The mountain stronghold was at its calmest in the evening. Students were finishing their meals, the torches along the battlements sputtered against the cold wind, and the great wall loomed quietly as if it could truly hold back the world.
But then came the sound.
CLANG.
The first metallic groan rolled through the air, deep and slow, making the flagstones vibrate beneath their feet.
CLANG… CLANG… CLANG.
Chains. Enormous chains, scraping across stone and echoing down the mountain like the toll of a mad god's bell. The mess hall froze, spoons halfway to mouths, words dying in throats.
A horn blared, followed by the command "To the walls! Northern ridge, eyes sharp!"
The cafeteria burst into motion. Students stumbled from benches, church guards sprinted past with weapons drawn, instructors barked orders.
And then the mist split.
From the veil of twilight stepped A Shackled Colossus.
It was bigger than the walls its molten fissures glowing like veins of fire beneath cracked stone flesh, its entire body bound and wrapped in colossal chains. Every step shook the earth, sent tremors rattling through the towers, and loosed stones from the battlements. The chains around its body writhed like serpents, shrieking as they dragged across rock.
"Seven hells… it's taller than the watchtowers…" someone whispered.
And It wasn't alone.
At its side slid A Serpent, its translucent body shimmering in and out of sight, light bending around it in nauseating patterns. To the other flank lumbered A Frosted Behemoth, each exhale fogging the air into brittle frost.
Then the rest came.
Five Layer 3 beasts prowled from the mist, The Serpent its mane blazing with molten sparks, A Iron hided Wolf, claws grinding sparks on stone; A Stag, crowned with twisted antlers dripping black ichor. Behind them surged a horde of Layer 2s and 1s, a flood of claws, fangs, and snarls crashing down the mountainside.
The ground trembled as if the mountain itself had decided to march.
***
Beneath the stronghold, in a locked wing of the research facility, Nolan's mother stirred.
For months, the church had severed her Thread of Key, Layer 7, turning her into nothing more than a broken vessel they could prod and experiment on. She was meant to be moved soon taken to the royal palace for the final stages of their work.
But tonight, with the walls trembling, something shifted.
The chains above roared like thunder, and in the confusion, a sympathetic guard a low-ranking priest who could no longer stomach her treatment unlatched her cell.
"Go," he whispered, thrusting a thin cloak into her hands. "Go before they notice. The beasts will cover your escape."
She staggered, pale and trembling, eyes hollow but still alive. She had no Thread now, no power left to her soul but her will remained. She slipped into the lower passages, heading toward the hidden culverts that bled into the mountain.
***
I, Nolan, Lex, Vivi, Lily, and Phoebe just reached the open square with the other first-years when the first shock hit the ground splitting beneath Colossuses chained footfall.
I panicked
'No, The threat in the novel was only layer 3, Did Church change it's plan?? NO that's not possible. This is a unexpected outcome even for them. We have to hold out until, one of the the Instructor's in the Academy with Thread of Gate layer 4 is contacted.'
The instructors were already forming lines, herding students toward the inner quarters. Above, fire arrows lit the sky, streaking toward the horde.
And then Nolan froze. His head whipped toward the research wing. His eyes widened, soft and disbelieving.
"...Mother."
I followed his gaze just in time to see a figure in tattered cloth stumble from a side passage, clutching at the stone walls for support. Pale hair. Thin frame. The same face Nolan had Just a lot paler.
His mother.
But the beasts were already swarming, their howls rising to meet the chains' shriek.
The stronghold was under siege. Nolan's mother was free, but without her Thread she was vulnerable and if the church caught her again, she would never leave alive.
Nolan without giving a thought rushed towards his mother.
And All of us followed after him.