The eastern mountains appeared on the third day.They rose beyond the plains like broken teeth.Snow covered their peaks, but the lower slopes were green.No roads led there.No villages.No farms.Only an old Imperial watchtower stood at the edge of the wilderness.Mara stopped beside it.“This is where the Dominion patrol disappeared.”Kael looked at the tower.“How many?”“Eight.”“When?”“Six days ago.”“Bodies?”“None.”Lira looked around.“Tracks?”Mara shook her head.“None.”Cael walked toward the tower.He placed his palm against the stone.“This was built over something.”Edrin looked at him.“How do you know?”“The stone underneath is older.”Aren nodded.“I felt it too.”Evan climbed down from his horse.“Is it dangerous?”Aren looked at him.“Probably.”Evan frowned.“That doesn't answer my question.”“It is the answer.”Kael almost smiled.They entered the tower.The interior was empty.A broken table.Old Imperial weapons.Dust.Nothing unusual.Then Cael stopped.“Ther

Darkness swallowed the chamber.For three heartbeats, nobody moved.Then Kael heard Lira.“Kael?”“I’m here.”Aren spoke next.“Everyone stay where you are.”A faint light returned.The door remained.Serah stood beyond it.The older Kael was gone.So was the figure wearing Darian's face.Elias released Kael's arm.“I told you not to enter.”Kael stared at the doorway.“You saw this.”“Yes.”“What happened next?”Elias shook his head.“I don't know.”“Why?”“Because that is where the memory ended.”Kael looked at Serah.His mother waited.She looked tired.Not ancient.Not supernatural.Simply tired.Kael stepped closer.“Mother.”Serah's eyes filled with tears.“You remember me.”“I remember enough.”“That is more than I expected.”Lira moved beside him.“Are you really Serah?”Serah looked at her.“Yes.”Aren stepped forward.“No.”Everyone turned.Aren's face had gone pale.Serah looked at him.“You always were difficult.”Aren shook his head.“I buried you.”Serah smiled sadly.“Y

“Sol.”The name hung between them.Kael did not speak.Neither did Elias.The white mark on Elias's palm continued glowing.Then it went dark.Elias collapsed.Kael caught him before he struck the ground.“Elias.”His brother's eyes were open.But he wasn't looking at Kael.He was looking somewhere far away.“Elias.”Nothing.Lira knelt beside them.“Give him space.”Kael lowered him carefully.“What did he remember?”“No idea.”Aren stepped closer.“Don't wake him.”Kael looked at him.“Why?”“Because whatever he saw is still happening inside his mind.”Kael looked at Elias.His brother suddenly whispered,“He was never the fourth.”Kael froze.“Who?”“Sol.”Elias's fingers tightened around Kael's sleeve.“He wasn't the fourth.”Aren's face changed.“What did you say?”Elias opened his eyes.“He was the first.”The fire burned low.Nobody slept.Elias sat against a tree, wrapped in a cloak.Kael sat opposite him.“Tell me everything.”Elias looked at the ground.“I don't know where t

The white blade rose.For one heartbeat, nothing happened.Then the mountain screamed.Not with sound.With memory.Every stone beneath Kael's feet trembled as ancient markings ignited across the cavern walls. Lines of pale light raced toward the First Gate behind Aran, connecting symbols that had been dormant for centuries.Elias staggered.He grabbed his head.Kael caught his shoulder.“What are you seeing?”Elias did not answer.His eyes were fixed on Aran.Then he whispered,“Everything.”A pulse moved through the chamber.The human-shaped shadow behind Aran grew taller.Its head nearly touched the cavern ceiling.It had no face.No eyes.No mouth.Yet Kael felt it looking directly at him.Aran lowered the white blade.“Now you understand.”Kael stepped forward.“I understand that you walked through the Gate and brought something back.”Aran shook his head.“No.”The word echoed.“I didn't bring it back.”He turned slightly.“It followed me.”The shadow moved.One step.The entire

The sky opened another inch.That was all.Yet every person below felt it.A pressure descended over the eastern plains.Birds fell silent.The wind stopped.Even the distant fires in villages seemed to shrink.Kael stared upward.The white line across the sky was not a crack.It was a seam.Something was pulling it apart from the other side.Aran whispered,“We have to move.”Kael didn't look at him.“What is it?”“I don't know.”“You said the Gate was keeping it out.”“I said I thought it was.”“That isn't an answer.”Aran looked at the sky.“No.”His voice was almost lost beneath the deep vibration coming from the mountains.“It isn't.”The seam widened.A pale light appeared behind it.Then darkness.Not empty darkness.A shape.Something enormous passed behind the opening.For a moment, Kael saw what looked like a hand.Five fingers.Human.But larger than a mountain.Then it disappeared.Lira stepped beside Kael.“That isn't a creature.”Kael glanced at her.“How do you know?”“