They left before sunrise.
Greyhaven was still asleep when we passed through the northern gate. Only a handful of lanterns burned along the road, their weak light struggling against the darkness.
Captain Darius led the group.
Rowan and three of her wardens followed close behind.
Veyra walked beside me.
Maera stayed near the middle with the survivors.
Tomas rode in a small wagon beside his mother, wrapped in a thick blanket.
No one spoke much.
The information we'd received the night before had taken the humor out of everyone.
Twenty people had disappeared.
Some were still alive.
At least, that was what Tomas believed.
And somewhere beyond the northern hills stood an abandoned quarry.
That was where we were going.
The road narrowed as we climbed.
Greyhaven disappeared behind us.
The fields eventually gave way to rocky ground and scattered trees.
By midmorning, the first signs of the old quarry appeared.
Broken carts.
Rusting mining tools.
Collapsed wooden supports.
A stone building stood near the entrance, its roof partially caved in.
Rowan stopped.
"This is it."
Uriel studied the mountain.
"You've been here before?"
"Once."
"Years ago."
"What happened?"
"Nothing."
She paused.
"That's what made it frightening."
Veyra looked at her.
"Explain."
"The quarry was abandoned because the miners started disappearing."
Darius frowned.
"How many?"
"Seven."
"Seven people simply vanished?"
"According to the records."
Maera looked toward the dark entrance.
"Records can be wrong."
Rowan nodded.
"They can."
"But I was here when they closed it."
That silenced the group.
Darius dismounted.
"We go in together."
He looked at his soldiers.
"No one separates."
"Understood."
The entrance was colder than the surrounding air.
Uriel noticed it immediately.
His hand moved toward his sword.
The mask remained strangely quiet.
That bothered him.
Usually, places like this awakened something inside him.
Not now.
He stepped into the darkness.
The others followed.
Their footsteps echoed through the tunnel.
The walls were covered in old mining marks.
Numbers.
Names.
Dates.
Some had been scratched out.
Maera ran her fingers over one.
"These are from the final excavation."
"Thirty years ago."
Rowan nodded.
"Yes."
They continued.
The deeper they went, the colder it became.
Eventually, they found the first body.
A skeleton lay against the wall.
Still wearing a miner's helmet.
Darius crouched beside it.
"Old."
Maera examined the remains.
"Very."
"Nothing unusual."
They moved on.
Another body appeared.
Then another.
All old.
None recent.
Veyra frowned.
"Then where are the missing people?"
Uriel looked ahead.
"We haven't reached the end."
The tunnel suddenly widened.
A large chamber opened before them.
Mining equipment lay scattered across the floor.
Several wooden supports had collapsed.
And in the center...
A wagon.
Fresh footprints surrounded it.
Darius raised his hand.
Everyone stopped.
"Those weren't here thirty years ago."
Rowan's expression tightened.
"No."
Uriel stepped closer.
The footprints were human.
Several people.
Some barefoot.
Some wearing boots.
They entered from the northern tunnel.
None returned.
Tomas suddenly spoke from behind them.
"They're here."
His mother immediately pulled him closer.
Uriel turned.
"What did you say?"
The boy pointed toward the darkness.
"They're here."
A faint sound came from the tunnel.
Not a roar.
Not a growl.
A voice.
A human voice.
"Help..."
Veyra drew her sword.
"Someone's alive."
Darius signaled two soldiers forward.
They advanced cautiously.
"Hello?"
No answer.
Then—
"Help..."
The voice came again.
This time from farther inside.
Uriel felt something cold crawl beneath his skin.
The voice sounded wrong.
Not because of what it said.
Because of the way it said it.
Like something had learned the word without understanding it.
Nox stirred beneath the tattoo.
Don't follow it.
Uriel stopped.
"Everyone wait."
Darius looked back.
"What?"
Uriel stared into the darkness.
"I don't think we're alone."
The voice came again.
"Help..."
Then another voice answered from somewhere deeper.
"Help..."
Then another.
"Help..."
Within seconds, the tunnels were filled with the same word.
Dozens of voices.
All calling for help.
Maera's face went pale.
"Those aren't people."
The mask suddenly pulsed against Uriel's face.
Once.
Twice.
Then silence.
From the darkness ahead came the sound of something dragging itself across stone.
Slowly.
Closer.
Darius raised his sword.
"Form up."
The soldiers moved.
Veyra stepped beside Uriel.
Whatever waited ahead...
They were about to meet it.