Dylan watched as Basilisk's skimmer vanished out of his sight. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. The deal was made. There was no turning back.
He looked at the vast light brown sand around him nervously.
"I will survive" He assured himself as he adjusted the tattered scarf around his neck. But first he needed to set up camp.
Basilisk had given him a map to a ruin, somewhere out there—forgotten by time, untouched by scavengers, and, most importantly, outside Raze's reach.
Dylan took out a small, handheld scanner from his pocket, a stolen device he'd used before to detect underground heat signatures. It flickered weakly, its battery cells nearly depleted. If the ruins Basilisk spoke of were real, they'd have to be buried deep beneath the dunes, shielded from prying eyes. He activated the scanner, watching as a faint pulse swept across the landscape.
For a while, nothing. Just the monotonous heat of the desert. Then—something. A sharp dip in temperature. The scanner beeped frantically, indicating a patch of extreme coolness ahead. Dylan narrowed his eyes. That was odd. The wastelands were notorious for their brutal heat, yet the scanner suggested something beneath the surface was unnaturally cold.
He pushed forward, following the device's signal. Each step was a struggle. The sand swallowed his boots while the hot wind howled in his ears. His thermal gear was reducing the heat but the sun had expanded over the last centuries and the heat was well…amplified.
He had traveled maybe half an hour when the first signs of a storm appeared but he waived it off as normal desert stuff.
He arrived at an old dusty temple. This was where Basilisk talked about. The walls surrounding the temple were broken but high enough to shield him from whatever animals were here.
He slid through a hole in the fence barely enough for his body to pass. Inside was a vast yard with many domed buildings. So he decided to settle for the most intact.
Suddenly, the wind picked up violently, the dunes shifting as the air became filled with swirling sharp sand. The scanner vibrated in his hands before shutting down completely.
'Fuck!'
Dylan cursed under his breath.
The storm was moving too fast—unnaturally fast.
A thick wall of swirling sand roared toward him, swallowing everything in its path. He tried to run towards the building. but the storm was faster. The next second, he was lifted like a ragdoll and swirling in the storm, the wind hurled him into the abyss.
The next thing he felt was the fall. Dylan fell uncontrollably. He flailed his arms wildly all the way screaming for his life. He fell so far that he finally gave up and just waited for his body to hit the bottom.
After what felt like hours, Dylan realized he hadn't still hit the bottom. He was helpless.
'How deep is this fucking place.'
Finally, Dylan hit the ground hard. Pain flared through his ribs but he soon realized something else—the sudden absence of wind. The suffocating force of the storm was gone, replaced by an unsettling stillness.
He groaned and pushed himself up, his fingers brushing against something solid. Not sand. Stone.
He blinked, adjusting to the dim glow that now filled the area. The storm had buried him, but instead of being crushed, he had fallen into something—a ruin hidden beneath the dunes.
Rising to his feet, he took in his surroundings. Towering walls stretched in either direction, marked with carvings unlike anything he had ever seen. The air felt heavy, filled with the aura of something ancient and alive.
He took a deep breath. The moment he stepped forward, the temperature shifted. One second, an unbearable heat pressed down on him, suffocating and extremely hot. The next, a bone-chilling cold pierced his skin, stabbing through his nerves like ice.
It wasn't natural. It was as if the ruin itself was… alive, shifting between extremes.
Dylan placed a hand against the stone wall, its surface smooth but it was beating like a pulse.
"The ruins are alive" He whispered under his breath. His heartbeat quickened.
A low hum filled the air.
Not a sound. A vibration. A vibration full of life.
The further he walked, the stronger it became. The carvings on the walls became more intricate, depicting battles waged in the stars and celestial beings locked in war.
And then there was the door.
A massive gateway, framed by runes that flickered between light and shadow, between good and evil.
Dylan took another step, and the sensation hit him like a tidal wave.
For a moment, he felt an overwhelming sense of dread—pure, unfiltered malevolence that clawed at his soul. It was as if the darkness of the universe itself had gathered in this place, waiting to consume any who dared enter. It was raw, dreadful evil.
Then, just as suddenly, it changed. The feeling of dread was gone replaced by a sense of warmth. It was pure. It had the same purity the evil energy had but it was different. Like as if he was standing beneath a sun that did not burn, like hearing a voice that whispered of safety, of guidance. Soft, calm good energy.
Evil. Good. Darkness. Light.
The ruin was shifting between them.
Dylan clenched his fists. Whatever this place was, it wasn't just a forgotten temple. It was something more. Something powerful.
And whatever power was buried here… he would find it.
With deep breaths, he stepped toward the door.