Chapter 10 - CHAPTER 10: VEINS OF LOST CITY

The cold fingers of dawn barely pierced the thick veil of mist that clung to the city's ruins. The Citadel behind Caelum seemed to recede into shadow, like a sleeping giant biding its time. Ahead lay the Lost City of Nareth — a place whispered in fearful tones by survivors and scholars alike; a city said to be alive with secrets too ancient and dark to be disturbed.Caelum moved with cautious purpose, the map's faint glow pulsing like a heartbeat against his palm. Each step drew him deeper into the labyrinth of forgotten history, where crumbled temples and shattered statues bore silent witness to an age steeped in magic and madness."The Forsaken Mark is tied to this city," the stranger said quietly. "Nareth is the cradle of the curses and blessings that bind you. To understand your fate, you must walk its veins — dark corridors where the past bleeds into the present."The air thickened as they passed through the cracked gates, the eerie silence broken only by the soft echo of their footsteps. Caelum felt the prickling of unseen eyes watching from every shadow, the city itself a sentient relic guarding its truths.They descended into the catacombs, where walls pulsed faintly with ancient runes, their light dim but persistent. Around them, murals depicted a civilization's rise and fall — great kings swallowed by their own hubris, priests who trafficked with forbidden beings, and heroes who vanished without a trace.Here, Caelum realized, the Forsaken did not just bear a mark; they carried the burden of history's sins.Suddenly, the ground trembled. From the darkness emerged grotesque figures—monstrous remnants awakened by their intrusion—twisted echoes of the city's doomed past. They moved unnervingly, their forms slugging through the dust with unnatural vitality, growls deep like rumbles of the earth itself.Caelum's power flared in response. The amulet glowed fiercely as he raised the dagger, its blade slicing through the air as a glowing sigil erupted from his palm. Energy sparked, crackled – both beautiful and lethal – shaping his will into a weapon.The battle was fierce and unforgiving. Each strike carved a painful step deeper into his understanding—of power, loss, and the path the Forsaken must walk. When silence fell, the dust settled but the city's pulse thrummed louder in his veins.With the catacombs behind and the city's secrets pressing close, Caelum knew one truth: his path was entwined with a fate as eternal and haunting as the Lost City of Nareth itself.The journey of shadows and revelations stretched endlessly ahead.