As the red moon shined its light down upon world, the walls and stone of the castle began to morph, becoming red in color. This wasn't just a reflection of the light; the colors of the castle were beginning to change.
Silax noticed the change and commented on it.
"That's definitely not normal. If the outside of the castle is already showing this sort of changes, what would the insides be like?"
Kal, Chad, Alarynn, Elune, Tommy, and Susan shared a glance with each other.
Silax saw their reaction, and that confirmed to him that they knew what to expect from the ancient castle, but he acted oblivious.
Kal placed is hand on Silax's shoulder.
"I guess we should expect anything then."
Elara looked at the castle with apprehension.
"I've heard of the name Varneil, but I do not know anything about this castle."
"Castle Varneil wasn't always a monument to decay. In ages past, during the Scinditur era, this castle was the seat of House Varneil, a clan of elves rumored to have dabbled in dark arts and forbidden knowledge. They pursued the pinnacle and the limits of what a lifeform could attain, but the only thing they found at the end was madness." Susan answered, giving a brief introduction about the castle.
The group stood before the entrance to the castle, its morbid appearance more apparent now that they were right in front of it.
Silax thought to himself.
'Castle Varneil remains a monument to ambition and its terrible price. Is the power offered by such practices worth the sacrifice of losing one's mind? It's time for me to find out. This desolate castle should be able to provide some of the answers I seek.'
The journey had been arduous, but he had faced danger and emerged victorious. Now, the true challenge awaited him, it was time to unravel the secrets held within these ancient walls.
As they stepped through the threshold, a sense of foreboding washed over him, mingling with the thrill of discovery.
They entrance to the castle led to a courtyard strewn with debris, broken furniture, empty barrels and ruined artworks littered the floor. The air hung heavy with the scent of decay.
The adventurers, a mix of elves and humans, cautiously stepped into the ruined courtyard, the silence broken only by the crunch of their boots on the ground.
As they moved, Chad's deep voice echoed through the courtyard.
"This place gives me the creeps."
They got to the end of the courtyard, and before them was a crumbling archway that led into the building, there were two other entrances at the sides that led to other parts of the castle.
Kal cautiously stepped over some pieces of the archway that had fallen off, the rest of the group following right behind him.
They entered a hall that could pass for a throne room, all it was missing was a throne. Dust motes danced in a shaft of moonlight that pierced through a broken section of the castle roof.
There were fourteen statues of knights at sides of the hall, seven on each side.
Susan turned and drew Silax's attention, she pointed at an inscription written above the doorway.
He looked at the faded inscription, squinting to read it.
"Beware the allure of House Varneil. Its charm hides its duplicity.
"What does that mean? Is it supposed to be some kind of warning?"
"If it's a warning, shouldn't it be placed before the entrance? The position of it makes it so that you only see it when you leave the hall." Elara said.
Tommy grinned and slapped the side of his sword.
"Sounds more like a challenge to me, and I welcome challenges."
Elune had a stern look on his face.
"Whether the inscription is meant as a warning or a challenge, we need to be careful."
Susan walked up to one of the statues of a knight, and placed her hands on a writing in elven script that was etched on it.
"When we came in here, Alarynn noticed that the swords could be pulled out from its sheath and that they had writings on the tip of the blade, each one matches writings on the shield of another. The writings were in ancient elvish, once I deciphered the meanings of the text and matched each sword with the knight that had the corresponding shield, that's when the scroll dropped out from a compartment in the ceiling."
Silax examined the shield of the knights, then he pulled out its sword to look at the blade, as he inspected it, he noticed that the text on the blade and shield did not match with each other.
"Did you rearrange the swords to how you found them?"
"No, we didn't. We just read what was on the scroll and then explored the rest of the castle." Susan replied.
Silax handed the sword to her, pointing at the inscription on the blade.
"Someone must have, cause these texts do not match each other."
Susan took the sword from him, she read the words on the blade and looked at the one written on the shield.
"They don't match, but not only that, they are also different from what was written before. I don't remember all the texts, but I'm sure there was none that said 'sky'."
"Are you sure?" Silax asked.
"Yes, I'm certain." Susan said in response.
"We should check everyone one of them then." Silax suggested.
They all went round, pulling the swords out of the sheath of each knight and they brought them together. Silax and Susan went through each sword and began to place them with the knight that had the corresponding text on its shield.
As Silax placed the last sword in the sheath, the hall began to reverberate causing pieces of the ceiling to fall off.
At the end of the hall a section of the wall opened to reveal a pathway.
Alarynn was standing closest to that part of the hall, she looked into the opening and said:
"That didn't happen last time. It must be an effect on the crimson night."
"I guess we don't have to explore the rest of the castle, that must lead to whatever secrets this castle hides." Kal said.
"We have to be careful guys." Tommy cautioned the group.
The group walked towards the opening in the wall, it was a stairway that led downwards.
The proceeded down the stairs, and at the end of it was a long dark hallway. The hallway was wide enough for three people to walk side by side comfortably.