The old woman took a slow sip of water, her blind eyes fixed on a past only she could see. Her voice, though soft, carried the weight of years.
"I was not always like this," she began, a distant sadness lacing her words. "Once, I had a husband, a family, and a life filled with hope.
We were poor hunters, living day to day on what we could gather. But then... we heard rumors."
She shifted in her seat, her gnarled hands resting on her lap.
"They said sothing valuable lay at the heart of Galdreth. Sothing that could change a man’s fate overnight. For those of us who had nothing, the promise of power and wealth was too great to ignore."
Cassian and his group listened in silence as she continued.
"My husband, Varlen, and his friends stumbled upon an old cave while hunting. It seed ordinary at first—just another dark hollow in the mountains. But then... they found the carvings."
Her fingers twitched as if she could still trace them in her mind.
"The walls were covered in strange carvings, ancient and eerie. The language was unfamiliar, unlike anything we had seen before. Yet my husband was convinced it held great importance. He copied the symbols onto parchnt and was determined to uncover their aning."
Her lips curled into a faint, almost bitter smile. "And he was right. Not long after, they found sothing else hidden within the cave—black gems and strange weapons. Not much, but enough to change our lives."
Cassian frowned. "Strange weapons?"
"They were unlike any we had seen before," the woman said. "Not only were they sharp and unbreakable, but they also attracted wealth.
No matter where my husband took them, they brought fortune. At first, we thought it was luck... but over ti, we realized it was the weapons that were attracting all the wealth."
Her voice dropped lower. "It was as if the weapons wanted to be found. They pulled riches toward them, luring people toward themselves."
Cassian exchanged a glance with Keren and the others. Everyone wore the sa expression of shock and disbelief. Sothing about this didn’t sit right.
"Our lives beca easier," she admitted, "but Varlen was never at peace. His mind remained fixated on that cave, on the piece of an incantation he had copied. He spent five years trying to decipher the symbols. Five long years of obsession."
Her fingers tightened around her cup. "And then, after all that ti, he finally succeeded. The writing was in the language of demons."
Silence stretched between them. Cassian’s grip on his own cup tightened.
"With another year of effort, he found the half-demons who could read it for him. And what they told him..."
She let out a trembling breath.
"The drawing pointed to this place—Galdreth."
Cassian felt a strange chill settle in his chest.
"All of his friends, his partners, they made their choice. They would go to Galdreth and uncover the truth." Her voice wavered. "I tried to stop him. I begged him not to chase sothing that was never ant to be found. But Varlen was a stubborn man."
Her wrinkled lips pressed together before she continued.
"I couldn’t bear to be apart from him, so I followed him. I left behind my five-year-old son in the care of my relatives, knowing I might never return."
She laughed, but it was hollow.
"And I was right."
A heavy silence followed.
"What happened when you arrived?" Cassian asked at last.
Her blind eyes seed to peer into sothing only she could see.
"We searched for weeks," she said, her voice distant. "Galdreth was filled with secrets, and none of them were easily revealed. But eventually, my husband found it."
She exhaled shakily.
"An underground temple. Buried deep beneath the city."
Cassian leaned forward. "A temple?"
She nodded.
"It was the lost temple of a goddess—one that was never ant to be worshiped on this land. Her na was Virelya, the Goddess of Seduction."
The na sent a strange pulse through the air, as if the walls themselves recoiled at its ntion.
"She was a deity revered by demons, not humans. No one knew why her temple had appeared here. Perhaps it was once a place of great power, or perhaps it was abandoned long ago. But the people of the past feared it. They sealed it away, erasing its existence from history."
Her hands trembled slightly.
"What they didn’t know was that the temple above ground was only a fragnt of sothing much greater. Below the surface, hidden in the darkness, lay sothing far more terrifying."
Cassian’s expression darkened. "And your husband found it."
Her lips parted slightly, her breath coming unsteady.
"Yes."
She swallowed hard.
"They entered the temple... but they never ca back."
A hush fell over the room, thick with sothing unseen.
Cassian’s fingers curled into his palm. "And you? Why are you still here?"
The old woman let out a shaky sigh.
"Because I am still waiting."
Cassian’s hand clenched at her words. His face was filled with grief.
"But do you know? It is not unjustified. This was bound to happen. It is our karma—karma for trying to be greedy when God had already given us a good life. We were too ignorant and wanted more wealth, and that was where we t our doom."
But the strange thing is that people never learn from their past mistakes, and ti will repeat itself.
So many people have co to Galdreth, seeking to claim what was never ant to be theirs. And they will all fall to their doom.
Just like us. Just like those who had been greedy in the past," the woman said with an ironic laugh.
Her laughter echoed through the cramped space of her ho. It was filled with grief, regret, and hopelessness. Tears slipped from her dazed eyes.
But the woman did not stop. She continued mumbling in a grief-stricken voice, "Ti will repeat itself. This ti, no one will survive. Everyone is going to die... Everyone... No one will be left... Everyone is a sacrifice."
"Haha! No one will survive... from his hand. They have walked into a fire pit themselves. He is luring everyone for his sacrifice... Haha..."
The old woman continued mumbling like a madwoman, her voice erratic and unsettling. Her behavior grew stranger.
And then the question crept into their minds.
Who is she talking about?
Who has lured everyone here?
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