A shattered moon shone upon a shattered castle. The castle had always been a ruin, but now it was reduced to rubble. The rubble used to be surrounded by a deep lake, but now, the lake was gone.
Its bottom had been revealed, in all its mystery and horror.
Standing on the mound of debris that had once been a great rampart, Kai was looking down. Far below him, ancient ruins glistened in the pale moonlight. They were covered in mud and seaweed, but he could still recognize the shapes of beautiful stone edifices and smaller buildings beneath the mud.
The castle stood on a mountain, and there was a prosperous and sprawling city surrounding the mountain… or had been, once.
Others would not see, but Kai did. Buried in the mud, hidden in the darkness of the ancient buildings… there were human bones. There were too many of them to count. Myriads of skulls were staring at him with empty gazes, as if blaming him for being alive.