Tales of the sorcerer

The ruins of Drayveth lay silent, save for the soft rustling of the wind against broken stone. Hidden in a shadowed alcove, Elena knelt beside Adrian, pressing a strip of cloth against the wound on his side. His breathing was steady, though tight with pain.

"You should have let me handle it," she muttered, voice laced with frustration.

Adrian smirked, wincing slightly. "You'd be dead."

She bit back a retort, focusing on tying the bandage. The attack had shaken her more than she wanted to admit. The masked leader's words still echoed in her mind. You don't even know what you're protecting.

As she sat back, watching Adrian with cautious eyes, the truth clawed at her. She was relying on him more than she wanted to. And that terrified her.

Adrian exhaled, tilting his head against the stone. "You look like you have questions."

She did. Too many. But she settled on the one that burned the most. "You knew my father. What was he really trying to protect?"

For a moment, Adrian seemed to consider how much to say. Then, he gave her a glimpse—how her father had once spoken of an ancient power buried beneath history, something that should never be uncovered. But he stopped short of telling her everything.

She noticed.

And she didn't trust

With Adrian stabilized, Elena pulled out the small device they had stolen from the safehouse. A single flick of her fingers activated its holo-display. Lines of encrypted data streamed across the air.

"Can you decrypt it?" she asked.

Adrian took it, fingers moving across the interface with practiced ease. Moments later, the first files unlocked.

A map. Marking a hidden location deep within the ruins of an abandoned fortress.

A message. From her parents. Her mother's voice, strained but urgent: If you've found this, then you're closer to the truth than you should be. The artifact is not just a relic—it is a key. And if it falls into the wrong hands… The message cut off abruptly.

A warning. The final piece of data—a symbol. An ancient crest burned into her memory from her father's research.

Elena's stomach twisted. The artifact wasn't just dangerous. It was something people were willing to kill for.

She turned to Adrian, expecting an answer. Instead, she found hesitation in his gaze.

"You knew," she accused.

"I suspected," he corrected.

Her jaw clenched. "And you didn't think to tell me?"

"You weren't ready."

A bitter laugh escaped her. "Who decides when I'm ready? You?"

But before she could press further, the map flickered with a new set of coordinates. Another clue. Another step toward the truth.

Like it or not, she had no choice but to keep moving forward.

Night had fallen by the time they set out, moving carefully through the ruins. The hunters would still be searching, but the map's coordinates pointed them toward an abandoned temple nestled within the cliffs.

They traveled in silence for a long stretch, the tension between them palpable.

Finally, Adrian broke it. "You still don't trust me."

Elena didn't look at him. "Should I?"

"Probably not." There was amusement in his voice, but something else, too—something unspoken.

She sighed. "Why did you really come back for me?"

Adrian hesitated, then answered simply. "Because I had to."

And for reasons she couldn't explain, that answer unsettled her more than anything else.

The entrance was nearly invisible, concealed behind centuries of overgrown vines and crumbling rock. Inside, the air was thick with dust, the scent of old stone and forgotten history pressing down on them.

"Stay close," Adrian warned.

They moved cautiously, weaving through narrow corridors lined with faded inscriptions. Then—

A click.

Elena barely had time to react before the floor beneath her gave way. Adrian lunged, grabbing her wrist as she dangled over a pit of jagged spikes.

"Really?" she hissed, heart pounding. "Traps?!"

He smirked, tightening his grip as he pulled her up. "Ancient ruins tend to be unfriendly."

After steadying herself, they pressed on, navigating through a series of deadly mechanisms—collapsing ceilings, shifting walls, hidden blades. It was only through their combined skill that they made it to the final chamber.

And at its center, bathed in an eerie glow—

The second artifact.

Elena stepped forward, drawn to its light. But then she saw the markings surrounding it. And the truth hit her like a dagger to the gut.

Her parents hadn't just been protecting the artifact.

They had been hiding it.

From her.

A sound—a whisper of movement.

Adrian reacted first, pulling her behind a pillar just as a crossbow bolt embedded itself in the stone where she had stood.

The hunters had found them.

The masked leader stepped into the chamber, his presence suffocating. "You should have listened, Elena."

Adrian reached for his blade. "Move."

The leader's voice was cold. "That artifact does not belong to you."

Elena tightened her grip on the relic, heart pounding. "Then who does it belong to?"

A dark chuckle. "To the ones who understand its power."

Chaos erupted.

Blades clashed. Shadows danced. Adrian fought fiercely, but they were outnumbered. As he turned to shield Elena, a blade caught him across the ribs.

"Adrian!"

She barely had time to react before strong hands pulled her back. The masked leader loomed over her, his voice a whisper.

"You're standing on the edge of a war, Elena. Pick the wrong side… and you won't live to regret it."

A sharp pain struck her temple, and then—

Darkness.

Elena woke to the dim glow of dawn. Adrian sat beside her, his shirt stained red, his expression unreadable.

"You passed out," he said simply.

She groaned, pushing herself up. "And the artifact?"

He pulled it from his pack, setting it between them. The light inside it pulsed faintly.

And then she saw it—the final clue.

Etched beneath the glow was another set of coordinates.

The next location. The next secret.

She looked at Adrian. "We're not done, are we?"

His lips quirked, but there was no amusement in his gaze.

"Not even close."

And somewhere, in the depths of the ruins, the masked leader watched.

Waiting.

Elena stared at the artifact, its glow dimming as if reflecting her uncertainty. Somewhere out there, the hunters were regrouping, and the truth about her parents was closer than ever.

But as the first light of dawn touched the horizon, Elena knew one thing for certain.

The hunt was far from over.