The evening sun hung low over the horizon, casting a golden light across the rugged landscape as Elara and her companions descended from the hills. The path they had been following for days now opened into a narrow valley, thick with ancient trees whose twisted branches seemed to whisper secrets older than the kingdom itself.
They had left the safety of the Nexus far behind, driven by the cryptic words of the Elder Seers and the increasingly frequent incursions from beyond the Veil. Their destination was one that few had ventured to in recent memory—a place that had been all but forgotten by the living world: the Ruins of Syldor, a place once steeped in both magic and mystery, now abandoned to time.