I Can See Evolution Paths

The ancient road continued beneath their feet as the group followed the direction of the compass.

The enormous Broken Mirror occasionally appeared above the trees in the distance, but the dense vegetation made it difficult to maintain a straight path toward it.

Fortunately, Arthur could still use the information preserved within the ancient roots to identify sections of the old road that had disappeared beneath the forest.

The further they traveled, the more evidence they found that the road had once been heavily used. Broken stone markers stood beside the path, some fallen over completely, others still standing though their inscriptions had been worn almost smooth by time.

Arthur stopped beside one and looked at the faint markings. "Someone really went through a lot of trouble to build this."

"Not simply to build it. To maintain it," Athena said, examining the structure. She pointed toward the road. "Look at the foundations. Several sections were repaired at different points in time. Whoever used this road continued maintaining it long after the original construction."

"So people kept coming here," Luna said, looking toward the distant ruins.

"Apparently."

Sun looked around the forest. "That’s becoming less comforting."

"Why?"

"Because every time we find something, it means someone was here before us."

Arthur looked toward the Broken Mirror. "That’s also what makes it interesting."

"I knew you’d say that," Sun sighed.

They continued walking, Star bouncing along beside Arthur, occasionally stretching itself around small branches or stones before returning to its normal form. Kong had taken an interest in the ability and spent much of the journey finding things for Star to mimic, holding up a piece of bark at one point and watching Star’s body take on the rough texture the moment it touched it. Impressed, he pointed toward a large tree next.

Sun grabbed his shoulder immediately. "No. You are not going to have Star turn into an entire tree."

Kong pointed at it again.

"Absolutely not."

Arthur laughed while Star bounced between them like it was enjoying the argument.

"I think Star likes the attention," Mithra smiled.

Eden floated closer and looked down at it. "Star is getting spoiled."

Star bounced proudly.

"Probably," Arthur grinned.

They continued forward, and several minutes later Arthur noticed something lying beneath a thick layer of leaves, almost walking past it before he stopped. "Wait." He crouched and moved the leaves aside, and something brown appeared beneath them. He pulled it free.

A book. Old. Very old, the leather cover stained and cracked, several pages loose from the binding.

"A journal?"

Athena came closer immediately. "Where did you find it?"

"Under these leaves."

He turned it over carefully. There was writing on the cover, and his eyes widened.

"You found something?" Sun leaned closer.

He stared at the cover a moment longer. "Yeah..." He opened it. The first several pages were badly damaged, but enough remained to make out the writing, and his expression slowly changed as he turned one page, then another.

Finally he looked up. "I think we just found an expedition record."

"Whose?" Sun frowned.

He looked back down at the journal, eyes widening again. "...Halburn."

The entire group stopped. Even Kong froze. Vedas’s grip tightened around his spear. "King Halburn?"

"Yeah."

Silence spread through the group. Arthur turned the journal toward them, the pages fragmented but several entries still readable.

Expedition Record — Day 31

The eastern forest contains structures older than the known Everglades settlements. The road continues farther than expected. The ruins appear to have been constructed around something.

Another page was partially damaged, and he turned it.

Expedition Record — Day 34

We discovered another group of statues today. They do not resemble the statues from the western ruins. I believe they may represent something connected to the Mirrors.

The rest of the page had been torn away. He turned another.

Expedition Record — Day 39

This is the fifth expedition I have gone on. I hope my warriors are keeping the other goblins safe. I know I told them to guard the kingdom while I was away, but I still worry.

He paused. The next lines were written more clearly.

I miss you, Dawn Kingdom. But fret not. Your King will soon return.

He lowered the journal slowly, and nobody spoke for several seconds.

"Halburn?" Sun finally broke the silence.

"He was here."

"Not just passing through," Mithra said, looking at the journal.

"He was searching."

Athena’s expression had changed completely. She took the journal from him and examined the remaining pages. "He knew about the Mirrors."

"Looks like it."

Vedas stared at the old writing. "King Halburn was looking for one of the Mirrors..." His voice was quieter than usual.

"You didn’t know?" Arthur asked.

"No." His grip tightened around his spear. "King Halburn never told me."

Sun rubbed his forehead. "I knew he visited a lot of places, but even here?" He looked toward the forest. "That means these Mirrors have been hidden away for more than a thousand years."

"It appears so," Athena said, looking back down at the journal. "Which is both absurd and remarkable."

Luna had been staring at it with growing disbelief. "This Halburn person..." She looked toward Vedas. "He was around that long ago?"

"We don’t know exactly how long he lived," Mithra said quietly, "but he survived until at least a thousand years ago."

"A thousand years..." Luna’s eyes widened, and she looked back at the journal.

Arthur couldn’t help smiling. He had known Halburn. Had spoken with him. Had seen the old Goblin King as a living person rather than a name buried in history, and now he was standing in a forest where that same man had once walked, holding a journal written by his own hand.

It felt strangely surreal.

He looked down at Star, who had stopped bouncing and was staring at the journal too. He rested a hand gently on its head. "Looks like even Star finds this interesting." It wiggled slightly in response.

Vedas kept staring at the old pages, this discovery carrying a different weight for him. Halburn hadn’t simply been some ancient king from a forgotten era. He had been his king, and apparently even Vedas hadn’t known everything about the journeys he’d taken.

Luna looked toward the expedition marker they’d found earlier, then back at Arthur. "Arthur?"

"Yeah?"

She hesitated before asking. "Is it possible that he found it? If he already knew about the Mirror and came here searching for it..." She paused. "...maybe he succeeded."

The possibility settled over the group. Arthur thought about Halburn, their conversations, Dawn, the way the old king had spoken about the past without ever revealing everything he knew. Eventually he shook his head. "When we met him, he never mentioned anything about the Mirror."

"He didn’t?"

"Not once."

Athena closed the journal. "Then either he never found it," she looked toward the distant Broken Mirror, "or he had a reason not to tell anyone."

That possibility made the forest feel slightly heavier.

"I doubt he would have taken it," Vedas said, looking down at the journal. "If King Halburn understood its value," he paused, "and its danger," his eyes moved toward the enormous structure beyond the trees, "he wouldn’t simply take something like that for himself."

Luna considered his words. "Okay." She looked down at the old road for a moment before raising her head. "But maybe we can use what he left behind."

"Use it how?" Sun asked.

"Follow his trail." She gestured toward the road. "If he explored this place, he probably left other markers." She looked slightly embarrassed. "I don’t know much about this area. My grandfather knew stories about the northern region, but even he didn’t know much about what was actually here. So if Halburn explored it before us, any information he left behind could help."

"That’s true," Arthur smiled.

Athena’s attention returned to the forest immediately. "If Halburn conducted several expeditions here, then there may still be traces of them." She began scanning the surroundings, and Arthur joined her.

They didn’t have to search for long. The first sign was a broken wooden stake hidden beneath the vegetation. A little farther along, a piece of old rope caught around the roots of a tree. Then a rusted metal hook. None of the objects were in good condition, but they were clearly manufactured rather than naturally occurring.

Arthur picked up the hook. "Definitely old."

"The material is consistent with equipment used by Goblin craftsmen," Athena said, examining it.

"Then he really came this way," Vedas said, looking around.

They continued, and eventually Arthur noticed something carved into the trunk of an enormous tree, a crude symbol, two curved lines surrounding a smaller mark. Vedas recognized it immediately. "A Goblin expedition marker."

"So he really did leave a trail," Arthur smiled.

"Can you tell which direction it points?" Luna asked, approaching.

Before Vedas could answer, Arthur noticed a smaller stone marker partially hidden beside the tree and pulled the vegetation away. A crude directional symbol had been carved into it.

Athena crouched beside it. "This is newer than the marker we found earlier."

"Meaning?"

"He made multiple markers."

Vedas stared down the path. "Then he expected to return. If King Halburn had only been passing through, he would not have needed to create a trail like this." His expression grew thoughtful. "He was exploring systematically."

"Mapping," Athena added.

"Searching," Arthur said.

"Investigating," Mithra finished.

Arthur smiled. "Looks like we found our first real lead."

"A lead left by a Goblin King," Athena said, looking toward the marker.

"Even better."

"Then let’s see how far King Halburn went," Vedas smiled.

They followed the marker, the path gradually narrowing as the vegetation thickened around it, but every so often another sign turned up, a broken stake, a faded carving, another piece of rope, a small stone marker, each one confirming the same thing.

Halburn had gone deeper. Much deeper.

Arthur occasionally used the roots to help determine which direction the old expedition had taken, and the information lined up surprisingly well with the markers. The ancient road eventually disappeared again beneath the vegetation, but this time they didn’t lose their way. He touched a nearby root and looked ahead.

"There." He pointed toward a dense wall of vines, and everyone followed him. Kong pushed through it, revealing a massive stone structure beyond, the entrance enormous, two towering pillars standing on either side of the doorway, both covered in carvings.

Arthur approached slowly. The symbol above the entrance wasn’t a Goblin symbol. It wasn’t one of the Mirror symbols Luna had recognized. It wasn’t anything Athena had seen before.

She stepped closer. "I’ve never seen this writing."

"Neither have I," Luna said, shaking her head.

Arthur looked toward the old Halburn marker beside the entrance, his smile slowly growing.

"Why do I feel like you’re about to say something?" Sun asked.

He looked at the ancient entrance. "Because we found the place Halburn was investigating."

"Of course," Sun sighed.

Arthur stepped toward the doorway. "Let’s find out what he found."

The group moved forward. Behind them, the ancient road disappeared beneath the forest. Ahead stood the enormous stone entrance, and beside it, the marker that told them everything they needed to know.

Halburn had been here searching for something, and whatever he’d found inside had stayed hidden for more than a thousand years.

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