The Forgotten Prophecy

Chapter 54

'Matthew,' Ines called in the darkness.

The more they neared their destination, the more the black magic was getting stronger. They had spent the whole day walking, trying to cover as much ground as they could. They had crossed the deep forest, hiked past cliffs and rock mounds, and right then they were entering the dark lands.

The elves wearily walked ahead, dragging their feet over the snow. Even though they had been trained to resist the power of magic, Ines could see they were affected by it. She glanced at Matthew again and was worried by the stiff manner of his movements.

'Every step is harder than the last one. It's like I'm being pulled down,' he said.

'Maybe we should—'

'No, it's fine,' he held a hand up. 'We haven't got so far just to turn back now.'

Ines nodded in agreement and kept walking beside him. A long quiet stretched out, the smallest sounds coming thunderous. In silence they trode, each of them alone with their own worries. Nothing lived there, no bird, no plant, only the hard snow and the wind.

The sky was a giant spiral of midnight blacks where no star could ever show, and every step they took led them deeper into the darkness. Ines understood their unease and nervousness. Once they set foot on those cursed grounds, there was no way but forward.

Ahead, in the shadowy valleys of the unknown, Ines noticed a small dot that stood out from its surroundings. She peered carefully at it and soon enough, after they had got closer, she realised it was a mountainous structure that seemed to have cheated the ravages of time.

'Look!' she said and pointed to their doom.

The others glanced up and immediately shared knowing looks. As they quickened their pace, Ines felt for the first time that they were finally getting somewhere, not just blindly hunting for signs in the gloomy valleys. She tightened her coat over her chest and marched on.

. . . . .

The old building, or rather what was left of it, was a mass of broken towers and crumbling stones. Empty windows stared down at them, like a thousand pairs of hostile eyes. Spires cut into the midnight sky, and twisted beams of stone sprouted from shattered roofs, boring into the ground.

The four of them crept between walls so high, they had to crane their necks to see the sky over the ruins. Wherever they looked, the grandeur the place used to posses seemed more like a dream than reality. All those centuries of light and life would forever be silenced. There was no future to imagine, only dust.

Ines wondered if they were next. If their homeland was next in line to become an empty ruin, void of people, a ghostly echo for those who came long after to witness its desolation. She sighed in thought and made a promise to herself not to let that happen.

After a while's search, they were eventually met with a wide archway that would have been the entrance of the structure. Half of the metal door had fallen, while the other was still hanging from its broken hinges. Matthew signaled her to go first, and Ines cautiously entered the dark building.

A long hallway stretched before them, gloomy, chilly and bare. Its ceiling had collapsed in several places and the floor was covered with fallen stones, dust and snow. They quietly passed through it, reaching a circular spiral of stairs that seemed to have no end.

'From what we've seen so far, I think this structure used to be a palace,' Landos' voice pierced the silence of the room, and the others hummed in agreement.

Ines stood in the centre of the dizzying stairs and felt an icy breath of air upon her face as she looked up at the never-ending ascent. Where could they lead to?, she thought and began taking the steps one by one.