping to my knees beside the man. His eyes fluttered open as he stirred, his gaze unfocused and hazy. He blinked a few times, as if trying to make sense of what he was seeing, before his lips parted in a dry, rasping whisper.
"Who… are you?"
"We're travelers," Karis said gently. "We came looking for the Order. Are you… one of them?"
The man's eyes widened slightly at the mention of the Order, and he tried to sit up, though his body was too weak to comply. "The Order… yes… I was…" His voice trailed off, and he coughed, his body wracked with tremors.
I reached for my waterskin, offering him a drink, which he accepted gratefully. After a few sips, he seemed to regain a bit of strength, though his voice remained frail.
"Redstone… fallen… they came…"
"Who?" Karis asked, her voice low and urgent. "Who came? Was it the Abyss?"
The man shook his head weakly. "Not the Abyss… something worse… they came in the night… slaughtered… everyone…"
A chill ran down my spine at his words. Something worse than the Abyss? That seemed impossible, yet the fear in his eyes was unmistakable.
"What were they?" I asked, my voice barely more than a whisper.
The man's eyes met mine, and for a moment, I saw a flicker of the terror that had haunted him. "Shadows," he breathed. "Living shadows… they took the light… snuffed it out… like it was never there."
I exchanged a glance with Karis, my heart pounding in my chest. Living shadows? Could it have been an extension of the Abyss? Or something entirely different?
"Did anyone survive?" Karis pressed, her tone sharp.
The man shook his head slowly. "No… I hid… I was the last…"
His voice faltered, and he coughed again, his body trembling with the effort. It was clear that he didn't have much time left.
"Rest now," Karis said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We'll make sure your story is remembered."
The man's eyes fluttered closed, and after a few moments, his breathing slowed until it stopped altogether. He had held on long enough to tell us what had happened, but in the end, there was nothing more we could do for him.
Karis stood, her expression hard as she gazed down at the old man's body. "We need to get out of here," she said quietly. "If those things are still out there…"
I nodded in agreement, my mind racing with possibilities. The Abyss had been bad enough, but if there were new threats on the horizon, we couldn't afford to waste any more time.
"What do we do now?" I asked, my voice filled with uncertainty.
Karis turned toward me, her eyes cold and determined. "We find out what those shadows were. And we stop them, before they finish what they started."
---
We left Redstone behind the following morning, our hearts heavy with the knowledge that the stronghold was well and truly lost. Whatever had come for the Order had wiped them out with ruthless efficiency, leaving only ruins and ghosts in their wake.
Leon hadn't spoken since we found the old man's body, and I could tell that his grief was only deepening. Redstone had been a place of hope for us, a chance to find answers and perhaps allies in our fight against the Abyss. But now, it was nothing more than another reminder of how far we had fallen.
As we made our way back down the mountain path, the rain began to fall again, a steady, cold drizzle that soaked through our cloaks and chilled us to the bone. The wind howled through the trees, carrying with it the faint echo of something dark and malevolent.
"Do you think it's following us?" I asked quietly, my voice barely audible over the wind.
Karis didn't respond for a moment, her eyes scanning the horizon as if she could see the shadows lurking just beyond our vision. Finally, she nodded, her expression grim.
"I think it's always been following us," she said. "The Abyss… these shadows… whatever they are, they're drawn to the light. And as long as we carry the light, they'll keep coming."
I shivered at her words, pulling my cloak tighter around me. It felt as though the darkness was closing in on us, surrounding us from all sides. The weight of our mission—of what lay ahead—pressed down on me, and for the first time, I wondered if we were truly capable of stopping it.
But as we continued down the path, I knew one thing for certain: we couldn't turn back. Not now. Not after everything we had been through.
The shadows were coming, and we had to be ready.