Herald of death

A gray window materializes in front of each bar patron. A few are surprised by it, as if they hadn't accustomed themselves to this new fact of life.

Invitation to the Primordial Labyrinths

You are invited to enter the Primordial Labyrinths. If you choose to accept, you will be transported to one of the nine remaining labyrinths.

Declining this invitation is not final; you may summon it again by speaking its name.

Do you accept?

YES NO

Kate quickly taps 'NO,' causing the window to vanish.

"Ding," the system chimes again, but the sound is distorted. Ethan feels a strange pull on his mind, as if a vision was about to take hold. The system's voice morphs, still distorted but becoming that of a living woman laced with hatred. "Villagers who turned on their kin became Wolves hiding among you. Their cursed blood now thirsts for yours; any attempt at abstinence will drive them mad, transforming them into crazed beasts. The mark of the curse of monstrosity will appear on their backs."

Ethan's eyes scan the bar, searching for any sign of panic, anyone who might be hiding something. The patrons exchange suspicious glances. The bartender nervously keeps checking the door to the kitchen. A man crouches under his table, his eyes darting to every shadowed corner of the room.

"They will come for you in your sleep. Protect yourselves, and exterminate them," the voice continues, a chilling undertone in every word.

"Why did the voice change?" Ethan mutters, confused.

Kate gives him a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

"The voice just now," Ethan says, the mental pull suddenly fading. "It wasn't the system's usual robotic tone. It was... alive and angry."

Kate shakes her head. "It sounded exactly the same to me. What it said was more intense, sure, but the voice didn't change." She gently lifts his hair, checking the back of his head. "Are you sure you're okay? She didn't hit you too hard, did she?"

Ethan's mind races. 'The chime and the voice were distorted, just like at the source of Ether,' he thinks. He tries to focus, hoping to trigger another vision, but nothing comes. 'It's not like I can ask another Ishai fruit eater for advice.'

The bartender, visibly shaken, fumbles for the remote and switches the TV back to the news channel. The live commentators stare at each other, stunned into silence. One of them glances nervously off-camera, where the teleprompter should be.

Another pulls out her phone, her eyes widening as she reads something. "This is breaking news, but it seems that... reports are coming in of...," she stammers. Her eyes dart back to her phone, disbelief etched on her face. "Social media are erupting with live footage of Mount Vesuvius; it's spewing massive amounts of ash over Naples. Lava is seeping through cracks across its surface. Thousands are—"

The screen behind them flashes, displaying a dark, rural European landscape. The image flickers with static. The sky above churns with black clouds, spiraling into an abyss. A thick mist rises from the forests, revealing an enormous castle, its towering spires piercing the dark clouds.

The castle's stone absorbs what little light remains. Its ancient walls are scarred from battles long past and entangled with thorny vines. A low rumble reverberates through the television, shaking the ground beneath the steady cameraman.

The mist thickens, curling around the city like dark tendrils. The camera struggles to capture the buildings as they disappear in the fog. The person filming retreats into their car; panic spreads through the streets and screams echo from homes.

A man sprints into view, his face twisted in terror. He races past the car, pursued by a mass of black fog that surges after him.

The cameraman hides in their seat, their breath quickening as their hands tremble, shaking the phone. Darkness engulfs the car, swirling in patterns of black and grey. Shadows press against the glass, tendrils of fog caressing the windows.

A woman's scream shatters the silence. The camera jerks, capturing fleeting, chaotic images before it tumbles to the floor with a thud. The camera now points upward, catching a glimpse of the fog retreating through the car’s seams.

"It's empty!" a patron gasps as they all see the now-vacant seat where the woman should have been. The studio cuts the livestream, replacing it with a black screen. The commentators sit frozen, their mouths agape, mirroring the stunned expressions of the bar's patrons.

Kate shatters the bar's silence with the crunch of an olive, the sound echoing faintly through the room. The patrons fix their eyes on her, as if she’s committed some unspeakable offense, stunned by her complete lack of reaction.

Realization dawns on Ethan, and he quickly steps off his stool, pulling out his phone as he heads for the door. He holds it open as Kate follows him.

"Welcome back, Reaper Five," Tombstone greets him, concern creeping through the voice modifier. "Judging by your timing, I assume you've seen the first images of the... labyrinths."

"Yes. Sorry to bother you so late, but I need to know something," Ethan says, his heart pounding as he clings to the hope of a lead on his most crucial mission. "I know about Naples and Eastern Europe, but is anything happening in Iraq or nearby?"

"It's in Romania," Tombstone precises, her typing audible through the phone. "I've also seen footage from southwest England; the wildlife there is growing out of control, shrouded in a thick, ethereal mist. And to top it off, the land is shifting, isolating the area behind water."

"Pompeii, Dracula, and... Avalon," Ethan thinks aloud, his mind flashing back to lessons from his father. "Check south of Baghdad, where Babylon or Uruk once stood."

"Uruk?" Kate asks, her curiosity piqued.

"The first city," Ethan explains, waiting for Tombstone's response. Seeing Kate's confusion, he elaborates, "The birthplace of writing and recorded history. The kingdom of the legendary Gilgamesh. His epic depicts him as a two-thirds god, a hero-king who sought immortality and later became a god of the afterlife."

"And how do you, of all people, know that?" Kate teases, raising an eyebrow.

"My father was kind of a historian," Ethan replies. "He even had a convincing fake tablet of the Epic of Gilgamesh above his fireplace."

"You were right," Tombstone says, sending a satellite image to Ethan's phone. A colossal labyrinthine city has emerged from the desert, its stone walls adorned with gold. At its center stands a massive Ziggurat, surrounded by a sprawling palace atop lush gardens.

"I'm going there," Ethan declares, heading towards his car. He opens the back door, and Russ jumps in.

"Did you forget that you'll soon be called back?" Tombstone warns.

"They haven't ordered it yet, and I'm not asking for permission," Ethan retorts, handing Kate the keys to a second vehicle parked nearby. "I'm giving them the courtesy of a warning. I'll trade for a more suitable vehicle at the Saudi-Iraq border."

"Hey, calm down. I'm on your side," Tombstone reassures him. "I'll keep you updated on government responses. But you'll have some explaining to do when you return."

"Thanks," Ethan says, ending the call. As he gazes at the image of the desert labyrinth, memories of his first vision from the Ishai fruit flood back. 'What's the endgame here? Is our world slowly turning into theirs, or does it end with my premonition?'

He turns to Kate and steps closer. "I can't tell you what to do; it's your life. But the world is getting crazier every day, and hiding might not be a long-term solution."

Kate locks eyes with him, her intensity making his heart race. "There's something you're not telling me, isn't there?" she asks, her insight cutting through his defenses.

'If I tell her, I might as well say goodbye to any freedom. Whoever controls N.E.S.T. would lock me up and use my abilities at every opportunity,' he thinks, feeling his mouth go dry as he struggles to find a lie.

"No need to explain," Kate says, taking his hand. Her eyes are filled with concern. "I may not take on another target for a while, maybe never. But I won't sit by and let the whole world become a threat to me. I'll move forward at my own pace."

"Good," Ethan replies, relieved. As he pulls his hand away, Kate notices a ring of protection he’s summoned in hers. "This isn't much, and honestly, I forgot I had it. But it might save you one day, and I want you to have it."

"It's a bit strange to gift a woman a man's ring," Kate jests, but her expression softens as she slips it onto her finger. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you're proposing."

Ethan shakes his head. "It's just a ring of protection. But I guess it's my way of keeping you safe when I can't be there."

She looks at him, her teasing smile fading into something more serious. "Don't do anything reckless, alright?"

"I'll be fine," Ethan assures her, stepping into his car. "I just need to have a conversation with someone. The only annoying part is he's probably heading into the labyrinth."

"See you soon," Kate says, turning on her heels and heading back into the bar.

"An eighteen-hour drive through the desert," Ethan says to Russ. "At least we'll have a view of the sea for most of it."