Chapter 41 - The Father's Last MessageEthan almost dropped the watch.
His father had disappeared three years earlier.
The police had searched forests, rivers, abandoned buildings, and every nearby highway. His mother eventually stopped answering questions about what happened.
But Ethan never believed his father had simply walked away.
And now, beneath a medieval palace, that missing voice was speaking to him.
"Ethan," the recording continued, "there are things about our family I should have told you."
The watch projected a flickering blue image.
A man appeared above the coffin.
Daniel Cole.
Ethan's father.
Older than Ethan remembered.
Exhausted.
A deep scar crossed his forehead.
"Dad?"
Ethan reached toward him.
His hand passed through the projection.
The recording continued.
"If you've reached the burial chamber, the king has already recognized your face. That means the cycle has begun again."
Aldric turned pale.
"What cycle?" Rowan demanded.
Daniel's image glanced behind him as though someone were approaching.
"Asterwyn was never supposed to exist. It was created when the first fracture opened between our world and this one."
Ethan struggled to understand.
"You built the portal?"
"No," Daniel answered in the recording. "You did."
Ethan swallowed.
Daniel lifted a black metal object into view.
It resembled a compass, except its needle pointed upward.
"The seven doors are not tombs. They're memories. Every time you enter Asterwyn, the kingdom changes. Every time you leave, the world forgets what happened."
Ethan looked at Aldric.
"Have I been here before?"
The king's silence answered him.
"How many times?"
Aldric lowered his eyes.
"Six."
Ethan stepped backward.
"Six times?"
"Each time, you arrived at twelve years old. Each time, you saved the kingdom from destruction. And each time, you vanished before the final battle."
The projection flickered.
Daniel leaned closer.
"Your seventh arrival is different. This time, the enemy remembers you."
A loud metallic crash echoed somewhere beyond the chamber.
The image distorted.
"If the Seventh Door opens, the Forgotten King will return. He doesn't want the throne, Ethan. He wants the moment before time began."
The projection weakened.
"Dad, where are you?" Ethan cried.
Daniel looked directly at him.
"For three years, I've been trying to reach you."
"Where?"
His father's final words were barely audible.
"Behind the seventh door."
The projection disappeared.
At that instant, every torch in the chamber extinguished.
A slow knocking began from the seventh door.
Three knocks.
Then a familiar voice called out.
"Ethan?"
It was Daniel Cole.
Alive.
"Son, open the door."
Ethan ran toward it.
May you like
But the watch flashed one final warning.
THAT IS NOT YOUR FATHER.
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