Silent Vale

The afternoon sun hung low over Silent Vale a quiet valley carved between ancient cracked mountains that seemed too old to remember their own names. A thin mist drifted lazily above the grass and gave the world a pale shimmer as if it were only half awake. Mira Lorne tightened the straps on her expedition pack and squinted toward the horizon where a forgotten ruin waited like a held breath. For three nights in a row she had dreamed of it glowing beneath the earth calling her. She did not know why. She only knew she had to go.

Mira was twenty six restless and sharp minded with an uncanny instinct for hidden truths. She had spent most of her life drifting from one archaeological dig to another always feeling as if she were searching for something she could not yet name. Her father had disappeared when she was a child during an expedition in a nearby region leaving only scattered notes about an artifact believed to bend memory itself. The Vale was the last point mentioned in his journal. Mira had grown up with that journal pressed under her pillow believing it held the faint echo of his last steps.

When she reached the mouth of the valley she realized she was not alone. A figure leaned against a tall stone marker chipped with age. He was tall with copper toned skin messy dark hair and eyes that carried storms in them. He straightened when he saw her.

I assume you are the one who sent that request notice to the guild he said.

I never sent anything Mira replied cautious already reaching to the side of her boot where her small blade was sheathed.

Then he frowned. That is odd. The request was signed under your name.

He introduced himself as Jalen Rook a freelance field specialist known for solving complicated ruins and equally complicated secrets. Mira had heard of him. His reputation was brutal and brilliant in equal measure. She studied him not yet trusting but with the lingering sense that someone wanted them in the valley together. She disliked being manipulated.

I do not need help Mira said.

You will in the Vale Jalen replied with a voice steady and annoyingly calm. Something is wrong here. The air is pulling inward.

She opened her mouth to argue but as soon as she stepped deeper into the valley she felt it. A sinking cold like the world curled inward on itself. The grass bent slightly as if a silent wind was blowing downward instead of across. The mist grew heavier around them and the once gentle landscape felt like a great beast quietly watching.

Fine she muttered. Stay close and stay out of my way.

They walked in uneasy silence through the valley. The ground trembled faintly beneath their boots like a quiet heartbeat. Birds refused to enter the area and the wind outside the valley walls did not dare pass through. It felt sealed by something ancient.

They reached the ruin an enormous stone arch half submerged in the earth. Carvings swirled across its surface like frozen waves meeting at the center where a hollow dark opening waited. Mira stepped forward her heart racing unexpectedly. She pressed her palm against the stone. A faint warmth pulsed beneath the surface and a whisper brushed the back of her mind. Her breath hitched.

Did you hear something Jalen asked.

No she lied though she knew he could see the truth in her eyes.

They entered the ruin. The inside stretched much farther than the structure should allow an impossible corridor lined with tall reflective walls. The reflections flickered showing not their current selves but shadows of their memories. Mira watched a scene from her childhood replay across the glimmering stone her father kneeling beside a campfire pointing at the stars. She froze.

Jalen looked too. That is your father.

Mira stepped away fast. It is not real. It is a projection. This place manipulates memory.

Jalen faced his own reflection. It showed him standing over a city in flames his hands covered in soot and regret. His jaw clenched. He quickly turned away.

Do not look at them Mira warned. Do not acknowledge anything.

But the ruin was relentless. Each step forward deepened the pull on their minds. The corridor vibrated low as if humming with something hungry. The deeper they traveled the more Mira felt her father’s presence tugging her onward. She hated herself for wanting to follow it.

They reached a wide chamber lit by a strange pale glow. In the center stood a tall spire of crystallized stone wrapped in thin ribbons of dark energy that swirled like slow smoke. At the top of the spire hovered a small spherical object faintly pulsing. Mira’s breath stopped. The artifact her father had written about.

Jalen approached but an invisible force pushed him back.

It reacts to you he said staring at Mira. Not me.

She stepped toward the spire. The smoky tendrils shifted almost gently curling around her like familiar hands. Mira reached up but stopped inches away her heart pounding. The artifact pulsed in sync with her pulse as if greeting her.

Then a voice whispered behind her mind. Mira.

She staggered. It was her father’s voice. Soft. Warm. Impossible.

You are close Mira. Just reach for it.

Her eyes filled with tears she had not expected. She shook her head. You are not real.

The voice persisted. Touch it. I am waiting.

Jalen watched her carefully sensing something he could not see. Mira this place feeds on memory. Whatever you are hearing it is not him. It is what you want most and that makes it dangerous.

She wanted to agree but the voice felt too real. Too familiar. Her father had said those words to her once when teaching her how to climb a tall cliff reach for it Mira you are doing fine. The memory wrapped around her like warm arms she had missed for years.

She reached.

The moment her fingertips brushed the artifact the entire chamber erupted in blinding light. The floor rippled like water and the reflective walls around them ignited with swirling visions. Her father appeared in full form stepping from the wall with kind eyes and a smile that tore open every old wound in Mira’s heart.

She collapsed to her knees trembling.

Dad.

He reached toward her. You finally found me. I never wanted to leave you.

Jalen’s instincts screamed. Mira get away from it. That is not him.

The image of her father flickered but grew stronger. He walked closer.

I am real Mira. Touch my hand.

She almost did. Every part of her wanted to sink into that comfort. She reached slowly her hand shaking violently.

Then she noticed something. The eyes. They were wrong. Her father’s eyes had always been a warm brown. These held no depth. No life. They were empty like carved glass.

Her breath caught.

You are not him she whispered.

The illusion smiled wider stretching unnaturally. Shadows spilled from its form twisting into tendrils. The artifact’s energy flared violently pulling at Mira’s mind trying to drag her into the memory.

Jalen rushed forward grabbing her shoulder and yanking her back. The illusion lunged but dissolved into mist. The chamber shook violently. The energy around the spire whipped into a storm.

We need to destroy it Mira shouted struggling to stand.

Jalen nodded. How.

Mira looked at the spire. It reacts to emotion to memory. It needs something stronger than what it feeds on. Something to break its influence.

She steadied her breath. Her father was gone. That truth had cut her for years but she felt it now with absolute clarity. She faced the artifact tears running but with a strength she had never held.

I let you go Dad.

The energy recoiled as if burned.

Jalen pulled out a heavy resonance charge from his pack. This will shatter anything built on psychic structure. But it needs to be placed at the core.

Mira nodded. She sprinted through the spiraling storm of illusions the ground shifting beneath her feet. Memory after memory clawed at her childhood laughter her father lifting her into the air her old home before everything fell apart. She forced herself through them heart aching but steady.

She reached the spire climbed it despite the energy slashing across her skin then planted the charge beside the artifact.

Jalen yelled from the ground Thirty seconds Mira move.

She jumped as the spire cracked violently. The walls shattered and unleashed a roar of chaotic memories. Mira and Jalen sprinted toward the exit as the chamber collapsed behind them. The light grew hotter brighter until

The explosion tore through the ruin releasing a wave of blinding white.

When Mira opened her eyes she was lying outside the valley on the grass. The sky was clear. The air no longer pulled inward. The Vale felt asleep again. Quiet. Natural.

Jalen groaned beside her. Well that was close.

She sat up staring at her hands quietly. The ache in her chest was softer now not gone but bearable.

It was not him she whispered.

But you faced it Jalen replied. Not many could.

She looked at him surprised by the softness in his voice.

Thank you she said.

He smiled faintly. Anytime Lorne.

They stood watching the valley fade into a harmless landscape. The artifact was gone destroyed but its echo lingered inside Mira. Not haunting. Guiding. She had faced what she feared most and walked out stronger.

Jalen adjusted his pack. So what now.

Mira exhaled slowly. Now I keep searching. Not for him. For myself.

Jalen nodded. Then I suppose I will come with you until you no longer need the help you claim you do not need.

She laughed a small sound but real.

Together they walked away from Silent Vale the sun warm on their backs the world wide open ahead of them and for the first time in a very long time Mira felt ready for whatever waited.