Chapter 1 - Episode 1 - The Singularity

The cultivated fields and the treetops of the forest rushed past them.

“Finde! Finde, damn it, wait for us!”
Miky and Lisey were chasing after him, running as fast as they could.

They were both ten years old.
They were twins.
Always one step behind their older brother, who was four years their senior.

Finde slowed down slightly and turned toward them, continuing to run backward.
“Come on, you slackers! I'm carrying the fishing rods on my shoulders, too.
You should be the ones ahead!”

They veered west.
They crossed Mr. Bourges's field and plunged into the Ashen Forest.

“Slow down, idiot!”
Lisey shouted, struggling to catch her breath.

Light filtered through the gray-green foliage, casting surreal reflections on the ground.

“We're almost there!”
Finde shouted.
“I can see the edge of the forest!”

A bright, clear sky opened up above them.
Zuccola Hill stood before them, immersed in an unnatural silence.
They raced toward it and began climbing its broad natural steps.

The Silk River, meanwhile, flowed downward, forming beautiful little lakes
and waterfalls at each natural terrace.

They reached their favorite spot.
A wide, panoramic clearing, with a lake in the middle large enough to be home
to fish and water snakes.

The water gleamed like molten glass.
A warm breeze carried the scent of damp earth and wildflowers.

Finde took off his backpack and began preparing the fishing lines.
“Let's see who catches the biggest fish today.”

Miky and Lisey caught up with him and bent over,
hands on their knees, panting from exhaustion.

Miky looked up defiantly.
“Dad said the winner gets a double serving of ice cream.
So I'm going to win. No question!”

A few hundred meters below them, Mr. Bourges was plowing his field.
He was in a good mood that morning.
Summer promised abundant harvests, and his daughter would soon be getting married.

The warm light of Radis, their star, warmed his back.
For a moment, life seemed perfect.

Then it happened.

A small glimmer of violet light caught his attention.
It came from the clods of earth turned over by his plow.

Mr. Bourges tilted his head.
A piece of metal, he thought.
He started walking toward it.

The glimmer grew brighter.

Then a beam of violet light shot upward, traced a perfect arc through the air,
and struck the ground a few meters away.
A luminous semicircle, three meters tall, drawn in the air.

Mr. Bourges's eyes widened.

The space between the curved beam and the ground began to distort,
as though the air itself were being crumpled.

Its color changed.
Gray.
Dark.
Then pitch-black.
The surface boiled and trembled.
Then, suddenly, it stopped.

Now, before Mr. Bourges, stood a black mirror, glossy and motionless.
Framed by a thin beam of violet light.
Mr. Bourges's heart began pounding in his chest.
He took a step back.

Then a whisper.
He spun around.
“Who's there?!” he shouted.

No answer.

He turned back toward that unsettling black mirror.
Every cell in his body screamed at him to run, but his legs wouldn't listen.

One step.
Then another.
By now, he was dangerously close to that repulsive black surface.

He reached out his hand.
His fingertips were drawing closer, slowly.

Something grabbed him.

A scream tore through the silence of the countryside.

“Damn it! That one was huge!”
Miky huffed, gripping his fishing rod.

Lisey burst out laughing.
“Sure! You're the only one who saw it, as always.”

“It was real!”
Miky retorted, sticking his tongue out at her.

Finde wasn't listening.
He had stood up.
“Hey… guys.”

The twins turned.
Miky glared at him.
“Don't fall for it, Lisey. He's trying to distract us so he can win.”

“No…”
Finde raised a hand above his eyes.
“…look over there.”

He pointed to a spot below them.
“Between Bourges's field and the Ashen Forest…”

The twins saw it.

A black semicircle, taller than a man.
Resting on the ground like a doorway that led nowhere.

“Let's go take a look!”

They ran down the hill and reentered the Ashen Forest.
The silence was unnatural.
No rustling.
No animal calls.
They emerged into Mr. Bourges's field.

The black mouth was there, about two hundred meters ahead.

“How strange…”
Miky said.
“…it's so thin you can only see it when you're standing directly in front of it.”

A cold, biting, foul-smelling air blew from the arch.
Lisey pinched her nose and took a step back.
The silence made their blood run cold.

Then…
Screams.
Piercing.

They came from Greentowne.

Lisey turned pale.
“What's happening…?” she whispered.

The screams multiplied.
Broken.
Inhuman.

“We have to go get Mom and Dad”
Miky said.

Finde nodded.
“Let's cut through town. Move.”

They passed through the western gate of their town.

Greentowne was no longer the same.
People running frantically.
Children being dragged away, their eyes wide with terror.
Overturned carts.
Barricaded doors.

An acrid smell permeated the air.
They pushed their way through the crowd.
The screams were getting closer.
Then they reached Market Square.

Finde stopped.
His brain refused to accept what he was seeing.

Creatures.

Greenish skin, glistening like slime.
Fixed, yellow eyes, devoid of mercy.
Some were small and stocky, others tall and hunched.
Sharp teeth.
Black blades, stained with blood, clutched in their hideous hands.

Finde felt his stomach churn.

Those monsters weren't just killing.
They were enjoying themselves.

One grabbed a woman and tore her apart without hesitation.
Another bent over a body and washed its face in warm blood.

Lisey let out a broken sound.

Finde took her face in his hands.
“Lis… look at me. Breathe.”

The little girl's eyes were filling with tears.

“Let's go to Mom and Dad. Right now.”
Finde turned once more toward those monsters.

Before they could reach home, they would have to cross through hell.