The silence inside the temple stretched long after the sound of the serpent faded.

Vencian leaned against the rough wall, breathing hard. The air smelled of old stone and stale water. Roselys stood beside the girl, her own breath uneven but quiet.

Then the girl broke down.

Her hands covered her face as she started crying, shoulders shaking. The sound echoed faintly through the hollow space.

Roselys knelt beside her, voice calm. "It's all right now. We're safe here."

The girl kept sobbing for a while before she managed a weak nod.

Vencian looked away, letting Roselys handle it. He had no idea what comfort sounded like.

"What's your name?" Roselys asked.

"Reine," the girl said between breaths.

Roselys smiled faintly. "I'm Rose. This is Ven."

Reine's eyes darted toward him. He gave her a brief nod. "Nice to meet you, Reine. You gave that creature a good race out there."

A small laugh escaped her, still broken by a sniffle.

The tension in the air eased.

When her breathing steadied, Roselys rose and looked around. "We should check where we are before we rest too long."

Vencian agreed. "If that thing returns, I'd rather know our exits."

They began to move deeper inside. The corridor swallowed their sight after a few steps. The walls ahead turned into black shapes.

"Too dark," Roselys said under her breath.

She reached into a small pouch tied under her belt. Vencian hadn't noticed her carrying it before. She drew out a candle and flint, striking it until a small flame came to life.

The glow pushed back the dark, showing more of the stone path.

Vencian raised an eyebrow. "You've been carrying that all this time?"

"It's useful," she said.

"Useful, sure," he replied. "Unexpected though. "I thought you carried only contracts and conditions."

Reine gave a small chuckle though Vencian wasn't sure if she understood what he really meant. Roselys shot him a glare that made her point clear.

He held his hands up slightly. "All right, no offense meant."

The warmth from the candle brushed faintly across the walls. Vencian noticed Roselys holding a stylus in her other hand. He found it strange but kept quiet.

They continued through the corridor. Faded carvings marked the walls—lines and shapes that looked part of a larger pattern.

Vencian slowed to look closer. The grooves reminded him of the shrine where this all started. The same rough curves, the same foreign symbols.

So it's connected, he thought. Who built all this?

He ran his fingers over one of the carvings. The stone was cold and smooth in parts, broken in others.

"We'll see later," Roselys said, noticing him stop. "Let's move before we lose our path."

He nodded and followed.

After a few more turns, the passage opened into a wider area.

Above them, the ceiling had narrow grills cut in a chevron pattern. The red hue from outside filtered through them faintly, giving shape to the room.

A narrow stone platform stretched ahead, leading to another doorway. On both sides of the path, dark water filled shallow pools.

Reine hesitated at the edge.

"We'll rest here for a minute," Roselys said. She crouched beside the water and dipped her hand in. "It's clean enough."

Reine followed her lead, kneeling to wash off the red dust that still clung to her face and hair.

Vencian watched quietly. The color faded from her skin, revealing a pale face beneath. The sight hit him with sudden recognition.

"Neine?" The word escaped before he could stop it.

Reine froze and looked up at him. "What?"

He blinked, realizing what he'd said. "I thought… you looked like someone I know. My mistake."

Her expression softened slightly. "Neine is my sister's name."

The echo of the name sent a pull through his thoughts.

"You're her sister?" he asked.

Reine nodded.

He hesitated before replying. "I have met her." He paused, choosing his words. "She helped me with something I was searching for."

Reine listened quietly, eyes lowered.

"She seemed strong," he added. "You remind me of her."

A faint shadow crossed her face. "She always wanted to help strangers."

The tone made it clear she didn't want to speak more about it.

Vencian understood. He had seen that look before, the kind that came when memory hurt more than words could fix.

He let the silence return.

Roselys finished cleaning Reine's hair and glanced back at him. "You know her family, then?"

"Only by chance," he said. "On the first day in the village."

Roselys didn't ask further. She wrung the edge of her sleeve dry and stood.

Reine sat quietly, eyes on the red reflection in the water.

She must miss her sister, Vencian thought. Better not to bring it up again.

He turned toward the far doorway. The narrow path ahead still waited in dim red hue.

Whatever this temple was, it felt more like a vault than a place of worship.

He rested a hand on the hilt of his sword and looked toward Roselys.

When Reine turned her face toward the water again, he leaned closer. "She's calm now," he murmured. "Maybe you can get something out of her. About this place. About what happened."

Roselys glanced at him, her voice soft. "I will, but not yet. She's frightened. Let her feel safe first."

"She might know things we don't," he said. "This could be our only chance to understand what we're dealing with."

Roselys's tone stayed gentle. "And she'll tell us more when she's ready. Sometimes listening gets you further than pressing."

Her tone caught him off guard. He bit back a reply.

Empathetic, calm, protective, he thought. Completely unlike the woman who almost forced a deal on me.

He studied her for a moment longer, trying to align the person in front of him with the one who had presented the deal between them.

Who exactly are you, Roselys?

The silence stretched between them again until Reine spoke softly from the other side, breaking it.

"Are we going deeper?"

The argument stopped there, neither of them answering right away.

Roselys gave a short nod.

They continued their descent.

The corridor grew narrower as they went. Water dripped from somewhere above, echoing through the hollow space.

Roselys walked ahead with the candle raised.

After a few turns, the corridor opened into a small square room. The entrance to it was shorted than the previous one they came through.

The walls here had carvings again. Figures shaped in long rows, their arms raised toward the ceiling. Unlike the ones above, these were carved with more care. The grooves were deeper, the faces more defined.

At the center of the sunken chamber stood a stone pedestal, and upon it rested a chalice.

Vencian stopped short. "That looks like the one from the village."

The shape was nearly the same, with a wide brim, a slender base, and faint cracks along its surface. Only this one was clean, untouched by time or blood.

Reine stepped closer. Her eyes fixed on it, a strange recognition crossing her face.

"This is the Aniconic Representation," she said, her tone amazed. Like she recognized something she didn't think she would ever witness. "Of the god my parents told stories about."

Roselys turned toward her. "God?"

Reine nodded. "The one our village worshiped long ago. My parents taught me this before they passed." She glanced at the carvings. "These walls tell the story."

Vencian watched her move along the wall, fingers tracing the shapes.

"My mother said it started long ago," Reine said, voice steady but soft. "During the Sunsleep era."

The air around them grew still as she began her story.

"In the bygone days of the Sunsleep era, when angels and demigods still roamed the mortal realm of Eldraak, humanity endured its darkest age. The sky gave neither rain nor sunlight. The crops withered, and rivers turned to dry veins.

A wandering kingdom led by a rich king searched from land to land for divine mercy.

They met many beings, spirits, and false gods, but none listened. Then they found him—a demigod called Erythareon who promised them salvation."

Her gaze stayed on the carving of a tall figure with a wide halo carved behind its head.

"The king offered him gold, jewels, and servants," Reine continued. "But Erythareon refused. He said wealth could not buy favor. It was only when the queen fell to her knees and offered her newborn daughter that he accepted.

He took the child and touched the ground. From that moment, the kingdom's soil grew life again. Fields turned green, and fruit hung from trees all year."

She stepped closer to another section of the wall. The carvings there showed rows of people kneeling before the tall figure while plants rose from the earth.

"The people called him the deity of harvest," she said. "And they built their worship around that chalice."

She looked toward the pedestal again. "They said Erythareon poured his divine blood into it to seal the gift of fertility over the land."

Vencian felt a faint unease crawl through him.

Reine kept speaking, her tone quiet but clear.

"For many years, they lived in plenty. The people forgot hunger. But everything changed when the king died."

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