The black spider finally came to a slow, unsettling halt as its long limbs creaked and twitched before going still. At last, Mary, Nyx, and Aether leapt from the creature's back and landed firmly on the hard, lifeless ground.
Aether lifted his gaze to the massive arched entrance that stood before them. The structure looked ancient—its stone was worn and brittle, cracked in many places with dry grains of debris constantly shedding off its surface. It felt like it had been standing for centuries, forgotten by time.... And right before it stood two armoured soldiers, silent and watchful.
There were no buildings in sight, no roads, no hints of civilisation anywhere nearby. The entire area around them was barren, as if this piece of land had been carved away from the rest of the Empire and left to rot in isolation.
"Let's go inside,"
