The black crack in the sky continued to widen.
Ayan stood in the middle of the eastern valley, staring at it without moving. The crack was unlike anything he had seen before. It did not look as though the sky had been torn apart. It looked as though something on the other side was slowly pushing against reality, searching for a way through. The edges of the crack were completely black, yet thin silver lines crawled around them like veins attempting to seal a wound.
Every few seconds, the crack pulsed.
Whenever it did, the ground trembled.
The people behind Ayan had gone completely silent. Even the soldiers who had fought the creatures moments earlier were staring upward with fear written openly across their faces. Some held their weapons tightly. Others had forgotten they were holding them at all.
Seraphine stood beside Ayan, her silver energy still surrounding her body. She looked toward the crack, then at him.
"You said we need to go to the first door."
Ayan nodded.
"Yes."
Maren looked at him as though he had just suggested walking into a volcano.
"Before we do that, can someone explain why?"
Ayan turned toward him.
"Because whatever is behind the first door has started opening a path into our world."
Maren pointed toward the crack.
"That thing?"
"Yes."
"And we're going toward it?"
"Yes."
Maren stared at him for several seconds.
"You're getting worse at making plans."
Mira lowered her bow slightly.
"He isn't wrong."
Maren looked at her.
"That's the problem."
Doctor Rowan walked toward Ayan. His face was pale, and his usual calm expression had disappeared.
"There is something you haven't told us."
Ayan looked at him.
"What?"
Rowan pointed toward the sky.
"You said the Seven Doors were prisons."
"Yes."
"Then why didn't the First Keeper tell us?"
Ayan remained silent.
That question had been bothering him too.
The First Keeper had known far more than he had admitted. He had known about the Seven Doors. He had known about the Observer. He had known about the Key. He had even known about the existence of the different versions of Ayan.
But he had never mentioned the First Hunger.
Perhaps he hadn't known.
Or perhaps he had been afraid.
Ayan looked at the black crack again.
"I don't think the First Keeper knew everything."
Rowan frowned.
"Then who does?"
Ayan's eyes narrowed.
"The person who created the first door."
Seraphine's expression changed.
"You mean Elena?"
Ayan shook his head.
"No."
He remembered the ancient memories.
The First Keepers.
The Seven Doors.
The Key.
Elena had inherited knowledge. She hadn't created the original system.
Someone had existed before all of them.
Someone who understood the spaces between worlds.
Someone who had created the prison.
Ayan looked at the black crack.
"I think we need to find that person."
Mira looked toward the settlement.
"What about everyone here?"
Ayan turned around.
Hundreds of people were watching him.
The children were frightened. Parents were holding them close. The guards looked ready to fight despite knowing they had no idea what they were fighting.
Ayan walked toward the nearest group.
An elderly woman stepped forward.
"Lord Ayan."
Ayan immediately shook his head.
"Don't call me that."
The woman smiled sadly.
"You disappeared for a long time."
"Not as long as you think."
"To us, it was long enough."
Ayan looked at the settlement behind her.
He had left a developing community.
He had returned to find a civilization that had grown without him.
That realization affected him more than he expected.
They had not waited for him.
They had continued living.
Building.
Growing.
Learning.
That was exactly what he had wanted.
A world that didn't depend on him.
He turned toward the soldiers.
"Reinforce the western settlement."
One of the commanders stepped forward.
"Why?"
"If the eastern side falls, the creatures will move west."
The commander nodded.
"Understood."
"Evacuate the eastern villages."
Another soldier hesitated.
"Where should they go?"
"To the central city."
"What about the crops?"
"Leave them."
The soldier looked surprised.
Ayan's expression hardened.
"People are more important than food."
The commander bowed.
"Yes."
Ayan continued giving instructions.
Move the children.
Seal the lower tunnels.
Destroy any black substance that appears.
Do not touch unknown objects.
If the sky changes color, evacuate immediately.
If anyone hears a voice calling their name from underground, they were not to answer.
The last instruction made everyone uneasy.
Maren looked at him.
"That's oddly specific."
Ayan glanced at the cracks in the ground.
"It is."
Once the instructions were given, Ayan turned toward Seraphine.
"We're leaving."
She nodded.
Mira stepped forward.
"I'm coming."
Maren sighed.
"Of course you are."
Doctor Rowan adjusted his coat.
"So am I."
Ayan looked at him.
"You should stay here."
"No."
Rowan's answer was immediate.
Ayan raised an eyebrow.
"I need someone who understands the magical structure of the Doors."
Rowan's expression hardened.
"And I need to know what is happening before it kills everyone."
Ayan smiled faintly.
"Fair."
Maren lifted his weapon.
"Then I suppose I'm coming too."
Ayan looked at him.
"You don't have to."
Maren shrugged.
"Someone has to complain while you're doing something stupid."
Mira smiled.
"That's probably his greatest talent."
Maren glared at her.
"I heard that."
Ayan couldn't help smiling.
For a brief moment, the fear surrounding them became lighter.
Then the black crack pulsed again.
The smile disappeared from everyone's faces.
Ayan looked toward the horizon.
"We move now."
They left before sunset.
The journey toward the first door took them across a landscape Ayan barely recognized.
The world was changing.
At first, the differences were subtle.
The grass became darker.
The trees grew taller.
Birds disappeared.
The air became colder.
Then the changes became impossible to ignore.
They passed a river that flowed upward.
Water climbed from the riverbed into the sky and vanished among the clouds.
Maren stopped walking.
"That's not normal."
Doctor Rowan stared at it.
"No."
"Can you explain it?"
"No."
Maren looked at Ayan.
"Can you?"
Ayan shook his head.
"No."
Maren sighed.
"I really miss when you knew everything."
"I never knew everything."
"You looked like you did."
"That was your mistake."
They continued.
Several hours later, they reached a forest.
Ayan immediately stopped.
Seraphine looked at him.
"What is it?"
Ayan stared between the trees.
"We're being watched."
Mira immediately drew her bow.
"By what?"
Ayan closed his eyes.
The Bridge activated.
Silver lines appeared through the forest.
There were no creatures.
No people.
No visible movement.
But there were thousands of connections.
Every tree was connected to another.
Every stone was connected to the ground.
Every root stretched deep beneath them.
And something was connected to all of it.
Ayan opened his eyes.
"Don't touch the trees."
Maren lowered his hand.
He had been reaching toward one.
"Good timing."
They moved carefully through the forest.
The silence was unnatural.
There were no insects.
No birds.
No wind.
Only their footsteps.
Then they heard a child's laughter.
Everyone stopped.
The sound came from somewhere ahead.
Ayan's face became serious.
Maren whispered.
"Please tell me that wasn't real."
Ayan shook his head.
"It was."
Another laugh.
Closer.
Seraphine's grip tightened around her weapon.
"Someone is there."
Ayan shook his head.
"No."
The laughter came again.
This time from behind them.
Mira turned.
Nothing.
Then the trees began moving.
Not because of the wind.
They were turning.
Every trunk slowly rotated toward Ayan.
The branches twisted.
The leaves folded inward.
The forest was looking at them.
Doctor Rowan whispered.
"That's impossible."
Ayan raised his weapon.
"No."
He stared into the darkness.
"It's alive."
The nearest tree suddenly opened.
A mouth appeared in its trunk.
"Key."
Maren jumped backward.
"Absolutely not."
Another tree opened.
"Key."
Then another.
"Key."
Soon every tree was speaking.
Thousands of voices whispered the same word.
"Key."
Ayan felt the Bridge tremble.
He stepped forward.
"Where is the first door?"
The forest became silent.
Then every mouth answered at once.
"Below."
The ground cracked.
Ayan immediately grabbed Seraphine.
"Move!"
The earth collapsed.
All of them fell.
They dropped through darkness.
Ayan tried to activate the Bridge, but something interfered with it.
The silver energy flickered.
He couldn't connect to anything.
They kept falling.
Maren shouted.
"THIS IS NOT PART OF THE PLAN!"
Mira's voice came from somewhere below.
"THERE WAS A PLAN?"
Doctor Rowan screamed something that was lost in the darkness.
Ayan reached toward Seraphine.
His fingers caught her wrist.
"I have you!"
"I know!"
The darkness continued.
Then they hit water.
Ayan plunged beneath the surface.
Cold swallowed him.
He released Seraphine's wrist for a moment, then grabbed her again.
He kicked upward.
His head broke through the surface.
He took a deep breath.
Seraphine surfaced beside him.
Mira appeared nearby.
Maren emerged coughing violently.
Doctor Rowan surfaced last.
Ayan looked around.
They were inside an enormous underground cavern.
A black ocean stretched in every direction.
There was no visible shore.
Above them was a ceiling covered in glowing silver symbols.
The symbols formed a massive circle.
Ayan stared.
"This is beneath the world."
Doctor Rowan looked upward.
"No."
Ayan turned.
Rowan's face had gone pale.
"This is beneath reality."
Ayan looked at him.
"What does that mean?"
Rowan pointed toward the water.
"This place doesn't exist in the physical world."
Ayan looked down.
The water was black.
But beneath its surface, something moved.
Huge.
Slow.
Ayan stepped backward.
Seraphine whispered.
"Something is down there."
Ayan nodded.
"Yes."
Maren looked around nervously.
"How do we get out?"
Ayan looked toward the cavern walls.
There was no path.
No doorway.
Nothing.
Then the black water began moving.
A wave formed.
It rose higher and higher.
Everyone prepared for an attack.
But the wave didn't strike.
It formed a shape.
A woman.
Her body was made from black water.
Her hair floated around her face.
Her eyes were silver.
Ayan stared.
He knew those eyes.
Not because he had seen this woman before.
Because they reminded him of Seraphine.
The woman looked at him.
"You came."
Ayan raised his weapon.
"Who are you?"
The woman smiled.
"The one who built your prison."
Ayan's eyes widened.
Seraphine stepped closer.
"You created the Seven Doors?"
The woman looked at her.
"No."
She raised one hand.
The cavern trembled.
"I created the space in which they were built."
Ayan's expression became serious.
"What is this place?"
The woman looked around.
"The First World."
Doctor Rowan's breathing stopped.
Ayan stared at her.
"There were only seven worlds."
The woman smiled.
"There were seven worlds that survived."
She looked beneath the black water.
"The First World was destroyed."
"By the Observer?"
"No."
Her expression became darker.
"By hunger."
Ayan remembered the creature.
The First Hunger.
"What was it?"
The woman looked at him.
"You."
Ayan froze.
"What?"
"You created it."
The cavern became completely silent.
Seraphine looked at Ayan.
The woman continued.
"In every world, you eventually created the same thing."
Ayan's face became pale.
"The Hunger."
"Yes."
"Why?"
The woman smiled sadly.
"Because you wanted to erase loss."
Ayan's heart tightened.
"You wanted a power that could consume anything that threatened the people you loved."
She looked directly into his eyes.
"So you created hunger."
The black water beneath them began moving.
"It learned."
Ayan whispered.
"It became independent."
The woman nodded.
"And eventually, it became stronger than you."
Ayan looked at the water.
"So the First Hunger destroyed the First World."
"No."
The woman shook her head.
"The First Hunger destroyed the concept of death."
Ayan's expression changed.
The woman continued.
"Once death disappeared, nothing could end."
"Nothing could be destroyed."
"Nothing could be forgotten."
"Everything remained."
Her voice became colder.
"And everything wanted more."
The black water rose.
Images appeared beneath its surface.
A city.
People.
Creatures.
Millions of beings.
All screaming.
All unable to die.
Ayan watched in horror.
The woman spoke.
"That was the First World."
Ayan clenched his fists.
"What happened?"
"I sealed the Hunger."
"Where?"
She looked at him.
"Inside the Seven Doors."
Ayan's eyes widened.
"The doors weren't prisons for the Observer."
"No."
"The Observer was guarding the prison."
"Yes."
Ayan finally understood.
The Observer hadn't been the true enemy.
It had been preventing the First Hunger from reaching the worlds.
And Ayan had severed its connection.
He had accidentally weakened the prison.
The woman looked at him sadly.
"You freed it."
Ayan lowered his weapon.
For the first time, he didn't know what to say.
Seraphine stepped forward.
"Then how do we stop it?"
The woman looked at her.
"You don't."
Seraphine frowned.
"Why?"
"Because it has already entered your world."
Ayan looked upward.
The silver symbols above them began cracking.
The woman continued.
"And it has already found the first thing it wants."
Ayan's heart sank.
"What?"
The woman looked directly at him.
"You."
The black ocean suddenly exploded.
A massive creature rose from beneath the surface.
It had no eyes.
No mouth.
No face.
Only an enormous black body covered in silver cracks.
Its size was impossible.
Its head reached the cavern ceiling.
Its hands stretched across the underground ocean.
And inside its chest...
Ayan saw a familiar silver light.
His own.
The creature spoke.
Not with a voice.
With his voice.
"I finally found you."
Ayan froze.
Seraphine stepped in front of him.
The creature laughed.
"You created me."
Ayan raised his weapon.
"I don't remember."
"You will."
The creature's body began changing.
Its shape became human.
Its face became Ayan's.
But older.
Much older.
Its eyes were empty.
"You forgot the first time."
Ayan's heart pounded.
"What first time?"
The creature smiled.
"When you died."
Ayan's expression changed.
The creature stepped onto the black water.
"When you created the Hunger."
"Before the Seven Doors."
"Before the Observer."
"Before your worlds."
"You were there."
Ayan's memories suddenly erupted.
A laboratory.
A young Ayan.
A machine.
A woman crying.
A dying world.
Ayan screaming.
A black light.
Then darkness.
A voice.
His own voice.
**If death won't let me keep them...**
The memory ended.
Ayan staggered.
Seraphine caught him.
"Ayan!"
He looked at her.
His face had lost all color.
"I remember."
"What?"
He looked toward the creature.
"I wasn't created by the worlds."
His voice trembled.
"The Key wasn't created to protect them."
The creature smiled.
Ayan whispered the truth.
"I created the Key."
The woman in the water closed her eyes.
"Yes."
Ayan looked at the black creature.
"And the Observer?"
The creature answered.
"I created that too."
Silence.
Ayan's mind struggled to process it.
The Seven Doors.
The Key.
The Observer.
The Hunger.
All of them were connected to him.
Not because fate had chosen him.
Because long ago...
he had started this himself.
The creature stretched out its hand.
"Come home."
Ayan stared at it.
Seraphine stepped between them.
"No."
The creature looked at her.
"You don't understand."
Seraphine raised her weapon.
"I don't need to."
Ayan looked at her.
She turned slightly.
"Whatever he was before..."
Her eyes met his.
"...he isn't alone now."
Ayan felt something inside his chest break.
Then mend itself.
He slowly raised his weapon.
The black creature smiled.
"Then come."
The entire underground world shook.
The silver symbols above them shattered.
The First World began waking.
And somewhere far above the ground, across the world Ayan had returned to...
every shadow turned toward the sky.
The First Hunger had awakened.
And this time, it wasn't coming for the world.
It was coming for its creator.