The forest they reached was not marked on any map. It lay beyond the city's borders, in a place that existed more in legends than reality. Henry spoke of it in whispers — the Silence of the Night Roots — an ancient sanctuary of interworldly beings. A place where the second artifact — the Eye of Balance — was said to be hidden.
Julie walked close to Jeremy, not because she was afraid, but because something invisible was pulling her deeper into this place. She felt as if everything she had known until now was slowly fading away.
"I feel… like something is calling me," she whispered, breaking the silence. "Like this place knows me."
Jeremy nodded. "It's the Eye. It's reacting to you. To us. Artifacts aren't dead. They wait."
The deeper they went, the taller the trees grew — like living pillars hiding something. The air was heavy, and the ground soft, as if no one had stepped here for years.
Suddenly Jeremy stopped. He sensed a wave of energy — similar to the one he felt at the Heart of the Covenant, but more chaotic, as if the Eye was fighting someone or something.
"Rosalie," he whispered. "She's trying to reach here before us."
A thick, metallic fog began to rise from the ground, filled with strange whispering.
Julie grabbed his arm. "We're not alone."
From the darkness emerged a figure — not quite human, not quite beast. A guardian being protecting the Eye. Its body was woven from leaves, earth, and fire. Its eyes glowed with an emerald light.
"Only one who knows both sides of light can reach for balance," the being spoke in a voice echoing from the past. "And you, child of hell and light… must choose."
Jeremy and Julie looked at each other. They knew every next step would be harder. But the artifact was close.
They approached the altar, hidden in the roots of an ancient tree.
And the Eye of Balance — pulsating like the pupil of the Universe — slowly opened before them.
***
Julie stepped to the altar slowly, as if in a trance. The roots of the ancient tree moved lightly, as if responding to her presence, recognizing her. The Eye of Balance floated a few centimeters above the stone surface — pulsating with an indescribable light. Within it, all colors mixed and yet none at all.
Jeremy took a step toward her. "Julie… you can step back. We don't know what will happen."
"That's exactly why I have to do it," she answered quietly. "If I am part of this story… I have to know it to the end."
She reached out her hand. Her fingers trembled, but her gaze remained steady. The moment her fingertips touched the artifact's surface, the world fell silent.
The light exploded.
Jeremy instinctively shielded his eyes with his arm. Silence turned into a roar, like thousands of voices screaming from distant dimensions. The earth shook, the trees groaned, and the artifact lifted Julie into the air.
Jeremy watched as her body was surrounded by a golden glow, streaked with thin trails of shadow. Her hair floated as if in mist, and her eyes opened wide, though they seemed to be looking far beyond this reality.
Then she spoke.
But it was not her voice.
"Two children born of chaos and light… must restore order… before the final war breaks loose."
Jeremy stepped back, shaken.
"Julie?"
She slowly fell to the ground. Her knees bent beneath her, but before she collapsed, Jeremy caught her in his arms. She was breathing quickly, as if returning from a distant journey.
She looked at him.
"I saw everything… Jack, Alison… Rosalie… the future."
"What?"
"Rosalie has already moved for the third artifact."
***
Before Julie fully caught her breath, Jeremy felt the rising tension in the air. The artifact went dark, as if it had already passed on its message, and the echo of its power faded suddenly — too suddenly.
"She was here," Jeremy said, looking at the torn seals at the entrance to the second chamber. "She knew where to look. She didn't wait a second."
Julie got up from his arms. "We can't let her reach the third. If she collects them all…"
"…she might open the Gate of Eternity," Jeremy finished in a whisper. "And release what even Lucifer wanted to keep contained."
Without looking back, Jeremy tore the map from the ground — the one that previously indicated the location of the artifacts. From the second symbol, a faint mist still seeped — a remnant of Rosalie's presence.
"She's heading to the northern edge, toward the temple in the Valley of Shadows." Jeremy pointed to the spot on the map where the energy had concentrated.
Julie looked at him. "It's just the two of us."
"And it's enough." Determination sparkled in his eyes. "You touched the artifact, now you're part of its power. And I… I'm not just Jack and Alison's son anymore. Now it all depends on us."
They began to run. The forest parted before them under the residual energy Rosalie had left behind. The air was dense, almost electric. You could feel the anger — and the urgency.
Above them, clouds began to gather, as if the sky understood that something had begun. Something that could no longer be stopped.
Somewhere in the distance, Rosalie's laughter echoed.
"You'll be too slow…" the whisper carried through the trees.
But Julie clenched her teeth and accelerated.
"We're not done yet," she whispered. "And you won't win this game alone."
***
The path wound downward, among charred trees and cracked earth, looking as if fire had touched it hundreds of years ago and never fully gone out. As they approached the valley, the light became more broken, as if the sun was afraid to look into this place.
Jeremy walked ahead, his hand occasionally brushing Julie's — as if to make sure she was still there — still with him.
"Do you hear that?" Julie suddenly asked, stopping.
Jeremy stopped and closed his eyes. The faint sound resembled breathing. Not one breath — dozens. As if something slept beneath the ground, ready to awaken.
"It's not just an echo," he whispered. "They're guardians. The valley is protected. Rosalie must have activated something."
Julie extended her hand, pointing to the runes that began glowing beneath their feet. They were no longer mere observers — the valley recognized them now.
"We must be close," she said, feeling the warmth from the artifact she touched beginning to pulse in her chest.
Jeremy looked at her in surprise. "You're glowing. Julie, you really are…"
"Connected." She finished for him, with a voice sure but soft. "This place knows me."
Before them, the earth parted, revealing an entrance — dark, covered with a symbol Jeremy had seen before… in his mother's journal. A symbol that meant awakening.
"If we go in, there might be no turning back," he said, but he didn't stop.
Julie glanced back.
"There's nothing left to return to, either."
They entered together. Their footsteps vanished in the darkness, and the doors closed silently behind them.