Chapter 40 – Beyond the Wall
Brook took one final look at Shinokuni-01.
The city stood behind him beneath the pale morning sky.
For nineteen years, those walls had defined his entire existence.
They had been home.
They had been safety.
They had been prison.
He didn't know which one anymore.
The western gate remained open behind him. Royal Guards stood along the entrance, watching the four of them prepare to leave.
Brook adjusted the strap across his shoulder.
His sword hung at his side.
His father's notebook was inside his coat.
That was all he had taken.
No unnecessary supplies.
No possessions that would slow him down.
Sera stood nearby with her bag over one shoulder. Henry had exchanged his royal clothing for darker traveling clothes, though he still carried the sword that marked him as a prince.
Crowley stood several feet away, staring toward the horizon.
He hadn't said much since they left the city.
Brook looked at him.
"You ready?"
Crowley didn't turn.
"No."
Brook almost smiled.
"Good."
Crowley glanced at him.
"You?"
"No."
Henry walked over.
"I don't think any of us are."
Sera looked at the three men.
"That's probably the smartest thing anyone has said this morning."
Brook looked toward the Wall.
For a moment, he thought about turning around.
He thought about Mercer's final words.
The Watchmen.
The people who had died defending a city that might never have understood what they were protecting.
He thought about the families waiting for bodies.
He thought about his parents.
Then he stepped forward.
His boot crossed the threshold.
And Brook left Shinokuni-01 behind.
The others followed.
The gate remained open for several seconds.
Then the Royal Guards began closing it.
Brook turned.
The massive doors moved slowly toward each other.
He watched until the opening became smaller.
Then smaller.
Then nothing.
The Wall stood between them and everything they had known.
Brook looked at it for a long time.
Sera came beside him.
"You alright?"
"No."
She nodded.
"Me neither."
The four continued walking.
The world outside the Wall was nothing like Brook had imagined.
He had grown up hearing stories about endless wastelands, poisonous air, dead forests and Abominations waiting behind every tree.
Instead, there was grass.
Real grass.
Trees stretched across the horizon.
Birds flew above them.
A river could be heard somewhere in the distance.
The morning air was cold and clean.
Brook stopped.
"What the hell?"
Henry looked at him.
"What?"
"It's alive."
Henry looked around.
"I noticed."
"No."
Brook turned slowly.
"They told us there was nothing out here."
Crowley answered without looking back.
"They lied."
Brook stared at him.
"Why?"
Crowley shrugged.
"Fear is easier to control than truth."
The sentence stayed with Brook.
They walked for another hour.
The further they went, the stranger the world became.
They passed the remains of an old road buried beneath vegetation.
An abandoned vehicle sat half-submerged in mud.
Brook had seen machines like it in old photographs.
He stopped beside it.
"How old is this?"
Henry looked at the rusted frame.
"Before the experiment."
Brook touched the metal.
Someone had written something across the side.
The letters were almost completely worn away.
Only three words remained.
WE WERE HERE.
Brook stared at them.
Sera noticed.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
But Brook couldn't stop thinking about it.
Humanity had existed outside the Walls.
Humanity had lived here.
Loved here.
Built things here.
Died here.
The world wasn't dead.
It had simply moved on.
They eventually reached a hill.
From the top, Brook could see for miles.
There were forests.
Mountains.
Ruined structures.
Smoke rising from somewhere far away.
And, in the distance, something that looked like a settlement.
Henry stared.
"There are people."
Brook nodded.
"Yeah."
Crowley didn't seem surprised.
Sera looked at him.
"You knew?"
"I've been outside before."
Brook turned.
"How many times?"
Crowley didn't answer.
"How many?"
"Enough."
Brook shook his head.
"You're unbelievable."
Crowley smiled faintly.
"You'll get used to it."
"I doubt that."
They descended the hill.
As they approached the settlement, they saw movement.
Seven people emerged from the trees.
They carried weapons.
One had a spear.
Another held a bow.
The others carried blades.
They stopped several meters away.
The oldest man stepped forward.
He looked at Brook's clothing.
Then Henry's sword.
Then Crowley.
His expression changed.
"Shinokuni."
Henry nodded.
"Yes."
The man looked toward the Wall.
"You came from inside."
"We did."
"Why?"
Brook answered.
"We're looking for someone."
The man's eyes narrowed.
"Everyone who comes outside is looking for something."
"My parents."
The man studied him.
"Their names?"
"Thomas and Elizabeth Smith."
The man's face changed.
Only slightly.
But Brook saw it.
"You know them."
The man looked at the others.
Nobody spoke.
Brook stepped forward.
"You know them."
The man finally answered.
"I've heard the names."
"Where?"
"Blackhaven."
Brook's heart jumped.
"What is Blackhaven?"
"A settlement north of here."
"How far?"
"Two weeks if you know the roads."
Brook looked toward the north.
"Take us."
The man laughed.
"You don't understand."
"Then explain."
"The outside doesn't belong to anyone."
He pointed toward the forest.
"Some places are controlled by humans."
"Some by demons."
"Some by witches."
"Some by creatures that existed before any of them."
Brook frowned.
"What about angels?"
The man's expression became uncomfortable.
"You've seen them?"
"Not personally."
The man looked at Crowley.
Then back at Brook.
"You will."
Brook noticed the fear in his voice.
"What do you know about the Sources?"
The man went silent.
Henry looked at Brook.
"You shouldn't have asked that."
"Why?"
The man's voice dropped.
"Because people who ask about the Sources tend to disappear."
Crowley finally spoke.
"Enough."
The man looked at him.
His face went pale.
"You."
Crowley stared back.
"Don't."
The man swallowed.
"King Crowley."
Brook turned.
Henry's expression hardened.
Sera looked between them.
Crowley closed his eyes.
"I was hoping we could make it through one day."
Brook stepped toward him.
"You're a king?"
Crowley didn't answer.
The man immediately lowered his weapon.
"I apologize."
Crowley shook his head.
"You don't owe me anything."
The man looked confused.
"Your kingdom—"
"Is gone."
The man's expression changed.
Crowley walked past him.
"Don't call me king."
Brook watched him go.
Then looked at Henry.
Henry simply shook his head.
"Don't ask me."
Brook sighed.
"Of course."
The man introduced himself as Elias.
He led them toward a small settlement hidden within the forest.
It was called Haven.
Brook expected ruins.
Instead, he found a community.
Children played near a wooden structure.
People repaired tools.
Hunters returned carrying food.
An elderly woman sat outside a house, sewing clothing.
It wasn't advanced.
It wasn't wealthy.
But it was alive.
Brook stood there in silence.
Sera smiled.
"People really live out here."
Elias looked at her.
"Of course."
"How many settlements are there?"
"Thousands."
Brook looked at him.
"Thousands?"
"Maybe more."
Henry stared toward the horizon.
"Then why were we told there was nothing?"
Elias laughed bitterly.
"Because people inside the Walls aren't supposed to know."
Brook's expression darkened.
"Why?"
"Because once you realize the world is bigger than your prison…"
Elias looked at him.
"…you start asking who built it."
Brook had no response.
That evening, they ate with the people of Haven.
Brook learned that many of them had never seen Shinokuni-01.
Some had never seen a Wall at all.
They knew about the twelve Shinokunis, but only through stories.
They knew the Kings existed.
They knew the official history.
They simply didn't believe most of it.
One young man asked Brook what life inside was like.
Brook struggled to answer.
"Safe."
The young man laughed.
"Was it?"
Brook thought about Mercer.
The Watchmen.
The attack.
The creatures.
"No."
The table became quiet.
Brook looked down.
"Not anymore."
Elias watched him.
"You lost people."
"Everyone did."
"Who?"
Brook hesitated.
"Captain Mercer."
"His Watchmen."
Elias lowered his eyes.
"I've heard of him."
"You knew him?"
"No."
"But I knew men like him."
Brook looked up.
"Men who died believing they were protecting something."
Elias nodded.
"They're the kind of people history forgets first."
Brook didn't like hearing that.
But he knew it was true.
Later that night, Brook sat outside the settlement.
The stars were brighter than anything he had seen inside Shinokuni-01.
There were so many of them that the sky almost looked crowded.
Sera sat beside him.
"You've been quiet."
"I'm thinking."
"That's dangerous."
Brook smiled.
"Henry already used that one."
Sera laughed softly.
For a while they watched the stars.
Then Brook said:
"Do you think my parents are really alive?"
Sera didn't answer immediately.
"I don't know."
Brook nodded.
"That's what scares me."
"What?"
"If they're alive…"
He looked down.
"…why didn't they come back?"
Sera remained silent.
Brook continued.
"Maybe they couldn't."
"Maybe."
"Maybe they didn't want to."
"Maybe."
Brook looked at her.
"You could at least lie."
"I don't think you need another person lying to you."
Brook smiled faintly.
"Fair."
Sera looked at his hand.
"The Sources scare you?"
"Yes."
"Good."
Brook frowned.
"Good?"
"Power should scare you."
"Why?"
"Because the moment you're comfortable with it, you stop respecting what it can do."
Brook looked at his hand.
Two symbols had appeared beneath his skin.
The first.
The second.
Neither looked human.
Neither felt human.
"I don't want them."
Sera looked at him.
"But they chose you."
"That's the problem."
A bell rang.
Once.
The entire settlement froze.
Elias immediately stood.
"Everyone inside."
Brook rose.
"What happened?"
Elias looked toward the sky.
"Something is coming."
Henry appeared with his sword already drawn.
Crowley walked out of the shadows.
"What?"
Elias pointed upward.
"Look."
Brook did.
Clouds were gathering.
Not naturally.
They spiraled across the sky, forming a massive circle above the forest.
Light appeared within them.
One point.
Then another.
Then dozens.
Figures descended.
Brook stared.
Wings.
Armor.
Weapons made of light.
Sera whispered:
"Angels."
Crowley didn't correct her.
The first figure touched down several meters away.
Its wings folded behind it.
Its face was almost human.
Almost.
It looked directly at Brook.
"Vessel."
Brook's hand burned.
He stepped forward.
"Who are you?"
The angel's eyes glowed.
"You have awakened two."
Brook stared at it.
"How do you know?"
"We know."
"Who sent you?"
The angel didn't answer.
Crowley stepped forward.
"Leave."
The angel turned toward him.
"King."
Crowley's expression hardened.
"You don't know me."
"We know what you were."
Brook looked at Crowley.
The angel continued.
"You abandoned your throne."
Crowley said nothing.
"You abandoned your people."
Still nothing.
"And yet you protect this one."
The angel looked toward Brook.
"Why?"
Crowley raised his sword.
"Because he deserves a choice."
The angel smiled.
"A choice?"
"Yes."
"Then you still haven't learned."
Brook frowned.
"Learned what?"
The angel looked at him.
"There is no free choice."
Brook's expression changed.
The angel continued.
"Every life has a purpose."
"Every death has a reason."
"Every road leads where it was always meant to lead."
Brook felt anger rising inside him.
"Then what's the point of living?"
The angel looked at him.
"To fulfill what was written."
Brook shook his head.
"No."
The angel tilted its head.
"No?"
"I decide what my life means."
The angel smiled.
"We will see."
Light gathered around its weapon.
Crowley stepped in front of Brook.
Henry raised his sword.
Sera's hands began glowing.
The angel looked at all four.
"You have no idea what you are standing against."
Brook tightened his grip.
"Then tell us."
The angel looked toward the sky.
"The Maker knows you have awakened."
Crowley's face went completely still.
Brook noticed.
"You know that name."
Crowley didn't answer.
"What is the Maker?"
Crowley finally looked at him.
"Something you should never seek."
Brook stared at him.
"Then why do I feel like it's already looking for me?"
Crowley had no answer.
The angel raised its weapon.
"We will meet again."
Then the clouds closed around it.
The angels disappeared.
The pressure lifted.
Everyone in Haven slowly began breathing again.
Brook stared at the empty sky.
"The Maker."
Crowley turned away.
Brook followed.
"Crowley."
No response.
"What is it?"
Crowley stopped.
"You don't want the answer."
"That's never stopped me before."
Crowley looked at him.
"This isn't another secret about the Walls."
"Then what is it?"
Crowley's expression was unusually serious.
"The Maker is connected to everything."
Brook waited.
"Life."
"Death."
"Power."
"Fate."
"Choice."
Brook's stomach tightened.
"And the Sources?"
Crowley looked toward the distant horizon.
"They are pieces of something far bigger than you understand."
Brook looked at his hand.
Two Sources.
Four remaining.
Six in total.
And somewhere in the world, things were already moving because of them.
Brook closed his fist.
"Then we'll find the truth."
Crowley nodded.
"And if the truth doesn't like you?"
Brook looked toward the darkness beyond Haven.
"Then it can deal with me."
Henry stepped beside him.
"We should leave at first light."
Sera nodded.
"Blackhaven."
Brook looked north.
His parents.
The Sources.
The truth.
Everything was somewhere beyond the horizon.
He had spent nineteen years trapped behind a Wall.
Now there was nothing between him and the world.
No King.
No Watchmen.
No rules he understood.
Only choices.
And for the first time in his life, those choices belonged to him.
Far beyond the forest, something watched the four travelers.
Something ancient.
Something that had been waiting for the first Source to awaken.
And beneath the earth, deep inside a forgotten chamber, a third symbol flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then it went dark.
The journey had begun.
But Brook had no idea that leaving the Wall hadn't set him free.
It had only brought him closer to the force that had controlled the world long before he was born.
End of Chapter 40
END OF VOLUME 1