Capítulo 29: The Ruins of the Sunset

The mage arrived at the entrance of the ruins, the forest opened in a clearing that seemed invisible to the aerial view, but in it, a strange old stone building stood.

The ruin appeared to be surrounded by water, and its main entrance was connected to the forest by a kind of stone walkway that created a path over the water. They began to advance and found several skeletons along the stone bridge.

"This is weird," Malcom commented as they both walked towards the entrance.

Everything indicated that a battle had been carried out in that place a long time ago.

"I thought no one was visiting these ruins, Malcom," Skyler asked when seeing the main door of the ruin in pieces.

Malcom approached the rubble of the door and, touching it, said at the same time he pondered the situation, "This did not happen recently, and I think they hid this whole site in the middle of a battle."

The girl turned to see the huge amount of skeletons at the entrance and tried to get a mental image of what had happened in that place.

"I think someone or something attacked this place," Malcom said, getting up looking at the bridge that he had walked through, "And the leaders of this place decided to bury this entire site along with whoever attacked them."

"You think that happened to those people?" Skyler asked.

"Yes, these remains seem absurdly old," Malcom said while studying one of the skeletons.

"But to bury the entire site in that magical hideout even with its people inside?" Skyler questioned as if she was scandalized. She was really thinking how terrible that could be.

Malcom shrugged, "I do not know." And with those words, the man prepared to go into the ruin.

Going down the stairs of that place, the young man saw how many skeletons seemed scattered around the site, the dark staircase descended to a chamber, and in it, many corpses made dust were piled up, in his mind the image of what could have happened at the same time was drawn.

Entering the first chamber, everything seemed clearer.

Skyler, who followed him, observed how a huge circular room was adorned by many skeletons scattered randomly.

"Someone killed all these guys, didn't they?" Skyler was looking at Malcom curiously.

Malcom, who was watching the whole scene with determination, replied, "Yes, it seems so. All the fallen appeared to be from the same side."

He approached one of the skeletons and took it carefully. He saw how it crumbled in his hands.

"This happened a long time ago. This ruin is really old," he added softly as if he was talking to himself.

Both of them looked around and watched as the chamber obtained light from a hatch in the sky.

The warriors who found their last resting place in that chamber seemed to defend the entrance to another place. Both mages advanced through a corridor that connected them to another room.

Trying to be careful, in this new circular room, there were also a huge number of scattered skeletons, and at the bottom some stairs that invited visitors to continue descending.

Malcom stepped forward and looking at the skeletons on the ground saw one of them holding a banner with the drawing of a black sun on a red flag. The young man tried to remember, but he couldn't place where he had seen that symbol.

"It is the brand of Ubulos. The defenders of the sunset," Skyler suddenly spoke, thoughtfully.

Malcom was surprised. "Of course! Wow! This place is very old!"

"Yes, almost fifteen hundred years old," Skyler responded while watching all the hall. She was thinking how many years this place had been hidden. "How could it remain hidden for so long?"

"The seal must have been incredibly strong," Malcom answered, watch the walls of the stairs looking for traps.

The girl walked across the room, stunned. "It's amazing that a seal lasts so long. It is extraordinary to see something like this!"

"What are you talking about?" Malcom questioned, somewhat irritated, "You see it every day."

"No. What are you talking about?" Skyler asked with a raised brow. She was smiling but watching Malcom's expression. It did not take long for her to be confused.

"The Marked ones!" Malcom pointed out. He had a frown on his face when he spoke mockingly, "Our seals are three thousand years old. Doesn't that surprise you?"

Skyler paused. She was thinking about how to respond to him, but she could not find a word.

She looked at Malcom, who returned her gaze with a certain degree of apprehension. The girl lowered her face and then said, "I am sorry. It is that the Marked are so normal in life that I have forgotten what they really represent."

"Like most people!" Malcom spoke louder than he intended, "Everyone is so caught up in how wonderful the world is now! How great their lives are now, that they forget everyone and everything! They forget even those who sacrifice many things for them."

The girl looked up and, lookedat the Marked young man.

She felt the weight of his words, the truth of someone forgetting everything he owes to a stranger who did not even have the possibility of giving his life on his own free will.

The girl looked at Malcom, who, annoyed, was walking towards the door that would allow them to go down one more level, and when she began to follow him, she said, "I'm sorry Malcom! I didn't mean to offend you!"

He released a heavy sigh before responding, "Anyway, this world is full of ingrates."

The young woman accepted the comment, silently feeling enormous guilt as she watched the back of her adventure partner descend the dark staircase. The darkness deepened, but at this, Skyler lit her hands on fire to allow the truck to light up.

"Sorry for being like that sometimes. You didn't put this mark on me. It's not your fault," Malcom said in a regretful voice while staring at her apologetically. He took a deep breath to calm himself.

"Yes," Skyler replied with a shy smile. "But you're right. Many of us forget what others have done for us."

"It doesn't matter," Malcolm said, cutting the conversation, "Let's continue."

When he reached the bottom of the stairs, a door gave way to another chamber. Both of them stood at the front door gazing at the floor of that chamber many levels down. Almost fifty feet down.

Another entrance appeared in front at the same height as the door where they were. The room was a huge cylinder with more than fifteen meters in diameter.

Malcom calmly opened his right hand in front of Skyler. As soon as he did it, a small wax doll was created. He then threw it towards the floor of the chamber.

When the doll made contact with the floor, a huge red seal appeared where the doll had landed. A powerful column of fire rose until it collided with the ceiling, instantly disintegrating the figure.

They looked at each other.

"I think we better not touch the ground," Skyler suggested.

"That seems like a plan," Malcom agreed, with a dry smile, "You have to get to the other door without falling."

"Please," the young woman was extremely confident, "This is nothing for me."

And leaping gracefully, she used her firepower to propel her jump and reach the center of the room without the slightest effort.

The girl turned in the air to observe Malcom, who was smiling in her direction. Still, at that moment, she felt something impacting her without being able to see what it was.

An extremely unpleasant creature appeared by squinting at her, taking the young woman's limbs and showing a huge mouth with large teeth about to dig into her neck.

Skyler lit her limbs on fire with total ease and ignited the body of that creature that burned instantly.

When she got rid of the body of that horrible creature that was attacking her, she saw two more were rushing towards her.

The disgusting beings emitted a shrill sound as they advanced through the air, pushing themselves with great force from the walls of that room.

Their green exoskeleton emitted a viscous substance that splashed everything around them. Their lack of eyes did not hinder their vision, and their teeth showed a sharp danger in the direction of the young successor.

The girl trying to move her body that was still suspended in the air lit both hands-on fire and burned the two creatures that pounced on her without difficulty, but the first insect she had killed now landed on the charred ground activating the trap that was in that room.

A huge column of fire began to ascend in the direction of Skyler. Still, the young woman, straightening her body with her own fire, was about to get out of the way when out of nowhere, another creature threw itself towards her back this time, embedding its teeth in the young woman's shoulder.

This prevented Skyler from getting out of the way, while the column of fire that rose towards her was relentless.

Thinking with full speed, the young woman made the decision to focus on the fire and leave the insect on her back.

She lit both hands-on fires using her well-known twin sun attack to counteract the powerful blaze that ascended in her direction.