Zane dulac's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Zane was counting the exits from the market square when the kid appeared at his elbow. He didn't know the face — maybe eight years old, dirty hands, eyes that wouldn't meet his. The kid pressed a folded paper into his palm and ran before Zane could speak. He unfolded the note. Three names at the bottom, written in his siblings' handwriting — he knew the slant of each letter like he knew his own scar. Above the signatures: a single line. *We're inside the mountain. Come alone.* Zane looked up to track the kid, but the child was already gone, swallowed by the crowd near the base of the spiked structure that rose at the edge of Krakenring. Purple light crackled at its peak, casting shadows that moved wrong. He'd passed it a hundred times and never seen anyone go in. Now he folded the note into his pocket and started walking, because his siblings had just told him exactly where they were, and whether it was a trap or a miracle didn't matter anymore. The kraken-topped lamp marked the spot where he stopped to read it again. His hands shook as he smoothed the rough paper flat. The sunflower and moon drawn at the corners — his youngest always drew those, called them the day and night siblings watching over each other. His middle sister's signature was half cursive, half print, exactly like she'd been practicing. The oldest had pressed so hard the pen tore through in one spot. Real. This was real. Zane lifted his eyes to the mountain of spikes. The purple portal at its crown pulsed like a heartbeat. He'd spent weeks chasing ghosts and breaking down doors that led nowhere. Now his siblings had found him first, reached out through a stranger's hands with a message that could only mean one thing: they were still fighting. He folded the note back into his pocket, felt its weight against his ribs, and walked toward the structure. The crowd thinned as he got closer. No one else was heading that direction. No one wanted to see where the mountain led. But Zane had stopped caring about what came after the moment he saw their names.