The group ventured past the first shimmering portal, emerging into a sun-drenched valley where ancient ruins rose like broken bones from the earth. Vines crawled over shattered statues, and strange glyphs pulsed faintly on stone monoliths — a language long lost, yet humming with divine resonance.
"This place..." Seraphine whispered. "It's not just old. It remembers."
Lysara knelt beside a crumbling altar, her hand brushing across a sigil. Suddenly, a low rumble echoed through the valley, and a colossal figure of light and stone materialized before them — a forgotten god, or perhaps its last remaining echo.
"You walk upon sacred ground," the being intoned. "Few enter. Fewer survive."
Kael instinctively drew his blade. "We're not here to desecrate. We're here to learn."
The being's hollow eyes glowed. "Then prove your worth. Restore what was lost, and perhaps... the gods shall speak again."
A glowing path appeared in the earth, splitting into three directions: one leading into dark woods choked with mist, another into a labyrinthine canyon of jagged crystal, and the last toward a temple atop a floating mountain.
Riven turned to the others. "Multiple paths. Multiple truths. We choose our way now."
Without hesitation, they stepped forward — not just as adventurers, but as architects of fate in a world reborn.