Chapter 135 Chapter 135
Chapter 135 Chapter 135
Zyran's POV
“You've said that twice today.” Damon said.
Ares ignored him.
A second sound came from beneath the chamber.
This time it sounded like stone shifting.
The creature moved in front of the crack as if protecting it.
Hayley looked at Ares.
“You said this place was built over the Seal.”
“Yes.”
“Who built it?”
“I don't know.”
Ariel looked at him.
“You've been here all this time and you don't know?”
“I inherited the fortress. I didn't design it.”
“Who did?”
Ares stared at the creature.
“Someone who didn't want anyone reaching what lies beneath, I guess.”
Kai looked towards the opening.
“Then why did you bring us here?”
Ares didn't respond.
Damon stepped towards him.
“You knew our marks would react.”
“I suspected.”
“Why?”
Ares finally looked at him.
“Because I've spent years looking for people who carry them.”
Hayley's face hardened.
“You used Dylan.”
Ares's expression shifted.
“I didn't say that.”
“You don't have to.”
Ares looked away.
Before anyone could question him further, the creature suddenly moved.
It pressed one enormous claw against the cracked floor.
The glowing symbols beneath it changed.
A section of stone slid aside and a staircase appeared underneath.
Everyone stared.
Leo slowly lowered his sword.
“So that's a thing.”
Kai crouched near the opening.
“There's light down there.”
Damon looked at me and I nodded.
“We're going down.”
Ares immediately shook his head.
“No.”
Damon turned.
“Why?”
“Because that's where the Seal is.”
Hayley folded her arms.
“And that's exactly where we're going.”
Ares stepped forward.
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
He looked at Ariel.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Ariel's face changed.
“You've been hiding something.”
Ares gave a humourless smile.
“Everyone in this family has.”
Hayley frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Ariel didn't answer.
Instead, she looked at the staircase.
“Whatever is down there, we need to see it.”
Damon took Hayley's hand.
I moved beside them.
Kai and Leo followed.
Ares remained where he was.
“You're making a mistake.”
Damon glanced back.
“Then stay here.”
Ares stared at the opening.
He hesitated and then followed.
The creature turned around and descended first.
We followed it into the darkness.
Halfway down, the walls began to glow with ancient markings.
Hayley ran her fingers over one.
“These aren't the same symbols from the prophecy.”
Ariel stopped.
“No.”
She stared at the wall.
“I’m sure they're older.”
A faint sound came from below and a voice.
Not human.
Not entirely unfamiliar either.
It whispered a single word.
“Bearers.”
The five of us froze.
Then the creature looked back at us.
And for the first time, it bowed its head.
Hayley's POV
The creature disappeared down the staircase after the brief show of bowing before us.
None of us spoke until the sound of its claws against the stone faded.
Leo leaned towards Kai.
“Do you think it's going to eat us?”
Kai shook his head. “It had the chance upstairs.”
“That doesn't answer my question.”
“It answers it enough.”
Damon looked over his shoulder. “Both of you stay between me and Zyran.”
There was still too much uncertainty around us and I was surprised Damon gave that order. The boys may be grown adults now but we still owe them safety.
Mom walked beside me.
She hadn't said much since we'd entered the passage.
I glanced at her.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes.”
“You're lying.”
She gave me a brief look. “I said I'm alright.”
That was my mother's way of ending a conversation.
I knew it well.
We continued down.
The deeper we went, the colder it became. The walls were covered in strange markings, but unlike the symbols we'd seen in the Order's records, these were uneven and almost crude.
Kai stopped.
“Look.”
He pointed at the wall.
There were claw marks across it.
Leo touched one.
“These are fresh.”
Damon immediately turned around.
“Everybody stop.”
Then we heard the sound of scratching from somewhere behind the wall.
Leo raised his sword.
“That's not the creature.”
“No,” Zyran said.
Ariel's face tightened.
“Keep moving.”
Nobody questioned her.
We reached the bottom of the staircase and the creature stood in front of a massive stone door.
It looked back at us.
Then pressed its claw against the centre.
The door opened slowly.
As if whoever built it had expected someone to return one day.
Beyond it was a large underground chamber.
There were no cells.
No weapons and no guards.
Only an enormous circular table in the centre.
And on that table sat several objects covered in dust.
Damon walked closer.
“What is this place?”
Ares entered behind us.
His face had gone blank.
“I've never seen this room.”
Zyran glanced at him.
“Convenient.”
“I mean it.”
Ariel walked towards the table.
She stopped beside a small wooden box.
Her fingers hovered over it.
“Don't touch it,” Ares said.
Ariel turned.
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
She gave him a dry look.
“Then you aren't particularly useful today.”
Leo snorted.
Ares glared at him.
Leo put on his innocent face.
“What?”
Kai walked around the table.
“There are five spaces.”
He pointed.
Five shallow circles had been carved into the surface.
One was directly opposite another.
The remaining three were arranged between them.
For several seconds, Mom said nothing.
Then she looked at the creature.
“You brought us here.”
The creature lowered itself beside the door.
Ariel's eyes narrowed.
“You want us to open something.”
Ares stepped closer.
“Or it wants to see what happens when all five of you stand together.”
Hayley looked at him.
“You're very interested in us.”
“I've spent years trying to understand what the Seal Bearers are.”
Damon stepped between them.
“And you've spent years hurting people to get answers.”
Ares didn't deny it.
“I did what I thought was necessary.”
Zyran gave a quiet laugh.
“That excuse sounds better in your head.”
Ares's jaw tightened.
Before the argument could continue, Kai pointed towards the wooden box.
“There's a name on it.”
Everyone looked.
The writing was almost worn away.
Ariel brushed away the dust.
Her expression changed.
“What is it?”
Hayley moved closer.
Ariel didn't answer immediately.
Damon noticed.
“Ariel?”
She finally read it.
“Drake.”