Chapter 1809

"SOL!"

"I’M HERE!"

His voice came from below, much farther away now.

Then another sound followed.

A soft, rhythmic tapping.

Three taps.

A pause.

Three more.

Jude stared into the darkness.

The tapping continued.

Three.

Pause.

Three.

It was coming from somewhere beneath Sol.

Layla slowly raised the lantern.

"That’s not the platform."

Serena looked at her.

"What do you mean?"

"The sound is coming from the walls. From much deeper."

"Can you understand it?" Sophie asked.

Layla shook her head.

"No. But I’ve seen that pattern before."

She pointed towards the stone wall.

The silver lines had rearranged themselves.

The three curved lines of the symbol were no longer separate. They had joined into a continuous spiral, and at the centre of each carving was a tiny glowing point.

Layla moved closer.

"Look."

Beneath the largest symbol, a new line had appeared.

It was made of tiny marks, arranged in a row.

Jude had never seen those markings before.

Layla traced them with her eyes.

"It’s writing."

"Can you read it?" Serena asked.

"Not all of it."

"What can you read?"

Layla hesitated.

Then she spoke slowly.

"Thirteen... bound."

The others looked at her.

"Thirteen what?" Scarlet asked.

Layla continued studying the markings.

"Thirteen bound... one remembered..."

The final symbols were obscured by a thick layer of dust.

She brushed them gently.

A sudden vibration travelled through the wall.

Layla pulled her hand away.

The inscription changed.

The tiny marks rearranged themselves, one after another, as though an invisible hand were rewriting them.

A new sentence appeared.

Layla stepped backwards.

"What does it say?" Jude demanded.

She swallowed.

"It says..."

The chamber shook.

A stone slab slid out from the wall beside them, revealing a narrow opening.

From somewhere inside came a rush of cold air.

And with it came a smell that none of them recognised.

It was faintly sweet, like flowers left too long in a closed room, mixed with the scent of wet earth.

Scarlet raised her lantern towards the opening.

"Please tell me that’s another way out."

Layla stared at the newly revealed passage.

"No."

"How can you be so certain?"

"Because there is writing above it."

Jude looked up.

The same symbols were carved into the stone.

But beneath them was a single word.

Layla read it aloud.

"Remember."

The tapping stopped.

For a few moments, nobody moved.

Then Sol’s voice came from below.

"Jude?"

Jude immediately turned towards the shaft.

"I’m here!"

"There’s a door."

"What?"

"There’s a door down here."

Jude tightened his grip on the rope.

"Don’t open it."

"But it’s already open."

The words were followed by a strange echo.

Not Sol’s voice.

Something else.

A whisper travelled up the shaft, so faint that Jude almost mistook it for the movement of air.

It sounded like someone repeating his name.

"Jude..."

He looked at Serena.

She had heard it too.

"Sol?" Jude called.

"I’m here."

"Was that you?"

"No."

A second whisper rose from below.

This time, it was clearer.

"Jude... remember..."

The lantern flames flickered.

Sophie stepped closer to Jude.

"That’s enough. We need to get out and return with proper equipment."

"We can’t leave him here."

"We’re not leaving him. We’re finding a safe way down."

Jude looked at the shaft, then at the newly opened passage.

The rope was too short to reach the platform. Even if they had enough rope, the unstable ledge made it impossible to lower someone safely.

They needed another route.

Layla was already examining the passage.

"There’s a staircase."

The others turned.

Inside the narrow opening, a series of steps descended into darkness.

The staircase was carved directly into the mountain, its edges worn smooth by time. Unlike the chamber they had entered, this passage appeared to have been used repeatedly.

Serena lifted her lantern.

"I don’t like this."

"Neither do I," Layla said.

"Then we should leave."

Layla looked back at the shaft.

"If this passage leads beneath the platform, it may be the only way to reach Sol."

Jude nodded.

"We go together."

Sophie immediately objected.

"No. Someone must remain here with the rope."

"Then I’ll stay," Scarlet said.

"You’re coming with us," Serena replied. "We don’t know what is down there."

"And we don’t know what might happen up here."

They looked at one another.

Finally, Sophie made a decision.

"Scarlet and I will stay near the entrance. Serena, Layla and Jude will explore the passage. We keep the rope connected between us. If anything happens, we pull three times."

Jude nodded.

"Agreed."

Scarlet didn’t look particularly pleased, but she accepted it.

"Just bring the boy back."

"We will," Jude promised.

He took one lantern and stepped into the passage.

Serena followed, with Layla behind her.

The staircase descended in a slow spiral. At first, the steps were narrow, and the walls pressed close around them. But after several turns, the passage widened into a corridor.

The walls were covered in carvings.

Not just the three-line symbol.

There were images of trees, rivers, mountains and an enormous circular shape surrounded by thirteen smaller figures.

Jude stopped.

"That’s us."

Serena examined the carvings.

"Thirteen figures."

Layla moved closer.

The figures were arranged around a central circle. Each one held a small symbol in its hands.

Some of the symbols resembled the markings they had found around the island.

Others were unfamiliar.

At the centre of the circle was a large carving of the island itself.

Jude stared at it.

The shape was unmistakable.

The mountains were in the north. The river flowed towards the eastern fields. The western meadow was represented by a wide patch of carved grassland.

Even the village appeared in the drawing.

But there was something wrong.

The island in the carving was much larger than the one they knew.

Its coastline extended far beyond their beaches. A vast forest covered the eastern side, and a chain of mountains stretched across the southern horizon.

"Was the island always this large?" Serena whispered.

Jude shook his head.

"No."

Layla examined the lower portion of the carving.