Stuck in an Island with Twelve Beautiful Women

The streets they had crossed before now twisted in unfamiliar ways. Archways that had led to open plazas now curved into narrow corridors. The towering remnants of buildings cast long, unnatural shadows. The ruins were shifting, rearranging themselves around them.

Jude stopped. "This isn't right."

Lyara cursed under her breath. "It's leading us somewhere."

The thought sent a shiver down his spine. "Or keeping us from leaving."

She turned sharply. "We don't have time for this. Keep moving."

He followed, his gaze flicking to the edges of his vision. The shadows stretched longer than they should have, moving in ways that defied logic. The ruins weren't just abandoned, they were alive in some way, reacting to them, pulling them deeper.

They rounded a corner, and Jude stopped short. Before them stood an archway, larger and more intact than any other they had passed. Its stone surface was smooth, untouched by time, and at its center, a symbol glowed faintly, an intricate crest, the same one he had seen in the vision.

The moment his eyes locked onto it, his vision blurred again.

He was back in the city before its fall, standing before the same archway. But this time, it was not abandoned. A figure stood beneath it, clad in silver and black, his face still obscured. He raised a hand, and the archway pulsed with energy, a shimmering light forming in its center.

Jude took a step forward in the vision, trying to see more. The light grew brighter, warping and twisting, forming a shape, a doorway. On the other side, he could see something moving, something shifting. A vast expanse of darkness, stretching beyond the limits of sight.

And then the figure turned.

Though his face remained hidden, Jude could feel his gaze, a weight pressing against his soul. A single word echoed through the space, spoken with power, with certainty.

"Return."

Jude gasped, the vision snapping away as reality slammed back into focus. He stumbled, his breath ragged. Lyara grabbed his arm, steadying him.

"What did you see?"

He swallowed hard, his mind still reeling. "This archway. It's a gateway. He opened it."

Her grip tightened. "To what?"

Jude shook his head. "I don't know. But whatever was on the other side… it wasn't meant to be here."

They stared at the archway, the faint glow still pulsing at its center. The ruins had led them here for a reason. The figure in silver and black, the destruction, the forgotten history, it all revolved around this place.

Lyara exhaled sharply. "We're not leaving without answers."

Jude hesitated, but she was right. They had come too far to turn back now.

Steeling himself, he stepped forward. As he did, the glow intensified, the air humming with unseen energy. The moment his fingers brushed against the stone, a deep vibration ran through the ground.

The archway came alive.

The light in its center expanded, swirling with color, forming the same shimmering doorway he had seen in the vision. A gust of wind rushed past them, carrying whispers, fragments of voices lost to time. The ruins trembled, as if something was waking up.

Lyara drew her blade. "Jude"

Before she could finish, the light pulsed again, and a figure stepped through.

It was not the man in silver and black.

The figure was draped in tattered robes, its face obscured by a hood. Shadows clung to its form, moving unnaturally, as if they were alive. The whispers grew louder, filling the space, pressing against their ears.

The figure lifted its head. And then it spoke.

"You should not have come."

Jude's pulse hammered in his chest. The voice was layered, distorted, as if it did not belong to one person but many. The presence it carried was suffocating, an overwhelming force pressing down on them.

Lyara tightened her grip on her weapon. "Who are you?"

The figure tilted its head slightly, as if considering the question. "A guardian. A witness. A warning."

Jude forced himself to stand his ground. "Warning of what?"

The shadows around the figure pulsed. "The gate was sealed for a reason. The past was buried for a reason. Yet you seek to unearth what should remain forgotten."

Lyara's jaw clenched. "Because the past is catching up with the present. We need to know what happened here."

The figure was silent for a long moment. Then, it raised a hand. The air around them shifted, and the ruins seemed to fade, their surroundings dissolving into darkness.

And then they were elsewhere.

They stood on the edge of a battlefield, the air thick with smoke and the scent of burning stone. The city they had seen in visions was in ruins, fire consuming its streets. Figures moved through the destruction, clad in armor, their weapons clashing against unseen enemies.

At the heart of it all, the man in silver and black stood before the archway, his arms raised as the gateway pulsed with energy. But this time, the vision did not end.

The gateway twisted.

The shadows beyond it surged forward, pouring into the world, consuming everything in their path. The warriors fought desperately, their weapons glowing with power, but it was not enough. The darkness swallowed them whole, their forms vanishing as the tide overtook the city.

Jude and Lyara could do nothing but watch.

The figure in silver and black turned toward them, not the vision, but directly at them, as if he could see through time itself. His hand lifted, fingers stretching toward them.

And then the vision shattered.

Jude and Lyara stumbled back into the ruins, their breaths ragged. The figure in tattered robes still stood before them, unmoving.

"You have seen," it said, its voice solemn. "Now you must decide."

Jude's mind reeled. The man in silver and black had not just opened the gate. He had unleashed something, something unstoppable.

"What happened to him?" Jude asked, his voice hoarse.

The figure's hooded head tilted once more. "He became what he sought to destroy."

Silence stretched between them.

Lyara spoke first. "And the darkness?"

The figure's voice was softer now, almost mournful. "It is not gone. It waits."

Jude swallowed hard. He understood now. This was not just about a forgotten city or a lost history. This was a warning.

And something told him that the past was far from finished with them.