Noah leapt up with his lance brandished at the horrible sound of wailing. It wasn’t only him, his tamed monsters, and Thraz stood up at attention. Bearing their fangs at the sudden noises.

Not only was the crying close-by, just outside of the building, but it was also a distance away. It most likely covered the entire city.

Glancing nervously at Pillow, Noah asked, “What the hell is that?”

“It’s the cries of the city's victims,” Pillow said, curled up in a ball in the corner of the room. His shoulders were tense as he listened to the cries all around him.

“The victims?” Noah continued, “Just what the hell happened here?”

“I don’t know! I can’t look into the damned past, can I?” Pillow snarled with his low temper. “All I know is that there are ghosts in this place. Visible ghosts, I mean. Some sit in their homes, while others do whatever they did in their past lives. As if they are still living.”

Noah thought for a second. There must be a reason behind it.

“What about the castle behind the city?” Noah relaxed his arms as he placed his lance on the wall. In arms reach so that he could grab it in a hurry.

“Not sure.” Pillow shrugged. “That was my first destination in mind. Think about the treasure in that place! But it’s locked away. No one can enter.”

“What about scaling the walls?”

“I’ve already tried that. You think I wouldn't? I’ve tried everything!” Pillow scoffed. “From burrowing under it, over it, to trying to find a secret entrance. But there seems to be some sort of mystical arts surrounding the walls like a stupid barrier. Touch it, and a deep chill takes hold of your body. I know that from experience, you know.”

“Alright,” Noah paused. “But there must be another way. Nothing is truly impenetrable.”

He didn’t used to think that way. After all, there were some near inescapable prisons back on Earth. But after discovering the hidden entrance to the Birthright Castle, Noah was certain that there had to be another way in.

“Are you crazy?” Pillow slammed his fist on the hard brick floor. “There’s something hiding in that place. If it was my guess, then that’s where all this weird shit began.”

“And yet you still wanted to enter?”

Pillow grumbled. “Well, I won’t say no to a payday. But that doesn’t mean I don’t understand the risks involved. For a tall human and an even larger lizard–”

“I’m not a lizard.” Thraz stomped.

“You are, what else would you be?”

“I am a mighty dragonborn, descended of Bor!” Thraz tightened his grip around his blood stained axe.

“Yeah, one with lizard skin!” Pillow stood up and postured forward against the mighty dragonborn.

“Alright guys, give it a rest will you?” Noah sighed, standing up, and standing in between the two creatures.

Pillow grumbled and returned back to his corner, while Thraz humphed, sitting on the small stool looking severely out of place.

After Noah’s interruption, an awkward silence pervaded the small room. Well, it would have been silent if not for the wailing that screeched against Noah’s ear drums, or the sharp clanging of metal against something solid.

He didn’t know what it was, but he just hoped to hell that it wasn’t monstrous footsteps.

Despite that, he got used to it after a while, and finally he was able to think. The construction of the house was strange. It wasn’t just the architectural design that the residents or the lord had gone for, but the general construction of it.

It was a huge room, but the residents of the city clearly weren’t of giant stature. If the seats were anything to go by, then they were made for regular human size; like himself.

That led him to his next point.

What did they need such a big room for? And the fact that it was only a singular room only made it more peculiar.

Following the size, were the heavy metal window shutters. They were so heavy, and thick, because they had to endure the storms battering ram-like winds. But if the residents were normal humans, then it would require a team of them to shut them. If they were caught off guard by the winds, then they would need an army to shut it.

But after thinking for a few hours, Noah couldn’t deduce why the buildings were so unusual. Maybe it was just a design choice. After all, Noah wasn’t exactly an expert in construction.

Not that the damned building System with his house taught him anything either.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Noah stopped the pointless thoughts of construction and retreated to the bed. He pushed against it, but realised that it was just a ragged piece of fabric over a flexible board of wood. Despite that, it was far better than sleeping on the cold, hard bricks.

It didn’t help that the material was always cold and damp, even with the fire going all night.

It wasn’t long before his eyes grew heavy and he entered slumberland. All he could hear was the crying of hundreds of ghosts, and a cold that never seemed to go away, even with his Stat enhanced body. Then it got colder.

“Follow the wind, for where the wind blows, the path opens to a new horizon.”

The cold voice was fleeting as it pressed up against Noah’s shoulders. It was so cold that a deep shiver caught his body in a sharp tremble.

Waking up with a start, Noah furiously rubbed his eyes as he looked around in a panic. Pillow was opening the door as the storm had long passed, while Thraz was waiting impatiently for it to open.

Krall and Gluttony had realised that Noah was awake. They craned their heads from the floor, gazing at Noah in confusion at his fight or flight response.

What the hell was that? Noah frowned as he remembered the feminine words. Where the wind blows? It didn’t make sense.

Shaking his head, Noah walked out of the room, and gazed across the city. Not one building had fallen from the intense winds, not even a brick was out of place. Whoever had created them, must have been a well experienced builder.

Thraz pushed past Noah, and quickly hurried into a nearby alleyway. Most likely having to relieve himself.

Noah would have usually smiled at the humorous appearance of a mighty dragonborn running with a hunched back in desperation, but his mind was occupied.

He found himself mindlessly wandering around the city in a haze. Now and then his eyes would shift from building to building. Some of them had their huge metal windows shut, while others remained open loosely.

Most likely that was the culprit of the incessant banging across the city.

Krall stood at the front as he remained cautious. Pillow had said that monsters lurked in the dark recesses of the city, but Noah had yet to encounter one.

Gluttony was busy chasing and leaping onto his shadow. It turned out that although he had grown an enormous amount since he was a little pup, his mind was still juvenile.

“Follow the wind, for where the wind blows, the path opens to a new horizon,” Noah said with his fingers pinched around his chin.

Then he stopped. Noah had somehow walked around the city, and finished up at the pier. Hundreds of ships lined the hard wooden platforms, floating in the gentle tide.

And at the end of the pier stood dozens of green spectral images. Most of them were waving their hands toward the oceans with frantic expressions on their ghostly faces. However, there was one lady who was separated from the group.

She stood facing Noah, or to be more accurate, the city itself. Tears streamed down past the corners of her eyes.

What the hell?

Although Noah was apprehensive about the strange ghosts, curiosity got the best of him. Besides, Pillow didn’t say that they were dangerous; only that a strange cold appeared.

Maybe he was visited by one of the residents during his sleep? It was the only deduction he could come to with the evidence he was given. Well, the evidence was right in front of him.

Noah plucked up the courage and decided to face the ghosts head on. If they were capable of speech, then he wanted to know what happened to the city. He needed to know because if something had turned them this way, killed them, Noah hoped it wasn’t a recurring event…

Approaching the ghosts, Krall, and Gluttony were on high alert.

Now that he was closer, he was able to get a good look of the ghostly woman. Her hair was dishevelled, almost looking to be burnt as half lay on her shoulder, and half was behind her back. In fact, it was the same for all the others

At first Noah thought it was a result of burning, but looking closer, it seemed to be their natural hair.

The lone woman wore a nice two-piece dress, with tight jewellery hugging her neck, and arms. They were rich people, with large homes and sturdy homes to survive the tough storms, and none of them looked to be starved.

“What happened to you?”

Noah peered into the woman's translucent eyes. She couldn’t hear him despite his targeted words.

Turning around, Noah followed her frozen gaze until his vision settled onto the enormous castle walls that Noah could see from the other island.

The monstrous walls instilled a sense of lonely dread, it was as if they were created to keep out the worst horrors of the world. To create a safe haven for the Lord’s people.

“You must free us–”

Goosebumps covered Noah’s flesh as he quickly faced the woman. Her vision was still locked onto the walls, but her voice was unmistakable. It was the voice he had heard during his dreams.

“How do I free you?” Noah asked, but even after standing for a full twenty minutes, the woman refused to speak again.

This place is giving me the heebejeebies.

Sighing, Noah was about to leave the docks when he noticed a peculiar sight. One even more strange than a group of wailing spirits.

On the end of a dock, was a lone fisherman.

At first Noah was going to ignore him. But the man was whistling. While everyone around him was crying, and in fear of their lives from whatever was about to consume them, he was enjoying himself without a care in the world.

Walking over, Noah got a good look at him. A straw hat, and a long luscious beard. Unlike the others, he didn’t have the same burnt hair appearance. He looked… Human. Just like Noah.

Whatever, this entire place is like a fever dream.

Noah turned once more. He couldn’t wait to get off the damned pier.

“Is it the castle you seek, boy?”

Noah frowned, then dashed to the front of the old fisherman. Squinting his eyes, Noah inspected the busy man. Only for the old man to move his eyes from the water where no fish were biting, directly at Noah.

Flinching backwards, Noah shouted, “You can see me?”

“Why yes, I can,” the fisherman said, “Mighty ugly, if I may add.”

Noah ignored the comment as he stared at the fisherman with his mouth open wide.