Lilith woke to the sound of the Eternal Bastion's bells echoing throughout the city. By then, she had grown so accustomed to the fortress's vibrations that sleeping while thousands of tons of metal moved forward on four gigantic legs no longer seemed strange.
What still did not feel normal was waking up as Lilith Bloodrose. Every morning, she needed a couple of seconds to remember that the silver hair spread across the pillow belonged to her and that the enormous room where she slept would not disappear once she fully opened her eyes.
She got up, dressed without needing help, and left her chambers. That could also be considered progress. During the first few days, she had needed to concentrate just to remember how to put on certain pieces of clothing and had gotten lost more times than she was willing to admit.
Now she could travel along the main routes of her sector without relying on a maid, although she still avoided exploring too much whenever she had somewhere important to be.
The streets were far more crowded than usual. Entire families walked toward the upper terraces, and several merchants had temporarily closed their shops. Lilith did not take long to understand why. The Eternal Bastion was about to cross the border.
She followed the crowd to one of the large outer plazas. From there, she could see the black mountain range she had spent days watching from a distance, except now the mountains rose directly in front of them. The Eternal Bastion was moving through an enormous natural pass between two mist-covered peaks. Ancient stone columns stood on both sides of the path, many of them broken or covered in vegetation. Lilith could make out the remains of statues among them, although time had almost completely erased their faces.
"I expected something more impressive."
She recognized the voice before turning around.
Claire approached carrying two small stuffed rolls and handed one to her. Lilith accepted it without asking what was inside. After the blue pastry from the day before, she had decided it was more fun to find out directly.
"We're entering the Demon Continent," Lilith replied. "I expected fire, a red sky, and maybe some giant demon guarding the entrance."
Claire looked at her while biting into her breakfast. "Why would a demon be waiting at the border?"
"The name creates certain expectations."
"You're going to be pretty disappointed."
Lilith bit into the bread and found a mixture of cheese and some kind of meat she did not recognize. "Then why is it called the Demon Continent?"
Claire leaned against the railing. "Because centuries ago, most kingdoms believed everything living on the other side of these mountains was a demon. The name survived even after they discovered they were wrong."
"That seems like a pretty bad reason to name an entire continent."
"You can file a complaint when we find whoever decided to call it that."
Lilith smiled and looked outside again. Claire was right about one thing: it did not look like hell. On the contrary, the landscape beginning to appear on the other side of the pass was surprisingly beautiful.
An enormous valley stretched between the mountains, covered in trees whose canopies came in shades of green, blue, and violet. Bright rivers wound between them, and in the distance, massive rock formations floated several meters above the ground as if gravity had simply decided to ignore them.
Beauty, however, did not mean safety.
Lilith saw a winged creature emerge from the forest and rise above the trees. Even from that distance, she could estimate that it had to be more than ten meters from wingtip to wingtip. The creature flew for several seconds before disappearing into the clouds.
"Was that a dragon?"
"A wyvern."
"What's the difference?"
"If you ever see a real dragon, you'll understand."
Lilith decided she was not sure whether that was a warning or an invitation.
The Eternal Bastion continued forward. When it passed the last columns, the bells rang again. This time, the crowd responded with cheers and applause. Some inhabitants raised cups, while others simply watched the landscape in silence. For many of them, the moment seemed to carry a special meaning.
Lilith felt something similar.
Not because she had memories of waiting years for that day. For Ethan, all of this had only existed for a few days. But as she looked at the vastness of the continent before her, she understood that she had just crossed a point from which there probably would be no return for a long time.
And she did not mind at all.
"How much do we know about this area?" she asked.
"More than we know about the inner regions, but less than we'd like. There are old maps and expedition records, although many routes change over time."
"The routes change?"
Claire pointed toward one of the enormous floating rocks. "Strange things happen here."
Lilith followed the direction of her finger.
"Very scientific answer."
"I'm a knight, not a researcher."
As they spoke, a loud roar came from somewhere in the valley. Several people stopped celebrating and looked toward the forest. Lilith did the same. She could not identify the source, but something was moving among the treetops. It was large. Very large.
The Eternal Bastion's watchtowers reacted immediately. Soldiers took positions along the walls, and several enormous mechanisms rotated until they were aimed toward the forest. Lilith expected something to attack.
Nothing happened.
After almost a minute, the movement disappeared.
The soldiers held their positions a little longer before relaxing.
Claire finished her bread as if the whole thing were completely normal.
"Does that happen often?"
"We just entered."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"Exactly."
Lilith let out a small laugh. The Demon Continent was definitely going to keep her busy.
For the next several hours, she wandered through different outer sections. The landscape changed constantly as they advanced. She saw herds of animals fleeing from the noise caused by the legs, enormous flowers closing whenever the Eternal Bastion's shadow passed over them, and the ruins of a tower completely covered in roots.
Each new discovery created another ten questions she did not have time to ask.
When the sun began to set, the crowd slowly dispersed.
Lilith remained a little longer.
From one of the western walls, she could see the path they had left behind. The mountains marking the border were slowly beginning to disappear into the distance. Ahead, the continent seemed endless.
Then something caught her attention.
Far away, on a tree-covered hill, there was a structure.
Lilith narrowed her eyes.
It looked like the remains of a tower.
There would have been nothing unusual about it if several other structures had not surrounded it. Collapsed walls. Roofs covered in vegetation. What had once been a small city.
Another memory appeared without warning.
Black stone.
An enormous gate.
People running.
Lilith blinked, and the image disappeared.
She brought a hand to her temple.
"Again?"
She looked toward the ruins.
They were not the same ones she had seen in the memory. She was certain of that. Even so, something about that place had triggered the reaction.
Before she could think about it too much, a different bell sounded throughout the fortress.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Lilith saw several soldiers begin moving quickly along the walls.
Claire appeared from a nearby staircase with a much more serious expression than before.
"You should get inside."
Lilith looked back toward the forest.
"What's happening?"
Claire placed one hand on the hilt of her sword.
"Something is coming toward us."
This time, dozens of roars answered from the horizon.