Begin the third day, which was the hardest because the ground became dangerous, and they had to climb steep paths where a single wrong step could mean death. The wind's howl got so loud that it was almost impossible to talk to each other.

They used gestures and loud words to talk to each other, and they all fought the urge to try to make sense of the noise. Hilda had the hardest time, even though it was cold on the mountain, her face had gone pale, and there were beads of sweat on her forehead.

The silver marks now covered most of her bare skin, and they were glowing with the same strange light. She fell several times and caught herself with her pickaxe, but she wouldn't accept help from any of them.

"Almost there," she would say, her voice hoarse. "I can do it by myself... don't worry about it..."

They finally saw it as the sun began to set. The temple that Seraphine had talked about was built right into the mountainside.

Years of being outside had worn down the stonework, making it old. Parts of the building had fallen, leaving holes in the walls, but the core was still standing.

Greg said, "That's it," as he looked at the compass.

The needle was pointing right at the heart of the temple. "Veldway is in there... he has to be..."

They moved in slowly, weapons drawn, but Greg couldn't imagine what they would do if Veldway decided to be hostile. The entrance was a huge archway that was partially blocked by fallen stones but was still open, and darkness waited beyond it.

"Stay close," Greg said as he turned on his Guardian's Oath shield. As they walked in, the soft light lit up the room.

The inside of the temple was huge, much bigger than the outside made it look. Greg had never seen anything like the architecture before; it combined styles from many cultures and times.

There were corridors that went in every direction. Some ended in chambers that had fallen down, while others went into the dark.

They followed the compass, which led them deeper into the mountain. The wind's howl ceased as they ventured underground, giving way to a heavy silence that was somehow more oppressive. Their footsteps echoed in a strange way, making ghostly sounds that made them look behind them all the time.

The first room they found was a hall full of statues. There were dozens of stone statues along the walls, each one showing a Royal Knight in full armour. Lylia stopped, her breath catching when she realised what it was.

She whispered, "These are the founders," as she got closer to look at the statue.

"The first group of Royal Knights."

"I saw paintings of them while I was training, but I didn't know there were statues."

The figures were in strong and brave poses, but time had not been kind to them. A lot of them were damaged, even the water had smoothed out their features, and settling stone had cracked them. But there was no denying their presence, watching over the temple with eyes that couldn't see.

Elwen looked at a statue of a knight with a broken sword and said, "They look sad."

Hilda's voice was tight with pain when she said, "They should be."

"They began something that would last longer than they did... you never know if it will be a force for good or just another way to control people."

...

They went through more rooms, each one showing them something new about the history of the Royal Knights. There were many old weapons in the room, but they didn't want to touch any of them because they were afraid of bringing the Calamity to them.

A library full of scrolls that are falling apart, losing the information they held. A training hall had grooves in the stone floor that showed where many knights had practiced their forms.

Lylia was so interested that she stopped at every new thing, even though Greg tried to get her to keep going. "This is wonderful," she said as she looked at an old tapestry that showed what looked like a big battle.

"The Royal Knights have been hiding their past. Why would they put all of this away?"

Greg said, "Maybe they were embarrassed, or maybe they wanted to forget."

They went down even more, following the compass's directions. The passages got smaller and more closed off.

Water dripped from the ceiling, making small pools that reflected their light in strange ways. Greg thought he saw something moving in the shadows more than once, but when he turned to look, there was nothing there.

At last, they got to what looked like the temple's deepest level. There was a long hallway in front of me, with doors on both sides. These rooms were in better shape than the ones above, and their doors were still hanging on old hinges.

"Records hall," Lylia read from a plaque that was falling apart next to the first door. "This is where they must have kept official papers."

They started looking in an organised manner, going through each room. Most of them had what the plaque said they would.

Books, scrolls, and filing systems arranged by year and region adorned the shelves. All of it was gathering dust in the dark. The information might have been useful, but it wasn't what they wanted.

After checking the tenth room, Elwen said, "No sign of Veldway."

"Where are his supplies if he's been living here? Or maybe his things? There's nothing new at all."

Greg said, "Maybe he's deeper in," but he was starting to doubt.

The compass still pointed ahead, but what if it was wrong? What if Veldway had come here years ago and then left? They would be following a ghost.

At the end of the hall, there was a last door that was slightly open. This one looked like it had been used recently, unlike the others. There were no cobwebs on it, and when Greg pushed it open, the hinges moved without making a sound.

The room beyond was bigger than the others and looked more like a study than a simple archive. There was a desk in the middle with maps and papers on it.

Every wall had bookshelves on it, and the books on them looked better cared for than anything else they'd seen so far. A constantly lit lantern on the desk gave the impression that someone had recently visited.

"Uhh... Hello...?" Greg called out, and his voice sounded strange. "Veldway? Veldway Blackcourt? Are you here?"

There's no answer. They carefully walked in and spread out to look around the room. Hammy chirped nervously from Elwen's shoulder, as if he could tell something was wrong with the room.

Lylia walked up to the desk and looked at the papers that were all over it. "These are the kingdom's maps."

"Recent ones, with notes about where troops are going and where supplies are going."

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