They found it just past dusk.
A moss-covered ridge gave way to a shallow valley where the trees broke open like a wound. There, tucked into the earth like something ashamed to be seen, sat the outpost — old, low, and forgotten.
Stone walls half-swallowed by roots.
A watchtower cracked down the center.
No torches.
No flags.
Just the smell of wet stone and old dust.
Ryliegh held up a hand. The group stopped.
They scanned in silence. No movement. No sound but wind and distant branches creaking.
Vale stepped up beside him. "Doesn't match any maps."
"Looks pre-collapse," Bram muttered, adjusting the sling on his arm.
Phoenix sat on a flat stone at the treeline, breath shallow again. "Could be shelter. Could be a tomb."
Ryliegh started forward.
No words.
No dramatics.
Just movement.
The others followed.
Inside, the outpost was mostly intact. A small barracks — rotted bunks, shattered crates. A storage cellar below, dry and empty. No signs of a struggle. No bones.
But something about it was wrong.
Too quiet.
Too untouched.
Elric leaned into a corner and tapped a support beam. "Still solid. This place was built like it knew the forest would try to take it."
Soren lit a lantern, the light dancing over carved stone. On the wall, an old sigil — not one any of them recognized. A knight's helm, split down the center with a line of fire.
Phoenix stared at it. "Not ours."
"No. Not anyone's now," Vale replied.
They set up a temporary rest.
No fire.
Just rations and silence.
Ryliegh took first watch again, standing in the arched entryway, eyes on the trees. The others sat in the remains of the old mess hall, eating quietly.
Soren broke the silence. "We should name it."
Phoenix tilted his helmet. "Name what?"
"This place. The outpost. Doesn't feel right not giving it one. We found it. Feels like it should mean something."
Bram gave a dry laugh. "You want to name a ghost fort?"
Soren shrugged. "Why not?"
Elric leaned back against the wall. "Name doesn't matter. Place does."
Phoenix looked up at the cracked ceiling.
"Call it Stillpoint," he said quietly. "It's the first place that hasn't tried to kill us."
They all looked at him.
Ryliegh spoke from the doorway without turning around. "Stillpoint, then."
The name settled like ash on the stone.
And the outpost — whatever it once was — now had meaning again.
They didn't know how long they'd stay. Maybe a night. Maybe less.
But for now, they were together.
And Stillpoint stood.