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Step by step, we made our way through the expansive entrance. Our footfalls made soft thuds as we walked through the eerie darkness, but it wasn’t long before the sounds within these haunted walls changed. A sick crunching rose as the weight of our bodies crushed the bones beneath us. My stomach tightened with grief, and I wanted more than anything to be away from it.
“Pan?” Her voice remained steady, but there was a nervousness in her tenor. “What are these ruins of?”
“A temple.”
“What happened here?” The words were barely audible, and she’d stopped walking. I turned to see her looking at the ground, waiting for me to answer. She looked up, her brows pinched together, fear written all over her face.
“Death. That’s what happened.”
“Stop being a cryptic asshole and answer me,” she demanded, her voice wavering as it rose in pitch with her anger. “What. Happened?”
I sighed. “The goddess of destruction happened.” Stepping toward her brought the light of the torch closer. As I approached, the flames flickered, casting our shadows on the wall ... and illuminating the bones and skulls that littered the temple floor.
Her mouth fell open as she took in the sheer number of dead that called this their final resting place. Adora kneeled down, picking up a small skull and holding it in the palm of her hands. She looked over, seeing another and comparing their similar sizes. Crawling on the floor, she came to another. And another. And another. Every bone she picked up, every skull, she saw how small it was.
I stood there and watched, saying nothing.
She stared up at me, her eyes glittering with tears. “They’re all children, Pan.Thousandsof them. Why?” Her breath shuddered as she spoke.
I held the torch up, pointing to the faded murals on the walls. “At the base of this ruin, in the valley, there was once a civilization. A peaceful people, they thrived here for generations. They weren’t warriors. They were farmers. Families. Scholars. Free thinkers.” I turned my arm so the flames would light up another mural, showing families working together. “The goddess of destruction demanded they worship her, but they refused, protesting against a religion they didn’t believe in. They argued for their right to teach free thought. So she destroyed them for it, setting an example first by filling the temple with children then collapsing it.”
Adora gasped, clutching the small bone she held in her hand. She craned her head, looking all around at what was left of the dead. “Why? What kind of monster just ... just kills children? For the sake of her fucking vanity ...”
As the tears tracked down her face, I felt the sincerity radiate from her. The pain. The sadness. All the unfamiliar emotions were jarring to watch when I realized this was all genuine. There was no agenda. No trickery or false pretenses. Adora was genuinely heartbroken at what she saw. At what she’d just learned.
And that rocked me, to see her like this.
She sat there and wept, clutching a small finger bone to her chest as she grieved for those she didn’t know.
I dropped to my knee, resting my arm on my thigh. Reaching out, I cupped her cheek, then wiped the tears from her face with my thumb as she looked up at me.
“I didn’t know being here would hurt you,” I ventured, trying to think of what to say. “If I’d have known ...”
She quickly moved to her knees, throwing her arms around my neck and nearly knocking me over with the force of her embrace. She cried noiselessly on my shoulder for a moment while I remained in my crouched position. With my arm wrapped around her lower back, I held her to me.
Her ombre blue hair brushed my skin, and the scent of her triggered memories with her that I’d tried to shove away. What we were like when shewasn’tthe monster. When she had been a friend. When we’d been lovers.
What was happening now surpassed even that.
In every other lifetime, she’d never been empathetic. She’d never loved anyone beyond herself. I’d often questioned if she even truly loved me, though I never wanted to know the real answer.
Stroking her hair, I waited until she pulled away from me. She wiped her cheeks, smearing the dirt that covered them. Adora nodded while she pushed herself to stand. “Can we just go?”
I inclined my head. “The stairs aren’t far from here.”
“Is there anything I need to know before we get there? I can handle it; I just need to know what I’m walking into.”
“It’s a long staircase, and the way is dark. Stay close to me, but don’t try to look over the railing,” I said after a moment of thought.
“That’s where the adults are, isn’t it?” she asked. I pressed my lips together and confirmed her suspicion with a single nod. “Got it.”
“We’ll be there soon. Then you can rest.”
She straightened her shoulders and gestured for me to lead the way.She’d put on a strong face, acting unbothered by the atrocities of these ruins. With her features schooled, you’d never know she’d cried or cared. The logical part of me argued thatthiswas the reaction I’d expected, this was the real her. Callous. Heartless. Cruel.
I wanted to believe it.
And I could have convinced myself if I hadn’t heard her quietly sniffling as we descended in silence, surrounded by the souls of the dead that still haunted the ruins.
