On the dirt road leading to Taynor, a crowd of travelers, on foot or in carts, advanced, raising small clouds of dust. Among them, a man on a cart pulled by an old, tired mare was transporting some barrels of wine, poorly covered by a worn cloth. A little further on walked a group of boys and girls in festive clothes and a family with three children, the youngest still clutched in his mother's arms. And there was no shortage of extraordinary creatures. A pair of minotaurs, bare-chested, their hips covered by short leather skirts, laughed and chatted in a guttural language. A group of strange creatures, short and stocky, pockmarked like potatoes, squeaked as they chatted about this and that. No one seemed to notice them.

  Nico turned, staring at the multitude of people and supernatural beings moving like fish swimming upstream, all in the same direction.

  In front of them, perched on a series of hills with the sea behind it, stood Taynor. Flags with a golden ash tree on a white background, whipped by a fragrant sea breeze, fluttered on the tall conical towers of the royal palace in the heart of the city. The tall towers that followed the city walls, built with white stones that glistened under the hot sun, stood tall, scanning the horizons.

  A large, brightly colored tent stood about a mile from the city walls. Distant music and trumpet blasts drew people in that direction.

  Leo took a few steps away, heading toward the red and gold tent that stood out among the trees.

  "Excuse me," Kiah blurted out, "but are you really turning toward that sideshow? The meeting is in town!"

  Leo didn't stop. "Relax, Professor. The mission isn't going anywhere."

  Nico watched the two of them. He could feel the tension rising like electricity between exposed wires. The circus seemed to be calling him, but...

  "Maybe we can just take a quick look... then get back to our objective."

  Kiah sighed. She didn't seem convinced, but she followed him anyway.

  The shouts and laughter of thousands of voices soon drowned out Kiah's scolding as she followed Nico and Leo into the crowd.

  The entrance for patrons was packed with people who had more or less formed a line. There were groups of girls and boys, children on their fathers' shoulders, and groups of urchins trying to get in without paying.

  "Hey, excuse me," Kiah teased him, "how do you think you're going to get in? We don't have any money."

  "Speak for yourself," said Leo.

  Nico looked at him, puzzled. It was their turn.

  Two large, muscular men stood guard at the entrance. The first was bald, his knuckles visibly sunken, the result of many fights. The other, a man with a broken nose and a scar on his chin, looked at them grimly.

  Leo handed a gold coin to the bald man. "Is this enough for me and my friends?"

  "No change," grunted the big man, grinning.

  Leo hesitated for a moment, then recovered. "Who wants the rest? We're going in, and so are those brats over there," he said, pointing to a group of battered kids, then shouted, "Hey, kids, come on."

  The man with the broken nose held a flap of fabric open.

  As they entered, they heard someone shout, "My money! Help, I've been robbed!"

  Kiah looked at Leo in disgust. "Was it you?!"

  The boy shrugged. "I steal from the rich to give to myself." Nico laughed.

  Inside, it was pandemonium: there were people everywhere. Men, women, and children swarmed from one attraction to another. The constant chatter, surprised screams, and laughter filled the air like the constant buzzing of a beehive.

  Everyone, from acrobats to animal trainers, performed on wooden stages painted in bright colors.

  In one corner, a group of dogs performed acrobatics through hoops; next to them, three clowns threw a dozen oranges into the air, passing them to each other. One of the three threw them to the others, who pretended not to notice. On another stage, three shirtless men performed acrobatic jumps, doing somersaults and then standing on each other's shoulders,while right next to them, on a smaller stage, the strongman was about to lift a huge dumbbell.

  The knife thrower had just chosen a volunteer from the audience for his act.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  Nico stared at everything with amazement. "Incredible, look over there!" Then he moved forward, looking beyond, commenting, "Wonderful!" or "I've never seen anything like it."

  A man in an elevated position extolled the ferocity of bears, lions, and exotic snakes in a loud, booming voice, waving a lemon-yellow cape behind his shoulders and pointing at the animals.

  "Unbelievable, Nico: it's like you've never been to a circus or a zoo," Leo said amused.

  Nico stared at him, trying to hide his discomfort.

  "Okay," Leo muttered, shrugging his shoulders.

  Now the man in the yellow cape invited everyone to move to another area of the menagerie to see "The Beautiful Gwendoline" as he pointed with his open palm to two tall poles with a rope stretched between them.

  "Ever seen a tightrope walker?" Leo asked.

  Nico shook his head.

  "Then you're going to go crazy. It's mind-blowing."

  They elbowed their way through the crowd, followed by Kiah, who had stopped sulking and was now enjoying herself.

  A thin girl with heavy makeup, covered in sequins, leapt through the crowd, stopping with her arms raised to welcome the audience's applause with a huge

  smile. The tightrope walker approached the rope ladder and when she reached the top, the crowd applauded again but fell silent as soon as

  the girl set foot on the rope. The tightrope walker advanced slowly, one foot in front of the other, without ever swaying, her arms outstretched at her sides to keep her balance. She walked forward along the rope and then, on her way back, did a cartwheel. The audience was delirious, holding their breath and applauding every acrobatic feat.

  Then a scream broke the spell.

  At first Nico didn't understand what it was; then he saw a small black, oily patch spreading where, just moments before, the shadow of the beautiful

  Gwendoline had been.

  The crowd around the two poles backed away while others tried to understand the reason for the scream.

  The tightrope walker looked down. She fell.

  The scream broke in midair; then the Nothing swallowed her.

  Huge shadow creatures emerged from the dark abyss like nightmares.

  Nico's stomach froze.

  Blacker than shadow, colossal, they moved slowly, silently, but each step seemed to devour the light.

  They had wide-open mouths, silent screams that froze the blood.

  They made no sound, but Nico felt the scream inside his chest, as if it were echoing under his skin.

  Two black pits for eyes stared at him.

  A thick, oily liquid dripped from their limbs, sizzling on the ground.

  A drop fell a few steps away from him, leaving an indelible mark.

  Nico knew instinctively that one touch was enough: something in him would change forever.

  They wielded black blades, carved from the void. They did not reflect light: they devoured it.

  They sliced through the air, leaving suspended scars behind them.

  All around, the world grew colder, darker.

  And Nico, frozen, couldn't tell if it was fear that was paralyzing him... or if something was already pulling him toward them.

  A shiver. His legs wouldn't respond. His breath became short.

  He saw a man struck by a blade. The liquid splashed onto a child. He couldn't look away as the small body deformed. He saw the slime cover it in a few

  moments, transforming it into a shadow with a face distorted in a silent scream.

  The black sphere spread, alive, creeping.

  Nico felt his skin tingle under his tunic, then a low hum, as if the world were holding its breath.

  Then the unnatural silence vanished.

  Around them exploded a rain of screams, cries, and roars as shrill as broken steel.

  Kiah grabbed him and Leo by the wrists. "Let's get out of here now!"

  "Wow! Wow! Wow!" Leo exclaimed as he ran, his eyes as big as saucers.

  Nico slowed down.

  Something was moving behind a destroyed stage. A child, motionless.

  "Wait!" he shouted.

  His heart was pounding. He knew it was an NPC. But he couldn't leave it there.

  They pushed their way through the crazed crowd; they had no weapons, and even if they had, it wouldn't have helped.

  A woman bumped into him, fell, disappeared between the legs of the fugitives. The smell of iron and burnt oil saturated the air.

  A shadow creature stood in front of him, screaming shrill. They backed away.

  Then a rustle, a red glow at the edge of his field of vision. A ball of light passed over their heads.

  They turned.

  He was tall, his back straight as a pole; a thick dark moustache framed his mouth, but what really struck them were his eyes, cold as slits, yet capable of sudden warmth. He wore a brass pin with a small engraved ash tree on his banner. Nico recognized the symbol engraved on the pin: the same one that flew above the palace. Without shouting, he raised a hand. Another brief ball of light, soapy like sea foam, filled the air; a trail of heat passed over his cheeks, as if he had paid for that call with part of himself.

  "Run!" he commanded in a voice that did not ask for obedience, but demanded it. That tone contained both a promise and a threat: he knew the Nothing well enough to fear it, but he also knew how to deal with it.

  They did so. When they were outside, Nico saw the shining walls of the city of Taynor. He remembered what Broow had said: "Run to the city! We'll be safe there."

  They did. Nico ran with his lungs burning. The child in his arms screamed desperately through his tears, calling for his mother. Kiah and Leo rescued an elderly woman. Nico feared for a moment that the gates would be closed, but they were not.

  They helped several people into the city. The man in the red cloak was the last to enter, shouting for the gates to be closed.

  The earth shook, but the Nothing remained outside Taynor's shining walls.

  Suddenly, white numbers appeared in Nico's field of vision: 04:59... 04:58...

  "There's a timer.."" Nico murmured. "It's all ending."

  Kiah stared into space. "It's the disconnection sequence. Maybe it's to decompress sensory data. Or maybe it's a forced ejection."

  Leo let out a strangled cry. "What? Now? I want to stay!"

  Nico didn't answer. Part of him wanted to stay, if only to understand what had really happened.

  Around them, the crowd was in turmoil. Some were screaming in despair for lost family members, others were crying with joy for those they had found.

  03:41... 03:40...

  A voice came from the city walls: "The Nothing has retreated."

  Applause broke out in the crowd. Everyone turned in their direction. Leo began to thank them, but Nico stopped him.

  They turned, making way for the man in the red cloak. The man advanced and the crowd parted to let him through. Beyond the red cloak, on the wide avenues dotted with shops, inns, and houses among the hills, stood the immense royal palace, white and shining.

  00:03... 00:02... 00:01...