The golden eye stared at us from beyond the doorway.
I had faced armies.
I had fought monsters.
I had watched kingdoms burn.
But nothing had ever made Indra retreat inside my mind.
Derek...
His voice trembled.
We cannot fight that.
I tightened my grip around Aria's hand.
"We don't have to fight it."
The Moon Goddess turned sharply toward me.
"You don't understand."
Her voice carried an urgency I had never heard before.
"If that gate opens completely, this world will cease to exist as you know it."
Aria stared at the enormous eye.
"What is behind it?"
The Goddess hesitated.
"The First Darkness."
A cold silence followed.
"The darkness that existed before the Moon."
"The darkness that created the Devourer."
My gaze moved toward the creature.
The Devourer was no longer la
