The Path of Secrets

The map was old — worn, water-stained, and barely holding itself together.

Shoto and Elizabeth sat on a flat rock beneath the low-hanging trees, the journal and key between them. The sky above was a deeper shade of violet than before, almost bruised, as if Valoria itself was watching them.

"This isn't a normal map," Elizabeth said, fingers tracing the edges. "It's hand-drawn. Look… some places are crossed out. Others… circled."

Shoto tilted his head. "What's The Hollowed Ring?" he asked, pointing to a spiraled shape etched into the center of the page.

"No idea. But this symbol," she tapped it — a half-moon with jagged edges, "it's also on the key."

They both turned to the key. It wasn't metal. It was stone, smooth and dark, carved with runes that shimmered faintly when touched. It felt warm. Heavy. Alive.

Shoto picked it up again and frowned. "It's not just a key. It's… reacting."

"To what?" Elizabeth asked.

Before he could answer, the journal fluttered open — on its own.

Pages turned rapidly until it stopped near the back. One section, written in shaky ink, stood out:

"If you find this, you are not the first.

The gate waits beneath the Hollowed Ring.

Do not use the key until you are ready.

You cannot run from what sleeps below."

Elizabeth's eyes widened. "This is bigger than just us."

Shoto nodded. "And whatever this key opens… might be buried under the worst place on this map."

She rolled it back up, careful. "Then we find the Hollowed Ring. We find the gate."

"And if something is sleeping under it?" he asked.

Elizabeth met his eyes. "Then we wake it up together."

⸻

They packed the journal, the map, and the key, and moved on — unaware that miles away, in a shadowed glade, something ancient stirred at the sound of the runes awakening.

It had waited long enough.