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“Are you sure this is the right way?” asked Talia, her voice barely audible over the howling wind.

Jax, who was a few steps ahead of her, turned around and cupped his hand to his ear. “What?”

Talia sighed. “I said, are you sure this is the right way?”

Jax nodded and pointed towards the horizon. “The ruins should be just beyond that ridge.”

“How can you tell?” she asked as she squinted into the distance.

He shrugged. “I just can.”

Talia rolled her eyes. Jax had always been like that – confident and self-assured, even when he didn’t have any reason to be. It was one of the things that had drawn her to him when they were kids.

She shook off her thoughts and trudged through the snow towards Jax, pulling her fur-lined cloak tighter around herself as she went. The two of them had been travelling together for weeks now, ever since they’d found each other in that abandoned village. They were both orphans with nowhere else to go, so they’d decided to stick together.

At first it had been fine – they’d kept each other company as they made their way through the desolate landscape – but lately things had started to change between them. There was a tension in the air whenever they were together, like something was about to happen but neither of them knew what it was.

They reached the top of the ridge and looked out over what lay beyond: a vast expanse of nothingness stretching out before them as far as the eye could see. It was hard to believe that this place had once been home to thousands of people – now there was nothing left but crumbling buildings and empty streets.

Jax’s eyes scanned the area until he spotted what he was looking for: a small cluster of buildings nestled at the foot of a mountain in the distance. “There it is,” he said, pointing.

Talia followed his gaze and nodded. “Let’s go.”

They started down the ridge, careful not to slip on the ice, and made their way towards the ruins. As they got closer, Talia noticed that something was off – there was a strange energy in the air that made her skin crawl.

“Do you feel that?” she asked Jax.

He nodded. “Yeah.”

They reached the edge of the ruins and stopped to take in their surroundings. The place was even more eerie up close – everything was covered in a thick layer of frost, and there were icicles hanging from every surface.

Suddenly, there was movement out of the corner of Talia’s eye. She turned just in time to see a figure disappearing into one of the buildings.

“Did you see that?” she asked Jax.

He nodded. “Yeah.”

They exchanged a look and then cautiously approached the building where they’d seen the figure disappear. Jax pushed open the door and stepped inside, with Talia right behind him.

The inside of the building was just as cold as outside, if not colder. They could see their breath as they looked around, but there was no sign of anyone else being there.

“That’s weird,” said Talia.

Jax nodded in agreement. He walked over to one of the walls and ran his hand along it, causing some of the frost to crumble away.

As he did so, a loud rumbling noise filled the air, causing them both to jump back in surprise. They watched in awe as a hidden compartment opened up in the wall where Jax had been touching it, revealing an ancient-looking staff lying inside.

Jax picked up the staff and examined it closely – it was made of some kind of dark wood that felt warm to touch, with intricate carvings all along its length.

“This must be it,” he said, his voice filled with wonder.

Talia nodded. “Yeah.”

Just then, there was a flash of light and a figure appeared in front of them. It was an old man with a long white beard and a tattered cloak that billowed around him as if caught in an invisible wind.

“Finally,” the man said, his voice filled with relief. “I’ve been waiting for someone to find that staff for centuries.”

Jax and Talia exchanged a look. “Who are you?” Jax asked.

The man smiled. “My name is Merlin, and I have a proposition for you.”