The night air was thick with the scent of damp stone and smoldering torches as Kaelen, Seraphina, and Dorian made their way through the hidden passages beneath the city. These tunnels, remnants of an ancient kingdom long before the Syndicate's rise, twisted and turned like the veins of a forgotten corpse.
Kaelen gripped his father's journal tightly, his mind still unraveling the cryptic notes within. The Heart of Crimson if it truly existed was not just a power source. His father had written of it as a living force, something beyond mortal understanding.
"Where exactly are we headed?" Seraphina asked, her voice hushed but urgent.
Dorian, leading the way with a dimly lit lantern, didn't look back. "If Elias is searching for your father's findings, then we need to get ahead of him. There's an old scholar who worked with your father a mage named Varian Locke. He vanished years ago, but rumor has it he still resides in the ruins of Black Hollow."
Kaelen narrowed his eyes. "And why wasn't I told this sooner?"
Dorian scoffed. "Because finding Black Hollow isn't as simple as walking through a gate. It's said to be cursed hidden by illusions, filled with vengeful spirits. If Varian is alive, he won't be easy to reach."
Kaelen smirked. "I don't believe in curses."
Seraphina gave him a side glance. "Then you've never been to Black Hollow."
The trio emerged from the tunnels into the outskirts of the city, where the land sloped into a jagged valley. Beyond it, dark spires of rock jutted from the earth like broken fangs, and at the heart of it all lay Black Hollow an abandoned fortress swallowed by shadow.
A gust of wind howled through the valley, carrying whispers. No, not the wind. Voices.
Kaelen's muscles tensed. The closer they drew, the colder the air became.
Seraphina exhaled sharply. "We're not alone."
Dorian unsheathed his dagger. "The dead walk here."
Kaelen flexed his fingers, crimson energy flickering along his veins. "Then let's make sure they stay dead."
With that, they stepped into Black Hollow, where ghosts of the past awaited.
To Be Continued...