Chapter 1840

The older Jude rushed towards them.

"Do not listen!"

But Sol was already moving.

He slipped from Jude’s grasp and ran down the first two steps.

Jude caught him before he could go further.

"Sol, stop!"

"He’s crying!"

"It’s trying to trick you."

"No!"

The boy struggled.

"That’s my brother!"

The staircase shuddered.

The darkness below seemed to deepen, swallowing the remaining golden light.

Then the child’s voice spoke again.

"Brother?"

Sol stopped struggling.

"Are you there?"

"I’m here."

Sol’s eyes filled with tears.

"I thought you were gone."

A pause.

Then the voice answered.

"I thought you had forgotten me."

Sol covered his mouth.

Jude held him tightly.

"Don’t answer."

But the boy whispered:

"I remember you."

The staircase stopped collapsing.

The older Jude’s expression turned to horror.

"Sol..."

A deep bell rang from beneath the floor.

The key in Jude’s hand became hot.

A thin silver line appeared across its handle.

Then a second line.

Then a third.

The symbol of the first house unfolded across the wooden surface.

The staircase opened again.

Wider than before.

At the bottom, the golden light returned.

And the child’s voice said:

"Then come and find me."

Sol tried to move.

Jude held him back.

The older Jude stepped between them.

"Listen to me. That is not your brother."

Sol stared at him.

"How do you know?"

"Because your brother is not down there."

"Where is he?"

The older man said nothing.

Sol’s voice became louder.

"Where is he?"

The older Jude looked away.

And that silence told Jude more than any answer could have.

The first Sol slowly released Jude’s sleeve.

"You left him there."

The older man closed his eyes.

"Yes."

Sol stared at him.

"You told me you were saving me."

"I was trying to save you both."

"You took me away."

"I thought—"

"You took me away!"

The boy’s voice echoed through the chamber.

The silver threads around the pillars began vibrating again.

Jude stepped between them.

"Sol, listen to me."

The boy looked at him.

"We’ll find out what happened. I promise."

Sol’s expression softened slightly.

"Really?"

"Yes."

The older Jude looked at him sharply.

"Don’t make promises in this chamber."

Jude turned.

"Why?"

"Because the first house hears them."

Before the older man could say more, the voice below laughed.

"Too late."

The staircase suddenly opened completely.

A golden light flooded the chamber.

And from the darkness emerged a wooden handrail.

Then a wooden wall.

Then a ceiling.

The staircase was becoming a room.

A room was rising from beneath the first house.

Jude watched as the walls unfolded around the opening, revealing a small corridor lined with familiar objects.

A cooking pot.

A wooden bench.

A flower basket.

A little blue ribbon.

A cracked green cup.

Objects from their village.

Objects from their shared house.

And at the very end of the corridor stood a door.

It was made of dark wood.

Unlike the other doors, it had no symbol.

Only a small inscription.

THE ROOM BEFORE THE FIRST HOUSE.

The older Jude took a step backwards.

"No."

Jude looked at him.

"What?"

"That room should not exist."

"Why?"

"Because it was destroyed."

The door opened slightly.

A child stood behind it.

He looked exactly like Sol.

But his hair was longer, and his clothes were different. He held a wooden bird in one hand.

The first Sol made a small sound.

"Brother..."

The child smiled.

"You came."

Jude looked at the older man.

"Is that him?"

The older Jude stared at the doorway.

For the first time, he seemed unable to hide his fear.

"Yes."

Sol moved forward.

Jude caught his hand.

"Wait."

The child behind the door looked at Jude.

"You must be the new one."

Jude frowned.

"The new one?"

The child nodded.

"Father said you would come."

Jude looked towards the older Jude.

The man had gone very still.

The child continued.

"He said you would look like him, but you wouldn’t remember anything."

Jude stepped forward.

"What is your name?"

The child looked at Sol.

Then at the older man.

And smiled.

"I don’t have one anymore."

Sol shook his head.

"You do."

The child lowered his gaze.

"Not here."

Jude looked at the doorway.

"Why are you inside?"

The child seemed confused.

"Because this is my room."

"But where is it?"

The child pointed behind himself.

"Before the house."

The words made the older Jude flinch.

Jude turned towards him.

"What does that mean?"

The older man looked at the door.

"The first house was not the beginning."

"Then what was?"

The older Jude didn’t answer.

The child behind the door did.

"A little room."

He stepped aside.

Beyond him was a small bedroom, almost exactly like the one Jude had seen earlier.

A bed.

A table.

A wooden bird.

A window.

But the window showed nothing.

No forest.

No beach.

No mountain.

Only a bright, empty whiteness.

The child walked towards the bed.

"Father used to come here."

Jude looked at the older man.

The older Jude lowered his head.

"He used to tell us stories."

"Us?" Jude asked.

The child nodded.

"Me and my brother."

Sol moved closer to the doorway.

"What stories?"

The child smiled.

"Stories about the world outside."

Sol stared.

"There was a world outside?"

"Yes."

"Beyond the island?"

The child nodded.

"Before the island."

Jude looked towards the older Jude.

The man’s expression had become distant.

"The island wasn’t always an island," he said quietly.

"I know that much."

"No. You don’t."

He looked at the child.

"This room existed before Elyrion."

Jude frowned.

"Before the world itself?"

The older Jude nodded.

"It was the first place the tree remembered."

The child sat on the bed.

"Father said the tree was lonely."

Sol looked at him.

"Why?"

"Because it was the only thing in the dark."

The child ran his fingers across the blanket.

"Then one day, someone came."

"Who?" Jude asked.

The child looked towards the empty window.

"A person who didn’t belong to any world."