Chapter 107: Chapter 107 — The Burial Grounds
Chapter 107 — The Burial Grounds
Roughly five days later, Victor and Lyra finally approached the destination marked on Samal’s map.
The forest had begun to change.
The familiar green trees were gradually replaced by strange, blue-tinted vegetation. Purple mushrooms grew between the roots, their faint glow illuminating patches of the forest floor. Even the leaves seemed to carry deeper shades of blue and violet.
Victor slowed his pace.
"This should be the area."
Lyra looked around.
Neither of them could see anything resembling a crypt.
Victor wasn’t surprised.
The structure had probably been here for thousands of years. Whatever path had once led to it had long since disappeared beneath vegetation and time.
They moved carefully through the strange forest, searching for anything that might resemble an entrance.
Eventually, the terrain changed.
They reached the edge of a small cliff and jumped down.
They landed at the bottom without difficulty.
They continued along the base of the cliff wall until they noticed something unusual.
A path.
It was almost completely buried beneath vines, trees, and thick brush, but the ground beneath it sloped downward.
Victor looked at Lyra.
"This has to be it."
They followed the slope.
Eventually, Lyra moved ahead.
She stopped.
Victor followed her gaze.
At the bottom of the slope stood a massive stone platform.
The surface was covered in dirt and moss.
She brushed some of it away with her hand.
Something beneath the grime caught her attention.
A symbol.
Victor immediately recognized it.
The upside-down flask.
The same symbol that had appeared throughout the ancient structures connected to Samal.
Lyra brushed away more of the dirt.
There were words carved above it.
Victor approached from behind.
"So, what does it say?"
Lyra turned toward him.
Her expression immediately became annoyed.
"Read it yourself, human."
She turned and walked away.
"Okay, Shadow Fox."
He stepped toward the stone plaque.
Lyra continued walking, but for the briefest moment, an embarrassed expression crossed her face.
He brushed away the remaining dirt covering the inscription.
Then he read it.
Those who gave their lives shall not be forgotten.
Victor remained silent.
The words carried a weight he hadn’t expected.
He slowly looked toward the enormous stone doors behind the plaque.
Samal had clearly cared about his people.
Even thousands of years after their deaths, he had made sure they would be remembered.
Whatever Samal had been, he hadn’t seemed like the kind of leader who viewed his followers as disposable.
Victor finally turned toward the entrance.
The massive stone doors were almost completely covered by vegetation.
Vines had wrapped themselves around the edges, while roots and shrubs had grown directly across the entrance.
Victor grabbed the nearest vines and began pulling.
It took several minutes.
He ripped away everything blocking the doorway until enough of the entrance was exposed.
Then he placed both hands against the stone door.
Victor gritted his teeth.
Slowly, painfully, the door began moving.
Victor continued putting every ounce of strength he had into it.
Eventually, the door scraped across the stone floor and opened wide enough for them to enter.
Victor looked inside.
His night vision immediately activated.
The interior became clear.
At first, it looked empty.
Victor stepped inside.
Lyra followed.
They walked several steps.
Then Victor stopped.
His eyes widened.
The chamber stretched far beyond what he had initially been able to see.
Numerous stone coffins filled the enormous chamber.
They stretched into the darkness in perfectly organized formations.
Hundreds.
Then thousands.
Victor slowly walked forward.
Every coffin appeared different.
Some had intricate designs carved into their surfaces.
Others carried symbols Victor couldn’t understand.
Many looked as though they had been personally decorated for the warrior buried inside.
Victor approached one of the coffins.
Part of the stone had broken away.
Inside, the remains of a skeleton were still visible.
A sword rested beside it.
The weapon had long since deteriorated.
Rust covered what remained of the blade.
Victor continued walking.
Some warriors had swords.
Others had spears.
Some appeared to have been buried with shields.
A few coffins contained small personal objects whose purpose had been lost to time.
And some were completely empty.
Time had not been kind to this place.
Thousands of years had passed.
Yet somehow, the organization of the burial hall remained.
Victor looked across the countless rows of dead.
His expression slowly changed.
This wasn’t a small group.
This was an army.
Thousands of warriors had followed Samal.
Victor stood silently among the graves.
"So you really had an army..."
The words escaped him quietly.
Lyra walked behind him, looking across the burial hall.
Victor continued deeper into the chamber.
A narrow path led deeper through the burial hall.
Eventually, they reached another enormous stone door.
Victor approached it.
A plaque was embedded beside the entrance.
He wiped away the accumulated dirt.
The upside-down flask symbol appeared again.
Beneath it were two simple words.
LEVEL TWO
Victor raised an eyebrow.
"Level two."
He grabbed the door.
Surprisingly, this one opened far easier than the first.
Victor pulled it aside.
He stepped through.
Lyra followed.
They moved deeper into the next chamber.
Five feet.
Ten.
Twenty.
Then fifty.
Victor suddenly stopped.
A faint tremor passed through the stone beneath his feet.
He looked down.
"Did you feel—"
The ground lurched.
A deep, thunderous crack echoed through the crypt.
Victor’s head snapped upward.
Dust spilled from the ceiling.
Small stones bounced across the floor.
Lyra immediately turned toward the entrance.
Another crack split through the darkness.
CRACK!
A jagged line raced across the ceiling.
Victor’s eyes widened.
"Move!"
The entire ceiling suddenly groaned.
A massive slab of stone tore loose.
It came crashing down behind them.
BOOM!
The impact shook the entire chamber.
Victor grabbed Lyra’s arm.
"Run!"
They sprinted forward.
Another section of the ceiling collapsed.
Then another.
Stone thundered against stone as the ancient crypt began to come apart around them.
Dust exploded through the corridor.
Victor’s vision blurred.
He could barely see through the cloud.
Behind them, the passage they had entered through vanished beneath a mountain of rubble.
But the collapse didn’t stop.
The walls began cracking.
The floor shook violently beneath their feet.
Victor felt the entire structure shifting.
This place is collapsing!
A huge chunk of stone broke loose directly above Lyra.
Victor reacted instantly.
He pulled her toward him and activated Flash Step.
They disappeared.
A heartbeat later, the stone crashed down where they had been standing.
BOOM!
Victor reappeared farther down the corridor.
He barely had time to regain his footing before another section collapsed ahead of them.
He stopped.
There was nowhere to go.
The ceiling above them groaned.
Victor’s heart pounded.
"Come on..."
The stone began to crack.
Victor activated Flash Step again.
The two vanished just as the ceiling came crashing down.
They reappeared inside the next chamber.
Victor stumbled.
Lyra lost her footing.
Both of them crashed onto the stone floor and rolled several feet.
Behind them, the final section of the corridor collapsed.
BOOM!
A deafening impact shook the chamber.
Then silence.
Victor slowly pushed himself upright.
Dust drifted through the air.
He looked back.
The passage they had entered through was completely sealed.
A wall of shattered stone filled the corridor.
There was no way back.
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then Victor noticed something.
His dagger.
He reached for it and pulled it free.
The blade immediately began to glow.
Victor froze.
His eyes narrowed.
Victor slowly lowered his stance.
For several seconds, they simply stood there, staring into the darkness ahead.
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