Requiem of the Forgotten

Mornings in Dragontown were becoming predictable.

Not easy. Not comfortable. But predictable.

Which was a step up from waking up every morning wondering if some fantasy monster would eat us in our sleep.

I sat by the fire, rubbing the sleep from my eyes while Carmen and Daisuke argued about something pointless again.

"Look, if you just stack the firewood properly, it won't collapse every night," Daisuke said, adjusting his glasses like some grand intellectual.

Carmen scoffed. "And I'm telling you, I like my wood messy."

"That's what she said—" I started, but Amina kicked my shin before I could finish.

"Please, let's focus on survival instead of terrible jokes."

She had a point. As fun as it was to sit around bickering, Dragontown was still nothing more than a glorified campsite. If we wanted to make this place livable, we needed some kind of order.

"Any of you ever built a city before?" I asked, stretching my arms.

Carmen smirked. "Does Minecraft count?"

Daisuke adjusted his glasses. "Technically, urban development is a complex field that—"

"Shut up, Daisuke."

"Alright, let's talk priorities," I continued. "We need food, water, and shelter. Which one do we tackle first?"

Daisuke pulled out his notebook. "Technically, water should be our top priority. We need a reliable source within walking distance, or we'll waste too much energy transporting it."

Carmen waved him off. "Yeah, yeah. But I'd rather not die from a random wolf attack while looking for it. We need some real weapons."

"I can make spears," Amina offered. "And maybe bows, if we find the right wood."

Caelith, who had been standing motionless behind us like an eerie statue, suddenly spoke. "You lack all forms of proper resource management. Your efficiency is abysmal."

I sighed. "Thank you, Caelith. That was very helpful."

He blinked. "You're welcome."

We decided to split up. One group stayed behind to start reinforcing our camp, while my group headed out to find water.

Carmen, Amina, Daisuke, Caelith, and I followed the faint trickle of a stream that we'd found earlier, hoping it led to something bigger.

"So," Carmen started as we walked. "Anyone else feel like we're in a bad survival movie?"

"We're in a different world, and you're worried about movie tropes?" I muttered.

She shrugged. "It just feels like the part where we split up, get lost, and then something eats us."

Daisuke frowned. "Statistically, staying near fresh water increases our survival chances by 80%."

"And statistically, those horror movies always start with some nerd saying 'statistically,'" Carmen shot back.

Amina chuckled under her breath. "At least we're not completely losing it yet."

Then, as if on cue, Caelith stopped walking and spoke in that unsettling monotone of his.

"There is something ahead."

We stepped through the dense brush, and suddenly, the forest gave way to something unexpected.

Massive stone structures jutted out from the earth, half-buried beneath thick layers of vines and moss. Some had crumbled into piles of rubble, while others still stood, defying time.

It was ancient.

And definitely not built by humans.

Daisuke's mouth fell open. "This… This is impossible."

Amina ran her hand along one of the walls. "These carvings—this writing… It's not Elvish. It's not anything I recognize."

Carmen whistled. "Okay, new plan. Screw water. We just found a freaking lost civilization."

I walked up to one of the structures, my fingers brushing against the cold stone. There were symbols etched into the surface, worn by time but still barely visible.

"Caelith?" I glanced at the elf, who was staring at the ruins with an unreadable expression. "Any idea what this is?"

He hesitated. Caelith. Hesitated.

Then he simply said, "This architecture has existed for at least ten thousand years."

A heavy silence settled over us.

I swallowed hard. "So… What you're saying is, this place was here before the Elves? Before any of us?"

"Correct."

Amina exhaled slowly. "That means we're not the first ones on this planet."

A chill ran down my spine. If something lived here before… where did they go?

Then—

Something moved inside the ruins.

A deep, slow scrape. Like stone shifting against stone.

We all froze.

Daisuke whispered, "Did… did anyone else hear that?"

The shadows inside the ruined doorway seemed to pulse.

Something was in there.