Valery

Valery headed toward the ruins, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword; he was tense, yet cold.

The snow creaked beneath his boots, compressing under the weight of his body. He entered the building, looked around briefly, and continued further. He didn't need a map; he had learned these ruins inside out from the descriptions.

Outside, where a blizzard was currently raging, it was evening, and because of that, it was dark and quiet inside the building. As he walked through the corridors, he noted every small detail so that he could easily navigate them later.

Entering the main hall, he couldn't help but admire its beauty. Truly elegant architecture, magnificent columns that, under the weight of decades, stood just as unwavering as they did in their youth. However, deciding not to linger, Valery headed toward the altar. There, like a bud untouched by time, lay a flower on the carved white stone. It was an intriguing sight, beautiful, and he felt an urge to touch it, but he restrained that impulse.

Then, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a silhouette in the corridor out of the corner of his eye. Valery turned around, tensing up slightly more, and when he shifted his gaze back—that shadow was already reaching for the flower. Whether it was a man or a woman in robes, they were stretching their hand toward the crimson bud.

He reached out to grab the person, but he wasn't fast enough. The person opposite him took the flower, and when Valery tried to snatch it away, they stepped back, preventing him from taking the ancient artifact.

However, after a few more moments of this game of cat and mouse, he finally managed to grab the bud by the stem. Suddenly, everything seemed to slow down; the bud bloomed into a crimson flower, and then a flash of bright light occurred.

When he opened his eyes, he felt a new sensation near his heart. When Valery looked down, he suddenly discovered that the place where his heart should be was glowing with a muted red light.

When he looked up, he saw a similar sight before him. Only now, looking at this person, an equally strange tremor appeared in his chest. Apparently, this ancient artifact, which he had been ordered to protect, had done something to them.