Chapter 99: The Road of Bones

Selene led them through the crumbling city, avoiding the main streets.

The landscape grew worse the farther they went — buildings reduced to piles of ash, roads swallowed by roots and twisted trees that seemed almost to breathe.

Fred gritted his teeth against the stench of decay.

They passed piles of bones — not buried, not honored — just left to rot under the uncaring sky.

The city was dead.

And yet, somewhere deep within its heart, something still watched.

Fred could feel it.

Every step was a gamble, every shadow a threat.

The others felt it too. Mira stayed close to his side, her eyes scanning constantly. Even hardened men like Callen and Jonas moved with blades drawn and shields raised.

Selene showed no fear.

Or if she did, she buried it deep.

"You said there's a sanctuary," Fred said quietly, as they crossed a bridge over a river so dark it looked like oil.

"There is," Selene replied without turning. "But it's not what you think. The Root isn't some paradise. It's the last stronghold of madness."

Fred frowned. "Then why are we going?"

"Because madness is better than extinction."

---

They made camp in the shell of an old museum — once a place of wonder, now a tomb.

Dust-coated exhibits loomed in the dark: shattered statues, faded paintings, relics of a world that no longer cared about beauty or history.

As the others slept, Fred wandered among the ruins.

He stopped before a cracked mirror, seeing his own reflection twisted and fragmented.

Was this what he was becoming?

A ghost trapped between worlds?

Selene appeared beside him, silent as smoke.

"You blame yourself," she said.

Fred didn't answer.

"You think you broke the world," she continued. "You didn't."

He turned to her, anger flickering. "Didn't I? We opened the Cradle. We unleashed—"

"You unleashed nothing," Selene interrupted sharply. "The world was already bleeding out. You just tore away the bandages and made people look at the wound."

Fred looked down.

"I don't know how to fix it."

Selene's smile was grim.

"Maybe you can't."

---

That night, Fred dreamt.

He stood alone in the ruins, the stars above him bleeding red.

From the darkness came a voice — soft, almost tender.

"You don't belong here."

Fred turned, searching for the speaker.

"Come back."

The shadows shifted — and he saw her.

A woman with silver eyes and hair like living flame.

She reached out a hand.

"Come back to where it began."

Fred staggered back, heart pounding.

"Before everything falls... come back..."

He woke with a gasp, the dream still clinging to his skin like cobwebs.

Selene was already awake, watching him from across the room.

"You heard it, didn't you?" she said.

Fred nodded, throat dry.

Selene's expression was unreadable.

"Good," she said. "You're ready."

"Ready for what?"

"For the truth."

---