The next morning, Lance joined Zarra and her scouting team just as he said he would. They had set off early, but apparently, their destination was rather far away. Lance was able to keep up with the team as they moved swiftly through the forest. Since they did more of jogging than running, it was no problem at all for Lance who had not been slacking in his training with Rynne, who, fighting practice didn't seem to exactly translate into running stamina.
The morning sun filtered through the forest canopy as Lance walked alongside Zarra, who moved as silently as a shadow. It had been about an hour since they set off, and Lance was exhausted and needed so ti to cool off before they picked up the pace again. In contrast to the others, Lance could only spot light breathing, as if they had just done a warmup.
Lance for one, was quite surprised, both at their amazing stamina and his own personal developnt. Keeping in mind that they must have run 10,000 tres and it only took one hour, he could be compared to Olympians with such standards, and yet, he had only been training for a little over a month.
Despite his tiredness, he was happy to see such developnt in himself, it ant he still had so hope outside his seemingly none existent magic. Though, secretly, Lance felt that if he was to be tested using more modern thods, his fate might show otherwise in that aspect.
The air in the forest was cool, carrying the mixed scent of damp earth and wood and live trees and vegetation.
Their mission was a routine one, scouting the area for threats or resources while expanding the area of the search each ti if they don't find anything.
"You're awfully quiet, chief," Zarra said, her sharp eyes scanning the path ahead. "Nervous?" she said in a light tone.
"Not nervous," Lance replied, stepping carefully over a fallen branch. "Just… curious. We've been expanding farther out lately. Feels like we're on the edge of sothing new."
Zarra smirked, her teeth flashing in the dappled light. "Careful. Curiosity can get you killed out here."
"Good thing I have you to keep safe," Lance said with a grin.
Zarra snorted softly, but her expression softened "if you had been training with , you'd be able to keep up without any troubles and snatch your prey's life before they even know it." She said, drawing a chuckle from Lance who found her cute in that mont.
…
They had been traveling for at least five hours when they finally stumbled upon a clearing. It was sudden, the dense trees giving way to an open space that seed untouched by ti. In the center stood the ruins of a large structure, its stone walls weathered and cracked but still standing defiantly against the elents.
"What is this?" Lance murmured, stepping closer.
Zarra's eyes narrowed as she crouched low, her gaze darting over the area. "Doesn't look like any goblin structure I've ever seen. Too… precise. May be the doing of another race, maybe humans, elves don't tend to build with stones." She said.
The reason it took them so long to cover their grounds wasn't due to Lance requiring rest ever so often. They also had to spread out whenever they reached new terrain, to look for signs of resources, or take different paths to avoid unnecessary encounters with predators.
Lance watched the ruins for a short while, then he approached the them cautiously, his heart pounding with a mix of excitent and unease. He would normally be calm at such a ti, but seeing as this was a structure, the idea of it being laced with booby traps and the likes gave him a different feeling.
The stones were massive, far larger than anything he would have expected the goblins, or even ogres, to construct, that much he could tell. As they made their way inside, Lance noticed so strange symbols that were carved into the walls' surfaces, their edges worn smooth by ti.
"These markings," Lance said, tracing one with his finger. "They're old. Really old."
Zarra stood beside him, her expression unreadable. "Think it's safe?"
"No idea," Lance admitted. "But we should find out."
The two of them moved deeper into the ruins, stepping carefully over broken stones and tangled roots. The air grew cooler as they entered what appeared to be the remnants of a great hall, its ceiling long since collapsed, leaving uneven rocks hanging from above.
Lance's eyes were drawn to a large mural on one of the remaining walls. Despite the damage, the artwork was still partially intact, depicting a scene of battle.
"Look at this," he said, motioning for Zarra to join him.
The mural showed figures from different races,, or so it appeared. Zarra was quick to identify them as humans, elves, dwarves, and others, fighting side by side against a shadowy foe. The enemy was vague, its form shrouded in darkness, but its size and presence lood over the defenders.
"Seems like so sort of war against a common enemy." Zarra said. "But this, this wasn't just a war," Zarra said, her voice low. "It was sothing bigger."
Lance nodded, his gaze lingering on the mural. "An alliance. Different races working together."
"That's rare, impossible even, taking this into consideration" Zarra said, her tone skeptical. "Most of the ti, they're too busy fighting each other."
"Maybe they didn't have a choice," Lance said, his voice thoughtful.
"Nothing good from this."
As they continued to explore, they found more remnants of the past, shattered weapons, fragnts of armor, and strange artifacts that Lance couldn't begin to identify. One object caught his attention though; a tal disc etched with the sa symbols as the stones further outside.
"What do you think this is?" Lance asked, holding it up.
Zarra shrugged. "Could be anything. A shield, maybe?"
"Too small for that, looks like a disc" Lance said, turning it over in his hands. "It feels… important, though."
Zarra rolled her eyes dramatically. "You humans and your feelings. Let's just take it back to camp and let the others figure it out."
Lance chuckled but slipped the disc into his pack.
As they prepared to leave, Zarra paused, her sharp eyes scanning the ruins one last ti. "Sothing about this place feels… wrong," she said.
"Wrong how?" Lance asked, his curiosity piqued.
"Can't explain it," Zarra admitted. "Just a feeling. Like we're being watched."
Lance frowned, glancing around the clearing. The forest was eerily silent, the usual sounds of birds and insects appearing to be absent. A shiver ran down his spine, but he shook it off. He imdiately caught note of sothing that brought a sly smirk on his face as he looked at Zarra.
"Just a 'feeling', huh?"
Zarra appeared to be fluttered a bit as she strode forward without response and an almost sheepish look on her face, "let's head back," she said, her voice higher than usual, "we've seen enough for one day."
Lance couldn't help but laugh at her reaction lightly. He then turned to the rest of the scouts who all had rather bright looks on their faces as they listened to him, "let's head back for today."
…
The journey back to the camp was uneventful, but Lance couldn't shake the sense of unease that clung to him. The ruins had stirred sothing, questions he didn't yet have answers to, and that seeming darkness in his knowledge didn't sit well with him.
Then again, he had other things to worry about… how he was going to make it back to the goblin camp.
…
Their journey back didn't take as long, as they managed to shake off about an hour and half.
When they arrived, Lance called Lia and the elders. He laid out the artifacts they had found, his excitent tempered by the lingering weight of the discovery, as he and Zarra explained all they saw.
"This is… unexpected," Lia said, her fingers brushing over the tal disc.
"What do you think it ans?" Lance asked.
Lia's yellow eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "The ruins could be from ancient tis. Sothing predating even the goblins' oldest knowledge that I have access to."
"Or sothing best left forgotten," Mira muttered.
Lance glanced at her but didn't argue. He could see the worry in Lia's expression, the sa unease that had followed him from the ruins.
"We'll study these," Lia said finally, gathering the artifacts. "But we need to tread carefully. The past has a way of influencing the present and future, sotis in ways we can't control." She said, insightfully.
"Wise words, I agree." Lance responded, a thoughtful look on his face.
Even though he hadn't noticed it, Lia's expression seed to brighten ever so slightly, perhaps, even she didn't know it.
…
That night, as the camp settled into an uneasy quiet, Lance sat by the fire, turning the tal disc over in his hands. The symbols seed to shift in the firelight, their aning just out of reach.
"This world," he murmured to himself, "is so much bigger than I thought."
The ruins had raised more questions than answers, but one thing was certain: whatever had happened in the past, it wasn't over. And Lance had a feeling it would soon co knocking on their door.
"Hahhh, no point worry too deeply over things out of control. On the brighter side, I seem to have improved physically in a drastic manner. Perhaps, having Rynne beat up every day isn't as bad as I originally thought."
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