The stone door rumbled shut behind them, sealing the party inside the ruins. A heavy silence fell over the chamber, broken only by the distant sound of dripping water. Flickering torchlight cast long shadows against the moss-covered walls, the air thick with the scent of damp stone and something faintly metallic—blood, maybe.

  James adjusted his grip on his sword. “So, anyone else getting a strong ‘we’re about to die horribly’ vibe?”

  “Always,” Riona said with a smirk, drawing her saber. “Keeps things interesting.”

  Lillian nocked an arrow, eyes scanning the corridor ahead. “We should move. I don’t like how quiet it is.”

  Garrick took point, his heavy boots echoing as he led the way down the narrow passage. The walls were lined with faded carvings, depicting figures kneeling before a massive, horned entity. Their faces were twisted in agony, their hands raised in supplication.

  Lyra frowned, tracing her fingers over the carvings. “These don’t look like goblins.”

  “Yeah,” James muttered. “That’s what worries me.”

  The corridor opened into a larger chamber, a vaulted ceiling looming overhead. A broken statue sat in the center, its head missing. Several pathways branched out in different directions, each leading into the unknown.

  “Alright,” Riona said, glancing between the paths. “Which way—”

  A low growl rumbled from the darkness.

  The group immediately fell into a defensive stance. Lillian turned, arrow drawn. James summoned a skeletal minion, its hollow eyes flickering with an eerie light.

  “Something’s here,” Garrick said, hefting his axe.

  Then the torches flickered—and the shadows moved.

  A massive shape lunged from the darkness, slamming into Garrick with enough force to send him skidding backward. He barely managed to stay on his feet, his shield absorbing most of the impact.

  James caught only a glimpse of their attacker—a hulking, beast-like creature, its form shifting unnaturally as if made of living darkness.

  “What the hell is that?” he shouted.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Riona said, darting forward. “Kill it!”

  She slashed at the creature, her blade passing through its form like it was cutting smoke. The creature hissed, retreating into the shadows.

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  James narrowed his eyes. “Figures. Normal attacks don’t work.”

  Lillian let an arrow fly—it passed straight through.

  Lyra’s eyes glowed faintly. “It’s shifting between the material and ethereal plane.”

  “Great,” James muttered. “Anyone got a way to make it stay solid?”

  Lyra grinned. “Yeah. Give me a second.” She raised her hands, her fingers weaving intricate patterns in the air. “Cover me.”

  The beast lunged again. James sent his skeleton forward, but the creature tore through it with a swipe of its claws. The summon crumbled into dust.

  Garrick stepped up, swinging his axe in a wide arc. The blade passed through harmlessly. “Not good.”

  “Almost there!” Lyra called.

  The beast swirled into the shadows again, reappearing behind Lillian. She rolled out of the way just in time, her bow useless against the formless creature.

  Then Lyra slammed her hands together. A pulse of energy spread through the chamber, and suddenly, the creature solidified.

  James didn’t hesitate. He lunged, his cursed sword slicing deep into its now-flesh body. The creature let out an ear-splitting screech as dark ichor sprayed from the wound.

  Riona and Garrick followed up, their weapons finally making contact. Lillian switched to her shortsword, joining the fray.

  The battle was brutal but quick. Now that it was vulnerable, the creature couldn’t withstand their combined assault. With a final gurgling snarl, it collapsed into a pool of inky darkness before dissolving entirely.

  Silence returned to the chamber.

  “Well,” Lillian said, catching her breath. “That was awful.”

  Lyra dusted off her hands. “Good news: whatever that thing was, it’s dead. Bad news: it probably wasn’t the only one.”

  James sighed. “Of course it wasn’t.”

  After taking a short break to recover, the party pressed on. They followed one of the paths leading deeper underground, eventually arriving at another sealed door. This one was circular, covered in glowing runes.

  “Alright,” James muttered. “Another puzzle.”

  Riona groaned. “This better not involve more ‘step here, die instantly’ nonsense.”

  Lyra studied the door. “It’s a sequence lock. See these symbols? We need to press them in the correct order.”

  James crossed his arms. “And what happens if we get it wrong?”

  A rumbling noise answered him. The walls shifted slightly, revealing hidden compartments lined with dozens of small, metallic darts.

  Lillian winced. “Ah. Instant death. Classic.”

  James sighed. “Of course.”

  The group examined the symbols. They were similar to the carvings they had seen earlier, depicting the horned entity and its followers.

  Garrick frowned. “I’m guessing we need to press them in the order of some story or ritual.”

  James glanced at the nearby carvings. The scenes depicted the figures kneeling, then offering something, then receiving a gift, and finally standing victorious.

  “I think it’s this,” he said, pointing to the symbols. “Kneeling first, then offering, then receiving, then victory.”

  Riona smirked. “Alright, genius. You pressing the buttons?”

  James hesitated. “…No.”

  Instead, he summoned another skeletal minion.

  “Coward,” Lillian teased.

  The summon pressed the first symbol. Nothing happened.

  It pressed the second. Still nothing.

  The third—

  A grinding noise. The darts twitched but didn’t fire.

  James held his breath as the summon pressed the final symbol.

  The runes pulsed. Then, with a heavy thunk, the door slid open.

  James exhaled. “Glad that worked.”

  Riona patted his shoulder. “Nice work, Necromancer.”

  They stepped inside, greeted by the sight of a massive underground chamber. In the center stood a towering stone altar, its surface covered in dried blood.

  James grimaced. “Yeah. This is gonna suck.”

  Lillian sighed. “At least we’re consistent.”

  With that, they moved forward into the depths of the ruins, unaware of what else lurked in the darkness.