Chapter 305 — The Last Ordinary Road
The child did not laugh again.
That was somehow worse.
Brook kept walking.
The road ran beneath his boots in a straight line that seemed to have been drawn by someone who had never actually traveled it. The fields on either side remained green and quiet, but the quiet had changed. It no longer felt like the absence of danger. It felt like the space danger left behind when it was waiting.
Nobody spoke for several minutes.
Crowley stayed in front.
Gabriel watched the rear.
Sera walked beside Brook.
Henry and Hutena remained in the middle with Tala.
Athena kept her distance.
The wounded scout they had left behind was already gone from sight.
Brook wondered if he would make it back to whoever had sent him.
He hoped so.
That thought surprised him.
Not because he cared about the scout.
Because he knew exactly what he would have done a year ago.
Maybe even six months ago.
The distinction bothered him.
He looked down at his hands.
They were still stained from the morning.
Blood had dried in the lines across his knuckles.
His ribs hurt.
His knee hurt.
His shoulder hurt.
Everything hurt.
Yet the worst part was that his body had begun learning how to carry pain without asking permission.
He didn't know whether that was strength or damage.
Sera glanced at him.
"You're limping."
"No."
"You are."
"Barely."
"That still counts."
Brook kept walking.
Sera sighed.
"Fine."
"What?"
"Nothing."
She adjusted the strap of her bag.
"You're becoming annoying again."
"I never stopped."
"That is true."
A small smile passed between them.
It disappeared quickly.
Ahead, Crowley stopped.
The others stopped behind him.
Brook immediately looked toward the horizon.
Nothing.
Crowley crouched.
He touched the road.
Then he stood.
"Back."
Henry frowned.
"Back where?"
Crowley pointed toward the field.
"Off the road."
They moved.
Brook looked down as he stepped into the grass.
The ground beneath his boot was soft.
Normal.
He took another step.
Normal.
Then Crowley stepped off the road too.
"Wait."
Everyone stopped.
Crowley looked toward the road.
A thin crack had appeared across it.
No sound.
No impact.
Just a line.
Brook stared.
The crack spread.
It moved from one side of the road to the other, perfectly straight.
Then another appeared.
Then another.
Within seconds, the entire stretch of road ahead looked like broken glass.
Henry whispered, "That wasn't there."
"No," Tala said.
The road split.
Not physically.
The pieces did not fall.
They simply separated by inches, each section becoming slightly misaligned with the next.
The road had forgotten how to be one road.
Brook felt cold.
Sera opened her notebook.
"What is that?"
Tala stepped closer.
She crouched and placed her palm against the grass.
"It's not the earth."
Everyone looked at her.
Tala frowned.
"The ground underneath it is still here."
"Then what's breaking?" Gabriel asked.
Tala looked at the road.
"I don't know."
Crowley stared at the cracks.
"Keep moving."
Henry looked at him.
"Where?"
Crowley pointed toward the fields.
"Anywhere that isn't that."
They left the road.
The grass was high enough to hide their legs.
Brook hated it immediately.
Every step became uncertain.
His knee slipped once.
Sera caught his arm.
He pulled away automatically.
Then stopped himself.
"Sorry."
She looked at him.
"You're allowed to be caught."
Brook nodded.
He kept moving.
Behind them, the road made a sound.
A low grinding noise.
Everyone turned.
The cracks closed.
The road became whole again.
Henry stared.
"What?"
Nobody answered.
The road looked normal.
Almost perfectly normal.
Crowley turned away.
"Don't trust it."
They continued through the field.
The sky darkened slightly.
Not with clouds.
The sunlight simply seemed weaker.
Brook looked up.
"It's barely noon."
Gabriel glanced at the sun.
"I know."
Athena stopped.
She had been walking farther away than usual, but now she had gone completely still.
Brook watched her.
"What?"
She didn't answer.
Her eyes were fixed on the horizon.
A black line had appeared against the sky.
Too thin to be smoke.
Too straight to be a cloud.
Athena raised one hand.
Lightning flickered between her fingers.
Crowley saw it.
"Everyone down."
They dropped.
The black line moved.
Something passed overhead.
Fast.
The pressure knocked the grass flat.
Brook hit the ground hard.
Pain tore through his ribs.
He bit down to keep from making a sound.
Gabriel's shield appeared over the group.
The thing passed beyond them.
Then came back.
This time lower.
Gabriel stood.
The shield caught the impact.
A figure slammed against it.
Gabriel's boots dug trenches through the soil.
The attacker pushed.
Gabriel pushed back.
Then lightning struck.
Athena's bolt hit the ground beside the figure.
The blast threw it sideways.
It landed in the grass.
A Heaven soldier.
Not a scout.
Armor.
Wings.
A blade.
He rose immediately.
Gabriel stepped forward.
"Enough."
The soldier looked at him.
"You should have stayed with Heaven."
Gabriel's expression hardened.
"I chose."
"You abandoned."
"No."
Gabriel raised his shield.
"I chose."
The soldier attacked.
Gabriel met him.
The clash was brutal and short.
Steel struck shield.
Gabriel turned the blade aside.
The soldier spun and drove his elbow toward Gabriel's throat.
Gabriel ducked.
His shield slammed into the soldier's chest.
The soldier flew backward.
Athena's lightning cut off his escape.
Crowley crossed the distance.
One punch.
The soldier dropped.
Silence returned.
Brook looked at the sky.
The black line was gone.
The soldier groaned.
Crowley stood over him.
"Who else?"
The soldier didn't answer.
Crowley grabbed his armor.
"Who else?"
"Joshua knows."
Crowley released him.
"That's not an answer."
"It is now."
The soldier looked toward Gabriel.
"You think this ends because you walked away?"
Gabriel said nothing.
The soldier laughed.
"You don't understand what you've done."
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
"No."
He looked at Brook.
"I understand exactly what I chose."
The soldier stared at him.
Then he smiled.
That smile made Brook uncomfortable.
Not because it was threatening.
Because it was certain.
"Heaven isn't hunting him because they fear him."
The soldier's eyes moved to Brook.
"They're hunting him because they know what happens if someone else gets there first."
Crowley punched him unconscious.
Henry stared.
"Was that necessary?"
"Yes."
"What did he mean?"
Crowley looked at him.
"We don't know."
Brook did.
Or rather, he knew that Crowley didn't want the question answered here.
Brook looked toward his coat.
The scrap was warm.
Again.
Stronger.
He pressed his palm against it.
The warmth spread into his fingers.
He pulled his hand away.
Hutena had noticed.
She was staring at him.
Brook met her eyes.
She looked down at the Book of Future.
"It's doing it again," she said.
"What?"
"The book."
She opened it.
The page was blank.
Then black ink appeared.
Slowly.
One line.
Hutena read it.
Her face changed.
Sera moved closer.
"What does it say?"
Hutena didn't answer.
Henry looked over her shoulder.
There was no sentence.
Only three words.
THE DOOR REMEMBERS.
Henry frowned.
"What door?"
The words disappeared.
The page became blank again.
Hutena slammed the book shut.
"I don't know."
Brook looked at Crowley.
Crowley was staring at the book.
"What door?"
Hutena shook her head.
"I said I don't know."
Crowley nodded.
He didn't push her.
They moved again.
The group had gone quieter.
The attack had lasted less than a minute.
It had still changed the day.
Brook's breathing was becoming harder.
Every time his foot landed wrong, his ribs tightened.
Sera watched him.
"You need to stop."
"No."
"You're bleeding."
Brook looked down.
A small dark patch had appeared beneath his shirt.
He touched it.
His fingers came away red.
Sera's expression hardened.
"Stop."
"We can't."
"We can for five minutes."
Crowley answered before Brook could.
"No."
Sera looked at him.
Crowley pointed ahead.
A line of smoke was rising beyond the next hill.
Not black.
Gray.
Too thick.
Too steady.
"Someone's there."
Henry looked at the smoke.
"People?"
"Maybe."
Sera shook her head.
"We're not stopping."
Brook looked at her.
She looked back.
The decision had already been made.
They kept moving.
The hill rose sharply.
Brook's injured knee began to shake.
Henry moved beside him.
"You want an arm?"
"No."
"You're going to fall."
"I won't."
"You're already negotiating with gravity."
Brook looked at him.
Henry held out his arm.
Brook stared at it.
Then took it.
Henry smiled.
"Look at that."
"Don't."
"I didn't say anything."
"You were going to."
"I was going to say we're making progress."
Brook almost laughed.
His ribs stopped him.
Henry tightened his grip.
"Easy."
They reached the top of the hill.
Brook looked down.
The smoke was coming from a farmhouse.
It was burning.
Not completely.
Only the barn.
The house itself was untouched.
A woman stood outside.
She was holding a little boy.
A man was lying beside the fence.
Brook started downhill.
Crowley caught him.
"No."
Brook looked at him.
"People."
"I see them."
"They need help."
"I know."
Crowley looked toward Gabriel.
"Check the house."
Gabriel moved.
Athena followed.
Brook tried to move with them.
Crowley blocked him.
"Stay."
Brook's jaw tightened.
"You don't know if—"
"I know you're injured."
Brook stared at him.
Crowley stared back.
Then Crowley moved downhill.
Brook waited.
It lasted three seconds.
He followed.
Sera cursed under her breath and followed him.
Henry followed Sera.
Tala followed Henry.
Hutena followed Tala.
Athena was already at the barn.
Gabriel stood beside the injured man.
"He's alive."
Brook crouched beside him.
The man's chest rose unevenly.
Blood covered his shirt.
Brook pressed a hand against the wound.
"Where's the threat?"
The man coughed.
"Gone."
Crowley looked toward the burning barn.
"Who?"
The man tried to speak.
Nothing came.
Then the woman shouted.
"My son!"
Brook turned.
The boy was no longer in her arms.
She pointed toward the barn.
"He ran inside."
Brook moved.
Crowley grabbed him.
"No."
"Let go."
"It's burning."
"He's in there."
"I know."
Brook looked at the barn.
Fire had reached the roof.
Smoke poured through the broken windows.
Athena stepped beside them.
"There's another entrance."
She pointed.
A side door.
Brook moved toward it.
Crowley caught his coat.
"Wait."
Brook looked at him.
Crowley looked at the fire.
Then at Brook.
"Two minutes."
Brook nodded.
They entered.
The heat hit immediately.
Smoke filled Brook's lungs.
His ribs screamed.
He pushed through it.
The barn was collapsing.
Wood fell from the ceiling.
Brook heard coughing.
"Hey!"
A child's voice answered.
"Here!"
Brook moved toward it.
He found the boy beneath a broken beam.
The child was trapped.
Brook crouched.
"Can you move?"
The boy shook his head.
Brook grabbed the beam.
Pain exploded through his shoulder.
He lifted.
Nothing.
The beam barely moved.
Athena appeared beside him.
"Move."
Lightning struck the metal hinge beside the beam.
The impact shattered the wood.
Brook grabbed the child.
"Go."
The boy clung to him.
The roof groaned.
"Brook!"
Sera's voice.
He ran.
A burning beam fell behind them.
Brook stumbled.
The child screamed.
Brook tightened his grip.
They reached the door.
Crowley grabbed the boy.
Brook fell to one knee.
Sera was beside him immediately.
"You idiot."
Brook coughed.
"He's alive."
"I can see that."
She pulled him up.
Behind them, the barn collapsed.
The woman grabbed her son.
She cried.
The boy held onto her.
For a few seconds, the scene was almost normal.
Then the woman looked at Brook.
Her expression changed.
Not gratitude.
Fear.
She stared at his coat.
At his face.
At the blood on his hands.
Then she whispered something.
Brook couldn't hear.
"What?"
The woman shook her head.
"Nothing."
She pulled her son closer.
Crowley saw it.
He looked at Brook.
Brook noticed.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Crowley walked away.
Brook followed.
"What did she see?"
Crowley didn't answer.
Sera came behind them.
"She was afraid of you."
Brook looked back.
The woman had already taken her son inside.
The injured man remained beside the fence.
Nobody looked at them.
Henry approached.
"Maybe she saw the sword."
"No," Sera said.
Brook looked at her.
"You don't know."
"I know fear."
Brook looked toward the house.
The boy had said nothing.
The woman had said nothing.
But something had passed through her expression.
Recognition.
Not of Brook.
Of what stood behind him.
Brook felt the scrap warm.
He stopped.
This time the heat was almost painful.
His hand went to his chest.
The world flickered.
For one instant, he smelled smoke.
Not the barn.
Something older.
Something that made his stomach turn.
He saw a hand.
Small.
His own.
Then darkness.
Brook blinked.
The field returned.
Sera was holding his arm.
"Brook?"
He pulled away.
"I'm fine."
She stared at him.
"No."
Brook looked toward the road.
The smoke from the barn drifted across the sky.
The sun had disappeared behind it.
The ordinary day was gone.
Crowley gathered everyone.
"We move."
Henry looked at the farmhouse.
"What about them?"
Crowley looked back.
"They'll live."
"How do you know?"
"I don't."
Henry waited.
Crowley continued.
"That's why we move."
They left.
No one argued.
Brook walked without help this time.
His knee hurt.
His ribs hurt.
His shoulder burned.
But he walked.
The farmhouse disappeared behind them.
The road remained ahead.
For another hour, nothing happened.
Then they reached the ridge.
Brook stopped.
Below them, the road split around a line of trees.
There was a small marker beside it.
Old stone.
Weathered.
Half buried.
Brook stared at it.
A single symbol had been carved into the stone.
B.
Then beneath it:
1.
Brook's breathing stopped.
Sera saw it.
Crowley saw it.
Hutena saw it.
Nobody spoke.
Brook walked toward the marker.
His fingers hovered above the carving.
The scrap burned.
He pulled his hand away.
The symbol seemed to darken.
Not change.
Just become easier to see.
Brook looked at Crowley.
Crowley had gone completely still.
"You know it."
Crowley didn't answer.
"Crowley."
A long silence.
Then Crowley said quietly,
"Not here."
Brook's expression hardened.
The same answer.
Again.
Not here.
Brook looked down at the marker.
Then toward the road.
Then at the scrap beneath his coat.
Something inside him had begun pulling toward the answer.
He did not know what the answer was.
But he knew it was no longer far away.
Behind them, thunder rolled.
There were no clouds.
Athena looked toward the horizon.
Lightning flickered inside clear sky.
Gabriel raised his shield.
Crowley turned.
Far beyond the fields, three lights appeared.
One white.
One red.
One black.
They remained still for several seconds.
Then they began moving.
Toward them.
Crowley drew his weapon.
"Now."
The group started down the opposite side of the ridge.
Brook followed.
The marker remained behind.
The ordinary world had not broken completely.
It no longer needed to.
It had already shown them the crack.
And now everything they passed through seemed to have one.
End of Chapter 305