For several seconds, nobody moved.
The silence of the world was too complete.
Kael stood beneath the crimson sky with one hand still raised toward the place where the silver path had disappeared. The last fragments of silver light had faded from his fingers, leaving behind only a faint coldness that slowly traveled up his arm.
There was no door.
No path.
No boundary.
Nothing.
Behind them stretched an endless field of black earth that seemed to absorb even the faint red light falling from above. Ahead stood the enormous silver tree, but it was not standing in the way a normal tree should.
It was upside down.
Its roots spread across the sky like enormous silver branches, while its trunk descended from above and disappeared into the darkness beneath the ground. Countless pale leaves floated around it without wind, each one carrying a faint glow.
And beneath that impossible tree hung Aelia.
Her long black hair fell toward the ground.
Her body was suspended by thin silver roots wrapped around her wrists and ankles. Her head was lowered, hiding most of her face behind her hair.
For a moment, Kael wondered whether they had actually entered another world.
Then Aelia's head slowly lifted.
Her eyes opened.
They were empty.
Not dead.
Not alive.
Empty.
"Welcome back."
The words were quiet.
Yet they traveled across the entire landscape.
Aren immediately raised his shield.
Lyra's staff appeared in her hand, and magical light gathered around its tip.
Seraphine stepped backward, her eyes fixed on the hanging body.
Selene opened the ancient book she carried, though her hands were trembling slightly.
Caelum stared at Aelia with an expression Kael had never seen on him before.
Fear.
Not fear of dying.
Fear of knowing what would happen next.
"That's not possible," Selene whispered.
Aren glanced toward her.
"What isn't possible?"
Selene swallowed.
"She shouldn't be here."
Kael looked at her.
"You know this place?"
"No."
She shook her head quickly.
"That's why it's impossible."
Aelia smiled.
The expression was small.
Almost gentle.
That somehow made it worse.
Elara stepped forward.
"You're not Aelia."
The smile disappeared.
Aelia looked at her.
For the first time, something changed in her empty eyes.
Recognition.
"You're still here."
Elara's face went pale.
Kael immediately moved between them.
"What does that mean?"
Aelia ignored him.
Her gaze remained fixed on Elara.
"You were supposed to forget."
Elara's hands slowly curled into fists.
"I didn't."
"I know."
The silver roots around Aelia's body suddenly tightened.
Her head tilted slightly.
"You never do."
Aren moved closer to Kael.
"I don't like this."
"Neither do I," Lyra replied.
She raised her staff.
A ring of blue-white magic formed beneath their feet.
"We should leave."
Kael looked behind them.
"There is nowhere to leave to."
Lyra's expression hardened.
"Then we make somewhere."
She slammed the bottom of her staff into the ground.
Magic exploded outward.
A wall of light rose around the group.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then something moved in the darkness.
A sound came from far away.
A dragging sound.
Like something enormous pulling itself across the ground.
Scrape.
Scrape.
Scrape.
Aren tightened his grip on his sword.
"Something's coming."
Kael felt it too.
The Gardener Key beneath his clothes had begun to vibrate.
Not with power.
With warning.
The seventh branch glowed.
The black flower that represented his first choice slowly opened.
Aelia looked at it.
Her expression changed.
"You found it."
Kael stared at her.
"Found what?"
"The memory."
Her voice was almost a whisper.
"The one this world was built to hide."
The dragging sound stopped.
Everything became still.
Then the ground exploded.
A black hand burst through the earth.
Aren reacted instantly.
He stepped forward and slammed his shield into it.
The impact shook the field.
The creature's hand shattered against the shield, breaking into pieces of black material that evaporated before touching the ground.
Aren grinned.
"That's more like it."
Then another hand appeared.
Then another.
Then dozens.
The ground around them began erupting.
Black creatures climbed out of the earth.
They had no faces.
Their bodies were thin and unnaturally long, covered in what looked like cracked stone. Silver lines ran across their limbs, glowing faintly beneath their black skin.
Lyra raised her staff.
"Everyone behind me!"
She thrust it forward.
A wave of fire swept across the ground.
The creatures disappeared inside the flames.
For a moment, there was nothing but fire.
Then shapes began walking through it.
Lyra's eyes widened.
"They're resistant to magic."
"Then we'll use something else."
Aren charged.
His shield smashed into the first creature, sending it flying.
His sword followed.
The creature split in half.
It did not bleed.
Instead, both halves twisted independently and began crawling toward him.
Aren stared.
"Oh, come on."
One of the creatures lunged.
Aren blocked with his shield.
Its claws scraped against the metal.
Another creature attacked from behind.
Kael appeared between them.
His sword flashed.
The creature's arm fell.
Kael turned and kicked its chest.
The impact sent it backward.
"Aren!"
"I've got it!"
Aren brought his shield down.
The ground cracked.
A shockwave spread outward.
Several creatures collapsed.
But more continued emerging.
Rowan and Mira joined the fight.
Seraphine remained near the center, using magic to strengthen the protective barrier around the group.
Selene shouted instructions from behind them.
"Don't destroy the silver lines!"
Kael heard her.
"What?"
"The silver markings! They're holding the bodies together!"
Kael looked closely.
She was right.
The creatures weren't ordinary monsters.
The silver lines running across their bodies connected different parts together, almost like threads.
They were being assembled.
Something was using them.
Kael changed his stance.
Instead of attacking their bodies, he began cutting the silver lines.
One strike.
The creature collapsed.
Another.
Its body crumbled.
Aren noticed.
"That's the trick!"
He changed his attacks too.
Soon, the battlefield became a storm of steel and magic.
Lyra fired concentrated bolts of energy rather than large spells.
Mira moved between the creatures with incredible speed.
Rowan fought beside Aren, using precise attacks to sever the glowing lines.
Caelum stood near the center.
He wasn't fighting.
He was staring into the distance.
Kael noticed.
"Caelum!"
No response.
"Caelum!"
He finally turned.
"There are no futures."
Kael frowned.
"What?"
Caelum looked around.
"I can't see anything."
He closed his eyes.
"Not one."
A creature lunged toward him.
Kael intercepted it.
His sword cut through the silver line across its chest.
The creature collapsed.
Kael looked at Caelum.
"Because of this place?"
Caelum shook his head.
"No."
He looked toward the upside-down tree.
"Because this place has no future."
A chill ran through Kael.
Before he could ask anything else, the world trembled.
The silver tree moved.
Not physically.
Its leaves moved.
Every single silver leaf turned toward Kael.
Thousands.
Then millions.
All of them facing him.
Aelia laughed softly.
"You shouldn't have come here."
Kael looked up.
"Then why did you welcome us?"
"Because you have already been here."
Elara stepped forward.
"I remember."
Kael looked at her.
"What do you remember?"
Elara's eyes remained fixed on the tree.
"I remember standing beneath it."
Her voice trembled.
"I remember the sky being red."
She touched her chest.
"I remember you."
Kael's heart stopped for a moment.
"Me?"
Elara nodded.
"But you weren't like this."
Kael stared at her.
"What was I like?"
Elara closed her eyes.
"You were crying."
The battlefield seemed to disappear around him.
Kael heard only her voice.
"You were small."
Elara's expression twisted with pain.
"You didn't understand why everyone was dying."
Kael couldn't speak.
Aelia watched them.
"That memory was never meant to survive."
Elara opened her eyes.
"But it did."
"Yes."
Aelia's gaze moved toward Kael.
"Because he survived."
Kael looked at her.
"Explain."
Aelia didn't answer.
Instead, the silver roots holding her body began to break.
One snapped.
Then another.
Her body dropped several meters.
Lyra shouted.
"She's falling!"
Kael moved instinctively.
He leapt upward.
His hand caught Aelia's wrist.
For a moment, their eyes met.
Aelia looked at him with something almost like sadness.
"You always catch me."
Kael froze.
Aelia whispered.
"Even when you shouldn't."
The remaining roots broke.
Kael and Aelia fell.
He twisted in midair and grabbed the trunk of the upside-down tree.
His feet slammed against the impossible surface.
Aelia hung beneath him.
"Kael!"
Elara shouted.
Kael reached down.
"Give me your hand!"
Aelia looked at him.
Then smiled.
"No."
"What?"
She released herself.
Her body fell.
Kael's eyes widened.
"AELIA!"
He jumped after her.
The darkness beneath the tree swallowed them both.
Elara ran forward.
But before she could reach the edge, the ground beneath her cracked.
A massive silver root erupted upward.
It struck her.
Kael saw her body thrown through the air.
"ELARA!"
Aren caught her before she hit the ground.
"I'm fine!"
She pushed herself upright.
"Kael!"
There was no answer.
Only darkness.
Aren looked toward the hole.
"Should we go after him?"
Lyra shook her head.
"We don't know what's down there."
Elara stared into the darkness.
"I do."
Everyone looked at her.
She whispered,
"His beginning."
Then she jumped.
Aren cursed.
"Elara!"
He immediately followed.
Lyra sighed.
"Of course."
She grabbed Selene's arm.
"Stay close."
One by one, they descended into the darkness.
The fall seemed endless.
Kael couldn't tell whether he was falling through air or something else.
There was no wind.
No sensation.
Only darkness.
Aelia was somewhere below him.
He could barely see her black hair drifting in the void.
Then the darkness disappeared.
Kael landed.
His knees bent from the impact.
He looked around.
Aelia was standing several meters away.
They were inside a city.
Kael slowly raised his head.
The buildings were enormous.
Every structure was made from pale stone and silver material.
But they were all destroyed.
Broken towers leaned against one another.
Roads were covered in ash.
Statues had been shattered.
There were no people.
No animals.
No movement.
Except for the red light coming from above.
Kael looked up.
There was no sky.
Instead, the underside of the silver tree covered everything.
Its roots stretched between the buildings.
Aelia walked forward.
Kael followed.
"What is this place?"
"The first city."
Kael stopped.
"The first city?"
Aelia nodded.
"Before kingdoms."
She continued walking.
"Before empires."
"Before the Firstborn."
She looked over her shoulder.
"Before the World Tree."
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"That doesn't make sense."
"It isn't supposed to."
They entered a ruined square.
At its center stood a broken statue.
Kael recognized it.
His breath caught.
The statue depicted a young man.
The face was his.
But not exactly.
The features were older.
More tired.
And in his hands was a small glowing seed.
Kael approached it.
"Who is that?"
Aelia looked at the statue.
"You."
Kael stared.
"I've never been here."
"You don't remember being here."
"That's different."
"No."
Aelia touched the broken statue.
"You genuinely believe you have never been here."
She turned toward him.
"That is why the memory is dangerous."
Kael's eyes hardened.
"What memory?"
Aelia looked toward the ruined city.
"The memory of the world before the first choice."
The Gardener Key suddenly became hot.
The seventh branch opened completely.
The black flower transformed.
Its petals fell away.
Inside was a tiny silver seed.
Kael stared at it.
Aelia whispered,
"Now you can see."
The seed floated from the Key.
It drifted toward the statue.
The moment it touched the stone, the entire city came alive.
Not physically.
As a memory.
Lights appeared in windows.
People walked through the streets.
Children ran between buildings.
Voices filled the air.
The broken city became whole.
Kael stood frozen.
This wasn't a ruined city anymore.
It was alive.
And then he saw himself.
A young version of himself stood in the middle of the square.
He looked perhaps six or seven years old.
He was holding someone's hand.
Kael couldn't see the person's face.
But he knew the hand.
Elara.
His heart tightened.
The young Kael looked terrified.
Around him, the city was burning.
People were screaming.
The silver tree was falling.
And something enormous was descending from the sky.
Kael whispered,
"What happened?"
Aelia stood beside him.
"This was the first death."
Kael turned.
"Whose?"
Aelia looked at the burning city.
"Everyone's."
The memory shook.
The young Kael began crying.
Elara knelt beside him.
"It's okay."
"No."
The young Kael shook his head.
"I don't want to stay."
Elara held him tighter.
"You don't have to."
The young Kael looked at her.
"Can I leave?"
Elara's eyes filled with tears.
"Yes."
The scene changed.
The city disappeared.
The young Kael was now standing in an endless white space.
There were countless doors around him.
Each door showed a different world.
A world where he became a king.
A world where he became a monster.
A world where he never existed.
A world where Elara died.
A world where Elara never met him.
A world where the Firstborn ruled forever.
A world where the World Tree never grew.
Millions of possibilities.
The young Kael stood among them.
Then a voice spoke.
"Choose."
Kael's eyes widened.
He recognized the voice.
His own.
The young Kael looked at the doors.
"I don't know."
"You must choose."
"I don't want to."
"You must."
The young Kael began crying.
Then Elara appeared beside him.
She placed her hand on his shoulder.
"You don't have to know."
The voice went silent.
Elara smiled.
"You only have to choose what you want."
The young Kael looked at her.
"What if I choose wrong?"
"Then you'll choose again."
The memory trembled.
Kael watched himself slowly reach toward a door.
But before he touched it, something appeared behind Elara.
Aelia.
The original Aelia.
Not the dead body hanging from the tree.
Not the empty-eyed version.
Aelia as she once was.
Young.
Alive.
Terrified.
She looked directly at Kael.
And whispered,
"Don't choose."
The memory shattered.
Kael staggered backward.
The silver seed returned to his hand.
Aelia was staring at him.
"Now you understand."
Kael's voice was barely audible.
"You were there."
"Yes."
"You tried to stop me."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Aelia's eyes filled with tears.
"Because I knew what would happen if you chose."
Kael looked at her.
"What happened?"
Aelia didn't answer.
Behind them, something moved.
A slow clap echoed through the ruined city.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Kael turned.
Someone was standing at the end of the street.
A man.
Black clothing.
Silver eyes.
A familiar face.
Kael's face.
But older.
Much older.
The alternate Kael from the Fourth World had possessed black eyes.
This one had silver eyes.
He smiled.
"You finally remembered."
Kael raised his sword.
"Who are you?"
The man laughed.
"That's the wrong question."
He stepped forward.
"The right question is..."
The silver tree above them began to glow.
"...which one of us is the original?"
Kael's grip tightened.
The man smiled wider.
"And unfortunately..."
He pointed at Elara.
"...she already knows the answer."
Elara went completely still.
Kael looked at her.
"Elara?"
She didn't respond.
The silver-eyed man whispered,
"Ask her about the first time she died."
The world went silent.
Elara's face lost all color.
Aelia closed her eyes.
And Kael finally understood.
The eighth memory wasn't waiting somewhere in this world.
It had been standing beside him all along.
And Elara remembered it.