"Right," West said to Gor’thala.
She nodded but her eyes lingered on him with a look of concern.
"You should not move alone."
"I’ll be fine," West stated but Gor’thala wasn’t having it.
She extended one hand and the air warped as two massive shapes began forming from swirling green fla on the floor.
They appeared in the next instant and it was none other than the Verdant Pyre Behemoths.
Each was colossal—twice the size of a mammoth.
Dense muscle rippled beneath thick hide that looked scorched yet alive.
Green flas burned steadily around their massive paws, branding the crystalline ground with smoldering marks that hissed and crackled.
From each burning imprint—
Gnarled roots burst forth instantly, writhing like living serpents before retracting slowly into the stone.
Their eyes burned with intelligent green infernos.
Three massive tails lashed behind each beast, ending in spear-like tips that glead ominously.
They lowered their heads slightly toward West in acknowledgnt.
Gor’thala spoke calmly.
"They will guard you."
West nodded once.
"Thanks."
Telepathic threads connected him to both Gor’thala and Seraphyra so if either found the missing individuals, he would know instantly.
Without further hesitation, they moved...
Seraphyra had taken the left, Gor’thala the right path while West stepped into the center passage with the two Behemoths flanking him like moving fortresses.
The cave narrowed initially, then gradually expanded.
Blue veins pulsed faintly through the walls like arteries beneath translucent stone.
Behind them, silence reclaid the intersection.
However, high above the cavern wall where a rough spiky rock protruded downward like a fang, sothing moved.
A drop of viscous greenish substance ford at its tip and fell.
The droplet hit the ground below without sound.
Instead of splattering, it rippled and expanded.
The surface undulated like disturbed water and then it began reshaping itself.
Elongated limbs extruded as a torso ford from the transforming mass.
A featureless head rose last with indentations slowly forming where eyes might be.
The green mass stabilized into a strange creature that was semi-translucent with its body constantly changing slightly, like it could never fully decide on its shape.
It turned slowly, facing the center path where West had gone.
Then it began moving... gliding silently toward the middle cave.
...
...
~ Outside The Ruins ~
The phone rang three tis before soone picked up.
Inside a high-rise building in Red Valor City, a man in a black shirt with a crimson insignia on the chest leaned back in his chair with his boots resting on a tal desk scarred by years of weapon cleaning.
"Crimson Talon Syndicate," he answered lazily. "State your business."
On the other end of the line, a voice trembled slightly.
"This is security from the Eternal Ruins periter. We are requesting imdiate awakened assistance."
The man blinked in confusion and then laughed.
"Is this a prank call?"
"No, sir. We have—"
"The Eternal Ruins?" he interrupted. "The tourist site that’s been fully cleared for over a century?"
"Yes, but—"
"That ruin was sterilized long before I was born," he scoffed. "We don’t respond to ghost stories."
"This is not a joke!" the guard snapped, losing composure. "Multiple individuals have gone missing. There are tremors. We suspect an undiscovered section—"
"Impossible."
The representative sat upright now.
"You’re telling the most studied ruin in Red Valor City suddenly decided to grow a new floor?"
"We are seeing activity beneath the second layer!"
"That’s not how ruins work."
"They are shifting!"
Silence.
Then a sharp exhale from the Crimson Talon rep.
"If this is soone’s attempt to bait our resources, I’ll personally track the call origin and—"
The guard cut him off.
"Call whoever you need to. But if you ignore this and sothing surfaces inside city limits, that’s on you."
The line went dead.
The representative stared at the phone for several seconds.
Then muttered, "Idiots."
But he didn’t look entirely convinced.
---
Crimson Talon wasn’t the only gang receiving a call.
Across Red Valor City, in a dimly lit underground bar serving as headquarters for the Iron Howl Brotherhood, another phone rang.
In a rooftop office overlooking the industrial district, the Silver Crescent Union received the sa warning.
Inside an abandoned train depot converted into a fortified base, mbers of the Graveflare Assembly paused mid-training to listen as their communications officer relayed identical information.
Eternal Ruins... Tremors... Missing persons... Possible undiscovered layer.
So dismissed it outright and so cursed the guards for incompetence... but not all.
Inside a heavily reinforced estate on the eastern side of Red Valor City, a man in his early thirties stood before a large holographic map projected across a circular war table.
He wore a long dark coat with subtle silver lining and his hair was tied back neatly.
His presence commanded silence even when he wasn’t speaking.
A subordinate approached cautiously.
"Boss... we just received a call from the Eternal Ruins periter."
The man didn’t look up imdiately.
"Another tourist scuffle?"
"No, sir. They’re claiming there is movent beneath the second layer. Tremors. Missing people."
Hearing this, made him pause.
Slowly, he raised his head.
"What did you say?"
"They suspect an undiscovered section."
The room grew still as the man’s eyes sharpened.
"Repeat that."
"They believe there may be a third layer."
There was a brief silence before his lips parted slightly...
"So it’s true?"
The subordinate blinked.
"Sir?"
"My father always suspected there was a third layer," he said quietly. "He spent years studying geological inconsistencies in the Eternal Ruins. Everyone called him insane. Said the site was fully mapped. Fully cleared."
His eyes glinted now.
"After all this ti... it has finally appeared."
He turned sharply.
"Gear up."
The room instantly shifted into motion.
"We’re heading to the Eternal Ruins."
This was the headquarters of the Obsidian Vow.
And unlike the others... they weren’t hesitating.
---
Within the hour, vehicles began moving across Red Valor City.
Black armored vans bearing the insignia of Crimson Talon... Motorcycles from Iron Howl... An unmarked convoy belonging to Silver Crescent.
Graveflare mbers moving quietly in civilian transport... and Obsidian Vow’s heavily equipped team leading the surge.
So gangs were going to confirm whether it was a hoax while others were going because if it wasn’t, they did not intend to arrive late to a newly discovered ruin layer.
Word spread fast in awakened circles, and although, it looked like a rumor... it was potential fortune.
And fortune ant war.
---
anwhile — Beneath the Ruins
Seraphyra glided effortlessly through her assigned path with her serpentine body coiling elegantly around sharp turns.
Despite the oppressive cold and alien architecture, she seed thoroughly entertained.
"Ohhh," she murmured playfully, lifting sothing from a wall with her tail. "Master will like this."
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