The eastern border.
Three days earlier.
The morning sun shone over the abandoned settlement.
Old wooden houses stood along the dirt road, their roofs partially collapsed and their windows shattered. Weeds had grown between the stones, and the surrounding forest had slowly begun reclaiming the land.
It was a place people had long since forgotten.
Or so they thought.
"Captain, there's something here."
Gareth stopped.
One of his men stood beside a ruined building, pointing toward the ground.
Gareth approached.
Carved into the stone was a strange symbol.
A circle.
Five intersecting lines.
And beneath them...
A mark that resembled an open eye.
Gareth's expression changed.
"Nobody touches it."
He looked toward the rest of the patrol.
"Search the surrounding buildings. Stay within sight of one another."
The guards acknowledged his orders.
Then they dispersed.
At first...
Nothing seemed unusual.
There were no footprints on the road.
No signs of recent occupation.
No smoke rising from the abandoned houses.
But the deeper they went...
The stranger things became.
Black candles had been placed inside several buildings.
Some walls bore the same symbols they had discovered outside.
And in the center of the settlement...
They found a stone platform.
Its surface was covered in markings.
Gareth slowly approached it.
"...What in the world?"
He crouched to examine the inscriptions.
He couldn't understand them.
But he recognized one thing.
The symbols were deliberately arranged.
This wasn't graffiti.
Someone had performed a ritual here.
Recently.
"Captain!"
A shout came from behind him.
Gareth immediately stood.
One of the younger guards had emerged from a nearby building.
His face was pale.
"You need to see this."
Gareth followed him inside.
The building's interior was dark.
The windows had been covered from the inside, and the floor was marked with strange black stains.
At the far end of the room...
There was a door.
Not an ordinary door.
It had been carved directly into the stone wall.
And across its surface...
Were the same symbols.
Gareth approached cautiously.
He placed one hand against the stone.
Cold.
Unnaturally cold.
"Captain..."
The young guard swallowed.
"Should we open it?"
Gareth remained silent for several seconds.
Then he stepped away.
"No."
He turned toward the others.
"We've seen enough. We're returning to Ravenholt."
"But sir, we haven't finished searching—"
"That is an order."
His voice left no room for argument.
Something was wrong.
He couldn't explain it.
But every instinct he had developed over years of service was telling him to leave.
Immediately.
"Everyone, fall back!"
The guards began gathering their equipment.
Then...
A sound came from behind the stone door.
Knock.
Everyone froze.
Another sound followed.
Knock.
Knock.
Three slow impacts.
From the other side.
One of the guards took a step backward.
"...Captain?"
Gareth stared at the door.
He had no idea what was inside.
And he had absolutely no intention of finding out.
"RUN!"
The wall trembled.
A thin black line appeared across the stone.
Then another.
The symbols began glowing.
And something on the other side...
Started pushing.
The door burst open.
The guards scattered.
Gareth barely had time to draw his sword before a shadow swept across the room.
"FORMATION!"
Nobody could hear him.
The entire building shook.
Stone cracked.
Dust filled the air.
Someone screamed for the others to retreat.
Then...
Silence.
Not the silence of an abandoned settlement.
Something worse.
The kind of silence that followed the sudden disappearance of every familiar sound.
Gareth struggled to his feet.
His ears rang.
His sword was still in his hand.
He looked around.
The room had been torn apart.
The stone door was gone.
And beyond the shattered wall...
Something stood in the darkness.
He couldn't make out its shape.
Only its outline.
Tall.
Motionless.
Watching.
Gareth's grip tightened around his sword.
"...What are you?"
The figure tilted its head.
Then...
Every candle in the building went out.
---
Gareth didn't remember how he escaped.
He remembered running.
He remembered the sound of footsteps behind him.
He remembered shouting for his men.
But when he reached the road...
Only three guards remained.
One was struggling to walk.
Another had lost his weapon.
The third kept looking over his shoulder, as if expecting something to emerge from the trees.
"Where are the others?" Gareth demanded.
Nobody answered.
Then one of the guards spoke.
"...They're gone."
Gareth stared at him.
"What do you mean, gone?"
The guard's voice trembled.
"They were right behind us."
He swallowed.
"Then the shadows moved."
Gareth looked toward the forest.
The trees stood perfectly still.
No movement.
No sound.
Nothing.
He turned toward his remaining men.
"We return to Ravenholt. Now."
One of them shook his head.
"Captain... I don't think we can."
Gareth looked at him.
Only then did he notice the blood staining the man's armor.
The guard was barely standing.
Gareth caught him before he fell.
"Stay with me!"
The man tried to answer.
His lips moved.
But no words came out.
Gareth looked toward the road.
They were too far from the settlement.
Too far from help.
And whatever had been inside that building...
Was still somewhere behind them.
"Move!" Gareth shouted.
He pulled the injured guard's arm over his shoulder.
"We're getting you home!"
They continued toward Ravenholt.
One step at a time.
The forest seemed endless.
Every shadow looked suspicious.
Every rustle made them turn.
But nothing followed them.
Not that they could see.
By the time Ravenholt's walls appeared on the horizon...
Only Gareth and the injured guard remained.
The captain's armor was battered.
His sword was chipped.
And the man leaning against him...
Was barely conscious.
"Almost there," Gareth whispered.
"Just hold on."
The guard's eyes slowly opened.
"...Captain?"
"I'm here."
The man struggled to breathe.
"Did... did we win?"
Gareth couldn't answer.
He looked toward the distant walls.
Then back at his subordinate.
"...We survived."
The guard gave a faint, exhausted smile.
"That's... good enough."
His head dropped against Gareth's shoulder.
"Hey."
Gareth stopped walking.
"Hey! Stay awake!"
No response.
Gareth tightened his grip.
"Don't you dare fall asleep on me!"
The guard's fingers weakly grasped his sleeve.
"...Tell them..."
"Tell them what?"
The man's lips trembled.
"Don't... let it..."
His eyes lost focus.
"...open..."
His hand fell.
Gareth stared at him.
For several seconds...
He couldn't move.
Then he lowered his head.
"...Damn it."
He had promised to bring his men home.
And he had failed.
---
Ravenholt's eastern gate.
The guards immediately rushed forward when they saw Gareth approaching.
"Captain!"
One of them ran to help.
But Gareth raised his hand.
"Get a physician!"
The guards hurried to obey.
Gareth carefully lowered his subordinate onto the ground.
"Stay with me, lad."
He pressed a hand against the man's shoulder.
"You're home."
But the guard didn't respond.
His breathing had become faint.
A physician arrived moments later, accompanied by two assistants.
They immediately began treating the injured man.
Gareth stood aside.
His hands trembled.
He clenched them into fists.
'Come on...'
The physician worked desperately.
But after several moments...
He stopped.
The assistants fell silent.
Gareth looked at him.
"...No."
The physician lowered his head.
"I'm sorry."
Gareth stared at the man lying before him.
The guard who had joked with his comrades that morning.
The guard who had complained about the long ride.
The guard who had asked whether they would return before dinner.
Gone.
Gareth slowly removed his helmet.
He bowed his head.
"...Rest well."
For the first time since leaving the settlement...
He allowed himself to grieve.
But there was no time to remain there.
He had a report to deliver.
And Ravenholt needed to know what had happened.
---
Inside the castle.
Levi stood beside his desk when the doors opened.
Gaius entered first.
Behind him walked Gareth.
The captain's armor was damaged, his face pale with exhaustion.
His eyes looked older than they had three days ago.
Levi immediately noticed that someone was missing.
"Where are the others?"
Gareth lowered his head.
"...Dead, my lord."
Silence.
Levi didn't move.
Gaius's expression hardened.
"All of them?"
Gareth swallowed.
"Everyone except me."
He paused.
"...And one of my men made it back to the gate."
His voice faltered.
"He died before the physician could save him."
Levi slowly sat down.
"...Tell me everything."
Gareth took a breath.
Then he began.
"We found the symbols described in the original report. They were carved into the buildings and the stones around the settlement."
He described the ritual platform.
The black candles.
The strange inscriptions.
And finally...
The stone door.
"When we found it, we decided to withdraw. We had no idea what was behind it."
Gareth's hands tightened.
"Then something knocked from the other side."
Levi's gaze sharpened.
"Knocked?"
"Three times."
Gareth looked down.
"Then the door broke apart."
He paused.
"I couldn't identify what came out."
"What did it look like?"
"I don't know."
Levi frowned.
"You couldn't see it?"
"I saw something. But I can't describe it properly. The room was dark, and there was dust everywhere. I couldn't tell where its body ended or where the shadows began."
Gaius stepped forward.
"Did it attack you directly?"
Gareth shook his head.
"Not like a man with a weapon. There was no formation. No warning. We barely had time to react."
He closed his eyes.
"I heard my men shouting. I tried to regroup them, but..."
His voice grew quieter.
"They were gone."
Levi remained silent.
Gareth continued.
"We ran. I don't know how far we got before I realized most of the patrol was missing."
He swallowed.
"And the ones who were still with me..."
He stopped.
For a moment, he couldn't continue.
Levi waited.
Finally, Gareth spoke.
"...They didn't make it home."
The room fell silent.
Levi looked toward the map on his desk.
The eastern border.
The abandoned settlement.
The Black Church's symbols.
And a door that something had been trying to open.
He slowly raised his head.
"Captain Gareth."
Gareth straightened despite his exhaustion.
"My lord."
"You did the right thing by returning."
The captain looked at him.
"But I abandoned my men."
"You followed your orders. You investigated the site, recognized that the situation was beyond your understanding, and attempted to withdraw."
Levi's expression remained serious.
"I will not blame you for surviving."
Gareth's jaw tightened.
"...Thank you, my lord."
Levi stood.
"However, I need to know one more thing."
Gareth looked up.
"What happened immediately before the door opened?"
The captain thought carefully.
"The symbols began glowing. Then the stone cracked."
"Did you hear anything else?"
Gareth hesitated.
"...Yes."
Levi waited.
"The sound of chains."
Gaius's expression changed.
"Chains?"
Gareth nodded slowly.
"Coming from somewhere behind the door."
Levi fell silent.
Chains.
A sealed door.
A ritual.
And something that had been waiting on the other side.
He looked toward Gaius.
Neither of them needed to say what they were thinking.
This was no ordinary group of cultists.
Levi turned back to Gareth.
"You've done enough. Go to the infirmary and rest."
"But, my lord—"
"That wasn't a request."
Gareth lowered his head.
"...Yes, my lord."
He turned and left the room.
The doors closed behind him.
For a while...
Neither Levi nor Gaius spoke.
Then Gaius finally broke the silence.
"...What the hell did they find?"
Levi looked down at the map.
His finger rested on the eastern border.
"I don't know."
He paused.
"But whatever it is..."
His expression hardened.
"...The Black Church was trying to keep it sealed."
Gareth had almost reached the door when Levi spoke again.
"Captain."
Gareth stopped.
"...Yes, my lord?"
"Have the names of every fallen guard recorded. Their ranks, their years of service, and the names of their families."
Gareth turned around, confused.
"My lord?"
"Arrange compensation for their families. Make sure they receive enough to support themselves, and that their children, if they have any, will have access to proper education."
He paused.
"And if any of their families have outstanding debts, have them reviewed. I won't have people who served Ravenholt faithfully left struggling because their providers died protecting our borders."
Gareth stared at him.
"W-what, sir...?"
Levi raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
Gareth struggled to find the right words.
"My lord, these men died during a dangerous assignment. They knew the risks when they accepted it. Surely, such compensation would be..."
He trailed off.
Levi looked at him for a moment.
Then he sighed.
"What? We can't bring the dead back. We can't even recover the bodies."
His expression softened.
"What else can we do but that?"
Gareth fell silent.
Levi turned toward the window.
"They left their homes to protect this territory. Some of them might have wives waiting for them. Parents expecting their sons to return. Children who don't even understand why their fathers aren't coming home."
His fingers tightened slightly against the windowsill.
"We cannot undo what happened. We cannot give their families the answers they deserve, and we certainly cannot promise that something like this will never happen again."
He looked back at Gareth.
"But we can make sure their sacrifices aren't followed by more suffering."
For several seconds, the captain could only stare.
Then he lowered his head.
"...Understood, my lord."
His voice trembled.
"I'll see to it personally."
Levi nodded.
"Good. And Captain?"
Gareth looked up.
"Take some time to recover. You've lost comrades. Don't pretend that doesn't affect you."
Gareth's lips parted, but no words came out.
He finally bowed.
"...Thank you."
The door closed behind him.
Levi remained beside the window.
Another group of men had gone out to protect Ravenholt.
And another group of families would soon learn that their loved ones weren't coming home.
He closed his eyes briefly.
'I'm sorry.'
There was nothing else he could offer the dead.
But to those they had left behind...
He could at least make sure they weren't forgotten.