The sky was still dark when the squads began their journey eastward. Mist clung to the ground like a warning.
Aryan tightened his grip on his Vanara's reins. The forest thinned with each step, until twisted stone pillars began to rise from the earth, cracked and covered in moss. Strange glyphs shimmered faintly across them—ancient beastbinder runes, older than the Empire itself.
"This place gives me a headache," Kael muttered, adjusting Brukk's harness.
"You get headaches from math too," Devran said dryly.
"Exactly. Both cursed."
Kiva rode ahead, his eagle beast—Shyra—circling silently above. He looked as smug as always, even with the fog growing thicker.
Aryan glanced at Vaidehi. She looked calm, but her crane, Laksha, fluttered nervously behind her.
They all felt it.
Something was wrong here.
Ashvale Outer Ring
The outer ruins stretched like a maze—collapsed arches, broken temples, and shattered statues of beasts now long extinct.
Devran held a glowing map crystal, murmuring to himself. "These symbols are warnings… 'Do not bind what was unmade.' That can't be good."
Suddenly, Shyra screeched overhead.
Kiva raised a hand. "Movement. Eleven o'clock."
Everyone crouched behind a fallen column.
A beast limped into view.
But it wasn't… right.
Its fur was ash-gray, its body gaunt and sunken. Its eyes glowed blue, almost pleading. Runes were carved across its body — the same spiral brand, but reversed.
Vaidehi whispered, "It's not corrupted. It's bound… and suffering."
"Let it go," Aryan said.
"We can't," Kiva replied coldly. "If it's cursed, it'll alert others."
Before anyone could stop him, he raised his blade.
Aryan shoved him aside. "No!"
The beast flinched, then staggered backward… and collapsed.
Aryan knelt beside it, pressing a hand gently to its neck. It was still breathing, barely. The Vanara stood beside him, unusually quiet.
Devran approached. "Wait… these brands… they're not Unbinder marks. They're containment seals."
"Someone tried to protect this beast from corruption," Vaidehi realized. "Not control it."
The moment was broken by a deep rumble below them.
Stone shifted. Wind howled.
A platform sank open from beneath the ruins, revealing a stairway of glowing light.
Bhairav stepped forward grimly. "This is it. Whatever they were hiding… it's down there."
The Deep Chamber
The stairs led into a vast chamber. Walls of blackstone, glowing veins of gold, and at the center — a massive circular altar with beast runes spiraling around it.
Aryan stepped closer, heart pounding.
Atop the altar was a crystal-bound beast scroll. Larger than any he'd ever seen. And around it… bones. Ancient bones. Human, beast, and things in between.
Kiva walked toward the scroll.
"Don't," Aryan warned.
"I'm not a fool," Kiva said. "I'm a scholar. This is a relic of the First Beastlords."
He touched the scroll.
The chamber screamed.
A blast of dark light erupted from the altar. The scroll cracked. And from the shadows behind them, something moved.
It stood ten feet tall. Part wolf, part bird, part smoke. Its body shimmered like water and roared like fire.
Its eyes were endless pits.
A guardian of the ruin.
And it was angry.
"Form up!" Bhairav shouted. "Protect the back line!"
Aryan leapt onto his Vanara. "Kiva, this is your fault!"
Kiva drew both swords. "Then help me fix it!"
The Fight
The guardian struck fast, slamming the ground and sending shockwaves through the chamber. Brukk charged first, crashing into it—but his blow passed through its body like mist.
"It's not solid!" Kael shouted. "It's like smoke!"
"No," Devran corrected. "It's bound to the ruin itself! We need to weaken the runes holding it here!"
Aryan rode close, dodging a blast of black flame. Vaidehi sent a wave of wind toward the altar, revealing glowing symbols around its base.
"There! Strike the glyphs!"
Kiva dashed forward, slashing the first rune with clean precision. Aryan followed, his Vanara flipping over debris to land near the second. Together, they shattered seal after seal.
The guardian screamed louder.
Finally, Aryan reached the last glyph—and slammed his sword down with all his might.
A crack echoed through the chamber.
The guardian paused.
Then, slowly, it began to dissolve—swirling upward like ash on the wind—until all that remained was silence.
Aftermath
The scroll lay quiet now. Cracked, but intact.
Bhairav stepped forward, eyes narrowed. "This was never just a ruin. It was a prison. And someone opened it from the inside."
Vaidehi bent beside the altar. "This scroll… it's not a normal contract. It holds… something else. Something ancient."
Aryan looked at her. "Do we take it?"
Kiva stared at the scroll, then at Aryan. "You bonded with the Vanara when it should've rejected you. I wonder what this scroll would do if you touched it."
Aryan didn't answer.
Because deep in his chest, the Vanara stirred uneasily.
And in the back of his mind, something whispered.
A voice… not his own.