Chapter 1 — The Fifth Year
Five years had passed since the continent appeared.
People had stopped calling it a miracle long ago.
At first the world reacted with excitement. A landmass larger than any known island had risen from the ocean overnight. Satellites confirmed it within hours. Governments rushed to claim it. News channels called it the greatest discovery in human history.
The excitement lasted exactly twelve days.
That was how long the first exploration fleet survived.
By the end of the first year, thirty-seven expeditions had attempted landfall.
Only nine returned.
Of those nine, most crews were incomplete.
Some survivors were missing limbs. Others were missing memories. A few simply refused to speak about what they had seen beyond the shoreline.
The reports that did exist were inconsistent, fragmented, and heavily classified.
Forests that moved when no one was looking.
Creatures that ignored bullets.
Entire teams disappearing without leaving footprints behind.
The world slowly came to a quiet agreement.
The continent was not meant for humans.
Unfortunately, it was also full of things worth money.
Rare minerals. Unknown biological samples. Energy signatures no existing technology could explain.
Which meant exploration never stopped.
It simply became more careful.
More organized.
And far more desperate.
—
Rowan had never planned to see the place himself.
He preferred machines. Engines made sense. Steel behaved according to rules. If something broke, you could fix it with enough tools and patience.
The continent didn't follow rules.
Everyone knew someone who had gone there.
Most never came back.
Yet here he was.
Standing on the deck of the Iron Gull, watching the dark coastline grow larger on the horizon.
The ocean around the continent looked wrong even after five years of study. Waves slowed as they approached the shore, flattening into an unnatural calm. The wind weakened, as if the air itself disliked moving toward the land.
Rowan tightened his grip on the railing.
"First deployment?"
The voice came from his left.
A broad man leaned against a supply crate, arms folded. His uniform was worn in a way that suggested experience rather than carelessness. Old scars crossed his knuckles.
Rowan nodded.
"Yeah."
The man gave a small grunt.
"Thought so."
Rowan glanced back at the coastline.
"You've been here before?"
"Twice."
That made Rowan look at him properly.
Most explorers never made it back from their first trip.
"Then why come again?"
The man shrugged.
"Because the ones who survive once usually get sent back."
He tapped the crate beside him.
"Besides. The pay's better every year."
Rowan didn't find that comforting.
Across the deck, soldiers and technicians moved between stacks of equipment. Drones, sensor rigs, ammunition cases, portable survey stations. Everything humanity had designed to understand the unknown.
Most of it had failed before.
But people kept trying.
The coastline was close enough now that Rowan could see the cliffs clearly.
Dark rock.
Dense forest above it.
And something else.
He narrowed his eyes.
For a brief moment, he could have sworn the treeline shifted slightly.
Not like wind.
More like… something moving beneath it.
Rowan looked away.
Five years of research.
Five years of deaths.
And no one on Earth could confidently explain what waited inside that forest.
The ship's bell rang.
"Landing teams prepare!"
The words echoed across the deck.
Rowan exhaled slowly.
Five years had passed since the continent appeared.
Humanity still knew almost nothing about it.
But today…
they were going deeper than anyone before.