The group stood frozen outside the door. Kale had disappeared through the opening, and a tense silence hung in the air.

"Kale?" Liliana called. No response.

Namara leaned lazily against the wall, inspecting her nails. "Well, if he's dead, at least it was quick."

"Not funny," Liliana said.

Sadek tightened his grip on his spear. "Do we go in or wait?"

Liliana stepped forward. "We're not leaving him in there."

A low growl echoed from inside the room, followed by a wet, slithering sound. Then a muffled scream.

"Kale!" Liliana yelled, rushing forward.

Namara raised an eyebrow. "Uh oh."

Liliana pushed the door fully open, storming into the room, and froze. Kale stood in the center of the chamber, perfectly unharmed, grinning like an idiot.

"Gotcha!"

"You idiot!" Liliana yelled. "We thought you were dead! What is wrong with you?!"

Kale flinched. "Relax, it was a joke. Just trying to lighten the mood."

Namara burst out laughing, clapping her hands. "Oh, Kale, you delightful menace. This is why you're my favorite." She flashed a quick grin at Liliana. "No offense, bestie."

Sadek shook his head.

Liliana jabbed a finger into Kale's chest. "Don't you ever do that to me again."

Kale raised his hands defensively, taking a step back. "I'm sorry! I won't. I wasn't thinking."

"You never are," Liliana snapped. "That's the problem."

"You're not helping yourself here, Kale, " Sadek said.

"Yeah… okay, fair," Kale muttered. Then he gestured toward the room behind him. "But hey! Look what I found. Treasure room!"

The group finally took in the room around them. The chamber was vast, illuminated by a soft, golden glow emanating from piles of treasure. Gold coins, glittering gems, and ornate artifacts were scattered across the floor and stacked in heaps.

Namara walked forward. "I told you, didn't I? Demon lords always hoard the good stuff."

Sadek nudged a pile of coins with his boot. "Gold? How is this going to help us?"

"Don't be so quick to judge," Namara said, stopping in front of a pedestal at the center of the room. "The real treasures won't be lying on the floor." She gestured to the artifacts displayed on the pedestals. "Now, these… these are interesting."

The group gathered around the pedestals. Each artifact exuded a distinct presence, though they couldn't immediately discern what any of them did.

On one pedestal lay an amulet, its shape asymmetrical and organic, as if grown rather than forged. The material was a dark, matte metal interwoven with thin veins of something that shimmered faintly green. The amulet's surface occasionally rippled.

Kale paused, eyeing the amulet with a mixture of fascination and unease. Its asymmetrical shape reminded him of something half-formed, like a seed that had sprouted into metal instead of bark.

He frowned. Was it alive somehow? The surface rippled every so often, as if it might twist or grow at any moment. A part of him wanted to reach out and touch it, if only to see what would happen. The rest of him thought that might be a terrible idea.

Beside it, a dagger rested, its blade unnervingly smooth and reflective, almost like liquid trapped in a solid form. There were no runes or markings, just a wickedly sharp edge and a hilt that subtly shifted whenever someone drew near, as if it were shaping itself to fit their hand. The air around it felt colder, and its presence was unnerving, like the weapon was sentient, aware in a way it had no right to be.

Kale looked at it, grimacing at the thought of yet another blade with a mind of its own. Dealing with Lifedrinker had been more than enough. He shook his head and turned away. Whatever power the dagger held, he wanted no part of it.

The lantern, in stark contrast, looked wholly ordinary. Its brass frame was plain and unadorned, the frosted glass cracked slightly on one side. The small flame flickered with a faint, steady light, unimpressive and unassuming. It was the kind of thing someone might overlook entirely. Nothing about it hinted at any special power, yet something about its simplicity felt intentional, as though it were hiding its true purpose.

Liliana leaned toward the amulet. "That one looks powerful. Dangerous, maybe."

Kale's attention was fixed on the lantern. "What about this one? It looks too plain, almost intentional."

Namara glanced at him, then at the lantern, and offered the faintest of smiles. "Sometimes the simplest piece on the board is the one that changes the game. If I were you…" Her voice trailed off.

Sadek crossed his arms, his eyes moving between the items. "We don't have time for this. The second we take one, something goes wrong. Guaranteed."

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Namara gave him a teasing smile. "Oh, come on. What's life without a little risk?"

Liliana gestured to the crumbling room around them. "We're already risking enough by being here."

Kale hesitated. "Alright, but how do we pick? What if we grab one that does nothing while the good stuff stays behind?"

"Then we'd better choose wisely," Namara said.

Sadek sighed. "This will not end well."

Kale turned to the lantern once more. "This is the one," he said firmly. Without waiting for agreement, he reached out and grabbed it.

The instant his fingers closed around the metal, the chamber shuddered. Deep cracks spread across the walls and ceiling, and a low, resonant groan rumbled through the air like distant thunder. The castle was coming apart.

"Yeah," Sadek said, stepping back.

The room convulsed as the pedestals retracted into the ground with a metallic grind, dragging the remaining artifacts with them. Gold spilled across the floor, coins clattering like a metallic avalanche. Dust rained down as the castle's death groan echoed ominously.

"Run!" Sadek shouted, already moving toward the door.

The first chunk of ceiling crashed down, shaking the floor violently. Namara stumbled as it fell toward her, her wings snapping open instinctively. Before she could take off, a massive blade spun through the air, smashing the debris away with a loud clang.

Namara turned to Kale. "My hero!"

"Keep moving!" Liliana said, grabbing Kale by the arm and yanking him forward.

The group dashed into the corridor, the floor heaving beneath their feet. Streams of light poured through the widening cracks as more debris rained down. Namara darted ahead, weaving gracefully around falling stones, while Liliana extended her blood tendrils to pull smaller obstacles out of their path.

A piece of stone shattered near Sadek, the impact sending shards flying. He slammed his spear into the ground, activating Rolling Thunder. An electrified shockwave repulsed the stone and cleared the debris.

"Faster!" Sadek growled, looking back as the corridor collapsed behind them.

Kale turned his focus ahead, summoning a pair of massive blades to slice through a falling wall blocking their path. He gestured sharply, and the blades spun into action, carving an opening just wide enough for them to pass through.

Liliana summoned her Bloodbound Sentinel, using it to hold up the ceiling as they ran. "This place is falling apart faster than I thought!"

Namara flew ahead, spotting a widening gap in the floor. "Watch your step!" She landed lightly on the other side, gesturing for them to hurry.

Kale reached the gap first, crossing it by hopping on a blade he summoned mid-air. Liliana followed, her blood tendrils launching her across. Sadek used Thunder Step, appearing beside them in a crackling flash.

More chunks of the ceiling gave way, one grazing Kale's shoulder as he turned to look back. He grimaced, stumbling but regaining his footing. "Namara, move!" he shouted, watching as a massive slab of stone plummeted toward her.

Namara twisted mid-air, her wings flaring, but the stone was too close. Kale reacted instinctively, summoning another blade to intercept it. The stone shattered against the blade, spraying harmless debris.

Namara turned to him with a wink. "You're making this a habit, aren't you?"

"Less talking, more running!" Liliana snapped, pulling them both forward.

The exit loomed ahead, the eerie twilight of Runom's Departure spilling through the crumbling archway like a lifeline. Behind them, the deafening roar of collapsing stone surged closer, an unstoppable tide of destruction threatening to swallow them whole.

Sadek reached the doorway first, bracing it open with his spear as cracks raced across the archway. "Move it!" he barked, his voice barely cutting through the chaos.

Kale was the last to reach the threshold, his instincts flaring. He spun around, extending his hand as blades materialized in mid-air, forming a shimmering wall of swords. The wall held for a fleeting moment, catching the cascade of debris before splintering apart under the weight.

With one final, desperate leap, Kale hurled himself through the archway just as the castle let out an earsplitting groan. The entire structure imploded in on itself, a massive cloud of ash and dust billowing outward, enveloping everything in a choking haze.

Namara summoned a shadowy soul that started brushing the dust off her kimono. She looked at Kale and gave him a sly smile. "That was fun!"

Kale groaned, coughing out a mouthful of ash as he lay sprawled on the cracked ground. "Glad you enjoyed it. I think that just shaved ten years off my life."

Liliana pushed herself up, her blood tendrils flicking away debris as she glared at Namara. "Fun? We almost died."

Namara shrugged. "Almost. But we didn't, did we? That's what makes it fun."

"Define fun again," Sadek said, "because I'm not sure we're all on the same page."

"Always grumpy," Namara said. "How can someone who smells so good be that grumpy?"

Liliana pointed at the lantern in Kale's hand. "That had better be worth it."

Kale examined the artifact, compared to the others it really did just look like a regular, slightly damaged, lantern. "I have a good feeling about this one."

Liliana crossed her arms. "Now I'm really worried."

Namara leaned over to inspect it, her hair spilling over one shoulder. "Oh, I wouldn't worry, the best treasures are rarely the obvious ones."

"I wonder what it does," Kale said, turning the lantern over to look at the sides.

Sadek gestured toward the horizon with a nod of his head. "We go back to Innonuk. If anyone knows what it is, it's him."

As they made their way back toward Innonuk's domain, the peculiar sky of Runom's Departure stretched above them, still caught in a liminal state that defied reason, neither fully day nor night. Faint streaks of light wove through the darkness, twisting like veins of pale fire. Strange, serpentine shapes slithered through the expanse, their forms shimmering briefly before vanishing into nothing, leaving trails that faded as quickly as they appeared.

The whispers were ever-present, a constant backdrop to their journey. They ebbed and flowed, a ghostly symphony of disjointed voices that never quite faded. Though the group had grown accustomed to the eerie murmur, it clung to them persistently, a reminder that Runom's Departure was alive and aware of their every step.

Kale looked at the sky. "Does it always look like this here?"

"Always," Namara replied. "It's beautiful in its own way, don't you think?"

"Beautiful's not the word I'd use. This place gives me the creeps."

"Oh, come on," Namara teased. "Look at those lovely sky-snakes. Mysterious, fleeting… they've got charm."

"Bet one of them's sizing us up right now," Sadek said.

"What are those sky-snakes, anyway?" Kale asked.

Namara tapped her chin, as if considering how much she wanted to say. "Remnants," she finally replied. "Bits and pieces of things that once lived… or things that never quite made it into existence. They float through this place, looking for a purpose they'll never find."

Kale shivered, keeping his eyes on the ground. "Great. Add that to the list of reasons I hate this place."

The whispers grew louder, merging into a low, almost melodic hum that made the hair on the back of Kale's neck stand on end.

"Are they… following us?" Kale asked, glancing over his shoulder.

Namara didn't look back. "They don't need to. This place is everywhere."

"Well, that's comforting," Kale muttered.

As the group approached Innonuk's domain, the outline of his grotesque, many-eyed form came into view, his figure silhouetted against the horizon. His numerous eyes blinked in unison as they stepped closer, his voice a deep rumble that echoed across the air.

"Back already?" Innonuk said. "And not a single one of you dead? I was hoping for at least one casualty."

Kale raised the lantern. "Guess we're just that good."

Innonuk's many eyes zeroed in on the lantern. For a moment, the demon lord was silent.

Then he grinned. "Did a little looting while you were at it, did you? Do you realize what you're holding there?"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.