CHAPTER 3: WHISPERS OF THE PAST
Scene 1: Unearthing the Past
Setting: The ruins at the excavation site
The morning sun rays painted the ruins in golden light, but the stress of the previous night was still in the air. Mira squatted near a barbed stone wall, her fingers brushing against carvings weathered by centuries.
“These markings…” Mira murmured, moving her hand on a sequence of interwoven symbols. “They’re similar to the cipher fragments, but there are more here.”
Ethan stood by the side, lookin at the forest line with cautious eyes. “Can you translate them?”
Mira agreed nodding, bringing out her notebook. “It will take some time, but,...”
A sudden crack of a branch noised through the silence, causing the two of them to freeze.
“Stay here,” Ethan muttered, moving towards the sound.
“That’s not the way,” Mira hissed, holding his hand. “If someone’s out there, you shouldn’t go alone.”
Before Ethan could argue, a man who looks untidy stumbled into view, his clothes were torn and his face looks lean and haggard. His eyes moved wildly, and he spoke quietly in a manner one cannot understand.
“Who are you?” Ethan asked, stepping forward with caution.
The man fell to his knees, holding tight to Mira’s sleeve. “You shouldn’t be here,” he said with a harsh grating voice. “They will find you. They will take you too.”
“Who?” Mira requested to know, her heart pounding.
“The Forgotten,” he whispered, before falling down unconscious.
Scene 2: Clues in the Journal
Setting: Their campsite
Getting back at the campsite, Mira and Ethan sat by the fire, the unconscious man resting by their side covering a blanket. Ethan opened Sam’s journal, turning to a page labeled with a rough uneven writing.
“Look at this,” said Ethan, pointing to a sketch of the ruins. “Sam wrote here also, about hearing whispers and seeing shadows. He thought it was tied to the Cipher.”
Mira frowned. “What if this place is not just connected to the Cipher? What if it’s part of a larger network,...a means to hide or protect something?”
Ethan furrowed his brow. “If that is true, we’re dealing with more than just history. Someone—or something—did not want this knowledge to be discovered.”
The man moved slightly, groaning softly. Mira knelt beside him as his eyes open lightly and trembling.
“Who are you?” she asked gently.
“My name is Armand,” he said weakly. “I was part of a group on tour, sent to uncover the Cipher’s secrets.”
“What happened to your team?” Ethan asked.
Armand’s face squeezed in fear. “They’re gone. The Cipher killed all of them, it protects itself. It doesn’t want to be found.”
Scene 3: The Marked Map
Setting: Inside the ruins, exploring further
Having determined to uncover more, Mira and Ethan went back to the ruins, leaving Armand to rest at the camp. As they ventured deeper, Mira noticed faint markings on the walls, symbols that shined faintly in the low light.
“These symbols were not visible yesterday,” Mira said, her voice, sharp and clear with expression of wonderment.
“It’s like they’re guiding us,” Ethan said, running his hand over the carvings.
Mira studied the symbols, her fingers moving fast over her notebook as she make indications on them. “They’re coordinates,” she realized. “But not for a location—these are instructions on how to get to the Cipher.”
Ethan’s face brighten with a thrilling sensation. “So we’re on the right track.”
Just before they could celebrate, a low boom echoed through the ruins. Dust poured down from the ceiling while the ground beneath them shoked.
“It’s time to go!” Ethan shouted, grabbing Mira’s arm.
They ran out very fast as a section of the ruins collapsed behind them, sending up a cloud of dust from the debris.
Scene 4: The Village’s Warning
Setting: Back at the inn in the village
Mira and Ethan returned to the inn. With inability to breathe and covered with dust, the elderly innkeeper looked unhappy as she saw them.
“You went to the ruins,” she said, her voice mingled with disapproval.
“We did went to the ruins,” Mira replied. “And we need answers from you. What do you know about the Cipher?”
The innkeeper hesitated, then sighed. “It is said that the Cipher is protected by the Forgotten—those who had once searched for its secrets but paid the price. They guard it, even as they are dead.”
Mira exchanged a glance with Ethan. “But why?”
“The woman said seriously, some knowledge,”“is not meant to be revealed.”
Scene 5: Shadows Closing In
Setting: The forest near the ruins
That evening, Mira and Ethan returned to the camp, but a sense of uncertainty seems to hang heavily in the air.
“Do you feel the same cold as I do?” Mira asked, shivering despite the heat of the fire.
Ethan nodded, as he puts his hand on the handle of a knife. “We’re not alone.”
A tree branch broke sharply from nearby, followed by the sound of muffled footsteps. Ethan leapt to his feet, his eyes rovering the dark forest.
“Who’s there?” he called.
Silence.
Then, without warning, a group of people with mask on their faces emerged from the shadows, with their weapons drawn.
“Stay back!” Ethan shouted, pulling out fast his knife.
One of the figures stepped forward, with a cold and threatening voice. “You shouldn’t have come here.”
“What do you want?” Mira asked.
“The Cipher must remain hidden,” the man said. “You have to leave, or you face the consequences.”
Before Mira or Ethan could give a response, the figures disappeared as quickly as they had come, leaving the campsite strangely quiet.
Scene 6: A Fractured Partnership
Setting: Around the campfire, tensions rising
After the masked men’s warning, Mira and Ethan sat by the fire, as their nerves weakened.
“We can not stay here,” Ethan said. “It’s too dangerous.”
“And where are we going to?” Mira snapped. “The Cipher is here, Ethan. We’re so close to reaching it.”
Ethan put a hand through his hairs. “Close to what? Do you know we can get ourselves killed?”
Mira looked pointedly at him. “If you’re too scared, then leave. But I’m not stopping.”
The tension between them heated like the fire that burns down the wood. Finally, Ethan sighed. “I’m not leaving you alone. But we need to be smarter about this.”
Mira nodded, as her anger kept cooling. “Agreed.”
Scene 7: The Whispering Chamber
Setting: Deep within the ruins
Having made up their minds to continue, Mira and Ethan returned to the ruins early the next morning. Following the directions of the glowing symbols, they noticed a hidden chamber buried beneath a fallen wall.
Inside the chamber, the air was thick and stale, and low whispers sounded around them. Mira’s flashlight revealed difficult carvings covering the walls, describing figures bowing down before a radiant object, the Cipher.
“This is it,” Mira whispered, her voice trembling with wonder.
As she moved closer to look well at the carvings, the whispers grew louder, almost blocking one's ears. Mira held tight her head, her knees buckling.
“Mira!” Ethan shouted, catching her before she fell.
“The Cipher…” Mira gasped, her vision not clear enough. “It’s calling to us.”
Suddenly, a shadow moved across the chamber, and the temperature went very low. Ethan turned around, knife in hand, but there was nothing there.
Ethan said with a firm voice, “We need to leave.”
Mira shook her head. “It’s not yet time. We’re too close.”
The scene ended with the sound of a distant roar echoing through the chamber, leaving their fate uncertain.