Chapter 108: Echoes Beneath The Lake

After lunch, Shay had claimed the most comfortable spot in the camp.

A makeshift hammock swayed lazily beneath the sprawling branches of an old tree beside the tent, its ropes tied securely to the thick trunk. She slept soundly, one arm hanging loosely over the edge as the afternoon breeze rocked her gently.

Inside the tent, Sandro was equally unconscious, stretched out like a boy who had decided the world could solve its problems without him for the next few hours.

Not far away, Scarlet lingered near Ares and her three godbrothers, her laughter drifting through the clearing every now and then as she tried—rather persistently—to keep their attention on her.

Lara had no desire to join them. Instead, she quietly slipped away.

The air at the edge of the camp felt different—cooler, quieter. Her gaze lifted toward the forest beyond the clearing.

Her gaze lifted slowly toward the forest, and her legs seemed to have a mind of their own.

Lara found herself walking toward it before she fully realized what she was doing.

Her steps slowed as she reached the entrance of the tree line, but her body kept moving, as though an invisible thread was gently pulling her forward.

She crossed into the forest.

The air shifted instantly. The sunlight fractured into thin golden beams between the leaves, and the sounds of the campsite faded behind her.

Her foot suddenly slipped.

“Ah—!”

Lara lost her balance and tumbled forward, landing awkwardly in a shallow depression hidden beneath fallen leaves.

The moment her foot struck the ground, something stirred.

A strange sensation spread through her chest.

Not pain, but recognition.

Her breath caught.

The feeling was subtle but undeniable, like a distant memory brushing against her consciousness.

Slowly, Lara pushed herself to her feet.

Her eyes drifted across the forest floor, scanning the ground with growing focus.

Then she took a few careful steps forward, as if following a trail only she could sense.

She walked a few paces ahead, her eyes scanning the ground.

Leaves. Moss. Fallen branches.

But then she stopped.

There. Half-buried beneath roots and soil—

A straight edge of stone. Ancient. Weathered.

Her pulse quickened.

“Could it be part of a turret?”

Lara used a stick to brush away the dirt. The stone seemed to be so big.

“Sis, what are you doing here?” Logan jumped from the rim of the depression and landed cleanly beside Lara.

“It is getting late. We need to go back.”

Lara looked up and found Ares, Liam, and Lucas looking down at her.

“I found something,” she said as she continued to dig around the stone with a stick.

“Isn’t it just a stone? What’s so special about that?” Scarlet emerged and stood closely beside Ares.

However, Ares, with a fluid movement, also jumped down and landed on the other side of Lara.

“Liam, what do you think caused this depression? The last time I was here, this didn’t exist.” Logan said as he helped remove the dirt around the stone.

“Something below shifted, and the soil caved in.” Ares calmly shared his analysis.

Liam crouched beside Lara and Logan and he help clear more soil.

At first glance it looked like nothing more than a broken boulder. But a closer look revealed chiseled lines—ancient masonry worn smooth by centuries of burial.

As Liam, Logan and Lara cleared away the loosened dirt, the shape became undeniable.

“Huh.”

He cleared more soil with his hand.

“Looks like an old foundation.”

But Lara shook her head slowly.

“No.”

Her voice was quiet. Certain.

“It is a turret.”

The rounded wall of stone emerged slowly from the ground, its blocks darkened by age and laced with creeping roots that had grown through the mortar seams.

Only a small portion was visible, and the rest of the structure remained swallowed by the earth, as if the land itself had tried to reclaim it. Moss clung to the exposed stones, and a narrow arrow slit—once meant for watchful eyes—gaped like a silent scar.

“This is a turret,” she repeated.

The words left her lips before she could stop them.

Silence fell.

Liam looked up.

“A turret? Like the turret of castles?” Logan asked.

Lara froze.

Because she had already said too much.

Ares’ voice came next. Low. Controlled.

“You sounded so sure. How exactly would you know that?”

The wind rustled the leaves above them.

Somewhere deeper in the forest, a bird suddenly took flight.

Lara lifted her eyes toward the heart of the island.

Past the trees. Past the hill. Toward the place where a manor once stood.

Where Helias once shone brightly in the morning sun.

And the strangest thing was, she could still feel the direction of it.

Like an invisible thread pulling her forward.

“I think…” she said slowly,

“…there used to be a palace here.”

Logan chuckled lightly.

“There are no records of any palace on this island.”

But Lara’s gaze remained fixed ahead.

“Yes,” she said softly. “There was.”

A pause.

Then she took a step deeper into the forest. Without hesitation.

As if she already knew the way.

Behind her, Ares did not move.

Because something about the way she walked felt deeply wrong.

Not like someone exploring an unfamiliar land.

But like someone… returning home.

And somewhere beneath the forest floor, echoes resounded.

…

The forest thickened as they moved deeper into Isla.

Branches arched overhead, weaving a canopy that filtered the sunlight into shifting patterns across the ground. Fallen leaves muffled their footsteps, and the distant cry of birds echoed somewhere above the treetops.

But Lara walked without hesitation.

Not once did she pause to search for direction.

Not once did she look uncertain.

She moved as though the island itself were whispering to her.

Logan eventually noticed.

“You’ve been here before?”

“No,” Lara replied. Her answer came too quickly. Too smoothly.

But her feet never slowed.

Ares said nothing. He simply watched her.

Every turn she made was deliberate.

Every step precise.

She avoided fallen logs before she could even see them clearly. She stepped around thick roots buried beneath the soil as though she already knew where they were.

It was subtle. But impossible to ignore.

After several minutes, the trees began to thin.

The forest opened into a wide clearing.

Or rather—

What used to be one.

Nature had reclaimed most of it. Grass and wild shrubs covered the ground, while the remains of massive stones protruded from the earth like broken bones.

The moment Lara stepped into the clearing—

She stopped.

The air felt different here. The atmosphere was heavier.

As if time itself had settled into the soil.

Her chest tightened.

Right here.

This was where it stood.

Hevenfort. Her palace. Her home.

In her mind, the clearing vanished.

And the past rose again.

Tall marble columns framed the grand entrance. Sunlight spilled across polished stone steps. The silver banners of the Gabriella Guild fluttered along the balconies above.

Scholars walked across the courtyard carrying scrolls and blueprints.

Her brother’s voice echoed somewhere in the halls.

Peridur arguing with Gideon about a design flaw.

And standing at the top of the steps—

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