Chapter 298 — Ten Seconds
The basin looked empty from the ridge.
That was what made Brook distrust it.
They stood at the edge of the slope, looking down into a wide depression surrounded by low stone ridges. There were no houses, no roads, no trees tall enough to offer cover, and no signs of people.
There was nowhere to hide.
The land descended in a broad bowl, with three possible exits visible on the far side. One climbed toward a narrow pass between two ridges. Another followed the basin floor toward a line of dark rocks. The third curved around the eastern side and disappeared behind a rise.
All three looked possible.
All three looked wrong.
Crowley stood at the front of the group, studying the basin without moving.
Gabriel came beside him.
"Too open."
Crowley nodded.
"Yes."
Henry looked down.
"I preferred the forest."
"You complained about the forest."
"I've changed."
Sera looked at him.
"You haven't."
"People are allowed to grow."
"Not this quickly."
Henry sighed.
Brook barely heard them.
He was watching the far ridge.
Something had been flashing there.
It happened again.
A brief white glow.
Then darkness.
Again.
White.
Dark.
Not lightning.
It was too controlled.
Too deliberate.
Athena saw it too.
"There's something there."
Gabriel narrowed his eyes.
"I don't see anyone."
"You don't have to."
Athena's voice was quiet.
Brook looked at her.
She was studying the ridge with the expression of someone who had already decided that whatever waited there would have to be dealt with.
Crowley looked toward her.
"Can you get us across?"
Athena glanced at the basin.
"Maybe."
"How long?"
She did not answer immediately.
Tala was beside her.
"Don't ask her that."
Crowley looked at Tala.
"Why?"
"Because if she says she can, she'll try even if she can't."
Athena looked at Tala.
"You make me sound reckless."
"You are reckless."
Henry raised one hand.
"Finally, someone said it."
Athena gave him a look.
He lowered the hand.
"I withdraw my contribution."
Crowley looked down into the basin again.
The ground beneath them trembled.
Not enough to knock anyone off balance.
Enough to remind them that the thing behind them had not stopped.
Brook turned.
The passage they had just crossed remained intact.
For now.
But the valley behind it was gone.
The darkness was climbing toward them.
Not quickly.
It didn't need to.
The world was being eaten behind them one section at a time.
Crowley looked at the basin.
"We cross."
Gabriel nodded.
"Which route?"
Crowley pointed toward the center.
"Straight."
Athena looked at him.
"That's the most exposed."
"It's also the shortest."
"Shortest isn't always—"
"I know."
Athena stopped.
Crowley looked at the others.
"We don't have enough time for the long route."
Brook looked down.
The basin floor was roughly half a mile across.
Maybe less.
At the far side, the ridge rose sharply.
If they reached it, they could disappear into the rocks.
If they did not, there was nowhere to go.
The group began descending.
Brook went slower than he wanted.
His knee had stiffened during the brief pause, and the first few steps down the slope were almost unbearable. He kept his face neutral.
Sera noticed anyway.
"You should have let me wrap it again."
"There's no time."
"There is always time to stop bleeding."
"Not here."
Sera looked at him.
Brook kept walking.
She followed.
"You're getting worse."
"I know."
"That doesn't mean you have to make it worse."
Brook did not answer.
Ahead, Athena moved with Tala.
Gabriel walked on the opposite side.
Henry and Hutena stayed between them.
Crowley was at the rear.
He kept looking back.
Brook knew why.
They were not being chased by an army anymore.
They were being chased by the absence.
That was worse.
The basin floor was mostly dry grass and hard earth.
Their boots kicked up dust as they ran.
For the first hundred yards, nothing happened.
Then the left side of the basin disappeared.
It happened in silence.
A section of grass vanished.
Then the dirt beneath it.
The edge moved forward.
Crowley shouted.
"Faster."
They ran.
The ground behind them continued disappearing.
Brook's knee screamed.
He pushed harder.
Henry was breathing heavily.
"How far?"
Gabriel looked ahead.
"Three hundred yards."
Henry groaned.
"That sounded much worse than I wanted."
"Keep moving."
"I am."
Athena raised her hand.
Lightning flickered across her fingers.
Brook looked at her.
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing yet."
The ground ahead trembled.
A Heaven formation appeared on the far ridge.
Brook stopped for half a second.
Heaven.
Not many.
Maybe twenty.
Then Hell appeared on the opposite ridge.
More.
They had found them again.
Crowley saw them.
"Of course."
The Heaven soldiers moved down the ridge.
Hell came from the opposite side.
The basin had become a bowl.
The group stood at the bottom.
Heaven above them.
Hell above them.
The absence behind them.
Brook looked around.
There was no clear exit.
The three routes he had seen from above were now blocked.
The Heaven soldiers began descending.
Hell did the same.
Neither army attacked the other.
Both focused on the group.
Henry looked around.
"We're boxed in."
Crowley nodded.
"Yes."
"Any chance they decide to fight each other?"
"No."
"That would have been helpful."
"It would."
Brook watched the soldiers descend.
He could feel the pressure in his chest.
Lucifer stirred.
Take the gap.
There was no gap.
Not yet.
Gabriel stepped forward.
"Brook stays behind us."
Brook shook his head.
"No."
Gabriel looked at him.
"Not now."
"I'm not hiding."
"You're injured."
"So are all of us."
Gabriel's expression hardened.
"This isn't about pride."
"I know."
"Then stay back."
Brook looked at the soldiers.
"They're here for me."
Gabriel did not answer.
Brook moved forward.
Gabriel grabbed his arm.
"Brook."
Brook looked at him.
"If they want me, they have to come through you."
Gabriel released him.
"Then don't make me regret it."
Crowley stepped forward.
"Enough."
Everyone looked at him.
He pointed toward the center of the basin.
"We move through them."
Henry stared.
"Through both?"
"Yes."
"That is a terrible plan."
"It's the only one."
Athena looked toward the ridge.
"Give me ten seconds."
Crowley turned.
"What?"
"Ten seconds."
"Can you hold them?"
Athena looked at the basin.
"No."
Crowley waited.
She corrected herself.
"I can make them hesitate."
Gabriel looked at her.
"Ten seconds is not much."
"It doesn't need to be."
Tala's face tightened.
"Athena."
Athena looked at her.
"I know."
"You're going to use the ground."
"Yes."
"You said the earth wouldn't cross the absence."
"I'm not asking it to cross."
Tala understood.
She looked down.
"Then what are you asking it to do?"
Athena looked at the soldiers coming down both sides.
"Hold."
Tala stared at her.
The word seemed to carry more weight than it should have.
"Ten seconds."
Athena nodded.
"Ten."
Crowley turned toward the group.
"Get ready."
Brook drew his sword.
His hands were steady.
His body was not.
The Heaven soldiers were almost halfway down the slope.
Hell was closing from the other side.
Brook looked at the space between them.
No road.
No walls.
No shelter.
Only the basin.
Athena stepped forward.
Tala knelt.
She placed both hands against the ground.
The first Heaven soldier reached the floor.
Then another.
Then another.
The Hell soldiers arrived from the opposite side.
They began spreading out.
Brook could hear one of their captains shouting.
"Take the boy alive."
A Heaven voice answered.
"Do not let him reach the ridge."
Crowley looked at Brook.
"Stay close."
Brook nodded.
Athena raised both hands.
Lightning crawled across her arms.
The air changed.
The hairs on Brook's arms lifted.
Tala pressed harder against the earth.
The ground beneath them trembled.
Athena brought her hands together.
The lightning struck.
It did not hit the soldiers.
It hit the earth.
A ring of white fire erupted around the group.
The ground cracked.
Stone rose from beneath the basin floor.
The cracks raced outward.
Athena screamed.
Not from fear.
From effort.
The earth surged upward.
A wall formed.
Not stone.
Not exactly.
It was a mixture of rock, soil, lightning, and something deeper.
It rose around the group in a jagged circle.
The Heaven soldiers stopped.
The Hell soldiers stopped.
For one second, nobody moved.
Athena's hands shook.
Tala was on both knees now.
"One."
Crowley understood.
"Move."
They ran.
The wall held.
Brook passed through the opening Athena had left for them.
Gabriel followed.
Henry pulled Hutena.
Sera grabbed Tala.
Crowley remained at the rear.
Athena came last.
The first Heaven soldier struck the wall.
The impact sent a vibration through the ground.
The wall held.
"Two," Tala whispered.
Athena stumbled.
Brook turned.
"Come on."
She pushed herself forward.
"Go."
"Move."
She did.
They crossed the first twenty yards.
The wall remained behind them.
Heaven and Hell began attacking it.
Blades struck.
Hellfire hit.
Lightning crawled across the stone.
The wall shook.
Athena kept running.
Her face had gone pale.
Blood ran from her nose again.
Brook looked back.
"How long?"
Tala answered.
"Four."
The wall cracked.
A Heaven soldier broke through a section.
Gabriel turned.
He started back.
Crowley grabbed him.
"No."
"They'll get through."
"Not yet."
Gabriel looked at the wall.
A second crack appeared.
Athena kept moving.
"Five."
The ground beneath them shook.
Brook stumbled.
Sera caught him.
"Keep going."
"I am."
"You stopped."
"Half a second."
"That's enough."
Brook ran.
The basin floor seemed to stretch beneath their feet.
The ridge ahead was closer.
Still too far.
Athena looked back.
The wall was beginning to collapse.
"Six."
The Hell soldiers broke through.
They charged.
Gabriel stopped.
Crowley stopped.
Athena turned.
"Don't."
Gabriel looked at her.
"They're through."
"I know."
"Then we fight."
Athena shook her head.
"Not yet."
The wall surged again.
A bolt of lightning struck the ground.
The soldiers were thrown backward.
Athena nearly fell.
Tala caught her.
"Seven."
The wall cracked from top to bottom.
Brook saw the soldiers on the other side.
They were already recovering.
The gap would not hold much longer.
He looked at Athena.
She looked back.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then she said, "Run."
Brook turned.
The group ran.
Eight.
Nine.
The wall began to collapse.
Stone fell inward.
Lightning flashed across the basin.
Heaven and Hell poured through.
"Ten."
Athena dropped her hands.
The wall broke.
The entire ring collapsed behind them.
The sound was enormous.
Rock crashed into the basin floor.
Lightning exploded outward.
Dust filled the air.
Brook ran through it.
He could not see.
He heard Gabriel shouting.
He heard Henry coughing.
He heard Sera calling Hutena's name.
He kept moving.
A hand caught his shoulder.
Crowley.
"Left."
Brook turned left.
They emerged from the dust.
The ridge was close.
Twenty yards.
Maybe fifteen.
Brook could see the rocks.
He pushed forward.
The ground behind them erupted.
Heaven soldiers came through the dust.
Hell soldiers followed.
The two armies had abandoned their formations.
They were all coming.
Brook heard the Devil's Instinct again.
Take the gap.
He saw a Hell soldier in front of him.
The man's weapon was raised.
Brook could kill him.
One motion.
The path would open.
He didn't.
Brook ducked.
The blade passed over his head.
He struck the man's chest.
The soldier staggered.
Brook kept running.
No kill.
No pause.
The soldier remained alive.
Brook climbed the ridge.
His knee gave out.
He fell to one hand.
Sera grabbed him.
"Up."
Brook pushed himself upright.
The ridge was only a few yards away.
They crossed.
The ground behind them disappeared.
The basin changed.
The mouth opened.
The absence rushed forward.
The Heaven soldiers stopped.
The Hell soldiers stopped.
The armies finally realized what was coming.
Brook reached the top of the ridge.
He turned.
The basin below was filled with movement.
Heaven.
Hell.
Dust.
Lightning.
Then the earth began to vanish.
A section of the basin disappeared beneath the soldiers.
Another followed.
People ran.
Some made it.
Some did not.
Brook watched one Heaven soldier leap across a gap.
He landed.
The ground beneath him vanished.
He fell.
There was no body.
No sound.
Nothing.
Brook's stomach twisted.
Crowley grabbed his shoulder.
"Don't watch."
Brook looked at him.
"I saw."
"I know."
The mouth continued opening.
Athena stood beside them, breathing hard.
Tala leaned against her.
Henry collapsed briefly onto one knee.
Sera immediately pulled him up.
"Not here."
Henry nodded.
"Got it."
Gabriel looked ahead.
Beyond the ridge was another road.
Real.
For now.
He pointed.
"There."
Crowley nodded.
"Move."
Brook turned away from the basin.
They started down the other side.
The ten seconds had cost Athena almost everything.
She could barely keep her head up.
Tala was supporting part of her weight now.
Brook wanted to help.
He could barely carry his own.
So he stayed close instead.
The road ahead remained.
That was enough.
They reached it.
Nobody stopped.
The sound behind them continued.
The basin disappeared.
The ridge disappeared.
The wall disappeared.
The road behind them disappeared.
The world closed its teeth on everything they had just crossed.
But the road ahead remained.
Brook looked at Athena.
She was still walking.
He looked at Tala.
She was still standing.
He looked at Henry.
Still moving.
Sera.
Still there.
Gabriel.
Still there.
Crowley.
Still at the rear.
Hutena.
Still holding the book.
Brook lowered his eyes.
His legs were shaking.
He kept walking.
The road ahead climbed toward another line of darkness.
There was no safety waiting for them.
But there was distance.
And for now, distance was enough.
End of Chapter 298