I Can See Evolution Paths

Athena, Mara, Athy, and Leo rushed into the throne room. The massive stone doors slammed shut behind them. The sounds of battle didn’t disappear but were muffled, which was almost worse. As though it refused to acknowledge the war outside.

Only the constant tremors reminded them that people were still fighting and dying.

Athena didn’t even sit down.

She placed Halburn’s journal across the throne, and the crystal wrapping around it disappeared. The ancient pages unfolded, thousands of faded Goblin characters covering every page. Some ink had nearly vanished.

Others had been rewritten entirely.

Entire sections were crossed out.

Athena immediately began translating. "Old Goblin," she murmured. "Pre-Unification dialect. This is older than anything in the Academy."

Sweat began forming on her forehead while ink stained her fingers. Her notebook filled faster and faster.

Every translated sentence...

Cost precious seconds.

Mara knelt beside her. "I’ll organize the translated pages," she said.

Athena nodded without looking up. Athy flew onto the throne, her tiny eyes scanning the symbols. Every few moments she chirped and tapped a section with her beak, and Athena quickly wrote notes based on whatever she pointed toward.

No one wasted a single second.

Then, boooooooom!! The throne room shook. Dust rained from the ceiling. The chandeliers swayed.

Nobody looked up. Athena turned another page.

Minutes passed. The sounds outside grew louder. Stone breaking. Metal crashing. Monsters roaring. Goblins shouting. Every impact felt closer than the last.

Athena forced herself to ignore it. She continued translating.

"Royal Forge. Expansion of the eastern district. Construction records."

Nothing.

She turned another page. "Harvest Festival."

Nothing.

Another. "Military parade."

Nothing.

Athena exhaled sharply. "Come on," she muttered.

Outside, craaaaack!! The floor trembled. A fine crack appeared in one of the throne room columns. Dust drifted onto the journal, and Athena brushed it away without pausing. Another page, but it was nothing again, and even the next page was the same.

Her breathing became uneven. "Arthur trusted me," she whispered to herself. "Don’t panic. Keep reading."

Then a scream echoed through the palace.

It was a Goblin, and it sounded very close.

Mara froze.

Another scream followed.

This one was cut short.

Mara immediately stood. "I have to see," she said.

Before Athena could answer, Mara ran, pushing open the palace doors. Cold air rushed inside.

Athena continued reading. She tried. She really tried.

Then, "No," Mara’s voice came, barely a whisper.

Athena’s heart sank. She rushed outside.

Mara stood frozen on the palace balcony. Athena followed her gaze. Smoke. Lightning. Fire. The city burned.

Then the wall. Even from this distance, the cracks were obvious. Every impact spread them farther. Stone constantly fell away.

Another Behemoth slammed into it.

Boooooooom!!

Another section broke.

Mara whispered, "It’s breaking. The wall."

Athena’s hands began shaking. If the wall fell, everything ended. For one terrible moment she wanted to run, to help, to fight, to do anything except read.

Then Arthur’s face appeared in her mind, and he said. I know you will.

He hadn’t hesitated; in fact, he had never doubted her before when it came to plans and helping him out. He had entrusted the future of this city to her without even thinking about it. She closed her eyes and took one deep breath.

Then she grabbed Mara’s arm. "Come back," she said.

Mara didn’t move.

Athena tightened her grip. "We have to trust them," she said, her own voice trembling. "They’re buying us time. If we leave, they’re buying nothing."

Mara slowly looked back, tears filling her eyes, and then she nodded. Together they returned to the journal. Athena began reading aloud, every entry revealing another piece of history. But never the answer.

Construction of the Great Royal Forge.

Descriptions of master blacksmiths.

The creation of Dawn Steel.

Mara sighed. "Nothing," she said.

Page.

Expansion of farming districts with construction of irrigation systems and storage warehouses.

Again, nothing.

Page.

The coronation of Halburn.

A week-long celebration with delegations arriving from neighboring kingdoms. Still nothing. Athena flipped faster, page after page. Nothing.

Outside, boooooooom!!

She didn’t even react anymore and turned another page.

"..." She froze.

Campaign Records.

Not festivals or construction.

But war.

Athena slowed. "Wait," she said.

She read aloud. "The Kingdom of Dawn marched north. The Behemoth Kingdom refused surrender. It fell after nineteen days."

Mara looked up. "Behemoths?"

Athena nodded and turned another page. "The Thunderbird Kingdom controlled the skies. They rejected peace. They were destroyed."

Another page. "The Boulder Ape Clans united beneath one king. They challenged the Dawn Kingdom. They were defeated."

Another. "The Storm Wolf Dominion."

Athena immediately remembered. "The Temple," she said.

Mara nodded. "The Storm Wolves Arthur fought," she said.

Another page. "The Crystal Serpent Empire. Collapsed after the Siege of Glass."

Athena slowly lowered the journal. Outside, the exact same species surrounded the city. Not similar. The same. Different generations. The descendants of every kingdom Halburn had defeated.

Mara quietly said, "This is their revenge." She trembled. "After all these centuries... Has history finally caught up to us?"

Athena gripped the journal tightly. "No," she said.

Mara looked at her.

"The Goblins living today didn’t conquer anyone," Athena said. "They didn’t start those wars, so they shouldn’t be blamed for their ancestors’ actions."

Another page slowly turned with the ink having faded. But the final line remained clear. Victory belonged to the Dawn Kingdom.

Another explosion shook the palace and her fingers tightened around the journal. She looked toward the city. "They’re innocent."

"Athena..."

Another explosion shook the palace.

Athena slammed the journal shut. "Damn it!" she said. "We don’t need history! We need a way to save them!"

The journal lay open across the throne once more.

Athena rubbed her tired eyes. "Nothing," she said, her voice hoarse.

Every page.

Every record.

Every campaign.

Every celebration.

Hours of history but not one clue.

Outside, boooooooom!!

The palace trembled again. Small pieces of stone rained from the ceiling.

Mara instinctively looked toward the doors. Athena didn’t. She simply turned another page.

"Come on," she murmured. "Please."

Athy suddenly chirped.

Once. Twice. Three times, but Athena barely noticed. The little owl hopped across the journal, then stopped, tilted her head as she stared up at Athena.

She looked almost offended. As though saying... "You’re missing something obvious."

Chirp.

But Athena kept on ignoring her, making her eyes narrow. Then her tiny beak tapped one corner of the parchment.

Chirp! Chirp!

Mara looked over. "Athy?"

The little owl scratched the edge of the page with one claw.

Athena sighed. "Not now," she said.

Athy ignored her.

She pecked again, then again, then started pulling at the corner with surprising determination.

The edge didn’t move like normal parchment.

Athena froze. "Wait," she said.

She leaned closer, and the corner looked too thick. She carefully ran a finger across it before her eyes widened in realization.

The page wasn’t one sheet.

It was two.

Her breathing stopped. "Mara," she said.

Mara immediately knelt beside her. "What is it?"

"I think," Athena said, carefully slipping a fingernail beneath the corner. The parchment slowly separated, ancient glue cracking apart. A folded sheet hidden inside the journal slowly unfolded.

Golden writing appeared. Not faded black ink. Not ordinary records. Golden letters. Beautiful. Ancient. Almost untouched by time.

Mara’s eyes widened. "A hidden page," she said.

Athena slowly nodded. "I knew it," she said. "I knew King Halburn wouldn’t leave something this important unprotected."

Athy proudly chirped. Athena smiled for the first time since entering the throne room. "Good job," she said, gently scratching beneath Athy’s chin. The little owl happily puffed out her feathers.

Mara leaned closer. "Can you read it?"

Athena’s smile disappeared.

"...Of course. Nothing is ever easy." She looked at the symbols with a sigh. "No, I can’t."

Mara blinked. "What?"

Athena slowly traced one of the golden characters. "This isn’t the same language," she said. "It looks like Old Goblin, but it’s older. Much older." She swallowed. "I’ll have to decipher it."

Mara looked toward the doors. "How long?"

Athena didn’t answer. Because she didn’t know.

She picked up her notebook, dipped her pen into ink, then carefully copied the first symbol.

Outside, the world exploded.

Boooooooooooooom!!

The palace shook harder than ever before.

The throne itself shifted.

A massive crack raced across the floor.

Dust poured from the ceiling.

Both girls immediately looked toward the city as they began hearing distant sounds of Goblins shouting.

Monsters roaring.

Stone collapsing.

Athena gripped the journal tighter. "Hold on," she said. "Just a little longer."

She lowered her eyes back to the golden writing and began translating the very first line.

Outside...

The city fought for every second while inside, Athena fought for every word.