The stone felt warm in my hand. It was not hot. It was not cold. It was just warm. Like something that's alive. Like something that has been waiting for a long time to be held.
The creatures white eyes were fixed on the stone. On me. Its body was changing, darkness moving at its edges like smoke when the wind blows.
"Give it back " it said. The creatures voice was different now. It was not flat. It was not cold. There was something in its voice. Something that sounded like a human being. "Give back what was taken from us."
Maya stood beside me. Her silver bracelet was still shining with light. "Kael if we give it back to them -" she said.
"We will go home and we will fail " I said. I looked at the stone. At the light that was shining inside it like a heart. ". The people from Ouroboros will come for it. They will not care about the creature. They will take it. They will wake it up anyway."
The creatures body became darker. "The blood of the thief is speaking of thieves " it said. "You are all the same."
"No " I said. I looked at the creature. "My grandfather took something from you. I do not know why he did it.. I am not him."
The creatures white eyes became smaller. "You have his blood in you " it said. "You have what he took from us. You are him."
"I am not " I said.
I held the stone tighter. The scar from Ouroboros on my hand was burning.. Something inside my chest the thing called Ember Core was beating in response.
"Kael " I heard Linas voice in my head. "What are you doing?"
"I do not know " I said.
The creature moved closer to me. It was not moving fast. It was not moving slow. It just was closer. Its body was blocking the light from the door. Its white eyes were filling my vision.
"You will not leave with what belongs to us " it said.
The creatures hand reached for me. It was dark. It was cold.
Then Rakas fire hit the creature. The fire scattered its body, black smoke moving away from my face. The creature came back together again. This time it was faster.
Then Kiranas ice came. A wall of ice rose around us holding the darkness back. The creature was pushing against the ice. The ice was cracking.
"Maya " Raka shouted. "Use your Null -"
"It does not work on the creature " Maya said. Her voice was tight. "It is not using any power."
The ice broke into pieces. The darkness was moving towards us.
Lina stepped forward. Her hand was raised. The same light that I saw before was shining from her hand. It was brighter now. It was stronger. The light met the darkness. Stopped it.
The creature moved back. Its body was changing. It was like it was surprised.
"You " it said. Its voice was different now. It was not flat. It was not cold. It was like wonder. "You are not supposed to be awake."
Lina did not say anything. Her hand was still raised. It was still shining.. I saw her arm shaking.
"You were one of us " the creature said. "You were supposed to sleep with us. Until the thief returns.. You woke up. Why did you wake up?"
"I chose to wake up " Lina said.
The creature looked at her. Its white eyes seemed different now. They seemed empty. It was like something was looking through them. Something that knew her.
"You chose " the creature said. The word was strange in its mouth.
Then the creature looked at me. At the stone in my hand.
"He will take it " it said. "He will take what was stolen from us.. We will wake up. Forever."
I looked at the stone. The red light was beating inside it. One time. Two times. Three times.
"What if I do not take it?" I asked.
The creatures body stopped moving. "Then you will leave it " it said. "We will sleep. Until the next thief comes.. The one after that.. The one after that."
"The people from Ouroboros will come " Maya said. "They will not stop. They will take it. They will wake you up anyway."
The creature looked at her. "Then we will wake up " it said. ". We will take what we need to survive."
"What you need to survive " Kirana said quietly. "You mean people."
The creature did not say anything. It did not need to say anything.
I looked at the stone. At the light inside it. At the warmth in my hand.
My grandfather took this stone. He came here. He took something that was not his. Something that was keeping these creatures asleep. Keeping them from hunting. From taking.
Now I was here. With the blood. The same choice.
I could give it back. I could go home. I could fail. I could let the people from Ouroboros come. I could let them wake the creature. I could let them deal with what happens
I could take it. I could finish the artifact. I could give it to Aegis. To Aldo. To the Academy. To people who might use it to protect themselves. To people who might find another way.
The creature would wake up. Forever.. It would hunt.
"Kael " Lina said. Her hand touched my arm. Her warm hand. The one that had held mine through everything. "Whatever you choose I am with you."
I looked at her. At her brown eyes. Not shining. Not empty. Just Lina.
I looked at Maya. At her bracelet. At the face of her father that was carved in stone now broken on the floor.
I looked at Raka. At his fire ready to protect us.
I looked at Kirana. At her ice ready to hold back the darkness.
"We will take it " I said.
The creatures body exploded.
The darkness was moving towards us. Not slow. Not waiting. It was hungry.
"Raka, Kirana " I shouted.
The fire and the ice met the darkness. The flame scattered it. The ice held it back.. It kept coming. It kept pushing.
Maya stood beside me. Her Null was useless. She raised her hands anyway. "I do not know what to do " she said.
"Protect Lina " I said.
Maya looked at me. She nodded.
I held the stone in both hands. The scar from Ouroboros was burning. The Ember Core in my chest was beating. One time. Two times. Again.
I pulled.
Not the stone. Something inside it. Something that was connected to the creature. To the temple. To the darkness that was pressing against us.
The red light in the stone was shining brighter. It was so bright that I had to close my eyes.
In the darkness behind my eyes I saw it.
The temple. It was old. It was not made of stone. It was not walls. It was something. Something that was never meant to be a building. It was a cage.. The creature, the creatures were the prisoners.. The stone in my hand the heart of Aegis was the lock.
My grandfather did not steal a shield. He stole a lock.. Without it the cage was opening.
The light faded. I opened my eyes.
The creature was still. Its body had stopped moving. Its white eyes were fixed on the stone in my hands. The stone was different now. The red light was gone. In its place something else was shining. A glow. Pale. Blue-white. Like moonlight on water.
"You have taken it " the creature said. Its voice was flat again. Cold. "You have chosen."
I looked at the stone. At the glow that had replaced the heart.
"What happens now?" I asked.
The creatures body began to change. It was not attacking. It was not retreating. It was changing. The darkness was pulling back. The white eyes were dimming.
"We will wake up " it said. "We will hunt. We will take what we need to survive."
"No " I said.
It was not my voice. I turned.
Lina stood at the center of the circle. Her hand was still raised. Still shining.. Her eyes were different. Not warm brown. Not shining white. Something else. Something older.
"You will not hunt " she said. "You will wait."
The creature stared at her. "You cannot command us " it said. "You are one of us. Asleep. Waiting. You have no authority -"
"I am awake " Lina said. ". I choose. You will wait. Until we find another way."
The creatures body was shaking. The darkness, at its edges was
It was gone.
---
The temple was really quiet. The silence was even heavier than the darkness that was there before.
I was standing in the middle of a circle. I was still holding the stone. It was warm in my hands. The statues around me were not moving. There were no eyes staring at me. Everything was stone and silence.
"Kael " Maya said quietly. "What just happened?"
I looked at the stone I was holding. There was a blue glow inside it. It was like the stone had a heartbeat.
"Aegis " I said. "It is the artifact we found."
"But it does not look like a shield " Kirana said.
"No " I said. "It is a lock.. I just took it out of here."
Raka put out the flames he had. His hands were shaking. "The creature is going to wake up. It will. Kill."
"Yes " I said.
Kiranas voice was cold. "You knew this would happen if you took the Aegis."
I looked at her. "Yes I knew."
She stared at me for a time. Then she looked at Lina. Lina was the one who told the creature to wait.
"You made this decision " Kirana said. "Now we have to live with it."
Kirana turned around. Walked towards the door. Raka followed her. Maya was not sure what to do. She looked at the pieces of her fathers statue on the floor. Then she looked at me.
"My father stayed here for twenty years " she said. "He was. Guarding the temple. I did not know that. I thought he left me because he did not care." She looked at the stone in my hand. "He was trying to fix what your grandfather broke."
"I know " I said.
Maya nodded. Then she walked towards the door.
Lina was standing beside me. Her hand was not glowing anymore. Her eyes were warm and brown again.. There was something different in her eyes now.
"Are you okay?" I asked her.
She looked at the stone. At the light inside it.
"I do not know " she said. "I do not know what I am. I do not know why I could talk to the creature. I do not know why it listened to me."
I took her hand. It was warm.
"You are Lina " I said. "That is all that matters for now."
She looked at me. For a moment her eyes glowed.. It was just for a moment. Then it was gone.
"Let us go home " she said.
We walked towards the door. Towards the light. Towards the surface.
Behind us the statues were still. The shadows were waiting.. Deep inside the stone the creature was sleeping again.
But it will not sleep forever.
---
— TO BE CONTINUED —
---
This is what happened in Chapter 26. "We Got the Aegis. But One Team Member Hasn't Been the Same Since Leaving the Sea."
They came out of the sea. Ombak was waiting for them on the boat. His green eyes sparkled when he saw the stone in Kaels hand.
"You took it " he said. It was not a question.
"We took it " Kael said.
Ombak looked at the stone. At the blue light inside it. "Then you know what it is " he said. "What it was used for."
"A lock " Kael said. "For something that should have stayed asleep."
Ombak nodded slowly. He looked at Lina. ". You. You talked to the creature. You told it what to do."
Lina did not say anything.
"I felt it " Ombak said. "The creature. It listened to you. It did what you said. Do you know why?"
Linas voice was quiet. "No I do not know."
Ombak looked at her for a time. Then he looked away. "We should go. The door will not stay open forever."
They sailed back to the shore.. Something was not right. Kirana was sitting at the front of the boat. She was not talking. Raka kept looking at the water. Maya was quiet. She was holding her silver bracelet tightly.
Lina. Lina was sitting beside Kael. She was holding his hand.. Her eyes were different. They were not glowing. They were not cold. They were just... Distant. Like she was looking at something away. Something that only she could see.
That night when they got to the shore Kael woke up. He found Lina standing at the edge of the water. The moon was full. The sea was calm.
"You should sleep " he said.
She did not turn around. "I cannot sleep."
"Lina. "
"When I was in the water I heard them " she said. "Not just the creature. Others. They were sleeping. They were waiting.. They were calling to me."
She turned around. Her eyes. In the moonlight. Were glowing. They were faint. They were silver-white.
"They know me, Kael " she said. "They have always known me.. I think. " She stopped. Her voice was shaking. "I think I have always known them."
Kael stepped closer. He took her hand.
"You are still Lina " he said.
She looked at their hands. Her glowing hand, in his.
"Am I?" she asked.