The night wind moved like a veil, brushing against the outskirts of the city.
Helya, cloaked in a deep gray robe, moved silently through the ruins of the lower district. Her footsteps were light, almost weightless. Here, far from the main transport lines, the air was heavy with rust and dust. A few flickering old lights cast pale shadows across the broken metal structures.
She passed twisted beams and forgotten machines without a glance. Her expression was calm—focused.
After turning into a narrow alley, she drew out the magical Eye Recorder from her robe. The orb no longer pulsed; its inner runes now dormant. The data had been fully stored.
She whispered softly:
"Path of Shadows, hide my steps."
A faint ripple of dark magic cloaked her body, wrapping her in invisibility and dampening all traces of heat and sound.
She arrived before a solitary slab of stone. Barely visible to the eye, an ancient line of script stretched across its surface. She raised two fingers and traced them gently across the stone. A subtle magic stirred, ancient and deliberate.
Click.
A thin crack opened in the ground. From within, a figure rose slowly—half-man, half-soil—as if shaped by the earth itself.
A man in a cloak the color of dry earth emerged, his hood shadowing all but a coarse chin and bluish lips.
"You're late," he said. His voice had the sound of buried stone, damp and distant.
Helya replied flatly, "I had to dodge two patrol units and a signal scrambler."
She handed over the Eye Recorder.
The man didn't reach for it. Instead, a spectral hand of compressed earth materialized and took it from her, drawing the orb gently into the soil.
Helya glanced around. "This spot—aren't you afraid of being seen?"
"Beneath this ground, sensors are blind. No signal flows. Only we remain."
He paused. "You did well. The Queen will know of your loyalty."
A silence lingered.
Helya's eyes narrowed slightly. "She'd better understand the risks I'm taking."
The ground began to shift. The man started sinking slowly back into the earth. As the soil closed over him, he left her with a single, parting sentence:
"The greater the risk, the closer you are to truth."
The earth sealed shut.
The night returned to silence. The wind passed through broken towers and rusted beams, stirring only dust and shadow.
Helya lingered for a moment… then vanished into the ruins once more.