“Preateritum? I have never heard that name before. Who were they?” Charly asked as he hopped down from the wagon.

  “The Preateritum…” I hesitated, not still believing my eyes as I looked down at the fortress down below. “The Preateritum are not something that would be recorded in the church records. Their existence is extremely confidential. They were a massive empire that spanned thousands of realms long before either the first Archdemon or the First Division. Except for the couple ruins we found belonging to them, very little is known about who they were. If this fortress really is one of theirs… just the historical value alone is enough for someone to buy an entire well-developed planet.”

  “It is really something that incredible?” Charly asked.

  Donte jumped up with a big grin and put an arm around my shoulders. “Does this mean I win the bet? I found the Fortress and it is not recorded in the church records.” I frowned and pinched Donte’s arm, pulling it off my shoulders. Donte yelped, but his smile remained as he rubbed his arm. “That means you owe me twice now.”

  I glowered at Donte for a moment before ignoring him. I reluctantly turned away from the fortress and faced my dad. “We need to get down there. Are you capable of using your ice to create a path down?”

  My dad hesitated as he glanced down at the deep void below. “I have never tried creating anything like that before… I don’t think it will be safe.”

  “Unless someone has a better idea, I need you to try.”

  My dad paused as he looked from me to the fortress. After some internal debate, he grimaced and nodded. My dad walked to the edge of the chasm and closed his eyes. the bracer on his arm began to glow but before my dad could do anything the ground under our feet began to shake.

  Down below us, the fortress began to shine with a pale blue light and I felt my blood turn cold as the color drained from my face. “Everyone back away!” I shouted as I grabbed Charly and Donte and pulled them away from the cliff’s edge.

  All but the single horse attached to the mercenaries’ wagon fled as the shaking got worse and I felt the rock under my feet begin to crack. I did not even get three steps before the ground under my feet started to crumble and disappear. I felt my stomach rise up to my chest as a feeling of weightlessness overcame me.

  I was falling into the void below. My mom, my dad, Donte, Charly, the mercenaries, and even the wagons were all caught in the landslide of rock and tumbled into the abyss.

  The wind whipped at my hair and I heard Charly screaming as I watched the ground quickly getting closer and closer. For all my power and all my experiences across my two lives, at this moment I truly had no idea what to do. If only I was strong enough to use my domain, then I would be able to fly and at the very least save my family, but no matter how much I wished and regretted it, I did not have enough power to do anything.

  Unable to think of any way out as the ground steadily approached, I grabbed hold of Charly and held him close. I hugged him as tight as I could, shut my eyes, and angled my body so that it would be under his when we crashed into the ground.

  I expected pain. I expected to be dashed against the ground and turned into a splatter on the stone floor. I expected… something, but nothing happened.

  I blinked a few times as my eyes opened and I looked around in confusion. Charly was no different as he glanced around. Donte floated by, looking like he was swimming as he had a look of amazement towards the nearby Preateritum ruin. We were still falling, just falling incredibly slowly. Surrounding each of our bodies was the same light that radiated from the fortress and caused the cliff’s collapse.

  As light as a feather, each of us slowly floated down to the ground. It took me a second to collect myself as I felt the firm stone under my feet. From the corner of my eye, I saw my dad put away a stack of protection glyphs he had been prepared to use in desperation. My mom was still holding onto him even just as I had been holding onto Charly. I felt my legs shake as I tried to take a step, only for me to collapse backwards into Charly.

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  “Are you ok?” Charly asked in concern as he supported my weight.

  I nodded silently as I took a few deep breaths. Suddenly, I turned and hugged Charly around his neck. Tears ran down my face as I buried my head in his shirt. Not once since my rebirth had I ever been felt so powerless. Death meant nothing to me, but if anything happened to my family, I would never be able to forgive myself.

  Charly placed a hand on my head as I continued to cry. It took a couple minutes before I was able to collect myself and wipe away my tears. My face flushed with embarrassment as I pushed myself away and saw almost everyone staring at me.

  “This is why you never travel underground!” I heard the mercenary, Habil, mumble nervously.

  Clenching my fists, I pretended as if I had not just spent the past few minutes acting like a child and turned towards the nearby  Preateritum fortress. Now up close, I was able to get a proper look at the magnificent structure. Throughout my entire time among the Thirteen Divisions, I had only seen two intact Preateritum ruins. Both of those ruins had been masterworks of architecture and this one did not disappoint.

  Four tall towers reached up into the chasm connected by a dome covered in what I had originally thought to be battlements but now looked more like covered balconies. The white stonework did not have a single seem. It looked like it was all expertly carved out of a single piece of stone. Faint blue light pulsed from thin lines just under the surface of the stone. It reminded me of veins on a body and made the fortress feel alive. It felt as if each pulse of light was a heartbeat.

  In front of us, large doors taller than a dozen men stood open, waiting patiently for us to approach. The same geometric symbol was carved onto both of them, glowing with that bright blue light.

  “What do we do now?” my dad whispered as he stared up at the monolith in front of us.

  “Since we are invited, we might as well go inside,” I said with an almost too casual shrug as I tried to hide my lack of knowledge on this subject.

  “Invited? Is there someone inside?” Donte asked as he ran up to the large doors towering over us.

  “We are about to find out,” I replied as I followed Donte towards the entrance of the looming structure. I peered through the open doors, hesitating for a moment before stepping inside. Past the doors was an extravagant hall polished hardwood flooring. The walls were covered in the same veins pulsing blue light as outside the fortress. Tall pillars reached up, not into a ceiling, but rather flowing clouds that gave the impression that they could start raining at any moment. At the center of the entrance hall was a semi-circular table facing the entrance with eight empty chairs.

  The eye-catching thunderclouds inside gave me some cause for concern, but I did not see any immediate danger. Taking a deep breath, I stepped through the entrance. I waited for a moment. When nothing happened, I waved everyone else inside.

  Donte was the first to dash past me as he looked around the grand hall in amazement. He was transfixed on the ceiling of flowing clouds for a time before he ran over towards the large table that faced the entrance. “This place is incredible! How rich do you think these people were to have a place like this?”

  “Do not touch anything!” I shouted, stopping Donte from leaping into one of the chairs, “I know nothing about what kind of place this was. Until we know more, do not do anything unnecessary.”

  Donte froze and nodded. He was about to return to my side when the last of the mercenaries hesitantly entered the giant structure. The moment everyone was inside, the doors slammed closed behind us. There was a moment of panic as a few of the mercenaries tried to beat at the door, but the entrance did not budge. There was no handle on the inside of the door, and no other visible way to open it. One of the mercenaries pulled out his axe and his skin had a bronze shine as he hit the door with all his might. Not a single scratch was left on the stone.

  I frowned as I looked around the grand chamber. Other than the doors closing, nothing had changed. The building was completely silent. Against the walls, I spotted a total of eight smaller doors that probably led to different sections of the fortress.

  My mom narrowed her eyes as she looked around the empty chamber with caution. Her hand moved to the hilt of her blade. “What kind of legacy is this? Why would this place trap us inside?”

  “I don’t know,” I whispered as I continued to observe the room for any changes.

  When nothing else happened, everyone except for Habil started calming down. Only when Esben threatened to knock the man out, did Habil finally begin to calm down as well. Everyone was still tense, but there was no immediate danger.

  Clenching my fists, I turned to address everyone. “No matter what, we need to stick together. I know very little about what dangers might exist here. Until we are absolutely sure that it is safe, touch nothing! Stay calm and cautious and we will get out of here without any problems.”

  I made sure that each and every person agreed before taking a deep breath and moving deeper into the fortress.