James had been hiking for over two hours when the forest around him changed. The usual sounds of chattering birds and rustling leaves suddenly stopped, plunging the woods into a strange, heavy silence. James paused, adjusting his backpack. He was miles away from the nearest town, deep within a nature reserve that few people visited. The sudden lack of wildlife felt like an unvoiced warning, making the hairs on his arms stand up.
Determined to shake off the uneasy feeling, James pushed through a dense thicket of overgrown briars. That was when he spotted something entirely out of place between the trees. In a small clearing sat a sharp, geometric structure made of smooth gray stone.
It did not look like an old, abandoned cabin or a ruined historical site. The stone blocks were pristine, and the mortar between them looked fresh, as if the masonry had been completed only a few years ago. James took a few steps closer, his curiosity overriding his caution. The building was completely hidden from any main trail, practically swallowed by the surrounding canopy. But as James stepped into the clearing to get a better look, he realized the structure was far stranger than he initially thought…