Edge of the Dark

Chapter 135: Chapter 134: The Other Side of Time

The city was quieter than Ethan had ever known it to be. A strange hush had fallen over the skyline, as though the weight of the truth had cast a shadow over every street, every alley, every building. The stars above were dimmer now, their light filtered through layers of uncertainty. For once, the noise of the bustling metropolis seemed distant, muffled, as if the world itself was holding its breath.

Ethan stood at the edge of the rooftop, staring down at the sprawling city below. The wind was cold, sharp against his skin, but it did little to break the numbness that had settled deep within him. His hands were shoved into the pockets of his coat, his gaze fixed on the sea of lights that stretched before him. But his mind was elsewhere—reeling, caught in a vortex of revelations, of truths he had never wanted to face.

Nathaniel Bishop.

The name that had surfaced in the aftermath of Max's downfall had shattered everything. It had undone every assumption, every plan, every step they had taken. Bishop had been there all along, hidden in plain sight. The architect of the conspiracy, the puppet master pulling the strings from the shadows. Max had been his pawn, his instrument. The true war had never been about defeating Max—it had always been about taking down Bishop. And now, standing on the precipice of the city, Ethan realized that they had only scratched the surface.

The man who controlled everything was still out there.

Ethan's fingers tightened around the edges of his coat. He had tried to push past the chaos, to find some semblance of peace, some way to heal. But Bishop's shadow loomed larger now than ever. In his heart, Ethan knew the truth: the fight was far from over.

The night felt like it was stretching on forever. As Ethan stood there, waiting for something to shift, he felt a presence behind him. A familiar presence. Grace.

She stepped up beside him, standing close but not too close, her eyes tracing the skyline, as though she, too, was looking for something in the distance. For a long time, neither of them spoke. The weight of their shared history, the burden of everything they had gone through together, hung between them.

"I thought we'd won," Grace said quietly, her voice distant, almost lost in the wind. "I thought this was finally it. That everything would be over. But now... now it feels like we're just beginning again."

Ethan didn't reply immediately. What could he say? Words seemed inadequate in the face of what had just been revealed. The revelations about Bishop, about the depths of the corruption they had been battling—it was as though the very foundation of the world they had been trying to build had cracked open, revealing the abyss beneath.

"We were never meant to win, were we?" he muttered finally, his voice hollow. "It was always just a matter of time before this happened. I should have known."

Grace shook her head, her hand brushing against his arm in a gesture that was as much for her own comfort as for his. "You didn't know," she said softly. "None of us did. But now we do. We have to face it."

Ethan turned to look at her, his expression unreadable. "And what if we can't? What if we can't defeat him? What if we've already lost?"

There was a long pause before Grace answered, her gaze unwavering. "We can't stop now. Not after everything we've been through. This is about more than just us, Ethan. It's about everything that's at stake. The future. The city. The lives of everyone we've fought for."

He closed his eyes, letting her words sink in. She was right. They had come too far to stop now. But as much as he wanted to believe they could still change things, still make a difference, a seed of doubt had taken root in his mind. Bishop was a force like no other, an enigma, a man who had woven himself so deeply into the fabric of society that pulling him out would mean unraveling everything. The weight of that burden, of realizing how little they truly knew, pressed down on him.

But it was not just the knowledge of Bishop's power that weighed on him. It was the understanding that, in some way, they had all been complicit. They had been pawns, too, caught in a game much bigger than themselves. The lines between good and evil had blurred long ago, and now they were forced to navigate a world that had become so entangled in lies and deceit that they could no longer see where the truth began.

"Grace," Ethan said, his voice low. "Do you ever wonder if we're too late? That maybe we've missed our chance?"

She looked at him then, her eyes soft yet filled with resolve. "I don't think it's ever too late, Ethan. Not as long as we're still breathing. As long as we still have a choice, there's always a way forward."

A way forward. The words echoed in his mind. He had spent so long fighting for justice, for truth, that he had lost sight of the bigger picture. He had been so consumed by the need to stop the chaos, to put an end to the violence, that he had never considered the true cost of victory.

What had they really won?

And at what cost?

The thought hung heavy in the air between them, a question that neither of them could answer. The truth was, the answers were no longer as clear as they once seemed. The more they uncovered, the more complex the world became. The deeper they dug, the further the shadows seemed to stretch.

Ethan glanced back at Grace, his eyes searching hers for something—anything—that might help him make sense of it all. But the answer wasn't there. There was no simple solution, no easy way out. Only the certainty that the fight was far from over.

"I don't know how we're going to stop him," he said finally. "But I do know one thing. We can't back down now. Not after everything. Not after all we've lost."

Grace nodded slowly. "No. We can't."

Ethan turned away from the edge of the rooftop, his mind already racing with possibilities, with plans, with what needed to be done. He didn't know what the future held, or how they would face the storm that was coming. But he knew one thing for certain: they would face it together.

In the distance, the city sprawled before them, a vast, sprawling landscape of lights and shadows. It was a city teetering on the edge of something much darker. But for the first time in a long while, Ethan felt a flicker of hope. It was a fragile thing, a thin thread in the midst of all the chaos. But it was enough.

Together, they would fight to hold the line. Together, they would face whatever came next.

As the night wore on, and the city continued its endless hum, Ethan and Grace stood side by side. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, the weight of the past seemed to lift, if only just a little. The battle ahead would not be easy, but they would find a way to face it. Because they had no other choice. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The war was not over. But in the heart of the darkness, they had found their resolve. They would see it through to the very end.