The walls were covered in intricate runes that glimmered faintly in the sunlight. Arranged in complex patterns, they seemed to tell an ancient story.
As the team approached the hospital, they found its doors wide open and no one inside. They entered cautiously and discovered that the interior was far larger than it looked from outside. Its winding corridors formed a maze, and oil lamps on the walls lit themselves to guide the way.
"Splitting up is too dangerous," Kalgara decided. "We'll stay together. From Dragon's description, the Life Key should be in the hospital's central area."
They followed the corridors deeper in, passing empty wards and rooms full of medical equipment. The devices mixed the ancient with the advanced: some were clearly modern technology, while others looked like mysterious instruments handed down from a distant age.
The deeper they went, the more pronounced the energy fluctuations in the air became. Kalgara could feel a powerful force affecting everything around him, even his own senses.
"Be careful," he warned his teammates. "The energy field here may interfere with our thoughts. Stay alert, and report anything unusual immediately."
Beyond an arched doorway, they finally reached the hospital's center: an enormous circular hall beneath a beautiful glass dome. Sunlight poured through its colored panes, casting brilliant patterns across the floor. A patient lay on a peculiar treatment table in the middle of the hall, barely clinging to life.
Beside the table stood a woman in a white robe, treating the patient with an ancient instrument that glowed. It was shaped like a star, with seven branches, each tipped with a gemstone of a different color. The doctor held its center in both hands as streams of green energy flowed from it into the patient.
Kalgara's arrival startled the doctor. She stopped the