The Administrators had gathered in Lady Okyanus’s chamber, casting uneasy glances at one another.

  Lady Okyanus rose from her chair and, looking directly at Mr Zafer and Mr Galip, said, “What is happening now unsettles me more than ever.”

  Mr Zafer cast her a meaningful look and replied in the same tone, “What exactly is it that unsettles you, Okyanus? The sky hunters? Or the truths you are not certain of?”

  Without circling the subject, Lady Okyanus answered honestly, “If you mean to imply the Bottomless, I don’t know, Zafer! I truly do not know how long the Bottomless lives, or how much of it is still alive. But the active danger right now is Elzem and Sonsuz. My priority and all my attention are on them,” she said, gazing out the window.

  Mr Galip walked to her side and said gloomily, “So what happens now, Okyanus? We now face an unknown Bottomless, and Elzem and Sonsuz whose limits we can never predict.”

  Lady Okyanus looked at both administrators and said quietly, “I only hope what I fear does not come to pass.”

  They both understood perfectly what she meant. Mr Zafer and Mr Galip looked at each other in fear…

  Elzem and Sonsuz had agreed to leave where they were. They had made their decision, accepting every threat and risk.

  Sonsuz said to Kylie, “Let’s not waste any more time here.”

  Kylie replied with an uncertain look, “Both choices carry great risks.”

  Cengaver, trying to grasp what was happening, asked, “What is going on? Are you going to tell me as well?”

  Elzem turned to him. “We cannot remain here any longer. We must return to the Unparalleled Fortress!”

  Cengaver protested in fear, “Have you lost your minds? What about the Wall of Void? Have you thought about that at all?!”

  Sonsuz placed a hand on his shoulder. “We have to see with our own eyes what is happening.”

  Turning to Elzem, he added, “We can only understand what the Wall wants by seeing it. Before the Hunt, we must decide which threat is the most dangerous.”

  Elzem met his resolve with equal determination. “Then let us be the first and the foremost threat.”

  Sonsuz immediately said, “Kylie, you must open a passage for us.” He spoke with such certainty that Kylie could not object.

  All the Female Breakers lined up side by side. Then Kylie and Gina stepped before them and slowly began forming a vortex. The blue-white whirl spun like a wave of water, sending gusts of wind through the air. ?etrefil and F?rt?na roared and ran forward, thrusting their claws into the vortex and pulling it open from both sides to hold it steady.

  The moment the Female Breakers signaled readiness, Elzem and Sonsuz strode swiftly inside.

  Elzem first felt as though her breath were being cut off. She swallowed with difficulty, as if she had entered a mass of blue jelly. Then suddenly the wave split apart. She found herself standing at the entrance of a dark forest.

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  Sonsuz was holding her hand. Seeing the others arrive, he immediately stepped into the passage the forest opened for them.

  The moment the entire team entered, the tree roots that had hollowed themselves into a tunnel began to blacken, cracking with sounds like breaking bones.

  Cengaver shouted in fear, “What is happening?!”

  As Sonsuz continued forward, the smell of burning reached Elzem’s nose.

  With every step they took, the twigs on the ground snapped more violently and darkened to black. The scent of burning slowly gave way to the stench of rotting flesh, and soon no one could breathe easily.

  Sonsuz tightened his grip on Elzem’s hand and, as they finally passed through the garden gate of the fortress, said to the others, “We are the reason.”

  Cengaver shoved Rezalet aside and threw himself into the garden, shouting in rage, “I don’t understand why you would be the reason!”

  Kylie drifted beside him, folding her arms. “Because they are cursed. That is why. They are cursed through the hunting grounds and the Wall of Void. The forest they step into, even if it is not a domain, recognizes them and begins to rot itself. Their being side by side doubles the threat,” she said, looking at Elzem and Sonsuz.

  Cengaver asked with an unconvinced expression, “So what—does the very ground they walk on want to kill them? Will this go on forever?”

  Kylie replied coldly, “Yes—unless they break the curse.”

  As Sonsuz and Elzem stood at the gate of the fortress looking at each other, Kylie suddenly asked, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  With firm resolve, Sonsuz answered, “We must see the danger of the Wall with our own eyes,” and pushed the door open.

  The moment Elzem stepped inside, her heart tightened with a cold hum. They walked slowly through the dim corridor and stopped before the great doors of the hall where they had destroyed the Wall of Void.

  Elzem and Sonsuz took a deep breath and entered. Behind them came several Female Breakers, ?etrefil, and Cengaver. Abbey stayed close to Elzem, and since they breathed the same air, she did not look comfortable either.

  The entire group fell silent, staring at the sight before them.

  In the vast hall struck by waves of light from its windows, a colossal darkness rose upward from the ground. It rippled like a curtain painted in pitch, and the cold, humming sound it emitted stole their breath.

  As Elzem and Sonsuz walked toward the wall as if hypnotized, Elzem asked, “Do you hear it?”

  Without taking his eyes from the wall, Sonsuz answered dully, “I hear it.”

  Cengaver stayed behind Kylie and asked nervously, “I didn’t hear anything. Did you?”

  Kylie, her posture already showing she expected this, replied, “Only they can hear it.”

  “Why?” he groaned in fear.

  “Because they are the ones who destroyed the Wall.”

  The sound began to disturb Elzem so deeply that her ears throbbed. A piercing tone followed by a scream grew so loud that she bent down and covered her ears.

  Sonsuz heard it too, yet he felt no pain.

  Clutching her ears, Elzem cried out, “It’s unbearable. The screaming is too much!”

  Sonsuz grabbed her. “I don’t understand what this means,” he said, lifting her by the shoulders so she would not suffer more. He led her out of the hall with difficulty and shut the door.

  As everyone tried to recover outside, Sonsuz asked, “Why did only you suffer?”

  The answer came from Gina. “Because although you both destroyed the Wall, only one of you is fully alive.”

  Elzem lowered her hands from her ears. “That makes perfect sense,” she said.

  Gina looked at Sonsuz’s tense face. “I know you don’t want her to suffer, but there is no solution for now. Elzem lives because of Abbey—but it is a half-life, a half-breath. To the Wall, she is the hunter that can more easily be defeated. But you… you are not only fully alive—you are also the hunter who has seized authority over the death hunters who are part of the Wall itself. To the Wall, you are the harder hunter to defeat. Elzem suffering while you do not—that is the Wall’s choice.”

  Sonsuz held Elzem and looked into her eyes. “What exactly did you hear?”

  Elzem gathered herself. “A terrible noise overwhelmed the sound. But someone was screaming. Again and again.”

  “I heard the same,” Sonsuz said. “It was a scream that could not be identified.”

  After a moment of thought, Elzem said, “The power of the Wall can change everything.”

  Kylie spoke: “You two destroyed the Wall of Void. Both of your powers are of a kind that defies it. And now the Wall defies you. You destroyed the Wall of Void to exist. Now, to avoid ceasing to exist, you must prove its existence. A difficult search awaits you both.”

  This time, Elzem and Sonsuz stood ready for the Hunt with greater strength than ever before.