Chapter 294 — First Gap
The strip of ground between the two openings was already too narrow for comfort, but nobody said anything about it.
There was no point.
Words took breath, and breath was becoming expensive.
Brook kept his eyes fixed on the land ahead while Crowley moved behind the group, watching the widening darkness at their backs. The mouth ahead of them had stopped growing for the moment, but that did not make it safe. It stretched across the road like a wound cut through the earth, its edges perfectly smooth, its darkness deeper than the night around it.
There was no bottom.
There was no rubble.
There was nothing waiting below.
It simply was not there.
Brook took another step.
The ground held.
He took another.
Still solid.
Sera stayed close enough that her shoulder occasionally touched his arm. She had stopped telling him that he was bleeding because the blood was obvious now. The bandages beneath his shirt were dark, and every few breaths Brook pressed his elbow against his side as though pressure alone could convince the wound to behave.
It did not.
His knee was worse.
The joint felt unstable, as if the bones inside it no longer trusted one another. He had learned to compensate by keeping his right foot slightly turned outward, but the uneven ground made that increasingly difficult.
He kept moving anyway.
Ahead, Athena had reached the front.
She stood at the edge of the first opening and studied it.
Tala came beside her.
"It remembers the road."
Athena looked down.
"Can it give it back?"
Tala did not answer immediately.
Her fingers hovered over the dirt.
"The earth can remember what was here."
Athena looked toward the darkness.
"That's not what I asked."
"I know."
Tala placed her palm against the ground.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the soil beneath her hand shifted.
Not violently.
Not like an earthquake.
It moved with the slow reluctance of something waking from a sleep it did not want interrupted.
A thin line of earth extended toward the mouth.
Brook watched.
The line stopped at the edge.
Tala's face tightened.
"It won't cross."
"Why?"
"It doesn't know what's there."
Athena stared at the opening.
"Neither do we."
"No."
"Then we make a way."
Tala looked at her.
Athena drew a breath.
"Can you?"
Tala's hand remained against the earth.
"I can ask."
Athena nodded.
"Ask."
Tala closed her eyes.
The ground trembled beneath them.
A narrow strip of dirt rose from the road.
It was not much.
Maybe two feet wide.
It extended forward over the opening.
Then stopped.
The darkness swallowed its end.
Tala opened her eyes.
"That's all."
Brook looked at the strip.
"How far?"
"Twenty yards."
Henry looked over the edge.
"Twenty yards over nothing?"
Tala nodded.
Henry looked at Crowley.
"I miss ordinary roads."
Crowley stepped beside him.
"You complained about ordinary roads."
"I was younger then."
"You were complaining ten minutes ago."
"I've matured."
Crowley looked at him.
Henry sighed.
"Fine. I haven't."
The joke disappeared as quickly as it came.
The strip of earth remained suspended across the opening.
It did not look stable.
It did not look like a bridge.
It looked like a piece of land that had forgotten it was supposed to fall.
Athena studied it.
Then she looked back toward the group.
"That isn't enough."
"No," Tala said.
The mouth behind them widened.
Crowley glanced over his shoulder.
"Then make enough."
Tala's expression changed.
She looked at him.
"I can't."
Crowley did not soften his voice.
"Try."
Tala's eyes hardened.
"You don't get to tell the earth what to do."
"I know."
"Then don't."
Crowley looked toward the opening.
"I am telling you what we need."
Tala held his gaze for a moment.
Then she looked down.
"I'll give you what I can."
Athena stepped forward.
Lightning crawled along her fingers.
Brook felt the air change.
The smell of ozone spread across the road.
Athena's eyes remained on the gap.
"What are you doing?" Gabriel asked.
"Making the road wider."
"The earth?"
"The space."
She lifted her hand.
Lightning struck.
The bolt hit the ground beside the suspended strip.
For a second, the entire ridge became white.
Brook heard Henry curse.
Sera grabbed Hutena and pulled her backward.
The earth exploded.
Dirt and stone flew upward.
The suspended strip shuddered.
Athena held her hand steady.
Another bolt struck.
Then another.
She was not attacking the mouth.
She was cutting the space around them.
Each strike tore away unstable ground, burning a path through the ridge and creating a narrow corridor between the two openings.
The darkness ahead seemed to react.
The mouth widened.
Athena's lightning struck again.
The edge recoiled.
Brook stared.
She was not forcing the absence back.
She was giving them a path around it.
A corridor.
A gap.
Something narrow enough to survive.
Athena gritted her teeth.
Blood appeared beneath one of her nostrils.
Tala noticed.
"Athena."
"Keep the ground."
"I can't keep it much longer."
"Then don't."
Tala looked at her.
Athena pointed ahead.
"Just give us the twenty yards."
Tala's breathing had become uneven.
"I can."
She pressed both hands against the earth.
The ground rose.
The suspended strip widened.
Three feet.
Four.
Five.
Then six.
A narrow bridge of soil and stone stretched across the first section of absence.
Athena's lightning carved the surrounding earth into a clean corridor.
Twenty yards.
No more.
Beyond it, the land was still there.
For now.
Crowley looked at the group.
"Go."
Nobody moved.
Crowley looked at them again.
"Now."
Gabriel went first.
He crossed the strip carefully, placing each foot exactly where the earth was thickest.
Henry followed.
Hutena went between Sera and Gabriel.
Sera crossed next.
Brook remained behind.
Athena was still standing at the edge.
Tala was still holding the ground.
Brook looked at them.
"You're coming."
Athena did not look at him.
"Go."
Brook shook his head.
"I'm not leaving you."
"You are."
"I'm not."
Athena finally looked at him.
There was blood on her upper lip.
Her breathing was shallow.
"Brook."
He waited.
"Move."
The mouth behind them widened.
Crowley appeared at Brook's side.
"She's right."
Brook looked at him.
"Don't."
Crowley pointed toward the corridor.
"That's your path."
Brook looked at Tala.
She gave him a small nod.
"Go."
He hated it.
He hated every part of it.
But he turned.
He stepped onto the bridge.
The earth flexed beneath his weight.
Brook froze.
Nothing happened.
He took another step.
Then another.
The gap below him remained silent.
There was no wind coming from it.
No heat.
No cold.
Nothing.
It was as though the world had simply forgotten there should be something there.
Brook crossed.
Henry reached the other side and turned around.
"Twenty yards."
Brook looked at him.
"Yeah."
"That was not enough."
"I know."
Henry glanced back.
Athena was still standing at the far side.
Tala was still kneeling.
Lightning flashed around Athena's body.
The corridor was widening.
Not enough.
But enough for the moment.
Brook reached the other side.
Gabriel grabbed his arm.
"Keep moving."
Brook looked back.
Athena's lightning struck again.
The sound was deafening.
The corridor widened another few feet.
Then Athena stumbled.
Blood ran from her nose.
She wiped it away.
"Again."
Tala looked at her.
"I can't."
Athena looked at the road.
The mouth behind them was almost touching the ridge.
"Again."
Tala's hands shook.
"I said I can't."
Athena stared at her.
Then she nodded.
"Fine."
She raised her hand.
Lightning gathered around her arm.
It was weaker this time.
The bolt struck.
The ground split.
The corridor opened another few yards.
Athena staggered.
Tala caught herself with one hand.
"That's it."
Athena lowered her arm.
"That's enough."
Tala looked at the earth.
The suspended path began to crumble.
Crowley shouted from across the gap.
"Move!"
Athena grabbed Tala.
They ran.
The first section of the corridor collapsed behind them.
Tala stumbled.
Athena pulled her forward.
Another section vanished.
They reached the other side just as the remaining strip of earth disappeared.
The mouth closed.
Not completely.
It narrowed.
Then stopped.
For a moment, nobody moved.
They had crossed.
They were alive.
Brook looked back at the gap.
Twenty yards.
That was all.
Twenty yards of ground they had stolen from something that did not want them to have it.
Athena bent over.
Blood dripped from her nose.
Tala dropped to one knee.
Brook immediately went toward them.
Crowley caught his shoulder.
"Don't."
Brook looked at him.
"They're hurt."
"So are you."
"I'm fine."
Crowley stared at him.
Brook sighed.
"That sounded stupid."
"Very."
Sera came over.
She crouched beside Tala.
"Can you stand?"
Tala nodded.
"Give me a second."
Sera looked at Athena.
"You too."
Athena wiped her face.
"I'm standing."
"You're bleeding."
"So is he."
Athena nodded toward Brook.
Sera looked at Brook.
Then back at Athena.
"I don't have enough hands."
Henry stepped forward.
"I do."
Sera looked at him.
"You're holding Hutena."
Henry looked down.
Hutena was still gripping his sleeve.
He looked back up.
"I have one hand."
"Then use it."
Henry took a cloth from his pocket and held it toward Athena.
"Here."
Athena accepted it.
"Thank you."
Henry smiled.
"You're welcome."
The moment felt almost normal.
Then the ground behind them groaned.
Everyone turned.
The mouth had begun moving again.
The corridor they had created was gone.
Not collapsed.
Gone.
The twenty yards of earth were no longer there.
There was no evidence that Athena had ever cut it.
No scorch marks.
No broken stone.
Nothing.
Brook looked at Tala.
She stared at the absence.
"I gave it the road."
Brook frowned.
"And it took it."
Tala nodded.
Athena straightened.
"So we keep moving."
Brook looked at her.
"You can?"
Athena's expression hardened.
"I can walk."
It was not the same answer.
Brook knew it.
So did Crowley.
But nobody argued.
They started again.
The road ahead climbed toward a cluster of abandoned buildings.
Brook recognized the remains of a small town.
The structures were old.
Some had collapsed naturally.
Others had been damaged by weather.
There was a church tower without a roof.
A row of shops.
A house with one wall missing.
The sight of buildings gave Henry a brief spark of hope.
"Maybe we can get inside one."
Crowley shook his head.
"No."
Henry frowned.
"Why?"
"Because walls are still things that can disappear."
Henry looked toward the buildings.
Then back at Crowley.
"That's becoming a very depressing philosophy."
"It's becoming a fact."
They passed the first house.
The door stood open.
Inside was a table.
Four chairs.
A plate.
A cup.
A child's shoe near the wall.
Brook slowed.
Sera saw it.
"Don't."
Brook kept walking.
The sight was too familiar.
Warm food.
Empty chairs.
A life that had been interrupted without leaving bodies behind.
He forced himself not to look again.
They passed the house.
Nothing happened.
Another house.
Nothing.
A third.
Nothing.
Brook started to think they had found stable ground.
Then the church bell rang.
Everyone stopped.
The bell had no reason to ring.
There was no wind strong enough to move it.
No rope.
No person inside.
It rang once.
The sound rolled over the town.
Then the ground beneath the church disappeared.
The building tilted.
Henry stared.
"Oh, come on."
The tower vanished.
The church collapsed inward without producing rubble.
It simply ceased.
The sound stopped.
Brook stared at the empty space.
"Keep moving."
They ran.
The town began disappearing behind them.
A shop vanished.
Then a house.
Then half the street.
The road ahead remained.
They followed it.
Athena's breathing was rough now.
Tala had gone pale.
Gabriel noticed.
"You need to stop."
Tala shook her head.
"No."
"You've spent too much."
"I'm still standing."
Gabriel looked at Athena.
She nodded.
"Keep her moving."
Tala looked at him.
"I don't need—"
"You do."
She fell silent.
They continued.
Brook noticed something ahead.
A stone bridge.
Unlike the earlier bridge, this one was intact.
The river beneath it was narrow.
Water moved normally.
Brook almost felt relief.
Almost.
Crowley reached the bridge first.
He stopped.
Brook nearly walked into him.
"What?"
Crowley looked at the bridge.
Then at the water.
"The river is flowing."
Henry frowned.
"Is that bad?"
"No."
Crowley stepped onto the bridge.
Nothing happened.
He crossed halfway.
Still nothing.
He looked back.
"Come on."
They crossed.
For thirty seconds, nothing vanished.
No ground opened.
No mouth appeared.
No road disappeared.
The world remained.
Brook looked toward Crowley.
"Maybe—"
The bridge behind them vanished.
Brook stopped.
He looked back.
There was no collapse.
The river continued flowing beneath empty air.
The bridge was gone.
Crowley looked at him.
"Don't say maybe."
Brook nodded.
They continued.
The road climbed again.
Ahead, the trees opened.
Beyond them was a wide stretch of land.
No armies.
No mouths.
No visible gaps.
Just dark fields under the moon.
Brook could almost feel his body trying to believe it was safe.
He refused to let it.
They walked for several minutes.
Walking was slower than running, but running had become impossible for Tala and Athena.
Brook's knee was barely holding.
Henry's light had weakened to a dull glow around his hand.
Sera kept one hand near Brook's side without touching him.
Hutena held the Book of Future against her chest.
Gabriel walked near the rear.
Crowley watched everything.
No one spoke.
Then Athena stumbled.
Brook caught her.
She immediately pulled away.
"I'm fine."
Brook looked at her.
"You don't get to use that."
She stared.
"Neither do you."
For a second, neither moved.
Then Henry laughed.
It was quiet.
Exhausted.
But real.
Sera shook her head.
"Both idiots."
Crowley kept walking.
"Accurate."
Athena adjusted the cloth beneath her nose.
"How much farther?"
Crowley looked ahead.
"Don't know."
Henry sighed.
"That answer is becoming popular."
They continued.
The fields stretched toward a low line of trees.
Brook's body wanted rest.
His mind wanted rest.
But every time his thoughts drifted toward stopping, he remembered the mouths.
He remembered the patrol.
Six chairs.
Six missing people.
No lifelines.
He remembered the road disappearing under his hand.
He remembered the teeth.
The world did not need to kill them.
It only needed them to remain somewhere long enough to erase the place around them.
He looked at the others.
Crowley.
Gabriel.
Sera.
Henry.
Athena.
Tala.
Hutena.
They were all tired.
They were all wounded in some way.
But they were still moving.
Brook looked ahead.
A faint line of light appeared beyond the trees.
Not Heaven.
Not lightning.
Not the cold glow of something supernatural.
A distant settlement.
Real lights.
Warm lights.
Brook slowed.
Sera noticed.
"What?"
"People."
Crowley looked.
He saw them.
"So?"
Brook stared.
"Maybe we can—"
Crowley cut him off.
"No."
Brook frowned.
"Why?"
"Because we don't know what it is."
"We don't know anything."
"Exactly."
Brook looked at the lights.
They were far enough away that the buildings could not be seen clearly.
Only windows.
Only small points of yellow.
For a second, the sight of them hurt.
Home.
The word did not come from anywhere.
It simply appeared in him.
A door.
Someone behind it.
Someone saying his name.
Brook blinked.
The thought disappeared.
He kept walking.
The group reached the trees.
The road narrowed.
The lights remained ahead.
Behind them, the earth groaned.
Brook looked back.
The darkness was still there.
Far away.
Not close enough to touch them.
Not gone enough to forget.
Athena looked toward it.
"We bought time."
Crowley shook his head.
"No."
She looked at him.
"We bought twenty yards."
Crowley adjusted his coat.
"That's different."
Brook understood.
They had not defeated anything.
They had not escaped anything.
Athena had cut a corridor through a piece of the world that wanted them gone.
Tala had forced the earth to remember a path.
The cost was written across both of them.
Athena was bleeding.
Tala could barely stand.
The corridor was gone.
Nothing had been won.
They had simply moved.
Brook stepped into the trees.
The others followed.
For several moments, the distant lights remained ahead.
Then one went out.
Then another.
Brook stopped.
Nobody else did.
He forced himself forward.
The lights were still there.
Some remained.
Some disappeared.
He did not know whether the settlement was being erased or whether people inside were simply turning lamps off for the night.
He did not ask.
They had twenty yards.
That was all they had managed to steal.
Twenty yards of space.
Twenty yards of time.
Twenty yards before the world took the road back.
Brook tightened his hand around his sword.
Then he kept walking.
Behind them, the first gap closed.
Ahead, another one waited.
And this time, they would have to make it themselves.
End of Chapter 294