Chapter 125 – The Missing Caravan
The group spent the night inside the abandoned settlement.
There was no reason to continue deeper into the mountains after sunset. The surrounding terrain was unfamiliar, and although the ruins showed no immediate signs of danger, the disappearance of the scouts and caravan meant they could not afford to travel blindly.
Azrael took the first watch while the others rested inside one of the larger stone buildings. The fire burned quietly in the center of the room, casting warm light across the old walls. Seraphina sat beside him, looking through the notes they had gathered from the ruins.
"The message said the separation was never meant to be permanent," she said quietly. "But it didn’t explain how the people who built this place knew about Genesis and Oblivion."
Azrael leaned against the wall. "They may have discovered records left by the same civilization that existed before the current realms."
"That’s possible." Seraphina turned one of the pages. "But there’s something else bothering me."
Azrael looked at her.
"The city wasn’t abandoned because of an attack. Everyone left at once, yet they didn’t take anything with them. That means whatever happened wasn’t something they had time to prepare for."
Azrael nodded. He had been thinking about the same thing.
"There are no signs of a battle, evacuation, or destruction. Whatever happened here changed their decision suddenly."
Caelan, who had been sitting nearby with his spear across his knees, joined the conversation. "Could they have entered the underground chamber?"
Seraphina shook her head. "The chamber was sealed. Even if they knew it existed, there wasn’t any sign that the entire population entered it."
Azrael looked toward the doorway.
"Then the answer may be somewhere else."
Before anyone could respond, a faint sound came from outside.
Metal striking stone.
Azrael immediately stood.
Everyone else reached for their weapons.
Another sound followed.
This time it was unmistakable.
Footsteps.
Several people were moving through the ruins.
Caelan quietly moved toward the entrance while Azrael extinguished the fire. The group waited in darkness as shadows passed between the buildings.
Then a voice whispered from outside.
"Anyone there?"
Azrael recognized the voice.
"Identify yourself."
There was a pause.
"Academy scouts."
Azrael opened the door.
Three exhausted figures stood outside.
Their armor was damaged, and one of them was supporting another whose leg was badly injured. The third scout carried a broken spear and looked as though he had not slept for days.
Caelan immediately helped the injured man inside while Seraphina knelt beside him.
"What happened?"
The scout shook his head.
"We don’t know."
Seraphina began treating the injury with Genesis energy, carefully repairing the damaged tissue without overwhelming his body.
"We were investigating the missing caravan," the scout explained. "We found their trail two days ago. It led into the mountains."
"Then?"
"We followed it."
He swallowed.
"The trail simply stopped."
Azrael frowned.
"Stopped?"
"Completely. One moment there were wagon tracks. The next, nothing."
The scout looked toward the darkness outside.
"Then we heard voices."
Marcus frowned. "Voices from where?"
"Everywhere."
The scout’s hands tightened around his broken spear.
"We could hear people calling our names from the trees. Friends. Family. People we knew."
Ryan’s expression became uncomfortable.
"That sounds unpleasant."
"It was worse than that," the scout said. "One of our men followed a voice."
"What happened to him?" Elena asked.
The scout lowered his gaze.
"He disappeared."
Silence filled the room.
"We searched for him," he continued. "That’s when the mountains changed."
Azrael’s eyes narrowed.
"Changed how?"
"The paths moved."
Everyone looked at him.
"The mountain wasn’t the same anymore. We walked through the same valley three times, but each time it looked different. Eventually we found a stone arch covered in symbols."
Seraphina exchanged a glance with Azrael.
"Did it have three symbols?"
The scout stared at her.
"Yes."
"The golden circle. The black circle. And the empty space."
Azrael’s expression hardened.
"What happened after you found it?"
The scout hesitated.
"We didn’t touch it."
"Why?"
"Because someone else was standing behind it."
The room became quiet.
"Who?"
The scout shook his head.
"I don’t know."
"Was it a monster?"
"No."
"A human?"
"I couldn’t tell."
The scout looked frightened for the first time.
"It was wearing armor, but there was no face beneath the helmet."
Azrael immediately remembered the faceless figure from the Tower’s memories.
The Origin Custodian.
But he pushed the thought aside.
The figure in the Tower had been part of preserved memories. There was no reason to assume the same being was physically present here.
"What did it do?" Seraphina asked.
"Nothing."
The scout’s voice became quieter.
"It simply pointed toward the mountain."
"And then?"
"We ran."
The following morning, the group left the ruins with the scouts.
The injured scout remained behind with two others who had decided to return to the academy. The remaining party followed the direction indicated by the scout.
The trail led deeper into the mountains.
For several hours, nothing happened.
Then they found the first wagon.
It was sitting in the middle of the trail.
Completely intact.
There were no horses.
No driver.
No supplies had been removed.
Caelan inspected the wheels.
"These tracks are fresh."
Azrael crouched beside them.
He touched the ground.
"The wagon stopped here."
"How do you know?" Lyanna asked.
"There are no turning marks."
Azrael pointed farther down the road.
"And no continuation."
The wagon had simply stopped.
Seraphina climbed inside.
Several crates were still packed with food and equipment. A small blanket lay folded on one of the seats.
She picked it up.
"This belonged to someone."
Azrael entered the wagon.
There was a faint resonance in the air.
Not Genesis.
Not Oblivion.
Something else.
He followed it to the back of the wagon and found a small metal object beneath the seat.
A compass.
Its needle was spinning.
Seraphina looked at it.
"That’s not normal."
Azrael held it in his palm.
The needle suddenly stopped.
It pointed directly toward the mountain.
Then the compass cracked.
A thin line spread across its glass.
Azrael released it before it shattered completely.
The moment it hit the ground, a sound echoed through the valley.
A bell.
Once.
The entire group froze.
A second bell followed.
Then a third.
The sound came from somewhere beneath the mountain.
Seraphina closed her eyes.
Her Genesis energy spread through the surrounding area.
"There are living beings ahead."
Azrael looked at her.
"How many?"
"I can’t tell."
She concentrated harder.
"Many."
Caelan immediately raised his spear.
"Then the caravan may still be alive."
Azrael looked toward the mountain.
"We move."
The trail ended at a massive stone wall.
There was no entrance.
No tunnel.
Nothing marked on the map.
The scouts looked confused.
"This wasn’t here yesterday."
Azrael approached the wall.
He placed his hand against it.
A faint resonance passed through his body.
His expression changed.
"This isn’t a wall."
Seraphina stepped beside him.
"What is it?"
"A seal."
Black and golden lines appeared beneath the stone.
The same symbol emerged.
Genesis.
Oblivion.
Choice.
This time, however, the empty space was glowing.
Seraphina placed her hand against the golden portion.
Azrael placed his against the black.
Nothing happened.
Then Caelan stepped forward.
"What about the third?"
Seraphina looked at him.
"The third symbol doesn’t belong to either of us."
Caelan studied the empty circle.
"What does it require?"
Azrael looked at the inscription beneath it.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he read it aloud.
Neither creation nor destruction may open the path.
Only those willing to choose may enter.
The group fell silent.
Marcus looked between the twins.
"So... what exactly are we supposed to choose?"
Seraphina stepped toward the center.
"I think that’s the point."
She placed her hand over the colorless symbol.
Azrael immediately reached for her.
"Wait."
She stopped.
The symbol reacted to her touch.
A small pulse traveled through the mountain.
Then another.
The wall began moving.
Stone shifted aside, revealing a massive underground passage.
From within came a sound that none of them expected.
People.
Voices.
Hundreds of them.
Seraphina’s eyes widened.
"They’re alive."
Azrael drew Astraeus.
"Then we found the missing caravan."
They entered the passage together.
The tunnel descended gradually, illuminated by pale crystals embedded in the walls. The farther they went, the louder the voices became. Eventually, the passage opened into an enormous underground settlement.
Hundreds of people were gathered there.
Merchants.
Adventurers.
Travelers.
The missing caravan.
And among them were several academy scouts who had disappeared before the others.
They were alive.
But none of them moved.
Every person in the underground city stood perfectly still, staring toward the same enormous structure at the center of the cavern.
A circular building surrounded by three massive pillars.
One golden.
One black.
One colorless.
Seraphina stared at the frozen crowd.
"Why aren’t they moving?"
Azrael’s eyes narrowed.
"They’re waiting."
"For what?" Caelan asked.
Azrael looked toward the three pillars.
"I don’t know."
Then one of the frozen people slowly turned his head.
His eyes remained completely blank.
His mouth opened.
A voice came from him, but it wasn’t his own.
"The children of Genesis and Oblivion have arrived."
The entire underground settlement moved at once.
Hundreds of people turned toward the twins.
And for the first time since entering the northern mountains, Azrael realized they had not been searching for the missing people.
The missing people had been waiting for them.