“Whoaaaaaaa!”

They both gasped as they stood at the edge of the grand, crumbling courtyard. It was clear time had softened the edges of the old palace, with once-majestic columns now reduced to jagged stumps. Intricate carvings on the walls were faded but still visible in some places. Traces of its former glory remained intact, but overall, it was a shadow of that ancient glory.

“Hot damn! This place must’ve been incredible,” Jordan gasped, his voice laced with awe. “Look at those arches. You can still see some of the gold leafing!”

Jamal squinted at the faint traces of gold on the said arches and nodded. “Yeah… looks kinda solid even after all these years. Geez, imagine the banquets, the music, the royalty that used to walk around here. Must’ve been insane.”

“Uh-huh. What did she say the dude’s name was… Aric or something… man must have been a crazy ass mogul in those days, because this just screams extravagance!”

“Major extravagance. I bet his seat was made entirely out of gold.”

“Or better yet, I bet he got all this after a deal with the devil,” Jordan quipped.

Jamal turned and looked at him, a bit confused. “Deal with the devil?”

“Oh, you know, with all the ‘curse’ talk and all that crap,” Jordan grinned.

Jamal laughed. “I got it, I got it. Man must have sold his soul for all this, I agree.”

“Haha! Let’s see what more there is to this place.”

As they wandered deeper into the ruins, continually gawking at the sights around, Jamal nudged Jordan and pointed at a weathered wooden signpost ahead.

The letters, though faded, were still legible, with an arrow pointing in the left direction.

Go This Way

Jordan tilted his head. “’Go This Way’? Well… that’s… oddly specific.”

Jamal chuckled. “Well, who are we to ignore directions? Let’s go!”

Jordan shrugged and grinned as he followed Jamal’s giddy and followed the sign’s instructions. “Do you think this leads to some secret treasure vault?” he joked, leaping over a fallen branch.

“Who knows? Maybe it does. Or it could be… a hidden chamber with cursed artifacts!” Jamal added, grinning. “Maybe we’ll wake up some ancient ghost who demands we pay for breaking into his palace.”

The two dissolved into laughter, their voices echoing through the ruins.

They were so far down that path, that none of them noticed the letters and the arrow on the signpost slowly faded into nothingness, leaving a blank signpost.

***

As they rounded a bend, they skidded to a stop, their hearts pounding with excitement as they noticed a glint ahead.

A few steps forward, and their earlier excitement gave way to curiosity.

The glint they had seen turned out to be the reflection of a smooth, polished wall embedded in the ruins. Strange words in a different language were meticulously engraved across its surface. They squinted as they stared at the writings on the wall.

“Hmmm. This ain’t Spanish. This ain’t German. Definitely not French or Latin,” Jamal commented. “I wonder what language it is.”

Jordan frowned as he stared at it. “This… is creepy, I can’t lie,” Jordan muttered, though his lips curled into a smirk.

“Creepy?” Jamal scoffed, pulling out his phone. “It’s perfect, broski. Can you imagine Ms. High-and-Mighty Abryann’s face when she sees this?”

Jordan laughed, the thought of his crush-turned-adversary getting stunned brightening his mood. “She’d probably say we’d summon demons or something if we read it out,” he chuckled.

“Exactly. I can imagine it right now: ‘legend has it that some strange words are written on a wall, and many have ventured to read it, and disappeared without a trace. Call it hot garbage all you want, but it’s true. Stay away from it!'”

Jordan laughed out loud along with Jamal as they enjoyed the mockery of Abryann’s solemn warnings.

“Let’s give her a show,” Jamal grinned. “Some pics are in order, no?”

“But of course, man! I need some scary-looking pics for the Gram and my Snap.”

“Exactly. Here’s my phone.”

Jamal duly positioned himself in front of the wall, threw up both middle fingers, and posed dramatically. Jordan snapped a picture, cackling at Jamal’s exaggerated defiance before taking his turn.

The two giggled throughout this photoshoot, maintaining the middle finger poses as they pulled many ridiculous faces.

When they were satisfied with their impromptu photoshoot, Jamal’s eyes glinted with mischief. “Okay, okay. Next level. Let’s read the weird wall words and record a video. We’ll call it ‘Abryann’s Worst Nightmare.’”

Jordan raised an eyebrow but grinned slyly. “Sounds good, but I’ll do you one better. Let’s do it like those robotic YouTube narrators for some extra cringe factor.”

“You’re a true genius, Jords! That’ll really take the piss outta her!”

“Hey, what can I say? Real recognize real. Genius recognize genius.”

Standing side by side, they aimed Jamal’s phone at the wall. They nodded at each other as Jamal pressed the record button, and with mock-serious expressions and stiff monotone voices, they began reciting the engraved words as best as they could:

Zar’kuth ekor na’sh’ral,

K’ral’dar thar’din mal’kothar,

Fur’mal ekor shal’khan’eth,

Tha’keth vral’dar shan’ith

As they stumbled through the unfamiliar syllables, suppressing giggles, they couldn’t help but crack up by the end. They were so out of sync in reading, that it would make for a truly hilarious watch.

Jordan leaned against the wall, laughing. “Oh man, Abryann is sure gonna boil when she sees this!”

“On my life, bro! Let’s see how it turned out.”

As Jamal opened it and pressed play, the echoes of their scruffy and robotic voices reading the inscribed words lingered through the hall. They were literally in stitches by the end of the short video. It truly was as silly and comical a video as they had aimed for.

“Bruh, we sound ridiculous!” Jordan chortled.

“Like real fools, broski!” Jamal agreed. “Man, we’re an absolute riot!”

They continued to giggle for a few seconds.

“Ohhh, boy, that was so good, man,” Jamal snickered, wiping the tears from his eyes.

“Too good, man. Man, this feeling… only second to good-good.”

“Good thing you said it’s only second,” Jamal shot at him. “Ain’t nothing better than good-good!”

“Don’t I know that? Why do you think I miss Fabi so much? We used to get real freaky back then…”

Suddenly, the ground beneath them trembled, silencing them.

For a few seconds.

“Whoa,” Jamal gasped, steadying himself. “That’s… that’s new.”

Jordan shook his head. “Yeah, I wonder where that came from–“

“Jords! Look!”

They glanced at the wall, where the letters on the wall faintly glowed.

“Uhh, what’s happening?” Jordan wondered aloud.

Before Jamal could respond, the glow of the letters intensified, their light slowly swirling outward like a malevolent mist.

The duo grew apprehensive and fearful as the air around them grew heavy, vibrating with an unseen force.

With a deafening roar, the mist suddenly solidified into what looked like spiritual beings. Tall and luminous figures with indistinct features.

Jamal and Jordan began to shake violently as these spirits gradually spiraled around the duo like a living tornado.

“Jordan?” Jamal’s voice was shaky now, his earlier bravado replaced by wide-eyed panic.

“I’m not liking this anymore!” Jordan shouted, clutching Jamal’s arm. “I’m not liking this!”

“Me neither! L-l-l-let’s get out of here!”

But before they could make a run for it, a blinding light shot upward as a portal opened beneath their feet. A millisecond later, the ground beneath them gave way.

“Jordaaaaaaannnnnnn!”

“Jamaaaaaaaal!” Jordan screamed, reaching for his friend as they plummeted into the unknown.

The fall felt endless, their screams swallowed up by the swirling vortex. Just as they thought they’d hit rock bottom, a jarring impact knocked the air from their lungs.

And darkness consumed them as they lost consciousness.

Oh boy, they’re in serious trouble! Abryann wasn’t telling lies, there is a curse on this palace…