The laughter beneath the village did not sound human.
It was deep.
Slow.
Almost amused.
The ground trembled beneath Ayan's feet, and cracks spread across the village square like veins beneath skin.
"Everyone move!"
Ayan shouted.
The villagers scattered.
Mira grabbed two children who had frozen near a house and pulled them toward the outer road. Maren helped the old gatekeeper to his feet. Doctor Rowan shouted instructions while trying to keep everyone away from the widening crack.
Seraphine remained beside Ayan.
She wasn't looking at the ground anymore.
She was looking at the mountain.
The same mountain she had seen in Elena's memories.
The same place where something had been buried.
"Seraphine."
She didn't respond.
Ayan touched her shoulder.
"Seraphine."
She finally looked at him.
"Sorry."
"What did you see?"
"Mother."
"Another memory?"
"Yes."
"What happened?"
Seraphine closed her eyes.
"She was climbing the mountain."
"Alone?"
"No."
Ayan waited.
Seraphine's expression became increasingly troubled.
"Isolde was with her."
Ayan frowned.
"Isolde?"
"Yes."
"But Isolde died before—"
"I know."
Seraphine opened her eyes.
"That's what doesn't make sense."
The ground shook again.
A deep sound came from beneath the village.
A heartbeat.
Boom.
Everyone stopped.
Boom.
The sound grew louder.
Boom.
The windows of nearby houses rattled.
Ayan's expression hardened.
"That's not the creature."
Seraphine nodded.
"No."
She looked toward the western mountains.
"It's the thing Mother buried."
---
They left the village immediately.
The old gatekeeper refused to come with them.
He stood at the entrance and watched as they disappeared toward the western road.
Before they left, however, he gave Ayan one piece of information.
"The monastery isn't abandoned."
Ayan had stopped.
"What?"
The old man swallowed.
"People still live there."
"Who?"
"Monks."
"How many?"
"I don't know."
"Then how do you know they are still there?"
The old man looked toward the mountain.
"Because every winter..."
He hesitated.
"...someone rings the bell."
Ayan remembered the underground bell beneath Valenne.
"How many times?"
"Three."
Seraphine's expression changed.
The old man noticed.
"You know what that means?"
Seraphine shook her head.
"No."
The old man looked frightened.
"Then perhaps you shouldn't go."
Ayan stepped forward.
"We have to."
The old man looked at Seraphine.
"Why?"
Ayan didn't answer.
Seraphine did.
"Because my mother left something there."
The old man stared at her.
Then whispered,
"Then may the mountain forgive you."
---
The western road was far less traveled than the northern route.
Trees gradually replaced grasslands.
The air became colder.
By evening, the mountain was clearly visible.
It was enormous.
Its upper slopes disappeared into clouds.
Snow covered the peak.
Yet something about it felt wrong.
Ayan could feel the Bridge reacting.
Not violently.
Almost cautiously.
As though it recognized something.
Seraphine walked beside him.
"Do you feel it?"
"Yes."
"The mountain?"
"Something beneath it."
She nodded.
"I felt it in Mother's memories."
"What exactly?"
"She called it a heart."
Ayan frowned.
"The first heart."
"Yes."
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know."
She looked toward the mountain.
"But I think the creature beneath Valenne isn't the first."
Ayan stopped.
"What?"
Seraphine stopped too.
"The thing beneath Valenne called itself the heart."
"Maybe it was telling the truth."
"Maybe."
She looked at him.
"But Mother called something else the first heart."
Ayan's expression darkened.
"Then we're dealing with more than one."
Seraphine nodded.
"At least two."
A cold wind passed through the trees.
For a moment, they heard a distant bell.
Once.
Ayan looked toward the mountain.
"That came from the monastery."
Seraphine whispered,
"No."
"What?"
She looked afraid.
"That bell came from inside the mountain."
---
They reached the monastery after sunset.
It was built into the mountainside.
Stone walls surrounded a small courtyard.
A bell tower stood at the center.
But there were no lights.
No smoke.
No voices.
The gates were open.
Mira raised her weapon.
"Something is wrong."
Ayan nodded.
The group entered.
The courtyard was covered in snow.
Footprints crossed the ground.
Hundreds of them.
All leading toward the main building.
None coming back.
Maren crouched.
"They're fresh."
Doctor Rowan examined the tracks.
"How fresh?"
"Several hours."
Ayan looked at the monastery.
"Then where are the monks?"
A bell rang.
Everyone turned.
The tower moved slightly.
But nobody was inside.
The bell rang again.
Two times.
Then a third.
Seraphine whispered,
"Three."
The doors of the monastery opened.
A figure stood inside.
An old man wearing gray robes.
He was holding a lantern.
"Come in."
Ayan didn't move.
"Who are you?"
The old man smiled.
"The one who has been waiting."
Seraphine stepped forward.
"Waiting for me?"
The old monk looked at her.
His expression changed.
"Yes."
He lowered the lantern.
"You look exactly like Elena."
Seraphine froze.
"You knew my mother?"
"Everyone who lives beneath this mountain knew Elena."
Ayan stepped forward.
"Everyone?"
The monk's smile disappeared.
"Not everyone here is human."
Silence.
The monk turned.
"Come."
"You will understand soon."
---
Inside the monastery, the walls were covered in paintings.
Ayan immediately noticed something.
They weren't religious paintings.
They depicted people.
Different races.
Different creatures.
Different eras.
And at the center of every painting was the same black circle.
The heart.
Seraphine walked slowly.
"How old are these?"
The monk answered without turning.
"Older than Valenne."
"How old?"
"Older than the kingdom."
Doctor Rowan stared at the walls.
"Who created them?"
"The First Keepers."
Ayan frowned.
"Who were they?"
"The people who discovered the heart."
"And what did they do with it?"
The monk stopped.
"They tried to understand it."
"Did they succeed?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because the heart understood them first."
The words sent a chill through the room.
The monk continued walking.
"Every generation, someone is chosen."
"Chosen for what?"
"To carry the heart."
Seraphine stopped.
"Like me."
The monk looked back.
"Yes."
Ayan stepped between them.
"Why her?"
"Because she survived."
"That's not an answer."
"It is the only answer that matters."
The monk opened a heavy wooden door.
Beyond it was a circular chamber.
At its center stood a stone pedestal.
On top rested a small glass container.
Inside was a black fragment.
Almost identical to the stone Elena had used.
Seraphine stared.
"That's it."
The monk nodded.
"The fragment Elena brought here."
Ayan looked at him.
"She brought it?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"Seventeen years ago."
"After the plague?"
"Before the end."
Seraphine approached the container.
"Why did she bring it?"
The monk's expression became sad.
"Because she discovered the truth."
"What truth?"
"Your mother realized that the heart beneath Valenne was not the source."
Ayan's eyes narrowed.
"Then what was it?"
"A seed."
The room became silent.
"A seed?"
The monk nodded.
"The creature beneath Valenne was only one branch."
Seraphine stared at the black fragment.
"Then the first heart..."
"Is here."
The monk pointed downward.
Not toward the chamber.
Toward the mountain.
"The first heart sleeps beneath us."
Ayan looked at Seraphine.
"And Elena buried the fragment here?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"To keep the heart asleep."
Ayan's expression changed.
"Then why is it awakening?"
The monk looked directly at Seraphine.
"Because she has returned."
Seraphine's face went pale.
The monk continued.
"The heart recognizes its missing piece."
Ayan stepped forward.
"You're saying Seraphine is the missing piece?"
"No."
The monk shook his head.
"She is the vessel that contains it."
Ayan's blood ran cold.
The monk looked toward the mountain.
"And now that the vessel has awakened..."
A deep sound echoed beneath them.
Boom.
The floor trembled.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
The black fragment inside the glass began glowing.
Boom.
Another heartbeat.
Seraphine grabbed her chest.
Her eyes widened.
"I can hear it."
Ayan immediately moved toward her.
"What?"
"The heart."
"Where?"
She pointed downward.
"It's calling me."
The monk closed his eyes.
"It has been sleeping for centuries."
Boom.
The entire monastery shook.
The glass container cracked.
The monk's expression changed.
"That shouldn't be possible."
The fragment inside the container rose into the air.
Silver veins spread across its surface.
Then it split.
A voice came from inside it.
Not the creature beneath Valenne.
Not Elena.
Something older.
Something deeper.
Come home.
Seraphine's body trembled.
Ayan grabbed her hand.
"Don't listen."
But she wasn't listening to the voice.
She was listening to something else.
A memory.
One that had been hidden even from the Memory Bloom.
Elena stood before a massive underground chamber.
Isolde was beside her.
Both women were covered in blood.
Between them lay a gigantic black heart.
It was not beating.
It was sleeping.
Elena looked toward Isolde.
"If I fail..."
Isolde nodded.
"I know."
"Take her away."
"I will."
"And never let her return."
Isolde looked toward the heart.
"What about you?"
Elena smiled sadly.
"I'll stay."
The memory shattered.
Seraphine opened her eyes.
Tears streamed down her face.
Ayan held her shoulders.
"What did you see?"
She looked at him.
"My mother didn't bury the heart."
"What?"
"She stayed behind to seal it."
Ayan's eyes widened.
"And Isolde?"
Seraphine whispered,
"She took me away."
"But if Elena stayed..."
Her voice broke.
"...then she may still be down there."
The monk slowly stepped backward.
"No."
Seraphine looked at him.
"You knew."
The monk said nothing.
"You knew she might still be alive."
"No."
Seraphine's voice became cold.
"You knew."
The monk lowered his head.
"Not alive."
"Then what?"
He looked toward the mountain.
"A prisoner."
The heartbeat beneath the monastery suddenly stopped.
Every sound disappeared.
Then a voice came from deep beneath the mountain.
A woman's voice.
Weak.
Familiar.
Waiting for seventeen years.
"Seraphine."
Seraphine's eyes widened.
"Mother."
Ayan felt the Bridge erupt.
The mountain cracked.
And somewhere beneath the monastery...
Elena Valenne opened her eyes.