The crown of black stone hovered above the stranger's head.Nobody moved.Not even the First Voss.Kael stared at the words carved into the air.NO CHOICE.Eon stepped backward.“I can't hear him.”Kael looked at him.“Who?”Eon shook his head.“The man.”The stranger smiled.“That is because I am not speaking to you.”He looked at Kael.“I am speaking to what is beneath you.”Kael frowned.“The earth?”“No.”The stranger pointed toward Kael's chest.“Your first choice.”The black stone in Kael's hand suddenly became hot.He dropped it.It struck the ground.Nothing happened.The stranger smiled.“There.”Kael looked down.The stone had split open.Inside was a tiny circle of white light.The First Voss stepped forward.“Don't touch it.”Kael looked at him.“You know what it is.”“Yes.”“What?”The old man hesitated.“The first promise.”Kael's eyes narrowed.“Whose?”The First Voss looked toward Eon.“His.”Eon stared at the light.“I don't remember making a promise.”“You were too y

The heartbeat came again.BOOM.Every voice in the ancient city stopped.The returning families looked toward the horizon.The seven awakened members of the First Family turned together.Even Ilyra became still.Kael looked at Elias.“You said they existed before humanity.”Elias nodded.“I remembered a place.”“What place?”“I don't know.”The third heartbeat came.BOOM.The ground beneath Eryndor shifted.Far beyond the eastern ocean, the water began moving backward.Not a wave.The entire sea was retreating.Damaris.The old cities.The mountains.The ruins.Everything seemed to lean toward the horizon.Lira whispered:“What is happening?”Darian answered:“Something is waking beneath the world.”Kael looked at Ilyra.“You knew this was coming.”She shook her head.“No.”The First Voss stared at the horizon.“I knew there was something beyond our knowledge.”Ilyra corrected him.“No.”He looked at her.“You didn't know?”She shook her head.“We were afraid of the wrong thing.”A de

Silence covered Eryndor.Not the silence of fear.Something worse.The silence of agreement that had not yet happened.Asha stood upon the water.Behind her, thousands of white vessels waited.No soldiers emerged.No weapons were raised.No commands were shouted.She simply waited.Kael looked around.People were staring at one another.Some were frightened.Others looked strangely calm.Too calm.Eon suddenly grabbed his head.“Kael.”“What?”“I can't hear them.”Kael frowned.“Who?”“Everyone.”Eon looked at the crowd.“They're still thinking.”“Then what's wrong?”“They're thinking the same thought.”Kael's expression hardened.Asha smiled.“The Balance does not control people.”Kael looked at her.“It controls outcomes.”“Exactly.”“You're making every decision arrive at the same place.”“Peace.”Kael shook his head.“That isn't peace.”Asha tilted her head.“Then what is it?”“Silence.”Asha smiled.“Silence prevents war.”“And conversation prevents tyranny.”Her expression chang

The earth opened.Not cracked.Opened.Like something beneath Eryndor had been waiting for the right moment to lift its head.Kael grabbed Lira and pulled her backward.“Move!”The ancient city shook violently.Stone towers collapsed.The First Family scattered.Eon fell to one knee.Elias looked beneath the widening opening.His face lost all color.“Kael…”“What?”“There isn't a bottom.”Kael looked.Elias was right.Beneath the city was not soil.Not rock.Not darkness.There was another sky.Stars.A second horizon.And something enormous moving beneath it.Mira whispered:“That isn't underground.”Kael stared.“Then what is it?”Elias swallowed.“We are.”Kael looked at him.“What?”Elias pointed downward.“The world beneath us is another world.”The ground trembled again.A massive structure began rising from below.It was not built from stone.It looked like bone.White arches curved upward.Ancient roads appeared between them.And at the center stood a city.A city larger than

Nobody moved.The sky was gone.Not dark.Not cloudy.Covered.Millions of vessels hung above the First World like a second continent.No weapons pointed downward.No army descended.They simply watched.Kael looked at the stranger standing before him.“You said you watched the Watcher.”The stranger nodded.“The Worldmind.”“Yes.”“How?”“We were outside its reach.”Elias stepped forward.“Outside Eryndor?”The stranger looked at him.“Outside your definition of existence.”Elias frowned.“That doesn't answer anything.”“It wasn't meant to.”Kael stepped between them.“Then answer this.”The stranger waited.“Why are you here?”The stranger looked toward the people gathered in the plaza.“Because the experiment ended.”Kael's eyes narrowed.“What experiment?”“Humanity.”The word settled heavily.The First Voss stepped forward.“You called humanity an experiment.”The stranger looked at him.“You called it a family.”The First Voss froze.“You remember me.”“We remember everything.”