Chapter 297 — Fork
The valley was wider than it had looked from the ridge.
That was the first problem.
The second was that it was already disappearing.
Brook saw the first section vanish near the far western slope while they were still descending. There was no warning sound this time. No widening crack. The grass simply ceased to exist in a long, uneven strip, leaving a dark absence cutting through the valley floor.
Crowley saw it too.
"Faster."
Nobody needed convincing.
They ran.
The descent made everything worse.
Loose stones rolled beneath their boots, the ground dipped without warning, and tall grass slapped against their legs. Brook's right knee nearly folded twice within the first hundred yards. Each time he caught himself before falling, but the recovery cost him more than the stumble itself.
Sera stayed close.
"Left."
Brook moved left.
A section of ground disappeared ahead.
"Right."
He moved right.
Another strip vanished.
"Straight."
Brook followed.
They were no longer choosing where to run.
They were choosing where the ground still existed.
The valley narrowed toward the center, with two low ridges rising on either side. The space between them formed a natural corridor, but the earth beneath that corridor had begun to tremble.
Tala looked toward the left ridge.
"The ground is thinner there."
Athena glanced at her.
"Then right."
"No."
Athena looked at her.
"The right side is worse."
"How do you know?"
Tala shook her head.
"I can feel it."
Crowley heard them.
"Center."
They pushed forward.
A roar came from behind.
Brook looked back.
The mouth had reached the valley.
The edge of the absence moved across the grass like a wave without water.
Everything it touched disappeared.
A tree.
A rock.
A patch of dirt.
Then the shadow of the tree vanished too.
Brook turned forward.
"Keep running."
Henry was breathing hard.
"That was already the plan."
The ground ahead split.
Not a mouth.
A narrow fissure.
It opened across the valley floor and widened as they approached.
Gabriel jumped first.
Athena followed.
Tala nearly stumbled.
Henry caught her elbow.
"Got you."
"I'm fine."
"Everybody keeps saying that."
Tala looked at him.
"Then stop asking."
Henry grinned despite his exhaustion.
"Fair."
They cleared the fissure.
Brook landed badly.
His knee buckled.
He stumbled forward.
Sera grabbed the back of his coat.
"Don't fall."
"I'm not."
"You almost did."
"Almost isn't falling."
"That is a terrible distinction."
Brook kept moving.
The valley floor rose.
Ahead, the terrain divided.
One path curved toward the left ridge.
The other cut through a lower section between two walls of rock.
Both looked passable.
Both looked dangerous.
Brook saw the difference immediately.
The left path was clean.
Too clean.
The grass was flattened.
The stones had been pushed aside.
Someone had already used it.
The right path was narrow, uneven, and covered with loose rock.
But it remained intact.
Brook slowed.
Crowley saw him.
"Right."
Brook looked left.
A Hell soldier appeared on the ridge.
Then another.
Then three more.
Heaven soldiers emerged behind them.
The armies had found them again.
The left path was not empty.
It was occupied.
The right path was open.
For half a second, it looked like the obvious choice.
Then Brook saw the soldier lying beside the right path.
He was wounded.
He wore Heaven armor.
His weapon was gone.
His leg was trapped beneath a fallen stone.
He was alive.
He was trying to pull himself free.
The group was already passing him.
Crowley shouted, "Keep moving."
Brook did not.
Not immediately.
The pressure in his chest returned.
Lucifer.
The fallen soldier looked up.
His eyes met Brook's.
There was fear in them.
Not hatred.
Not defiance.
Fear.
Brook saw the clean path in front of him.
He could keep running.
The armies would collide behind them.
The soldier would remain trapped.
The distance would increase.
It was the easiest choice.
Lucifer's pressure sharpened.
Take the path.
Brook looked at the soldier.
Then at the narrowing valley.
He stopped.
Sera turned.
"Brook."
He pointed.
"He's alive."
"I know."
"We can't leave him."
Crowley looked back.
"We can."
Brook stared at him.
Crowley held his gaze.
Then he said, "If you choose to stop, choose quickly."
Brook nodded.
He was already moving.
He ran toward the trapped soldier.
Sera followed without asking.
"Brook!"
The soldier tried to reach for his weapon.
Brook kicked it farther away.
"Don't."
The soldier froze.
Brook dropped beside the stone.
His knee screamed as he crouched.
He grabbed the edge.
It barely moved.
Sera came down beside him.
"On three."
Brook shook his head.
"No time."
He wedged both hands beneath the stone.
Sera did the same.
The ground behind them shook.
The armies were getting closer.
"Now," Brook said.
They pushed.
The stone shifted.
The soldier dragged his leg free.
Brook nearly fell backward.
Sera grabbed the soldier's arm.
"Move."
The soldier stared at Brook.
"Why?"
"Because you're alive."
Brook pulled him forward.
They ran.
The soldier limped badly.
Brook slowed enough to keep him upright.
Sera looked ahead.
The right path was narrowing.
The left path was now filled with soldiers.
Brook saw the choice again.
The left route was faster.
The right route was safer for the wounded soldier.
But the ground was disappearing.
"Right," Brook said.
Crowley heard him.
He did not argue.
The group turned.
The wounded soldier stumbled.
Brook caught him.
"Keep your feet."
"I can't."
"Yes, you can."
"My leg—"
"Then use the other one."
The soldier looked at him like he had lost his mind.
Brook pushed him forward.
They ran.
Behind them, the Heaven soldiers reached the fork.
The Hell forces came from the opposite side.
For a few seconds, both armies collided.
Steel struck steel.
Shouts filled the valley.
Brook did not look back.
The soldier beside him was slowing.
Sera reached for him.
"I'll take him."
Brook shook his head.
"You've got Hutena."
Sera looked at Hutena.
Then at Brook.
"Then don't fall."
"I won't."
They continued.
The path became narrower.
Rock walls rose on both sides.
Brook could hear the armies behind them.
They were getting farther away.
Then closer.
Then farther again.
The ground beneath their feet trembled.
The soldier stumbled.
Brook caught him.
"You said you could run."
"I lied."
Brook almost smiled.
"Good."
The soldier stared at him.
"Why is that good?"
"Because I know how that works."
They ran.
A section of the path disappeared ahead.
The soldier froze.
Brook grabbed his shoulder.
"Jump."
"I can't."
"Jump."
Brook pulled him.
They crossed the gap together.
The soldier landed badly.
Brook caught him before he fell.
His own knee nearly gave out.
Sera reached for him.
"I've got him."
Brook nodded.
They kept moving.
A Heaven soldier appeared ahead.
He raised his weapon.
Brook's body reacted.
Sword out.
The soldier charged.
Brook blocked.
The impact nearly tore his shoulder apart.
The soldier swung again.
Brook ducked.
The blade scraped his coat.
Brook struck the soldier's wrist.
The weapon fell.
The soldier stepped forward.
Brook could kill him.
The opening was there.
Clean.
Easy.
One movement.
Lucifer's pressure surged.
Take it.
Brook raised his sword.
The soldier looked terrified.
Brook's blade stopped.
He kicked the weapon away instead.
"Move."
The soldier stared.
Brook pushed past him.
Sera caught up.
"Still refusing."
Brook looked at her.
"Still moving."
She nodded.
"Good."
They ran.
Behind them, the soldier did not follow.
The wounded Heaven soldier looked at Brook.
"You let him live."
Brook didn't answer.
The soldier shook his head.
"You're going to get yourself killed."
"Probably."
They continued.
The rock walls narrowed further.
Tala looked up.
"There's an opening."
Athena looked.
A break in the rocks appeared ahead.
Beyond it was another stretch of valley.
The group moved toward it.
Brook could hear the absence behind them.
The sound was closer now.
The rock walls were disappearing from the rear.
The mouth had entered the valley.
It was coming through everything.
The wounded soldier stumbled again.
This time Brook could not catch him without falling himself.
Gabriel reached him.
"I've got him."
Brook nodded.
Gabriel lifted the soldier's arm over his shoulder.
"Move."
They ran.
Henry came alongside Brook.
"You okay?"
"No."
"Good."
Brook looked at him.
Henry shrugged.
"I mean, at least we're being honest."
Brook breathed out something close to a laugh.
Then the ground ahead opened.
A long crack split the valley.
The group scattered.
Athena jumped left.
Gabriel took the soldier right.
Sera pulled Hutena backward.
Brook landed between them.
The crack widened.
The two sides of the valley began separating.
Brook looked ahead.
The opening in the rocks was still twenty yards away.
"Go!"
Everyone ran.
The crack widened behind them.
Brook pushed harder.
His knee almost failed.
He ignored it.
Athena reached the opening.
Gabriel followed.
Sera and Hutena crossed.
Henry stumbled.
Brook grabbed him.
"Come on."
Henry gasped.
"Thought you were going to leave me."
"Not today."
Henry smiled.
"Good."
They reached the rocks.
The wounded soldier crossed last.
The ground behind him disappeared.
He looked back.
The valley was gone.
Not collapsed.
Gone.
The armies were gone too.
The soldiers who had been fighting only moments earlier had disappeared with the land.
The silence that followed was enormous.
Brook stood at the mouth of the rock passage.
Everyone was breathing hard.
Nobody spoke.
Then the soldier beside Gabriel looked at Brook.
"You saved me."
Brook looked at him.
"Keep walking."
The soldier nodded.
He did.
Crowley approached Brook.
"You chose the longer path."
Brook looked back at the empty valley.
"It was still a path."
Crowley nodded once.
"Then keep moving."
They entered the passage.
It was dark.
Narrow.
Cold.
The walls pressed close on either side.
The valley behind them was gone.
Ahead, a faint blue light could be seen through the rocks.
Brook kept moving toward it.
The pressure in his chest was quiet.
Lucifer had not disappeared.
But it was no longer pushing.
Michael remained silent.
The only sound inside the passage was their breathing and the scrape of boots against stone.
Then the passage widened.
Brook stepped out.
The valley opened again.
And beyond it, the land dropped away into a vast basin.
At the far end stood a ridge.
Behind that ridge, something flashed.
Not lightning.
Not fire.
Something brighter.
Athena stopped.
Tala looked toward it.
Gabriel narrowed his eyes.
Crowley simply said, "Keep going."
Brook looked at the ridge.
Then at the others.
They moved.
The valley remained beneath their feet.
For now.
End of Chapter 297