Several minutes had passed since K-10 began examining the Minotaur.
He moved around the corpse methodically, inspecting its anatomy, hide, horns, musculature, and the iron-studded armor covering its lower body. The creature’s physical characteristics were unlike anything he had encountered since arriving in Tarmynia. Its size and musculature were extraordinary, but what interested K-10 most was the combination of biological features. The head and horns resembled a massive bull, while the body possessed proportions and structure closer to a humanoid.
Seralyth remained seated several meters away, recovering from the battle. Her breathing had steadied, but the exhaustion was still evident in the way she held herself.
K-10 studied the Minotaur’s head for several more seconds before speaking.
“I have read about a mythological creature similar to this one.”
Seralyth looked toward him. “A mythological creature?”
“It is called a Minotaur.”
She glanced at the corpse.
“So your people have stories about creatures like this?”
K-10 nodded.
“From your land?”
He nodded again.
Seralyth studied him for a moment. K-10 had mentioned his homeland before, but never in enough detail for her to understand where it was or what kind of place it might be. She had accepted his explanation that he came from a distant land, although the more time she spent with him, the less certain she became that the phrase adequately described his origins.
K-10 stepped away from the Minotaur and approached her. He extended a hand.
Seralyth looked at it, then at him.
“I’m fine. I can take care of myself.”
K-10 lowered his hand.
“Understood.”
She pushed herself upright using the stone floor. Her legs trembled briefly beneath her, but she managed to stand without assistance.
“Thank you, though.”
K-10 gave a small nod.
Together, they approached the Seal.
The structure dominated the center of the chamber. A large orb, approximately the size of a man’s chest, floated above a stone pedestal without any visible means of support. Several metallic rings encircled it at different angles, each covered with ancient inscriptions that flowed continuously around their surfaces.
Some rings moved with deliberate precision. Others rotated so slowly that their movement was almost imperceptible.
K-10 watched one of the slower rings complete a partial revolution.
“The system is deteriorating,” he said.
Seralyth nodded.
She stepped closer to the Seal and examined the inscriptions.
“They’re similar to Vendish.”
K-10 looked at her.
“Similar?”
“Very similar. Some of the symbols are recognizable, but the structure is different.” She traced one of the inscriptions with her eyes. “This is older than modern Vendish. Much older.”
K-10 examined the markings without touching them.
“Can you repair it?”
Seralyth hesitated.
“I can try.”
She placed both hands toward the failing ring and closed her eyes.
The air around her began to change. A faint green radiance gathered around her fingers as her Nature Affinity responded. The energy flowed toward the damaged ring, spreading across its surface and following the ancient inscriptions.
Nothing happened at first.
Then the failing symbols began to react.
Several bright points appeared along the ring before fading again. Seralyth’s expression tightened as she increased the flow of energy.
The inscriptions responded slowly, one section at a time. Faint cracks of light traveled around the ring as though something buried beneath the metal was being awakened.
K-10 watched her closely.
Her breathing became heavier, and the muscles in her arms tightened as she maintained the flow of magic. The process continued for several minutes while the ring gradually responded to her efforts.
The failing ring began to rotate more smoothly.
One inscription brightened, followed by another.
Finally, the entire ring stabilized.
Seralyth released the magic. The green radiance disappeared immediately, and she staggered backward.
K-10 caught her before she fell.
“I’m fine,” she said, breathing heavily.
K-10 released her once he was certain she could remain standing.
“You exhausted your Magic Energy Source.”
Seralyth nodded.
“It required more than I expected.”
K-10 turned back toward the Seal.
The effect was already becoming apparent.
The orb had begun to glow. Its light intensified until the entire chamber was illuminated by a pale radiance. The remaining rings continued their slow rotation, but the previously unstable ring now moved with greater precision.
Then the orb released a pulse of energy.
The wave passed through the chamber without causing any physical damage. K-10 watched as the light traveled across the walls.
Something appeared on the opposite side of the chamber.
Lines emerged from the stone.
At first they were faint, little more than shadows beneath the surface. Then they became clearer as the energy continued to spread.
A large map formed across the wall.
Seralyth slowly approached it.
K-10 followed.
The shape was immediately recognizable.
“Tarmynia,” K-10 said.
Seralyth studied the map.
“Yes.”
K-10 examined the coastlines and major geographic features.
“It’s Tarmynia, but different.”
“It is much older.”
The borders drawn across the continent did not correspond to the nations K-10 had learned about since arriving in this world. Kingdoms and states that existed today were absent, while unfamiliar territories occupied portions of the continent.
“This predates the current political boundaries,” Seralyth said.
“By how much?”
“I don’t know.”
K-10 continued examining the map.
A point of light appeared near the location where they stood.
It glowed steadily.
“The temple,” Seralyth said.
K-10 nodded.
The point representing their location remained bright.
Then another point appeared.
It was much farther away.
Unlike the first, it did not glow steadily. It pulsed faintly, dimmed, and then brightened again several seconds later.
K-10 watched the cycle.
“Another Seal.”
Seralyth did not answer immediately. She stepped closer to the map and examined the pulsing point.
“If it is a Seal, it may be weakening.”
K-10 looked at the pulsing point.
“Is there any indication of the others?”
Seralyth scanned the map.
“No.”
There were no additional points. Only the two were visible: one steady and one fading and returning.
Seralyth studied the pulsing location more carefully.
Her expression changed.
“K-10.”
He looked at her.
“I know where this is.”
“Current location?”
“Yes.”
She placed a hand against the stone wall beneath the glowing point.
“It is within Ansell-Vend.”
K-10 considered the information.
“Your homeland.”
Seralyth nodded.
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
K-10’s thoughts returned to the stone table in the temple above. The circular carving. The five points arranged around it. And the eye at its center.
He looked toward Seralyth.
“The stone table.”
She turned.
“The carving had five points.”
“Yes.”
“If the table corresponds to these Seals, there may be five.”
Seralyth looked back at the map.
“That is highly probable.”
K-10 counted the visible markers.
“Two are identified. This location and Ansell-Vend.”
His eyes moved across the map.
“The remaining three are unknown.”
Seralyth remained silent. Her attention stayed fixed on the pulsing point.
She had spent her life within Ansell-Vend. It was the land of her people, the place she had been born and raised, and the kingdom she had once expected to inherit.
Now the ancient Seal had given her another reason to return.
“We have to find it.”
K-10 looked at her.
“You intend to travel to Ansell-Vend.”
“Yes.”
She turned toward him.
“I want to find that Seal before it deteriorates further.”
K-10 considered the proposal.
The risks were obvious.
They had already encountered a guardian capable of killing most adventurers within seconds. If another Seal existed within Ansell-Vend, there was no reason to assume its guardian would be less dangerous.
There were also unanswered questions surrounding the ancient structure, the Seals, and whoever had created them.
But the potential intelligence value was significant.
A new nation meant new information. New political structures. New military capabilities. New resources.
And, most importantly, access to knowledge that might explain how he had arrived in Tarmynia and whether a path back to his original world existed.
K-10 looked at the map again.
“Traveling to Ansell-Vend would provide an opportunity to collect additional intelligence.”
Seralyth stared at him.
“That is your reason?”
“It is a practical reason.”
She shook her head.
“K-10, you are the strangest human I have ever met.”
K-10 looked at her.
“That is a known assessment.”
The exchange ended there.
For several minutes, neither spoke. K-10 and Seralyth remained in the chamber, documenting what they had learned. K-10 recorded the structure and behavior of the Seal, while Seralyth committed the ancient inscriptions and the map to memory.
Neither knew how long the mechanism had been deteriorating, but the pulsing marker on the map had provided one fact they could not ignore.
There was another Seal.
And it was weakening.
Once they had finished their examination, they made their way back toward the surface.
They emerged from the temple into the forest.
The unnatural stillness that had surrounded the ruins was gone. A faint breeze moved through the trees, carrying the sounds of insects and distant birds. Sunlight filtered through the canopy, illuminating patches of moss and leaves across the forest floor.
Malaki was waiting near the edge of the clearing.
The Kapre’s expression changed when he saw them emerge.
“You succeeded.”
Seralyth nodded.
“The Seal has been restored.”
Malaki lowered his head.
“Then I thank you. Both of you.”
K-10 said nothing. His attention had already shifted to the surrounding forest.
Something else had changed.
The faint distortion he had noticed earlier was returning. The subtle shimmer that had bent the trees and concealed the temple was spreading through the clearing again. The edges of the ruins were beginning to blur.
Malaki noticed where he was looking.
“The protective barrier is returning.”
Seralyth looked toward the trees.
“How long will it last?”
“Long enough to hide this place again.”
Malaki glanced toward the trail where the hunters had previously been waiting.
“They have gone.”
“The hunters?” Seralyth asked.
“They returned to their village once the disturbance ended. They will not come back.”
Seralyth looked toward the temple entrance.
“And the guardian?”
Malaki’s expression became solemn.
“It served its purpose for a very long time.”
The statement carried more weight than the words themselves.
K-10 glanced back toward the temple.
The Minotaur had been a guardian, not merely a creature occupying the ruins. Whatever force had created the Seal had placed something formidable beside it and expected that creature to remain there for centuries, perhaps longer.
Now both the guardian and the Seal had changed.
One was dead.
The other had been restored.
Malaki turned toward the forest.
“You should leave before the barrier closes completely.”
K-10 nodded.
He and Seralyth followed the path away from the temple.
Behind them, the illusion gradually strengthened.
The ancient structure disappeared between the trees, its walls fading into the forest until there was nothing left to distinguish the clearing from the surrounding wilderness. Even the path they had used to reach the ruins began to disappear beneath the illusion.
Malaki remained behind.
K-10 looked back once.
The temple was gone.
He turned forward.
Ansell-Vend was now their next destination.
And somewhere within its borders, another ancient Seal was beginning to fail.