No one can hear the echo of an ending
until they see it with their own eyes.
And that day, the three siblings saw it rise from the abyss of the universe.

They had been laughing for hours between one bait and the next.
The still water, the warm sun on their shoulders,
the usual contest over who would catch the first fish.

    “Hey, guys… what’s that thing?” Miky said.

Finde looked up, more out of instinct than curiosity.
Lisey turned with him, that teasing half-smile still on her lips.

“I don’t see anything. Where?”
“He’s probably trolling us,” Finde shot back with a laugh.
“It’s the only way he’ll ever catch something today.”

But Miky didn’t laugh.
He stood still, finger pointed toward the fields, jaw tight.
That look… Finde knew it.
It wasn’t fear—it was pure alarm,
the instinct that sets the body in motion before the mind can react.

    “There, between Mr. Bourges’s field and the edge of Ashwood Forest… look carefully.”

Finde squinted, took a step forward.
Lisey joined him, her breath short.
And then he saw it too.

A black semicircle, taller than a man, resting on the ground like a doorway that led nowhere.
A faint violet light traced its outline;
inside, a living darkness—dense, pulsing—stirred slowly, as if it were breathing.

Finde’s first thought was rational: a mirage, a reflection, the heat. Nothing serious.
Then the hair on his arms rose by itself.
No mirage.

    “That thing’s no reflection,” he murmured. “Let’s go.”

They reeled in their lines almost in silence.
Finde led the way down the hill, his heartbeat already running ahead of him.

The forest greeted them with muffled quiet.
No rustling leaves. No birdsong.
As if the world itself were holding its breath.

They emerged into Mr. Bourges’s field.
The black mouth stood there, about two hundred meters away—sharp and clear.
From that direction, a cold air blew, thin and cutting.

They were about to move toward it when a sound tore through the air.
Screams.

Not far.
From the city.

A column of smoke rose from the heart of Greentowne,
climbing into the clear sky like a black serpent.
Finde felt his throat tighten.

    “What’s happening?” Lisey whispered, her voice cracking.

The screams multiplied—high, broken, unbearable.
They weren’t cries of fear.
They were cries of pain.

“Finde… we have to call Dad. He’ll know what to do,” Miky stammered.
“Yeah,” Finde said, trying to stay calm.
“We’ll cut through the city. If we stick to the fields, it’ll take too long.
 We go through the west gate, across Market Square, then up Meridia Street.
 From there we reach home. Move!”

There was no other choice.
They ran.

The closer they got to the city,
the colder the air became—
an unnatural chill, sharp and metallic.
But no one spoke of it.

They passed through the western gate.
And Greentowne was no longer their city.

The streets once full of voices and scents had become a vortex of chaos.
People running, dragging children, bags, fragments of their lives.
Doors slammed shut. Carts overturned.
And that smell…
a mix of smoke and blood, thick and heavy.
The smell of death.

“What’s going on?” Lisey whispered, gripping her brother’s hand.
“I don’t know,” Finde answered, “but we have to get home. Now.”

They pushed through the crowd,
but the screams were getting closer—more inhuman.

And then they reached Market Square.

Finde froze.
His mind refused what his eyes were seeing.

A dozen creatures were tearing everything apart.
Not men.
Not animals.
Something else.

Deformed bodies, greenish skin slick like slime, eyes empty and cruel.
Some short and squat, others tall and twisted like nightmares that had learned to walk.
Their lipless mouths grinned.
Jagged teeth gleamed in the dying light of a world no longer theirs.
In their hands they held axes and blackened blades, dripping with fresh blood.

Finde’s stomach twisted.
They weren’t just killing.
They were enjoying it.

The townspeople’s screams mixed with the creatures’ guttural growls and broken laughter.
One of them grabbed a woman by the arms and split her open with a single strike.
Another knelt beside a corpse and washed its face in the blood still flowing.

Lisey let out a broken whisper.
Finde took her face in his hands, heart pounding wildly.

    “Lis… look at me. Breathe. We’re going to Mom and Dad. They’ll help us.”

She nodded weakly, eyes wide and empty.

“Mik, stay by my side. Lis, hold on to my shirt—don’t let go.
 Whatever happens… don’t look at them.”

They moved slowly along the walls, searching for a way out.
Every step a risk.
Every sound a call to death.

Then—a growl.

One of the creatures turned, sniffing the air.
Its face rotten, two holes where its nose should have been,
yellow pupils scanning the shadows.

Finde felt his blood freeze.
He dove behind a pile of wicker baskets, pulling his siblings with him.
Lisey trembled, her breath shallow and raspy.

   “Please, Lis… please,” Finde whispered, covering her mouth.

The creature crept closer.
One step.
Then another.
It was less than a meter away.

If he moved, they’d be discovered.
If he stayed, they’d still be found.

His mind went blank.
He knew he would die—
but not with them.

Better to move.
Draw it away.
Be the bait.

Lisey seemed to sense it.
She grabbed his arm, shaking her head violently.

He forced a tense smile.

   “Shh… no one can keep up with wind-Finde.”

Those words, which always made her laugh,
now sounded like a goodbye.

But before he could move,
a scream exploded nearby.

A man bolted from under a market stall,
running like a madman.

The monster turned instantly.
Two strides—
and it had already grabbed him by the hair.

The scream that followed wasn’t human.
The blade sank deep into the man’s abdomen,
and the creature tore him open with its bare hands,
drenching itself in blood and entrails.

Finde turned away, nausea rising in his throat.

   “Guys! Now!” Miky shouted.

They ran.

A blind sprint.
Screams. Smoke. Blood.
Corpses everywhere.

They raced through Meridia Street,
past the northern gate,
and finally into the open fields.

They ran breathless.
Wordless.

Only the pounding of their hearts—
drums of despair echoing through the silence that swallowed them whole.

Behind them, shadows spread across Gliese.
Light met darkness.
And for the first time…
the world looked Morvian in the eye.

[Darkness spreads. The silence calls.]
[Next: Episode 3 – The Sound of the Void]

©  2025 – Story & Concept by Filippo Cupi (Italy).
All rights reserved.