BOOK TWO: THE KINGDOM BEYOND THE GATE
Chapter 13: The Silent Observatory
The Black Mountain trembled behind them.
The Seventh Gate continued to crack, releasing waves of dark energy that spread across the world like invisible tides.
Far above, the crimson moon and the newly appeared blue moon shared the same sky.
Two moons.
Two worlds.
One destiny.
No one spoke as they stared at the crystal sphere floating above Eva's hands.
Inside it, the tiny map glowed brighter every second.
Only one destination remained illuminated.
The Silent Observatory.
---
Caelum finally broke the silence.
"The Observatory exists outside ordinary time."
Aarvi sighed.
"Can anything in this world exist somewhere normal?"
Caelum almost smiled.
"If it did..."
"...the Gates would have fallen long ago."
---
Cassian folded the battlefield map.
"How far is it?"
Caelum looked toward the horizon.
"If we travel normally..."
"Nearly three months."
Everyone exchanged worried looks.
Lucien quietly added,
"But because the Gates are awakening..."
"The paths between worlds are changing."
Elian nodded.
"There are ancient shortcuts."
"Dangerous ones."
---
Suddenly—
The ground beneath the battlefield glowed with silver lines.
Ancient circles appeared beneath everyone's feet.
Parna knelt immediately.
"The earth is speaking."
She closed her eyes.
"The mountain is opening another path."
---
A violent earthquake shook the valley.
The cliff behind the Seventh Gate split apart.
Hidden inside the mountain was another structure.
An enormous circular stone platform covered with thousands of glowing runes.
Its center contained eight empty spaces.
Exactly eight.
Eva frowned.
"There were only seven Gates."
Caelum looked at the platform.
"There were always eight."
"The eighth was erased from history."
"The platform remembers what history forgot."
---
Riva walked closer.
The moment she stepped onto the platform—
The symbols lit up.
Her pendant floated into the air.
A beam of silver light shot toward one of the eight empty spaces.
The first circle became active.
Eva's broken compass released the crystal sphere.
It floated into the second space.
Another circle lit up.
Parna's eternal blue flower settled into the third.
Aarvi's mysterious box into the fourth.
Lucien's Star Mark illuminated the fifth.
Orion's Guardian Blade the sixth.
Caelum gently removed a silver ring from his finger and placed it into the seventh circle.
Only one space remained empty.
Everyone stared at it.
"What belongs there?"
Cassian asked.
Caelum's face became unusually serious.
"The Heart of the First Kingdom."
Silence.
Elian whispered,
"It disappeared thousands of years ago."
Caelum nodded.
"So everyone believed."
---
Before anyone could ask more—
The empty circle suddenly filled itself.
Not with an object.
With light.
Brilliant golden light.
The platform began rotating.
Ancient gears hidden beneath the mountain awakened after thousands of years.
The entire valley echoed with the sound of stone grinding against stone.
Then...
A bridge of stars appeared.
It stretched across the sky itself.
Floating.
Impossible.
Beautiful.
It led into a sea of clouds where an enormous tower could barely be seen.
The Silent Observatory.
---
Eva stared in amazement.
"It isn't on the ground..."
"No."
Caelum replied.
"It never was."
---
As the group prepared to cross the bridge—
The Crown Collector laughed from behind them.
"You've found it."
Everyone turned.
He was standing alone at the entrance to the valley.
The Fallen Legion had disappeared.
The Gate Hunters were gone.
Only the masked man remained.
Lucien raised his sword.
"This ends now."
The Crown Collector shook his head.
"No."
"It begins."
He slowly removed his silver mask.
Everyone froze.
His face looked...
Exactly like Lucien.
Only older.
His hair was longer.
A long scar crossed his left eye.
His expression carried centuries of sorrow.
Aarvi whispered,
"No..."
Lucien took an unconscious step backward.
"This isn't possible..."
The stranger smiled sadly.
"It isn't."
"Yet here I am."
Riva looked between the two identical faces.
"Who are you?"
The man looked directly at Lucien.
"My name..."
"...used to be Lucien."
The world seemed to stop.
Even Caelum's calm expression shattered.
"No..."
He whispered.
"You escaped..."
The older Lucien nodded.
"I escaped the Eighth Gate."
Silence consumed the valley.
Eva felt her heart pounding.
"What does that mean?"
The older Lucien looked toward his younger self.
"It means..."
"I am not your enemy."
"I am your future."
The Six Heirs stood speechless.
The younger Lucien gripped his sword tighter.
"I don't believe you."
"You shouldn't."
The older Lucien answered.
"I didn't believe me either."
He slowly raised his hand.
The scar on his face began glowing.
Around him, time itself distorted.
Snowflakes froze in midair.
The wind stopped moving.
Only the older Lucien remained untouched.
He looked at Riva.
"You have seven days."
"After that..."
"The Devourer reaches the Silent Observatory."
"And if he reaches it before you..."
He turned toward the distant tower floating among the clouds.
"There will be no Book Three."
Before anyone could stop him—
His body dissolved into countless silver feathers.
The feathers scattered into the wind.
Gone.
Leaving only one object where he had stood.
A broken pocket watch.
Its hands pointed to a single time.
11:59.
Then the watch ticked once.
The minute hand moved closer to midnight.
Far above the clouds...
The Silent Observatory's enormous clock answered with a single chime.
The countdown had begun.
End of Chapter 13