Chapter 6: The Door Beyond Hope
The Forest of Eldros had a silence that was louder than sound. Not even the wind dared to blow. The deeper Isen ventured, the more hopeless the air became—thicker, heavier, as if grief itself clung to the trees.
He had spent days searching. Every plant had been tested. Every stream tasted. Every whisper followed.
But there was no cure.
Not here.
Not in this world.
---
Orien limped behind him, worn and bruised. "Isen… we've searched every clearing. We've seen nothing but rot."
Isen didn't answer.
He couldn't.
His mind was full of Ivy's fading smile. Tenley's blood-stained hands. Aiden's young, bright eyes. All of them—waiting for him.
Depending on him.
And he was failing.
---
At sunset, as the last light vanished between twisted branches, Isen collapsed to his knees in a hollow of roots. His hand sank into the earth, and for a brief moment, he prayed.
Not to gods.
Not to spirits.
Just to something that could hear him.
> "I don't care if I have to bleed or burn or break," he whispered, tears tracing down his dirt-streaked face. "Just… let me save them."
Suddenly—a wind blew.
Only for a second.
The first wind Eldros had offered in days.
And when Isen looked up…
There it was.
---
A door.
Nestled between the trees, formed of obsidian stone and glowing white lines—etched in symbols older than Delhelm's history. Vines curled around its edges, but none dared cross its center. It pulsed gently, like a heartbeat.
Orien's voice trembled. "Isen… this wasn't here before."
Isen rose slowly, heart pounding. He stepped forward, placing his palm on the center.
The door was warm.
Alive.
And at his touch, it whispered—not in words, but in sensation.
A feeling of both dread and possibility.
> "What is this…?" he murmured.
Then the lines across the door lit up—a radiant white blaze—and with a soft crack, the door opened.
---
Inside was not a forest.
Not a cave. Not a hall.
But a vast, star-lit void.
Floating stones created a winding path. Strange islands hung suspended in the air. And above it all, a great orb of silver mist pulsed like a second moon.
"This…" Orien whispered, stepping beside Isen. "This isn't our world."
Isen stepped in. "Maybe the cure isn't either."
As they entered, the door sealed shut behind them.
---
Back in Delhelm, the cursed plant in the palace had grown. Its roots now touched the sacred floor of the throne room. Ivy stood before it, her necklace glowing brighter than ever. Aiden gripped her hand tightly, fear in his eyes.
The flower bent toward her. Watching. Waiting.
Tenley slept fitfully nearby.
And still—no sign of Isen.
The healer turned to Ivy. "If he doesn't return by the second moon, we'll have to start burning the infected zones. Including the palace."
Ivy's voice cracked, "He will return."
Aiden whispered, "He promised."
---
But Isen was now beyond promises.
He was somewhere else—in a place where time twisted, and doors led not just through space… but through fate.
And before him, at the far edge of the floating path, was another door.
Smaller. Made of light.
And etched with one word:
"TRUTH."