BOOK TWO: THE KINGDOM BEYOND THE GATE
Chapter 17: The Chamber of Tomorrow
The endless staircase stretched into the sky.
Each silver step floated in darkness, connected by streams of starlight instead of stone.
Below them, the Silent Observatory slowly disappeared beneath clouds.
Above...
There was no ceiling.
Only countless stars rotating like giant gears.
No one spoke as the group climbed.
The only sound was the steady ticking of Eva's broken pocket watch.
Tick...
Tick...
Except...
The hands were still moving backward.
---
Alaric walked at the front, his silver lantern lighting the path.
"The Chamber of Tomorrow has only opened three times."
Cassian looked at him.
"And each time?"
Alaric's expression became solemn.
"The future changed."
Lucien frowned.
"For better?"
Alaric didn't answer.
His silence was enough.
---
Hours seemed to pass.
Or perhaps only minutes.
Time no longer made sense inside the Observatory.
Finally...
The staircase ended before a pair of enormous crystal doors.
Unlike every other door they had encountered, these had no locks.
Instead...
Each door reflected a different future.
On the left...
A world covered in green forests where children laughed beneath a golden sky.
On the right...
A world swallowed by endless darkness, where broken Gates floated among ruined stars.
Riva instinctively stepped closer.
The reflections changed.
Now the left door showed the Six Heirs standing together.
The right door showed only one person.
Riva.
Standing alone.
---
Eva noticed ancient writing above the doorway.
She held up the crystal sphere from her broken compass.
The symbols translated themselves.
She read aloud.
"Only those who accept the future may witness it."
The doors slowly opened.
---
Beyond them lay a vast circular chamber.
The floor was made of transparent crystal.
Beneath it flowed rivers of light instead of water.
The ceiling resembled the night sky.
Thousands of glowing threads connected stars to the floor below.
At the very center floated a giant hourglass.
Instead of sand...
Tiny stars flowed from one half into the other.
Each star shimmered with memories.
Alaric whispered,
"The Hourglass of Possibilities."
"The future is written here..."
"...until someone changes it."
---
Suddenly...
The hourglass rotated by itself.
Six beams of light shot toward the Heirs.
One beam touched each of them.
Riva gasped.
The chamber disappeared.
---
She stood in another place.
The Observatory was in ruins.
The giant clock had stopped forever.
Snow drifted through broken walls.
She was alone.
No...
Not alone.
Someone stood before her.
A woman wearing a silver crown.
Her face was hidden beneath a white veil.
The woman slowly removed the veil.
Riva froze.
She was looking at herself.
Only older.
Her hair had become silver.
Her eyes carried centuries of sorrow.
The older Riva smiled gently.
"You came sooner than I expected."
Riva stepped backward.
"Who are you?"
"You."
"From a future that must never happen."
---
Elsewhere...
Eva stood inside an endless library.
Every book carried her name.
She opened one.
Every page was blank.
A voice echoed around her.
"When the last mystery is solved..."
"...there will be no more questions."
The library caught fire.
Every blank book burned.
Eva reached out desperately, but they turned to ash.
---
Parna found herself in a forest.
Except...
Every tree had become stone.
Every flower was gray.
Nature had fallen silent.
She called to the wind.
Nothing answered.
A single sentence appeared upon the trunk of an ancient tree.
"The Guardian of Nature must choose between one world... and all worlds."
---
Aarvi stood inside a small wooden workshop.
Her uncle smiled as always.
But this time...
He looked through her.
As though she didn't exist.
"Uncle..."
He continued carving a toy bird.
Never answering.
Never seeing her.
Then the workshop slowly faded away.
Leaving only the mysterious box at her feet.
It opened by itself.
Inside...
The final hidden compartment unlocked.
Instead of a key...
There was a folded letter.
Before Aarvi could read it—
The vision vanished.
---
Lucien stood once again inside the palace of the First Kingdom.
This time it wasn't peaceful.
The palace burned.
The Black King knelt before him.
Not as a king.
As a father.
"My son..."
"You mustn't repeat my mistake."
Lucien reached toward him.
"What mistake?"
The King looked toward a massive door behind the throne.
A door covered with countless locks.
"The Last Door..."
"I opened it."
Before Lucien could ask another question—
Everything exploded into light.
---
Orion found himself standing before a familiar battlefield.
Thousands of Guardians lay defeated.
Argos stood among them.
Mortally wounded.
The old captain smiled weakly.
"You remembered."
Then disappeared into the wind.
---
The visions ended simultaneously.
The Six Heirs returned to the Chamber of Tomorrow.
Everyone was breathing heavily.
No one spoke for several moments.
Finally...
Aarvi broke the silence.
"I hate future visions."
"They never explain anything."
---
Before Alaric could answer—
The Hourglass cracked.
A thin fracture spread across its crystal surface.
Then another.
Stars began leaking from the crack.
The Chamber shook violently.
Eva looked toward the hourglass in horror.
"What's happening?"
Alaric's face turned white.
"The future..."
"It's breaking."
Suddenly—
The leaked stars gathered together in the center of the chamber.
They formed the outline of a human figure.
Slowly...
The figure became solid.
A young woman dressed in black armor stood before them.
She had long silver hair.
A crimson scar crossed one eye.
Most shocking of all...
She had Riva's face.
The woman looked calmly at the Six Heirs.
Then smiled sadly.
"You've seen one future."
"I've lived it."
Silence swallowed the chamber.
The woman placed one hand over her heart and introduced herself.
"My name is Queen Riva."
"I am the last ruler of the First Kingdom..."
"...and I have come to stop you from making the same choice I once did."
The Hourglass shattered completely.
Outside the Observatory...
The crimson and blue moons merged into a single violet moon.
Far beyond every Gate...
The Devourer smiled.
Because the future had just become even more uncertain.
End of Chapter 17