I lead us down the same path Freki took to get to the building. He greeted us at the entrance, his tail leaving scorch marks along the stone.

“Wulf!”

“Good boy. Return to my shadow for now, I don’t trust this place,” I said after scratching behind his ears.

Freki barked and dived between my feet. Alice pulled out her axe and ran her hands along the stone door.

“It’s smooth,” she said.

“Take a look inside. It’s toward the back.”

She slipped between the doors and stopped at the entrance. There was plenty of daylight but I conjured a light orb and held it high to expose the intricate carvings on the walls.

“That’s…”

I turned to Alice who was slowly walking toward the center, staring up at the three statues.

“So I’m not crazy? That looks like him, and that’s Nameless?”

On the left, was a statue of a man flanked by two wolves on each side. The wolves came to his chest, while he stood with a slight hunch. Draped over his shoulders was a ratty cloak while he remained barefoot and with torn pants.

And there no mistaking the face. It was an exact replica of Grim including the intense stare from his eyes that was inlaid with gemstones of some kind. The sunlight bounced off the crystals, letting a dazzling array of yellows and oranges twinkle like flames of a fire.

On the right, was a woman, young and beautiful with a similar cloak to Grim’s. But on her shoulder was a raven, and her eyes were that of deep coal. Unlike the first statue, whatever was inlaid into the eyesockets seemed to absorb light, pulling it in in a way that left the air distorted around it.

Despite my suspicion, I couldn’t see any signs of mana from the statues. Not even near the woman’s eyes.

But between the two, sitting on a throne of solid rock, was Nameless. He looked like Rock-splitter, but the height wasn't an exact match, and the eyes were shaped the same. He wasn’t naked like he was in the cave–rather he was dressed in an open robe exposing his chest, adorned with stars.

“There’s a crown on the Keeper’s head,” Alice said.

“He said he was stripped of name, and his land. Maybe he was king?”

We stopped at the base of the statues, the fine hairs of the wolves giving the statues the impression that they could come to life at any second.

“The Prime is holding an axe.”

“It doesn’t look like much of a weapon.”

She shook her head. “It’s not. It’s a felling axe.”

“A what?”

“For cutting wood. You don’t need a beard if your aiming at a tree.”

I’m surprised he uses a weapon at all. Then again, maybe that’s not what it’s mean to represent. But the idea of Grim being the kind of guy going around helping people chop firewood doesn’t fit in the slightest.

I pointed to the right statue. “Do you recognize her?”

“No. But she’s wearing a cloak. She’s probably a Grimm.”

“So what does this mean? That Grimm used to be part of this city and worshipped alongside Nameless and this woman? This is a church, or at least looks like a church. And it’s the only building left untouched. Why?”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

At the base of the statues was a plaque. There were the impressions of letters, three separate lines. But someone had gouged out the words, carving deep furrows into the metal. Based off the three statues and three lines, it looked like names. That or titles.

Nameless… ‘Stripped of his name.’ I guess he meant literally.

Alice circled the statues and then went toward the wall. She conjured a light orb of her own and traced the carvings.

“Here. It tells a story. It starts with a barren land, then there’s Nameless.”

“He’s surrounded by trees and then… monsters?”

The carvings displayed a vast forest with crude eyes poking from underneath the flora. Some creatures peeked from behind the trees, displaying wings and long claws.

“And there are wolves.” She stopped next to a crowded portion where the wolves were gathered, surrounding a bunch of monsters. “I think these are Grimms. They’re hunting them. Wouldn’t be the first time we’ve been painted as an actual wolf.”

We reached the end of the mural and switched to the other half of the room. Again it showed Nameless, but it wasn’t wolves cornering the monsters. Instead it was women, each one with long dresses and cloaks with exaggerated slits for eyes. The biggest carving of the bunch showed one woman extending her arms. One reached for the moon above, and the other was pushing back a furry beast with three legs. What looked like string, dripped from the moon and bound the beast together, with the last carving showing a a box with four pillars and chains attached, with a crystal at the peak.

“So maybe the woman isn’t a Grimm? Come to think of it… Nameless said ‘Imprisoned by a coward of a wolf and chained by the husk of a witch,’ So these were… witches?”

I cut the incantation and lowered my hand. This whole place left me with more questions regarding Grim, and our history here, but we had to get back to the hunt.

I committed the carvings to memory, hoping to rely on the increase in my mental stats to recreate them for Astra. She might be able to find information on this place.

Wait. There was the woman, and the person who whispered to me before I entered the portal. They knew about the Keeper, so maybe they know about this city.

“Are you ready to head out?” I asked.

“Cain. Over here,” Alice said.

I walked to where she stood, near the base of Nameless’ statue. Her fingers were feeling the stone before she grabbed my wrist and placed it onto the statue itself.

“Feel that?

“Yeah, but why?”

The stone wasn’t cold like I expected. Even with the sunlight covering the area, the back part was shaded by the colassol monument. And it wasn’t just warm, it was warm like the remnants of a fire or an oven that was cooling down.

Yet there was still nothing that stood out to my senses, no mysterious glow or ancient runes to explain the heat.

I pulled my hand away. “Any ideas?”

“Your barrier. Carve the stone away to see what’s underneath.”

I shrugged, it was as good a plan as any. “Alright then we get out of here.”

I pictured the barrier, painting the runes and letting the shadow mana slide into place. As the portal came to life I held it closer to the stone and felt something spark against the magic.

Ookay.

As I pushed the barrier closer, the edges of portal distorted and heated air rushed upward, ruffling my cloak.

I pulled away, but a loud click echoed throughout the room. Alice grabbed onto me and we jumped back, weapons raised. But instead of a monster or devious trap, a small panel slid open revealing an ornate gilded box made of black metal and gold inlays.

Huh.

“Wasn’t expecting that. Going to push my barrier around before we touch it.”

She hefted her axe. “I’m ready.”

I waved my hand over the box, and around, even going so far as to touch the lock itself. When I pulled the incantation away, I probed the lid and found it lifting with a gentle push. It was far lighter then I expected.

As I pushed the lid back, there was another click, and this time my incantation went into overdrive as it swallowed a massive amount of mana that shot through the statues’ base. Runes appeared across the floor and ceiling, the walls melting away as flames spread like an angry swarm across the murals.

Alice snatched the box out of its cove and we sprinted for the exit. The flames consumed the tabard and a third click caused the runes to shine with bright red light.

“Freki!”

My familiar appeared beneath us and we hopped on as he bolted toward the door, jumping over one of the tapestries that fell across the pews, spreading the flames rapidly throughout the church.

Grinding from ahead, caused Alice to point of the stone double doors slowly shutting. She flattened her palm and a forceball rocketed away, exploding on the door, sending pieces of it flying.

It continued to shut but Freki dived through the hole and breached the outside.

“Keep going!”

A fourth click came with a shrill buzz. Freki charged down the streets and I looked back in time to see runes appear on the outside of the church. Before I could blink, the world shook with an explosion of flames that shot into the air and through the massive hole above.

Pieces rained down and Freki darted between the streets, stopping only after he found a suitable place to shelter–a building with a mostly intact roof.

The pieces of rubble looked like a meteor storm as it assaulted the city, destroying what little remained in an explosion of firey rock.

I groaned. “I knew something bad would happen.”