The passage descended at a steep angle, forcing them to watch their steps on the old stone stairs. Elias and two other Watchers led the way, while Leo kept his distance from Neo and Kaori, each aware of the precarious alliance that bound them together.
The air grew colder with each step. Leo pulled his jacket tighter, noticing how their breath started to form clouds in the dim light of the blue crystals that lined the walls. The Watchers seemed unbothered by the dropping temperature, their movements as calm and unsettling as ever.
"How much further?" Kaori demanded, her voice echoing off the stone walls.
Elias didn't turn around. "Patience. The path reveals itself to those who accept its pace."
Neo caught Leo's eye and rolled hers at the vague response. While they didn't quite trust each other, at least they both recognized the Watchers' manipulation for what it was.
After what felt like hours of going downward, the narrow passage opened into something vast and unexpected. A massive valley stretched before them, shrouded in dark purple mist that seemed to glow from within. Unlike the pitch darkness they'd grown accustomed to, this space held enough light to see several meters ahead.
But it wasn't the mist that made Leo's breath catch in his throat. It was the statues.
Hundreds of them stood frozen throughout the valley. Human figures caught in moments of desperate motion. A man running, his stone face twisted in terror. A woman reaching toward something unseen, her fingers stretched to their limits. A child kneeling, hands clasped in prayer or pleading.
The Watchers moved forward without hesitation, their empty smiles never wavering. They walked between the statues as if they weren't there, never once glancing at the frozen faces.
"Keep moving," Elias called back. "The path ahead is long."
Leo studied the statues as they passed. The craftsmanship was incredible – if they were craftsmanship at all. Each face held such detail, such specific emotion, that they looked more like photographs captured in stone than sculptures.
Kaori had fallen behind the group, her attention caught by one of the figures. Leo watched as she reached out to touch its outstretched hand. Suddenly, she jerked back.
"There's blood," she said, her voice alarmed. "Fresh blood on its fingers."
Neo moved closer, her knife already in hand. She touched the red liquid and rubbed it between her fingers. "She's right. It's still wet."
The implications sent a chill through Leo that had nothing to do with the temperature. If these were just statues, they shouldn't be bleeding. If they weren't statues...
"The path grows impatient," Elias called, his voice carrying an edge of warning. "We must continue."
They pressed on, but Leo noticed Neo hanging back slightly, doing something with her knife. As they walked, she would occasionally stop to mark the rocks they passed, quick scratches that could be mistaken for natural erosion.
The mist swirled around them as they walked, making it difficult to see the distance ahead. Leo's marking burned steadily now, a constant reminder that something about this place resonated with his newfound powers.
After what might have been hours, Neo grabbed Leo's arm. Her grip was tight enough to hurt.
"We just passed that mark," she whispered, pointing to a scratch in a nearby rock. "I made it over an hour ago."
Leo felt his stomach twist. "You're sure?"
"I'm a resistance fighter. Tracking and navigation are basic skills." Her eyes darted to the Watchers ahead. "They're leading us in circles."
Kaori had overheard them. "Why would they do that?"
"To wear us down?" Leo suggested. "Or maybe they're waiting for something."
The statues seemed closer now, their positions slightly different than Leo remembered. Or was that just his imagination? The purple mist made it hard to trust his eyes.
A shadow moved at the edge of his vision. He turned quickly, but there was nothing there except more statues. Their faces seemed to follow him as he moved.
"We need to confront them," Neo said, her hand tightening on her knife.
"And risk being abandoned here?" Kaori countered. "We don't know what else is out there."
"We're already being hunted," Leo pointed out. "They're just waiting for something specific to happen."
The air had grown completely still. Even the mist barely moved now. In this realm of perpetual darkness, silence was normal, but this felt different, like the moment before a predator strikes.
Then they heard something weird. A sound that didn't belong to any of them.
Something between a scrape and a crack, like stone grinding against stone. It echoed through the valley, seemingly coming from all directions at once.
The Watchers stopped moving. Their smiles widened.
"Ah," Elias said softly. "The Frozen Ones wake."
Another crack echoed through the mist. Closer this time. Leo turned toward the sound and found himself staring at a statue that hadn't been there seconds ago. Its hand was reaching for his throat.
The statue's fingers twitched.
Leo stumbled backward as the figure's stone skin began to crack, revealing something dark and moving underneath. All around them, similar sounds filled the valley as more statues began to move.
"What are they?" Kaori demanded, backing away from a kneeling figure whose face was slowly turning to look at her.
"The ones who came before," Elias replied calmly. "Those who thought they could master the shadow realm's paths. Those who failed." His smile never wavered. "They serve as an excellent test of worthiness."
The Watchers began to fade into the mist, their bodies becoming transparent.
"Wait!" Leo shouted. "You can't leave us here!"
"Can't we?" Elias's voice seemed to come from everywhere at once. "You wanted the truth, Leo Voss. Here it is: The path forward only opens to those who survive the Frozen Ones. They are quite hungry after their long sleep."
More statues were moving now, their stone skin cracking to reveal bodies made of a dark shadow underneath. The purple mist swirled around them, thick enough to obscure anything more than a few meters away.
Neo raised her knife, backing toward Leo and Kaori. Despite their mutual distrust, they found themselves forming a triangle, backs to each other as the Frozen Ones closed in.
"Any ideas?" Leo asked, his hands raised in a fighting stance.
"Yeah," Kaori replied grimly. "Don't die."
The first statue lunged at them, its stone face shattering to reveal a mouth full of sharp teeth. As Leo prepared to fight, his marking burned white-hot, and for a moment, he thought he heard the Warden's laughter echoing from far below.
The hunt, it seemed, was about to begin again. But this time, the hunters outnumbered the prey.