Charter 9: Door To Lorden

Elmar snorted: – Are you kidding me? First traps, then threats?

He took a step forward, and at the same moment the stranger pulled out a dagger.

– Turn around while you still can. – he repeated.

Calcium, like a little girl, clenched her fists, hanging upside down and floundering on the rope in fury: – We are not leaving!

The stranger looked at her for several long seconds. Then he lowered the weapon: – Then... you are doomed.

And before they could react, he jerked to the side and disappeared into the fog.

– Damn it! – Elmar rushed after him, but Calcium screamed: – Wait! Let me out first!

Elmar cursed, but ran up and began to cut the rope.

–What just happened? – he asked.

Calcium rubbed her aching ankle. – I don't know… but something tells me he was trying to save us.

She glanced in the direction where the stranger had disappeared.

"Why did he say we were doomed?"

The system suddenly flashed a new notification.

[Hidden information updated.]

[Lorden is not just a forgotten city. It is cursed.]

Calcium felt her insides tighten.

"Something is waiting for us there. And something tells me there is no turning back."

–What now? –Elmar asked, adjusting the dagger at his belt. –Do we run after this guy or keep going?

Calcium stood up, brushing off her clothes. –He distracted us on purpose. I don't think we'll catch up with him.

Elmar cursed quietly.

–Then it turns out we have two options: either we turn around, as he said... or we move on.

Calcium looked at him carefully: – Do you want to turn around?

The boy sighed, his shoulders tensed.

– No. But... if this city is truly cursed, we must be prepared.

Calcium squeezed her palm, feeling the faint warmth of her tattoo.

– Then we have only one way. – She took a step forward, and the system immediately responded.

[Quest updated.]

[Echoes of a Forgotten City → Borders of the Curse.]

[Description: Get to Lorden and find out the nature of the curse.]

Calcium took a deep breath.

"Whatever lies ahead, I can handle it."

The silhouettes of ruined walls began to emerge through the fog. Lorden was already close.

Lorden rose before them like a ghost of the past. The ruins of ancient buildings, covered with vines, gaped with empty window openings. The stone walls, once probably strong and impressive, were now covered with cracks, and some had completely collapsed, leaving only piles of rubble. But the most disturbing thing was the fog.

It didn't just envelop the city, it… moved.

Stirred like a living creature, slowly drawing the ruins into its milky vortex.

[You have entered the cursed zone.]

[Warning! All stats have been reduced by 10%.]

Calcium felt her body become a little heavier, her movements – slower. She clenched her teeth.

–Do you feel it?– Elmar muttered, intercepting the dagger. –There's something… wrong here.

Calcium nodded, looking at the system message.

– What kind of curse? Does it just weaken us? Or…

Suddenly, a sound was heard in the distance, soft and almost inaudible. As if someone was walking on stones, Calcium and Elmar instantly froze… Silence.

And then - another step.

–We are not alone. – Elmar whispered.

Calcium took a deep breath, feeling how the palm with the tattoo began to pulse a little warmer. The system was silent.

"Why?"

She took a step forward.

[Hidden event activated.]

[Someone is watching you.]

Calcium felt a chill run down her spine.

–Something is already waiting for us here.

Calcium slowly stepped forward, feeling how her body became heavier with each movement. The air here was thick, viscous, as if saturated with something invisible, but noticeably pressing.

Elmar moved next to her, clutching a dagger. He peered closely at the ruins, his breathing even but tense.

[Someone is watching you.]

Calcium looked around. No shadows, no silhouettes - only ruins swallowed by fog. But the feeling of someone else's gaze was too obvious.

–Who is here? – she asked quietly.

There was no answer. But footsteps were heard. They sounded again, this time closer. Elmar turned sharply, holding the dagger out in front of him.

–Show yourself! – he threw into the void.

Silence... And then a sharp laugh. Quiet, whispering, as if coming from all sides at once.

A chill ran down Calcium's spine: – This is... not a person. – she whispered.

[Identification…]

[Error. Unable to identify object.]

"What? The system can't determine what it is?"

Calcium narrowed her eyes to see better in the fog. –Something is playing with us here.

Elmar was also peering tensely into the fog. –We need to move on. Staying put is the worst thing we can do.

Calcium nodded. They moved forward, step by step moving deeper into Lorden. And the laughter… It didn't disappear, following them.

Calcium tried not to show how much this laughter bothered her. It was unnatural—too quiet, too close, too… blurred. It seemed as if the sound glided through the air, rolling, changing direction.

Elmar walked next to her, his face remained tense, but the same wariness was visible in his eyes.

–These are definitely not people. – he muttered.

[Error. Object cannot be identified.]

"System, come on, just once, don't be silent! Why can't you determine what this is?!"

She felt the cold creeping under her clothes, despite the fact that the air here was not frosty. It was something different, something alien to nature itself. And suddenly… Footsteps.

This time they did not come from far away, but very close...it was behind. Calcium and Elmar turned around at the same time.

The void again, the fog lazily swirled between the ruined buildings, hiding something invisible within itself. Calcium felt the palm with the tattoo begin to glow weakly, almost imperceptibly.

[Passive ability activated: "Call of History".]

[Fragment of the past is loading…]

Something flashed before her eyes, blurred images and people in old clothes. Stone streets, once bustling. And then…

Screams!

She shuddered, feeling something inside her shrink. The city was burning. People were falling to the ground, their bodies disappearing into the shroud of fog. And in the middle of all this chaos stood a figure.

Tall, shrouded in black smoke, with eyes blazing with a dim fire.

She looked straight at Calcium and smiled.

[Loading complete.]

Calcium jerked back, coming to her senses. The fog around her thickened.

–What did you see? – Elmar asked tensely.

She swallowed, wiping the sweat from her forehead from nerves. – Lorden wasn't just abandoned. She looked up at its silhouette, towering in the distance. –It was erased.

Elmar frowned. –Erased?

Calcium took a deep breath. –Yes. As if it never existed.

Laughter rolled through the ruins again. Closer this time. And Calcium realized that they were being tested. They were allowed to go further… but would they be allowed to leave?

Calcium clenched her hand, trying to stop the shaking. The tattoo on her arm still flickered with a faint blue light, but the system was showing nothing new.

"Why is she silent? Why won't she give more information?"

Elmar watched her carefully, waiting for an answer.

–We need to move on. –she said finally. –If Lorden was erased, then someone or something did it.

–And we're heading straight for this 'something' Great. –He chuckled, but followed her anyway.

The laughter died down, but the anxiety didn't go away. The deeper they went into the city, the stronger the presence of... something invisible.

Calcium stopped in front of a massive arch leading to the central square. The stone was covered in cracks, with strange patterns writhing on its surface - not runes, but not just decorative carvings.

She ran her fingers over the stone.

Cold. Not like a normal stone - this one was dead, as if it was sucking out the heat.

[New information loaded.]

//To be continued like and save.