Threads of Deception

The atmosphere remained tense as Cinder stood before them after cornering them after dinner, waiting for an answer. The offer of teamwork had come out of nowhere, and Eris could see the uncertainty in both Aven and Ash's faces.

"You expect us to just believe you?" Aven crossed her arms, her voice sharp. "You weren't with us when we got the clue of the map. How do you suddenly know where the ruin is?"

Cinder's expression didn't change. "I don't know the exact location," she admitted. "But I found pieces of information that pointed me in the same direction. Symbols, carvings—things most people wouldn't think twice about. When I overheard you asking about ruins from the villagers, it confirmed what I already suspected."

Eris narrowed her eyes. "And why not go with Orlen's team?"

At that, Cinder's lips pressed into a thin line. "I don't trust him. He wants power, and he doesn't care how he gets it."

Ash studied her, his gaze unreadable. "And we're just supposed to trust you?"

Cinder hesitated for the first time. "I—" She exhaled sharply. "I'm a healer."

Silence.

Aven's eyes widened slightly, but she quickly masked it. Eris felt her own skepticism waver. A healer? That was rare. And valuable.

Cinder didn't look smug or pleased with herself for revealing it. If anything, she looked annoyed. "I wasn't planning to say anything, but if you're going to survive Dust Watch Hollow, you'll need me."

Eris glanced at Ash. She could clearly remember their last battle that had left them very injured. A healer would make a difference—but did that mean they could trust her?

"Fine," Aven finally said, though her expression remained wary. "We'll work together. But if you betray us—"

"I won't," Cinder said simply.

Aven didn't look convinced, but she let it go for now at least. She knew the ruin would be dangerous, but a healer could make the difference between survival and death.

Eris shifted uncomfortably. This alliance felt rushed, but with the ruin still undiscovered, they didn't have time to argue.

They set out the next day at dawn not minding the fact that they would miss breakfast, following the fragmented clues from the map and Cinder's findings, but the land itself seemed determined to stop them.

The first trial came when they entered a forest of shifting trees. The trunks twisted unnaturally, their branches curling toward them like skeletal fingers. At first, it was just eerie—until they tried to navigate through.

The trees moved when they weren't looking. Paths that had been clear seconds ago vanished into dense, impenetrable thickets. Footsteps echoed behind them, though no one was there.

"We're being toyed with," Ash muttered.

"We have to move fast," Aven said. "There's a pattern. The trees shift when we turn our backs."

Eris took a breath. If that was the case…

She grabbed a piece of chalk from her pouch and marked an X on a nearby tree. Then, she turned away for a second before snapping her gaze back. The X was gone.

A chill ran down her spine.

"That's not natural," she whispered.

Cinder clenched her fists. "Then let's get out of here before whatever's doing this decides to get more aggressive."

Navigating the shifting forest took at least an hour. They had to move strategically, keeping their eyes on key landmarks while avoiding the paths that seemed too inviting—those led them in circles. When they finally emerged from the trees, the relief was short-lived.

Because the ground beneath them gave way.

Eris barely had time to react before she was falling. The world spun, dust and debris blinding her as she tumbled into darkness.

She hit the ground hard, the impact rattling through her bones. Pain flared in her shoulder, but she forced herself up.

The others groaned nearby.

Aven coughed, brushing dirt from her clothes. "Great. A trap."

Cinder winced, holding her ankle. "Looks like it."

Ash stood, shaking off the fall. "At least we're not dead."

The walls of the pit were jagged stone, too steep to climb easily. But worse than that was the presence pressing in from the shadows.

Then they heard it—the slow, dragging scrape of something moving toward them.

Eris's breath caught. She couldn't see it, but she could feel it.

They weren't alone and so they moved faster, careful of any more trap while using common magic to shield themselves.

By the time they reached the ruin, their bodies ached from the horrors they had faced. Cinder had healed the worst of their injuries, but exhaustion clung to them like a second skin.

"This is it," Aven murmured.

Standing before them was a towering ruin - a grand temple now reduced to fractured stone and twisting roots.

Eris exhaled, stepping closer. "Then let's see what secrets it's hiding."

The Sealed Door

Faded carvings lined the walls, depicting figures weaving threads into the sky. At the center stood a door of polished obsidian, its surface unblemished despite the ruin's decay. Symbols—some of which matched those on their old map—were etched into its frame.

Aven knelt, running her fingers over the markings. "This is a weaving puzzle," she murmured. "The wards are layered. If we don't thread them correctly, we'll trigger a trap."

Ash exhaled sharply. "No pressure, then."

Eris studied the symbols, mind whirring. The clue from the map echoed in her head:

"Where the first weave bends time, the crystal shall awaken. In the ruin's shadow, the path is clear. Only the first must lead the way."

Her gaze flickered to Ash. First weave bends time… Could it be referring to time?

"Stand here," she told him, gesturing to a spot near the door.

Ash frowned but obeyed. The moment his foot touched the stone, the symbols shimmered, shifting like ink bleeding into water. A pattern emerged—threads of glowing energy interlacing in an intricate web.

Aven's eyes sharpened in understanding. "I see it now." Her fingers twitched, and faint silver strands extended from her fingertips, feeling the shape of the weave. "It's unstable. If I pull the wrong way—"

"Then don't," Ash muttered.

Eris frowned, tracing the threads with her own ability. She could sense the weave's structure—not control it like Aven, but understand its flow. It needs a guide, a purpose.

She inhaled and reached out, her fingers sketching faint patterns in the air, nudging the weave where it resisted. Aven's threads adjusted in response, flowing smoothly.

Aven's concentration deepened. "It's working…"

Ash clenched his fists, his time magic responding to the puzzle's shifting state. The threads trembled, then snapped into place.

Eris wiped sweat from her brow. The ward's intricate weave had nearly unraveled in the wrong way more than once, but together, they had balanced it—Aven's precise thread manipulation, Ash's subtle distortions of time, and Eris's creative restructuring.

Now, before them lay the crystal cove.

A vast chamber stretched beyond the door, its ceiling lost in darkness. Jagged formations of glowing crystals jutted from the ground and walls, casting fractured light across the space. In the center of the chamber, embedded in a pedestal of shimmering stone was a medium sized hole through which they will fit in the crystal when it was found.

Then, suddenly Eris noticed that something felt... off. The ruin was too still, too silent. No distant echoes. No shifting dust. Just an unnatural quiet that pressed against her skin, like something was waiting. They've been so focused on the weave like puzzle and then the crystal cove that they didn't quickly notice this.

Cinder stepped closer. "I have a bad feeling about this."

An obsidian door opposite them lurched open. It had previously been obscured by some sort of illusionary magic of some sort.

Darkness spilled out. And then came the screams as the first Hollow lunged from the shadows.

Eris barely dodged as it slashed at her, its claws cutting through the air with a sickening hum.

Aven's threads snapped forward, wrapping around its limbs. "They're fast!" she hissed.

Ash moved instinctively, his presence causing the world around him to slow. He ducked under an incoming strike and time-shifted just enough to land a precise counterblow.

Another Hollow emerged, then another. Five in total.

"We need to end this fast," Eris said, already sketching patterns in the air. The moment she did, the battlefield shifted—her creativity twisting the terrain. The ground beneath the Hollows warped, creating uneven footholds that forced them to stumble.

Cinder's hands glowed as she pressed them to Aven's shoulder. "Hold steady." Aven's movements sharpened, her reaction time enhanced.

Eris grinned. A healer really did change the game.

Two Hollows came at Ash. He exhaled sharply, time bending around him in bursts. He weaved between them, moving just before they struck, their attacks always a second too late.

Aven's threads wrapped around another Hollow, splitting into finer strands that cut through its form like knives.

Eris saw an opening. She created a burst of light, her ability shaping a glowing sigil in midair. The moment the Hollow turned toward her, she twisted the light into a spear and launched it.

It hit.

The creature shrieked, its body unraveling into nothing.

Three left.

Ash froze time for a split second, just enough for Aven to redirect her threads and for Eris to strike the second Hollow's weak spot.

The third leaped at Cinder, but she raised a barrier—not a physical one, but a shimmering pulse of life energy. When the Hollow touched it, its form twisted violently, its unnatural existence rejecting the magic.

It collapsed, fading into dust.

The last Hollow hesitated. Then it let out a deafening, inhuman wail.

The ruins trembled.

"Not good," Ash muttered.

Cracks spiderwebbed through the stonewalls as something bigger stirred beneath them.

Eris swallowed hard. The door had been just the beginning.

And whatever was waking up inside the ruin… was far worse.

Aven reacted first, "Run".

They dashed out of the ruin as fast as their legs could carry them. Behind them were growls of anger from a beastlike creature. Thankfully, they made it out in time although they were exhausted.

Panting, Cinder started:

"Now, what? At least we've gotten the location of the crystal cove now but we need to figure out how to kill or evade that beast at least".

"Let's meet up with the others. We four might not be able to kill off that thing", Eris suggested.

"Yes but we still need to find the crystal" Ash said.

"It's fine. I'm sure Orlen would have gotten the crystal or at least knows it's whereabouts. That guy knows his stuff", Aven chimed in.

On their way back, they paused by the forest and got more nightroots to turn in for more coins. They were useful after all.

By the time they reached the village, it was evening.

"Do you think we will be punished for not going to the Weaver's bode today?" Cinder asked.

"It's a game mechanic. We've already attended the lesson. The Weaver would just repeat the same actions done yesterday like a robot till the Woven Festival, " Aven explained why she wasn't bothered about the lessons.

When they returned, Orlen and two others were standing in a corner in a deep conversation in the lodge. Gray and one other person was missing - probably dead. Nobody questioned them about their whereabouts. It had become a norm for people to die everyday here.

Aven approached them. "We want to find out if you guys have figured out where the crystal is? We've found the crystal cove," she was straightforward.

"Yes," Orlen's response was brief.

"That's good news but the crystal cove is being guarded by a beast so we might need to bypass or kill it to get in there"

" Describe the creature"

Aven described the beast and Orlen listened attentively.

Orlen's expression darkened as Aven finished describing the beast. He exhaled sharply, arms crossed.

"That's a Dusk Maw," he said grimly. "It doesn't hunt like normal creatures. It doesn't need eyes—it senses you. Every movement, every breath. Even if you stand perfectly still, it can taste the shift in the air around you."

Aven frowned. "So it's blind but not really?"

Orlen nodded. "Worse. It sees through absence. The darker it gets, the clearer you become to it."

Eris tensed. "And how do we kill something like that?"

Orlen's gaze flickered toward her. "With light woven into form." He hesitated before adding, "Not just any light—intent matters. A torch won't do. The light has to be shaped, given purpose."

Aven tilted her head. "Like a weapon?"

Orlen nodded. "Or a shield. A trap. A maze. Anything that disrupts its hunt." His smirk was faint. "Lucky for us, we have you. I can make sure it isn't dark with my flames and you can use constructs to cage it in."

Eris's fingers twitched. Creativity through light. That was her power. Shaping illusions, forming barriers, weaving constructs into existence. But against something that thrived in darkness?

Eris swallowed. "And if I fail?"

Orlen smirked, though it didn't reach his eyes. "Then the others will help too. My flames will make it easier, but they won't last forever. Ash can hold it back with time magic, but even this has its limits."

She exhaled. "Then I'll have to be fast."

Orlen chuckled. "Fast, clever, and precise."

Eris breathed in. She hoped all went well tomorrow.