Kren scowled. "It will work, you just watch."
It did not work. Nor did the one after that, or the one after that, even when Arvas brought out an enchanted tool that looked like a rod supposed to blow it up. It ended up not leaving a single scratch on the door.
"Well." Kren looked at the door with a sour expression. "I’ve used almost everything I know of."
Arvas shook his head and paced up and down. "We can’t go back. We have to loot this ruin. We used all our resources for this, and... they won’t allow failure. Shit! We’re in deep shit!"
I looked from Arvas to Kren. ’There’s more riding on this than just losing money? As I suspected, things aren’t as simple as they seem’
’And even the workers are getting worried...’ I glanced towards the workers and Squires, who sat nearby, their anxious and pensive gazes fixed on me. ’Even I want to get inside there... Should I show my forbidden mark and wait for something to happen?’
’Wait... will something happen at all? Should I do it? What if the door turns corrupted and causes some kind of trouble?’ I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. ’Alright. If I want to do anything, I shouldn’t do it now’
’I can wait and come back here by myself. I can save up, get some enchanted tools, and try again!’
I cleared my throat. "What do you mean, almost?"
Kren froze. He turned to me and gave me a long look. His expression was odd, a mixture of surprise and excitement. "Now that you mention it, I still have something I want to try."
He walked toward his shelf and picked up a small bottle filled with red liquid.
Immediately, as I saw it in Kren’s hand, my skin crawled, and my hackles raised. Goosebumps covered my body, and I had an almost uncontrollable urge to hurl myself forward and smash the glass.
I stepped back, surprised at my own reaction. ’What in the bloody Borderland? What was that? What’s in that bottle to make me react like this?’
I wasn’t the only one reacting. The door rippled like the surface of a lake, and all its symbols disappeared one by one, except for one that moved to the center.
It was a purple circle filled with a black void that drank in all the light. At that moment, it seemed to crave the red liquid in the bottle.
"Ahahahahaha." Kren laughed and looked at me with something akin to greed. "See! I just knew this would work!"
Everyone except Arvas and Kren had stepped back from the rippling door as if it might leap at them. Even Arvas was giving it a wary look before turning to Kren. "What exactly is that? You didn’t tell me about it."
Kren grinned and began twisting the bottle. "We’re allowed to have our secrets."
Immediately after he uncovered the bottle, the liquid flew out and into the center of the purple circle, disappearing into the darkness. The rippling stopped, and the door returned to normal.
I sucked in a deep breath, along with the others, as we waited to see what would happen next. It didn’t take long. The darkness shone with red light, and the red moon glowed within.
’Of course, the moon!’ I thought, not taking my eyes off the door. The red light grew so bright we had to look away before it faded.
The door shuddered, and without fanfare, it groaned open.
The others and I flinched back from the door as if it might turn into a two-headed dragon and bite us. But we couldn’t resist looking inside.
For a moment, all we saw was darkness that seemed to breathe, coiling around like a living thing. Then red light flooded the interior, as if the red moon were directly inside, tainting the great hall with hues of crimson that drew our eyes like moths to a flame.
"What are you doing?!"
The voice barked, and I jerked to a stop. I looked at the open door with stunned confusion, as if I had just woken from a dream. "What?"
"What are you doing, going inside?" Arvas asked.
’What? I’ve been trying to go inside? But I’ve been standing still since...’ I trailed off when I noticed the distance between the door and where I had been standing.
Others were giving me odd looks, and I grimaced in response, slowly returning to my original place. "Sorry," I mumbled.
Arvas scowled at me, but Kren looked at me with a proud expression. The two captains then met and began whispering to each other, occasionally shooting glances at me and the workers.
Eventually, they came over, and Arvas’s voice carried through the entire area. "We will begin exploring now. Stick to your team and follow us. All fighting will be left to us."
With that, they entered the palace.
The first impression I got upon entering the great hall was that a terrible fight must have taken place there. The floor was scorched, with half-burnt rugs and claw marks. Parts of the black walls were broken and dented, with cracks running through them.
The room was supported by black pillars that stretched into the darkened ceiling. Two of the five pillars were long shattered, their debris littering the ground in chunks.
What must have once been an impressive stone throne lay in a crumbled heap. It was a cold and desolate place that smelled like dead flesh left to rot under the sun.
Everyone shivered and moved closer together in unease. Everyone but me, who was looking around with eyes shining like green gems. It was as if I were back in my clan, taking a warm bath after a hard day of sword training.
It felt... like home. Something familiar, yet strange at the same time. It made me tingle, confused. And for the first time since we entered the ruin, the forbidden mark made no attempt to reveal itself.