Renzo took the lead, continuing down the narrow, dark corridor of rough stone and jagged rock. After several minutes of silent walking, he spotted the torch that was mounted to the wall in an iron sphere container. Reaching out, he grabbed it and tightened his grip around the cold metal base.
The group followed behind him, the flickering ember casting shadows of their bodies along the uneven path and illuminating the surrounding stone in warm orange light.
After a while, the corridor gradually widened into a slightly larger chamber. Two large iron doors stood on either side of the chamber, heavily rusted and weathered with age. Ahead, the pathway split in two directions, and a sharp, metallic scent filled their noses—thick with the tang of rust and something else mixed with it.
"Is it just me," Zay muttered, taking a deep breath, stepping toward one of the iron doors, "or does this smell remind anyone else of blood?"
He reached out with his gloved hand, gripping the iron handle. As he pulled, the rusted metal crumbled, and the handle snapped clean off.
Renzo handed the torch to Lily and walked over to the opposite door. He gave the handle a tug —and just like the first, it broke away in his hand.
"Looks like no one's touched these doors in a long time," Renzo said with a dry chuckle, tossing the broken handle aside.
Curious, Lily wandered a few steps down one of the branching paths. She noticed that it began to descend gradually into the mountain. Turning around, she checked the other route—it seemed to continue straight without any immediate change in elevation.
Returning to the group, she asked, "So… do we go down, or keep going straight?"
"We go down," Lyra said abruptly.
Before anyone could agree or disagree, Zay let out a fake cough to catch everyone's attention.
"Let's take a vote," he said loudly, glancing toward the path that led straight ahead. "All in favor of continuing straight?"
He waited a moment, scanning the group. No one responded.
"Alright," he said with a nod. "All in favor of going down?"
Everyone raised their hands.
"I'm only voting to go down because, in the few adventuring novels I've read, going deeper into a mountain is usually the worst decision for safety — but always the best one for finding loot," Renzo said with a smirk, peering down the path that descended.
Without another word, the group began their descent, following Lily as she led the way with the torch in hand. Zay stayed at the rear, keeping watch in case anything tried to sneak up on them from behind.
As the four of them continued descending into the mountain, they entered another large chamber. Railroad tracks ran straight through the center, a separate path veered off to the left, and in the far-right corner stood a wooden door.
Zay exhaled slowly before walking over to the wooden door. He infused his leg with aura and slammed it open. As the door crashed to the ground, a chorus of small hisses echoed from within.
The others joined him as Lily handed the torch to Zay. He extended his arm slightly into the room, and the ember lit up the interior. In the corner, several small snakes were coiled together, unmoving but alert. Their eyes scanned the room—until Renzo spotted it first.
"...Oh shit," he muttered, eyes fixed on something behind the boxes.
The others followed his gaze.
"Oh shit," they echoed in unison, their eyes landing on a larger hole concealed behind the crates.
Zay gave a small nod and began slowly stepping backward—just as the sound of slithering came from inside the room, and howls echoed from behind.
They turned to see a pack of wolves emerging from the left-hand pathway.
That's when they heard it: a train whistle.
Their heads snapped toward the tracks just in time to see a small train approaching. It looked just big enough to fit ten people. The train screeched to a stop and let out another whistle.
Zay didn't hesitate.
He decided to bet his life on the train instead of staying behind with wolves and a potentially massive snake.
Lyra, Lily, and Renzo climbed aboard, gripping the metal railings as steam hissed from the top of the train and it began to move.
"Hold on, I guess," Zay muttered, tightening his grip on the rail.
The others clung to the rails as the train accelerated.
Looking back the way they came, they saw it: a massive snake burst forth, devouring all of the wolves in a single motion. It turned, slithered into the room Zay had opened, and disappeared — ignoring them entirely, as if deciding they weren't worth the chase.
The train began to accelerate, plunging them deeper into the darkness as the torch in Lily's hands slipped away, tumbling somewhere along the tracks.
The four of them clung to the railing, eyes shut tight as they braced for what was to come. The train gradually slowed before coming to a complete halt. Bright green lights flickered to life, casting an eerie glow over the chamber. The group disembarked slowly, catching their breath.
Torches began to light up the room, a corridor that veered to the left. The flicker of flame echoed down the passage as the torches were ignited one by one.
Lyra's eyes glimmered faintly with a white-golden hue as she stepped toward the wall. Zay caught sight of her and watched as she tapped three times, the wall silently sliding open to reveal a hidden hallway.
Zay nudged Lily and Renzo with his shoulder, then silently pointed at Lyra.
"What the hell is she doing?" Lily asked, squinting at the passage ahead.
"No clue, but… how did she even know about that?" Renzo muttered under his breath.
"I think her Seal's passive lets her sense the area around her, within a certain range," Zay replied, settling against the wall of the chamber. He pulled his hood over his head, closing his eyes as he leaned back. "That's probably how she knew about the ledge."
"Let's take all the time we can to recover," he added with a quiet exhale.
After a few moments, Lily and Renzo joined him, sinking into the respite.
Meanwhile, Lyra continued down the darkened pathway, her steps confident and deliberate. Her eyes glowed softly as she spoke to herself, a faint smile playing on her lips. "I guess my luck—no, it's not luck. I knew this would happen. Everything has unfolded exactly as I saw. Soon, we'll get the second sacred relic, and then… only one more. But none of this matters, not compared to how it will all end."
Lyra's words trailed off as a passive activated.
[Oracle: ??? Ring]
A ring with the symbol of an hourglass appeared on her ring finger, glowing silver as visions flooded her mind: a desk illuminated by a flickering candle, its wax burning red, traps scattered across the floor, and glowing orange eyes that seemed to hover in the shadows, their source elusive.
The vision faded as quickly as it had come, and the ring vanished from her finger. Lyra winced, her hand instinctively pressing against her forehead. "D-Damn," she muttered under her breath, her breath shaky as the headache set in. "It takes a lot… to use that."
She steadied herself, breathing deeply before continuing down the path. The vision's details guided her as she walked, stepping carefully over the stones to avoid the traps she had seen. Eventually, she came upon the desk.
Without hesitation, she opened the drawer beneath it, her fingers brushing over the smooth wood as she reached inside. She pulled out a golden key and a scroll wrapped in animal skin. She unrolled the parchment for just a moment, her eyes scanning the script written in blood before she quickly rolled it back up, securing it in her sleeve.
She retraced her steps, returning through the passage and back into the large chamber. Her eyes swept over Zay and the others, and she made her way toward them.
Without saying a word, she bent down and handed the key to Zay, her face tight with concentration. She closed her eyes briefly as the headache continued to throb painfully, the strain of her passive taking its toll heavily.
She stood up and glanced at the passage veering off to the left side of the chamber. She took a moment to breathe before walking toward it. "We're almost there. Hurry up."
Zay watched her walk away before standing up and following her. Lily and Renzo got to their feet as well and followed behind Zay.
As they walked down the narrow passage, Zay sighed, his steps quickening until he caught up to Lyra. He tapped her on the shoulder very lightly.
She turned to face him, wincing slightly as she held her head, the remnants of the pain still lingering. "What is it?" she asked, her voice quieter.
"This is going to take too long if we keep following you like this," Zay said, his voice low but firm. "It seems like you know where we're going thanks to that passive of yours—the whole location tracker thing or whatever Passive you have."
Without waiting for a response, Zay crouched down in front of her, meeting her gaze with unyielding seriousness. "Just get on my back. I'll carry you. All you have to do is tell me where we need to go. But," he added, his tone darkening, "if you so much as mislead me by a fraction of an inch, I swear to everything in this universe, I'll kill you and drain every last drop of blood from your body. Then I'll feed it to the animals."
Lyra's eyes widened, and she glanced nervously at Renzo and Lily, unsure how to respond.
"Yeah, what he said!" Renzo chimed in with a grin, clearly amused by the tension.
Lily, however, shot Renzo a sharp look, raising an eyebrow. "Don't encourage feeding people's bodies to animals," she said, then lightly slapped him across the face. "Be more polite."
Renzo rubbed his cheek with a sheepish grin. "So... you're okay with the killing part and the draining of blood?"
Lily sighed and shook her head. "Not in the slightest."
Lyra closed her eyes for a moment. She let out a quiet breath, then, without a word, moved toward Zay. With a slight hesitation, she climbed onto his back, the weight of her body settling against him.
She wrapped her legs around his waist, and he placed his hands on the backs of her thighs, securing her in place.
Zay stood back up and he began walking down the narrow passage, his footsteps steady. Lyra remained still, her arms loosely draped around his neck for support, her eyes closed slowly before sighing.
Lily and Renzo exchanged a few glances before Renzo sighed and decided to remain silent.
They made their way to a small opening with three paths—one leading straight, one veering left, and the other to the right.
"Which direction, Lyra?" Zay asked, eyeing the three paths ahead of him.
"It's to the left... but be careful," Lyra replied slowly, her eyes closed as her vision began to blur.
Zay took a slow, steady breath before turning left. The group followed suit and began ascending the rocky path, which sloped upward.
After several minutes, they encountered a group of wolves, their glowing orange eyes visible in the darkness as green torches illuminated the chamber.