The desert storm roared like a living beast, its winds clawing at the earth and filling the air with suffocating swirls of sand. The world had shrunk to a tempest of gold and brown, with visibility reduced to nothing. Tianyi shielded his face with an arm, his other gripping the Glacial Sentinel like a lifeline.
"Stay close!" he shouted over the howling winds, his voice nearly swallowed by the storm.
"Where would I go, celestial? It's not like there's a tavern around the corner!" Zhi Yue's voice carried a trace of humor, but the words were muffled, his silver hair plastered to his face by the swirling grit.
"Not the time for jokes!" Tianyi snapped, irritation mixing with worry.
The storm intensified, and Tianyi stumbled as the sand shifted beneath his feet. He turned back to find Zhi Yue following at an unnervingly casual pace, his movements smooth despite the storm's fury.
"You seem awfully relaxed for someone about to be swallowed by a desert," Tianyi barked, wiping sand from his eyes.
Zhi Yue smirked, brushing a few grains off his shoulder. "This is nothing compared to the storms in the Abyss. What's your excuse for looking half-dead?"
Tianyi ignored the jab, his gaze scanning the swirling chaos. "We need shelter. If this keeps up, we won't last much longer."
"And here I thought celestials were supposed to be resilient."
Tianyi glared at him. "Do you ever stop talking?"
"Not when I'm entertaining myself," Zhi Yue replied, his smirk widening.
Before Tianyi could retort, a sudden break in the storm revealed a towering structure in the distance. Massive obsidian gates loomed, their edges shimmering faintly as though resisting the storm's rage. Behind them, a jagged cliffside rose like a sentinel, with intricate carvings barely visible through the shifting sands.
"Do you see that?" Tianyi's voice carried a note of disbelief.
"Hard to miss," Zhi Yue said, his teasing tone replaced by curiosity.
The storm seemed to bow before the structure, its winds parting just enough to allow a clear path forward.
"Stay close," Tianyi ordered, gripping the Glacial Sentinel tightly as they approached.
Zhi Yue rolled his eyes but followed, his sharp gaze scanning the gates. "Well, this is ominous."
The gates groaned open with a sound that echoed like thunder. A cool, shadowed pathway stretched ahead, flanked by walls of black stone etched with glowing symbols.
Tianyi stepped forward cautiously. "It looks... ancient."
Zhi Yue touched one of the glowing carvings. "And abandoned. No one's maintained this in centuries."
"Or they're hiding," Tianyi murmured, his unease growing.
As they ventured further, the air grew still, the oppressive roar of the storm fading behind them. But just as they reached the threshold of the gates, a sudden gust of wind whipped past, carrying with it an unsettling chill.
"Tianyi," Zhi Yue said, his voice low, "we're not alone."
From the shadows beyond the obsidian gates, a figure emerged. Their form was cloaked in a billowing robe of dark fabric that seemed to shift and ripple, as though woven from the storm itself. Their face was obscured, a void where features should have been, but the air around them thrummed with an unnatural energy.
The storm outside quieted, as if bowing to this stranger's presence. They stood motionless for a moment before speaking, their voice an eerie, resonant echo.
"Turn back." The words cut through the heavy silence like a blade. "This place is not meant for you."
Tianyi stepped forward, gripping the Glacial Sentinel tightly. "Who are you, and why do you say that?"
The figure tilted its head, the motion slow and deliberate. "I am the Keeper of Solace, bound to protect what remains within these ruins. Those who trespass invite calamity upon themselves."
"Very theatrical," Zhi Yue said with a smirk, stepping up beside Tianyi. "But you'll have to do better than ominous threats to make us leave."
The figure turned toward Zhi Yue, their tone sharpening. "Your arrogance is as familiar as it is misguided, demon. You tread a path that has already claimed countless lives."
Zhi Yue raised an eyebrow, his smirk deepening. "Ah, so you know what I am. Congratulations. What's next? A lecture on morality from a shadow?"
"Zhi Yue," Tianyi warned, his voice low.
The figure ignored Tianyi, their attention fixed on Zhi Yue. "Your kind has always been reckless, unworthy of the balance this place represents. Why should I allow a creature like you to step even one foot further?"
"Unworthy?" Zhi Yue repeated, his tone mocking. "Funny, coming from someone who hides behind a veil of cryptic nonsense. You're a little late for the gatekeeping lecture—we're already here."
The air around the figure seemed to grow heavier, charged with an unseen force. "You mock what you cannot comprehend. This is no ordinary ruin. It holds the remnants of a shattered pact, a truce forged through blood and betrayal. Disturbing it risks reigniting a conflict that neither realm can afford."
"More theatrics," Zhi Yue said, folding his arms. "You talk a lot about danger and risk, but I haven't seen you lift a finger to stop us. What are you, really? Some glorified doorman for a ruin no one's cared about for centuries?"
Tianyi shot him a glare. "Zhi Yue, stop provoking—"
"Provoking what?" Zhi Yue interrupted, his silver eyes glinting mischievously. "This 'Keeper' is all words and no substance. If they're so desperate to protect this place, maybe they should try doing something about it."
The figure took a step forward, and the ground beneath them rippled like water. "You tread dangerously close to sealing your fate, demon."
Zhi Yue shrugged, completely unfazed. "If I had a coin for every time someone said that, I'd be rich enough to buy this desert and turn it into an oasis. You're not exactly original."
Tianyi, his patience thinning, stepped between them. "Enough, both of you! This isn't a game, Zhi Yue. And Keeper, if you have a point, make it now. What exactly are we risking by entering?"
The figure's head turned toward Tianyi, their voice lowering into something almost reverent. "You are risking more than your lives, celestial. You risk unraveling the fragile balance that keeps your world and his from descending into chaos. The artifact within is not merely a relic—it is a wound, barely healed. To disturb it is to reopen that wound."
"And yet," Zhi Yue said, his voice deceptively calm, "you haven't stopped us. Why is that? Maybe you can't." His smirk returned, sharper now. "Or maybe you want us to disturb it. Maybe this whole dramatic act is just a distraction."
The figure's form flickered, and the sigils on the gate flared brightly. "Foolish demon. Do not mistake my restraint for weakness. My duty is to warn, not to intervene. But once you step beyond this threshold, the consequences are yours to bear."
"And yet, here I am," Zhi Yue said, taking a deliberate step forward, "still standing. So maybe you're the one who should reconsider."
Tianyi grabbed Zhi Yue's arm, his voice tight with frustration. "Enough! We don't know what we're walking into, and I don't need you antagonizing every being we meet."
Zhi Yue looked at him, his smirk softening into something unreadable. "Relax, celestial. If this Keeper wanted to stop us, they would've done it by now."
The figure straightened, their form suddenly rigid. "You've been warned. Beyond these gates lies not salvation, but reckoning."
With that, the Keeper dissolved into a swirl of sand, leaving behind a glowing sigil burned into the ground. It pulsed faintly before fading, the silence that followed almost deafening.
Tianyi exhaled slowly, his grip on the Glacial Sentinel tightening. "I don't like this."
"You don't like anything," Zhi Yue said, brushing past him toward the gates. "Let's go. We've wasted enough time."
Tianyi hesitated, the weight of the Keeper's warning pressing against his thoughts. But Zhi Yue's determined stride left him no choice. With a reluctant sigh, he followed.
"Just once," he muttered, "I'd like you to take something seriously."
"I am," Zhi Yue called back, his voice carrying a hint of amusement. "I seriously want to see what's so dangerous that even a 'Keeper' won't touch it."