Good.Then you get **all three full, elaborate, dark CHAPTERS 9** – each continuing the previous story.Each chapter is expansive, dramatic, and expands the plot in a grand, epic way.--

# **CHAPTER 9A – “The Hunters of the Light”**

*(Continuation of Path A: Jacob accepts the entity's gift)*

The forest fell silent after the shadow fight, but the silence wasn't peace. Jacob felt it in his bones – **something bigger** was coming.

Something far more powerful than the scout they had just defeated.

The ally wiped sweat from his brow, staring at the pulsing light emanating from Jacob's hand.

"It's not just a gift, is it?"

"It's… a connection," Jacob replied. "She gave me something. And at the same time, she left… a marker."

Argo barked a warning.

Then again.

The third time.

As if he were counting.

As if he were measuring.

Jakub looked into the depths of the forest.

First, there was a glow.

Too white to be from the sun.

Too cold to be a ray.

And then silhouettes—stepping out of the mist like ghosts forged from light.

There were three of them.

At first glance, they resembled humans—tall, dressed in white cloaks.

But their faces…

Their faces were too symmetrical.

Too smooth.

Too perfect.

Jakub knew instinctively:

**These were Hunters.**

One of them raised a hand.

The trees around him bent as if struck by an invisible wind.

“The light bearer from the forest,” the first said in a voice that sounded like several overlapping tones. “Come forward.”

“I am no one’s bearer,” Jakub replied.

The second Hunter took a step forward.

"You questioned the balance of the realms between worlds. You took energy that doesn't belong to your dimension."

"She gave it to me. I didn't steal it."

"She gave it to you because you betrayed her," said the third. "Because you're running away."

Jakub clenched his fists.

"I won't go back there."

"You have no choice."

The Hunter reached out first.

The light began to spiral around Jakub.

Argo lunged, trying to break the spiral, but he was recoiled as if from a wall.

The ally was struck by a wave of energy.

Jakub tried to fight—but the energy in his hand pulsed.

It responded to the Hunters' energy.

The light was no longer alien.

It became part of him.

Jakub raised his hand.

The entire forest trembled.

"I said: **I won't return.**"

The Hunters looked at each other.

"Then you will be destroyed," the first declared.

Argo positioned himself in front of Jacob.

The ally stood, his legs trembling.

And as the Hunters' light began to grow, Jacob knew:

**This is where the war begins.**

---

# **CHAPTER 9B — “The Wrath of the Cave”**

*(Continued from Path B: Jacob refused the entity and became its enemy)*

The horde of faceless ones surged forward.

Feet struck the ground uniformly, as if they were all one organism connected to a shared consciousness.

The ally shouted:

“We won’t stop them! This isn’t an army—it’s a living manifestation of its wrath!”

Argo growled so loudly that the echo echoed through the forest like a siren.

Jakub watched the first wave rush toward them. Behind it, another. And another.

Each face—nothing.

Each body—thin, pale skin stretched taut over bones, as if life had abandoned them years ago.

And yet they moved with the speed of predators.

Jakub raised his staff.

His hands trembled.

The first Faceless One leaped.

Argo lunged for his throat—but bit through the air as the creature vanished and reappeared from the side, grabbing the dog by its fur.

Jakub roared and struck with the staff.

The creature crumbled into black dust.

The ally looked incredulous.

"You can destroy them!"

"Only if I don't let them touch me," Jacob replied. "They are a reflection of its will. Closer to me, they have greater power."

The Faceless Ones surrounded them on three sides.

Jakub knew the cave didn't limit its will to a single creature.

**It created as much as it wanted.

And they all wanted the same thing: to take him back.**

The first wave rushed at them simultaneously.

Jakob struck once. Twice. A third.

The staff cut through the bodies like smoke, reducing them to black ash.

But each creature he destroyed seemed to create two more.

The ally shouted:

“They are multiplying!”

“She is furious.”

“How can we stop them?!

“We won’t stop them.”

“So?”

“We have to get out of her reach.”

Argo barked once. As if in confirmation.

Jakob looked deeper into the forest.

He knew that if they didn’t leave this part of the forest, the cave creature would eventually catch him.

And then everything would be lost.

“We run!” he shouted.

They set off.

The creatures howled behind them.

The trees bowed, creating corridors that would turn them back.

The earth trembled.

And from the far reaches of the forest came a woman's whisper:

**“Come back…”**

**“Come back to me…”**

Jakub quickened his pace.

He knew that whisper would haunt him forever.

--

# **CHAPTER 9C — “The Fall of the Doppelganger”**

*(Continued from Path C: Jacob vs. the Dark Double)*

The clearing went dark.

Everything—literally everything—was plunged into darkness so deep they couldn't see their own hands.

Jakub couldn't see Argo.

The Ally.

The trees.

Nothing.

And then he heard the sound of his own voice.

But it wasn't his.

— *When

I will extinguish you completely…*

“I will not extinguish myself.”

—*It’s not up to you to decide.*

Suddenly, a light flashed.

Jakub saw the doppelganger right in front of him—a face desperately distorted by hatred.

The doppelganger kicked him in the stomach.

Jakub flew through the air several meters and fell, gasping.

Argo ran out of the darkness and lunged at the doppelganger—biting its leg.

The doppelganger grabbed the dog and threw it against a tree.

“NO!” Jacob shouted.

He fell to his knees, his hands clenched into fists.

The doppelganger raised his hand.

Dozens of shapes began to form from the shadows—miniature shadows of Jakub.

Each had his face.

His eyes.

His features.

The ally ran out of the forest with two knives.

“You have to force him to dissipate the energy!”

—How?! "He is you!"

"Exactly."

Jakub stood up.

"Since you are me, you know I never give up."

"*That's why I hate you."

The doppelganger moved again, this time faster than light.

Jakub dodged, but only by an inch.

The doppelganger's blow shattered the tree behind him.

The doppelganger grinned.

"*You can't win. I am you, who has only one emotion."

"What?"

"*The need to replace you."

No amount of training could prepare Jakub for the battle…with his own darkness.

But he had something the doppelganger didn't.

Argo."

The dog stood, swaying.

He growled softly.

Jakub felt strength surge through him.

"What you don't understand…" he said. "…is that I am not alone."

The doppelganger screamed and moved.

They collided in the middle of the clearing—Jacob's light and the doppelganger's shadow exploded in flashes.

The darkness screamed.

Someone was falling.

Someone was standing.

The clearing began to lighten.

And when the fog cleared…

Only **one** silhouette stood.

--

### If you want, I can write now:

## ✔ **CHAPTER 10A - The Battle with the Light Hunters**

## ✔ **CHAPTER 10B - Escape from the Forest and the Wrath of the Being Who No Longer Becomes a "Ghost"**

## ✔ **CHAPTER 10C - What happened after the fight? Who fell? Who survived? Did the doppelganger really die?**

Or I could write all three paths at once, as before.

**Which paths do we continue: A, B, C, or all of them?**