The canyon narrowed the deeper Kael and Lyra walked.
The towering stone walls blocked the wind completely now. The outside world felt distant, almost unreal compared to the heavy silence surrounding them.
Kael could hear the Echo everywhere.
Not just faint whispers anymore.
This place was saturated with it.
The compass in his hand pulsed constantly, its needle trembling as if it could barely contain the pull guiding them forward.
Lyra ran her fingers along the canyon wall as they moved.
"These markings…" she murmured.
Kael glanced over.
"What about them?"
"They're not just symbols."
She brushed away dust covering a cluster of faint carvings.
"They're instructions."
Kael slowed.
"For what?"
Lyra leaned closer.
"Movement patterns."
Kael frowned.
"That sounds ominous."
"It is."
She pointed toward a set of carved figures etched into the rock.
Rows of kneeling shapes surrounded a single towering figure seated upon a throne.
Even weathered by centuries, the image carried an unsettling presence.
"The Silent King again," Kael said quietly.
Lyra nodded.
"Except this time…"
She traced the throne symbol.
"This one is inside the city."
Kael looked ahead into the darkness of the canyon.
The compass pulsed harder.
Almost impatient now.
"How far do you think it is?"
Lyra shook her head.
"No idea."
They continued walking.
The canyon floor gradually began to slope downward. The air grew colder, and the strange humming Echo resonance became stronger with every step.
After several minutes, the canyon opened suddenly.
Both of them stopped.
The mountains fell away into an enormous hollow carved deep within the earth.
Kael's breath caught.
Below them lay a vast ruined city.
Stone towers rose from the broken ground like jagged teeth. Entire districts had collapsed into fractured layers of ancient architecture.
Yet parts of the city still stood.
Tall black spires pierced the gray sky above the hollow valley.
And everywhere—
Echo symbols glowed faintly across the ruins.
Lyra stared.
"…Impossible."
Kael slowly stepped forward to the edge of the ridge.
"So that's the Ghost City."
Lyra didn't answer.
Her eyes were fixed on the center of the city.
Kael followed her gaze.
At the heart of the ruins stood a massive structure that dwarfed everything around it.
A palace.
Or perhaps a temple.
Dark stone pillars surrounded a colossal throne platform carved directly into the rock.
Even from this distance, Kael could feel the Echo radiating from it.
The compass suddenly vibrated violently.
The needle snapped toward the throne.
Lyra exhaled slowly.
"That's the source."
Kael's voice dropped.
"The Silent King."
Lyra nodded.
"Or whatever remains of him."
The wind stirred again.
But this wind didn't come from the sky.
It rose from the city itself.
The Echo inside the ruins pulsed like a heartbeat.
Kael felt something shift deep within his mind.
A whisper brushed against his thoughts.
Not words.
A memory.
Ancient.
Lonely.
Waiting.
Kael stumbled slightly.
Lyra caught his arm.
"What's wrong?"
Kael stared down at the city.
"It knows we're here."
Lyra's expression hardened.
"Then we should probably move before whatever 'it' is decides to come greet us."
Kael nodded slowly.
They began descending toward the Ghost City.
Neither of them noticed the faint glow awakening within the throne at the city's center.
Something ancient had felt Kael's presence.
And it was waking.