𝐑𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐔𝐒𝐓 || skz

CHAPTER 13: IN THE RUINS

The Gangjeon ruins were everything Felix had expected, yet so very unlike what he had expected. It was an odd sensation and he wasn't certain how to express it. He could only stand there, a shiver running down his spine.

It was as if the forest was eating away the ruins, moss and vines covering most of the manmade structures. The mansion itself had clearly been bigger and been surrounded by a large plot of open landscape, but the only thing that remained somewhat intact seemed to be the main building. To the left of the mansion was the remnants of another building, possibly a stable of barracks for the guards, but with the wear and tear by time made it difficult to see exactly what it had once been.

They stood in the border of the forest, right in the line where the thick forest ended and became low underbrush, tangling vines and dark moss.

As he turned his gaze to the dark sky, Felix's gut twisted. He was once against reminded of the fact that the stars were gone. It made his heart heavy and his skin crawl. This was so unnatural but he didn't understand what was causing the stars to vanish like this. But it wasn't only the lack of stars that caused his discomfort. The way the tree tops grew here was odd.

While the tree line stopped in almost a perfect circle around the ruins, the tops of them reached further. The tree tops were thick and covered most of the sky. It wouldn't let much light through, should there be any light from the sky. It was as if the forest itself was trying to bury the mansion and hide every little remnant of it.

"They said there was a fire here," Minho said out-loud as they walked closer. His eyes traveled around their surroundings, never stopping.

"It must have been something else," Hyunjin added and Minho hummed. "There's... there's so much here."

"Can you hear anything?" Felix asked, his question directed at Hyunjin.

Hyunjin shook his head. "I can't hear anything like Minho. I could hear it before but now... Nothing. I can feel that something is off."

"I can't hear much either," Minho said after a moment. "It's like the forest is trying to suffocate everything here." He licked his lips. "The forest around here has suffered... It's still suffering but it won't reveal why."

"That's weird," Hyunjin mused.

They continued to walk in silence, the moss crunching softly under their feet. None of them spoke as they reached the crumbled remains of the wall. It seemed to have been a low wall. An icy wind blew past them, chilling Felix to the core and that emptiness that had struck him before returned. He felt cold inside for a moment as his emotions grew numb. He didn't feel scared for a moment. The silver light grew stronger as he blankly stared at the ruins.

"Felix?" Chan said, snapping Felix out of his daze. The silver light flickered and Felix turned to look at Chan, breath shuddering as he exhaled. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," Felix whispered. He still felt somewhat numb.

"What do we do now?" Jeongin asked carefully, looking between everyone in the group.

"Let's split up," Seungmin said, speaking up for the first time in a while before taking a deep breath as he glanced around the ruins. "The mansion is huge and the best way to cover the most ground is to split up." He glanced over the group. "If we go two and two we should be alright."

"I don't think splitting up is a good idea," Chan said carefully, also looking around. He turned to face Seungmin. "What if Dongyul's soldiers have caught up and are already here?"

"They haven't," Seungmin said, seemingly convinced. He took a deep breath, eyes narrowing on Chan. "I just know they haven't." His voice was trembling ever so slightly.