Adrian’s fingers dug into the parchment, the brittle edges crinkling beneath the pressure of his grip. His breath felt shallow, caught somewhere between his lungs and his throat as he traced the frantic scrawl of ink across the page. Darius Venn. Whoever you are, I hope you made it out of this place. But, I'm not surprised that a place like this is dangerous, especially if it was meant to train mages ready for war.

  Gradually, Adrian forced his fingers to relax, though the stiffness in his knuckles resisted. As he loosened his grip, the parchment shuddered, its brittle surface trembling as if caught in a phantom breeze.

  Then, without warning, it unraveled. What?

  Wisps of mana slithered from the edges of the page, unraveling like pulled stitches. The ink bled away, dissolving into the air as the parchment itself crumbled into nothingness.

  Adrian's breath caught. He swiped at the space where the letter had been, his fingers closing around emptiness. No residue, no scraps, just the fading afterglow of the dissipating mana, vanishing into the air. The timing on the parchment seems deliberate, as if whoever wrote it hoped someone would read it first before it dissipated. If it really was Darius Venn who wrote that note anyway.

  Adrian clenched his jaw, eyes narrowing as he tried to piece it together. If the message was meant to be preserved, then why had it vanished? And why now? Was it only meant for one reader at a time? Will that note reappear after a period of time?

  A slow dread coiled around his spine. But he pushed the thought aside as he decided to try and look at where he came from.

  Adrian's head snapped up as his gaze darted toward the entrance. His chest constricted as the passage was gone. The archway that had led him here was now replaced by a wall of stone as if the corridor had never existed.

  Adrian's stomach twisted. He took a step forward, then another, pressing his palm against the surface. The rock met him with an unyielding chill, smooth beneath his touch. No crevices, no seams, no trace of an opening.

  “Fantastic,” he muttered under his breath. Forward it is, then.

  He let his hand fall away from the wall and turned back toward the chamber. Shadows stretched long and twisting between the towering pillars, creeping toward him with each flicker of the pale runes embedded in the stone. The dim light wavered, weak and unsteady, offering little defense against the darkness beyond.

  Bones lay scattered across the floor, some shattered, others eerily intact. Skulls stared blankly upward, their hollow sockets empty, lifeless, yet something about them gnawed at the edges of his mind.

  Adrian exhaled through his nose and forced his legs to move. He made sure to move carefully, avoiding the remains strewn across the chamber floor. =

  Each step kicked up tiny clouds of grit. He barely made a sound, but still, the silence swallowed every movement, thick and suffocating.

  His fingers twitched. He wanted to summon his flames, to cast them out and drive back the shadows clawing at the edges of his vision. But he hesitated. Fire would bring light, yes, but it would also make him a target. I should try to maintain stealth as much as I can, until it no longer becomes a viable option at the very least.

  Eventually, he reached the far end of the chamber, where the walls curved inward. A set of deep grooves marred the stone, stretching from the floor to about Adrian’s waist. He ran his fingers along them, feeling the uneven ridges beneath his fingertips. Claw marks.

  His stomach twisted. These marks are deep, whatever beast made them is dangerous. Something likely had been trapped here. Or worse, something had been hunting here.

  A faint noise echoed through the chamber. Not the distant drip of water, not the settling groan of ancient stone. Something... else.

  Adrian’s muscles tensed. He turned slowly, his gaze sweeping over the room. Nothing moved, yet the weight of unseen eyes pressed against him. He swallowed, ignoring the way his heartbeat thundered in his ears. Okay. Think. You’re not alone here, and you don’t know what you’re dealing with.

  He glanced back at the grooves in the stone. Whatever left those marks had either escaped or been let out.

  His lips pressed together. Mimi would’ve sensed something like this sooner. I should have called her earlier.

  Adrian took a slow step back, steadying his breath as his pulse hammered in his ears. “Mimi, I could use your help.”

  The air around him rippled, warping like heat haze before a vivid green spark flared to life. A gentle whoosh followed as with a burst of flickering light, a small figure emerged.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Mimi trilled in delight, her eyes shining as she twirled through the air before pressing her warm, flickering form eagerly against his chest. The heat radiating from her curled over his skin, sinking into his bones.

  A quiet huff escaped Adrian, the tension in his jaw loosening as a reluctant smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “Yeah, yeah, I missed you too.”

  She nuzzled against his chin before darting upward to hover at his shoulder. Her tails flickered like candle flames caught in a breeze, casting a soft green glow that licked across the surrounding stone.

  Adrian exhaled, rolling his shoulders as some of the stiffness bled away. “Alright, girl. Think you can sniff out a way out of here?”

  Mimi’s ears twitched, her sharp gaze locking onto the shadows stretching beyond them. Then, she climbed down Adrian's shoulder as she went ahead.

  Adrian followed, his boots scuffing lightly against the uneven stone. The deeper they went, the more the darkness swallowed them, greedy and unrelenting. Only Mimi’s glow pushed back the void, painting shifting patterns across the ancient walls.

  Then she froze. Oh?

  What is it?” Adrian whispered.

  Mimi didn’t look at him. Instead, she turned toward a narrow side passage, her gaze fixed on the black maw of an archway where the light barely reached. The darkness there felt heavier, like something lurked just beyond sight, watching. She doesn’t want me to go that way.

  Adrian exhaled slowly, his breath curling faintly in the cold. He adjusted his stance, stepping carefully away from the corridor Mimi had warned against. The fox trilled again, this time softer, before circling around him once more.

  “Yeah,” he murmured under his breath, gaze flicking to the path ahead. “We’ll take the long way.”

  The further they walked, the more the ruins pressed in around him. The stone walls, once structured and strong, had given way to jagged formations, cracks running like veins across their surfaces. Shadows clung to every crevice, swallowing corners where even Mimi’s flames struggled to reach.

  Then, his boot caught against something. He stumbled slightly, regaining his balance just in time to glance down.

  A skeletal hand jutted out from beneath a pile of fallen debris. The fingers were splayed, brittle and cracked, frozen in the act of reaching.

  Adrian clenched his jaw, forcing down the unease creeping into his limbs. He crouched, brushing away loose rubble. Something crinkled beneath his touch. Another piece of parchment?

  His heart pounded as he pried it free. Dust flaked off in brittle layers as he carefully unfolded the note. The ink had faded, but some of the words were still visible enough.

  I hear them moving. They’re not just beasts. No, they’re worse.

  They hunt in silence.

  They are not mindless. They are not merciful.

  To whoever finds this: Do not make a sound. Do not run.

  They are already listening.

  Adrian’s throat tightened. The words clawed at his mind, sinking hooks into his thoughts. They are already listening.

  Adrian’s grip on the parchment wavered, before slipping the note into his pocket. His breath came slow, but tension coiled beneath his skin like a spring wound too tight.

  A single glance at Mimi confirmed what he already felt: something was wrong. She perched on his shoulder, her emerald eyes locked onto his face, no trace of her usual mischief in their depths. Her flames, usually lively with flickering playfulness, now burned sharp with silent awareness. She knows that something's here.

  Every muscle in Adrian’s body urged him forward, away from the chamber of bones and whatever unseen presence still clung to its walls. He moved even as shadows loomed behind him, stretching unnaturally long against the stone walls. Mimi floated beside him, her flickering tails moving in erratic, uneven waves. Every so often, she let out a soft trill to warn Adrian if he was heading to somewhere potentially dangerous..

  The tunnel narrowed ahead, the walls closing in as if the earth itself wished to swallow him whole. Ancient carvings etched into the stone grew more pronounced here, deep grooves worn down by time, by unseen hands, by things that had passed through long before him.

  He reached out, fingers ghosting over the cold rock, grounding himself against the weight of silence pressing in on him. Then, Mimi stiffened before she darted in front of him, a streak of emerald light, blocking his path for the briefest of moments before releasing a shrill, desperate trill.

  Adrian’s pulse spiked. That wasn’t a warning. Mimi is begging me not to go there.

  He halted, scanning the tunnel ahead. Adrian felt it, a presence loomed just beyond his reach, waiting, watching. "Mimi, you should hide, now."

  The fox nodded then vanished in an instant, dissolving into a swirl of green embers that faded into the cold air. The warmth of her presence left with her, and suddenly, the tunnel felt even more barren, more exposed.

  Adrian exhaled, slow and deep, and shut his eyes. If something's already watching me, I might as well fight on my own terms.

  Heat surged through his veins, steady, controlled, powerful. A halo of blue fire erupted above his head, casting ghostly shadows that writhed against the tunnel walls. Azure flames curled around his limbs, licking at his skin without burning, illuminating the corridor in an eerie, otherworldly glow.

  The second Adrian opened his eyes, a shape dropped from the darkness above. Instinct screamed through his body. He twisted sharply, boots scraping against the stone as air whistled past him. A blur of leathery wings and hooked limbs slashed through the space where he had stood a breath ago. His flames flared outward, burning bright as orbs of blue fire ignited around him, casting their searing glow against the cavern walls.

  The creature wheeled mid-air, ragged wings flapping before it landed with a sickening crunch. Adrian’s stomach tightened.

  It stood hunched, limbs stretched unnaturally long, its skin taut over a frame too thin, too jagged. Its ribs jutted like rusted daggers from its emaciated torso. Taloned feet scraped against the stone, claws curling, flexing, eager.

  But its face… was wrong. A skull, stretched and cracked, like that of a deformed bat, jutted forward from its hunched shoulders. Sunken pits of ink-black eyes gleamed wet in the rune-light, hollow yet aware. Its mouth, too large, too jagged, stretched unnaturally wide, revealing rows upon rows of teeth. It inhaled, a wet, rattling sound, the scent of decay curling through the air. It reeked of rot and something older, something that had never belonged to the living.

  Hello! Just wanted to let you all know that there will be an extra chapter tomorrow to celebrate the upcoming release of my new story.

  It'll be available here on Royal Road very soon, so I do hope to see you all there as well. I'll share more details in the author's note of the next chapter.