Divine Awakening

Chapter 44

The chamber fell silent, the only sound the distant whirring of Blueprint’s drone as she scouted all the larger tunnels in the lower section.

Ash stood in the center of the circular chamber, his eyes darting between the twenty-four doorways that had magically opened. Each portal, now revealed by the blood that had seeped into the ancient carvings, loomed ominously.

The basin where he’d fought and defeated the three Scarab Guardians was still slick with blood, the remnants of the battle now etched into the very walls of this ancient place.

Around each door, strange symbols glowed faintly, casting an eerie light across the chamber. The writing looked old to Ash and though he couldn't comprehend their meaning he could feel the weight of their warnings.

Wiki and Oracle, both with a deep understanding of ancient languages, discussed the doors in loud whispers, their voices growing louder as they argued over which door to choose.

Oracle turned to Ash and pointed to a door. “This one. The script here mentions ‘safe passage’ and ‘sanctuary.’ It’s the obvious choice.”

Wiki shook his head, his eyes scanning the symbols. “You’re only reading part of it, Oracle. The rest of the inscription discusses ‘false promises’ and ‘those who seek comfort will find despair.’ It’s a trap.”

Nomad sighed and spoke softly to Ash. “We need to decide quickly. Blueprint just messaged me that the large tunnels are all dead ends. The only way out is through one of these doors.”

Ash nodded, so Nomad knew he’d heard and understood.

Ash tuned out Wiki’s and Oracle’s argument. His Third Eye chakra, a swirling vortex of intuition and insight, pulsed with urgency, likely because of the approaching kill teams sent by other governments.

Releasing Lesser Ripple, Ash let it crash into the stone doors. All of them held danger, but the extent varied considerably. He focused his gaze on a door near where Oracle stood.

The script around this door looked different, darker and more foreboding. Ash’s Root chakra, the source of his survival instincts, hummed with a low warning, yet it didn’t push him away. The chakra recognized the danger but acknowledged that this path held his best chance at survival.

“That one,” Ash said loud enough to get everyone’s attention. He stepped forward and pointed to the one his chakras had singled out. “This door is our best chance.”

Oracle’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Are you serious? The glyphs around that door literally says ‘certain death’ and ‘end of all hope.’ You can’t be serious.”

Wiki frowned, looking between Ash and the door. “That door doesn’t just warn of danger—it promises it.”

Ash’s mind raced. He’d always trusted his chakras. They’d saved his life countless times, guiding him through situations where his senses alone would’ve failed, but he wasn’t alone anymore and nineteen other people would die if he made a mistake.

“I’ll take another look,” Ash said to Oracle’s and Wiki’s visible relief.

Before Ash could release Lesser Ripple again, the air around him shimmered, and a small figure appeared beside him.

Bruja, the goddess who took the form of a seven-year-old girl, materialized with a look of curiosity on her face. No one around him reacted, so she must be invisible to everyone else.

“Interesting,” Bruja said. She circled Ash, her eyes narrowing as she examined him closely. “Your blood opened these gates? Fascinating. You aren’t saturated with Soul power so how did you manage it? The distance and power requirements are trivial but should still be impossible.”

Ash glanced at Bruja, careful not to let his gaze linger too long and alert the others to something amiss. He spoke in his mind, not wanting to make the others think he was crazier than they already thought. What do you mean? Is opening doors with blood normal?

Bruja tapped her chin thoughtfully as she bent down and studied the blood-soaked floor. “You are really messy.”

Ash didn’t have a response to that. This fight really had caused a mess.

“Chakra energy,” Bruja said simply. “Your blood is saturated with it. These doors—these gateways—respond to condensed power. Until now, I thought Soul energy was the only power dense enough to open a gate runed door.”

Chakra energy did this? Ash asked in disbelief.

“Your blood is brimming with it,” Bruja said and then froze. “Darkness take me, what’s this?”

“What’s what?” Ash asked, so concerned he accidentally spoke out loud.

Nomad gave Ash a concerned look.

Bruja stood and stepped up to Ash, frowning. She glanced around the room, her gaze lingering on Relay, and her frown deepened.

What? Ash asked again.

Bruja turned back, her frown remaining. “I went to all the trouble of shielding you, and then you spray your blood around like some type of maniacal painter.” She stepped closer and poked him in the chest. “Stop bleeding.”

It's not like I want to.

Bruja narrowed her eyes. “You don’t know.”

Know what? This is really pissing me off.

Bruja took a step back, her face turning serious. “Your blood is cursed. Like for real. I’m taking some of this back to study, because I’ve never seen anything like it. That’s probably what provided most of the energy to open the gates. Eiru’s mark likely helped as well. It doesn’t matter where the energy came from. You need to keep your blood where it belongs. Don’t leave it laying around. There’s something funny going on with you and I mean more than Pen’s experiment.”

Before Ash could respond, Bruja bent down and placed a finger on the bloody floor. The area around her finger turned a sandy brown as the blood disappeared. She stood and frowned at him again.

“You better hurry and pick a door,” Bruja said. “I’m cleaning this up.”

Then the little goddess disappeared. The small circle where she’d touched the floor continued to expand however. In less than a minute it would reach the doors, likely closing them.

“Oh, crap,” Ash said out loud.

“What?” Nomad asked. “Are you okay? You’re acting odd.”

Ash looked at Nomad and pointed at the ever-growing circle of clean floor. “We have less than a minute before we’re trapped here.”

Nomad didn’t ask for details, immediately requesting the only piece of data he needed to act. “Which door?”

Ash pointed at the same door.

Nomad shouted orders and everyone ran toward the door.

“I’ll go through first,” Ash said.

Nomad placed a hand on his chest. “You opened these doors and they might close after you pass. I’ll go first with Fletcher and Blast. You come through last.”

Ash nodded and Nomad sprinted for the door.

“Ash, please,” Oracle said, her voice pleading now. “Don’t do this. We can find another way. We’ll all die if we enter that door.”

Ash’s Throat chakra discerned the fear in Oracle’s voice, and the genuine concern she had for him and the others. But he also knew that he couldn’t ignore what Third Eye and Root were telling him.

“Trust me,” Shamrock answered.

Nomad disappeared through the stone door, followed by more of the team.

“Why the hell even have us here if you’re going to ignore us!” Oracle yelled at Ash.

Ten people had already crossed through. The circle of cleansing Bruja had started had climbed halfway to the doors and seemed to be accelerating. They had around ten seconds left before it reached the doors.

Blueprint snatched her drone out of the air and jumped through the door. Only Ash, Oracle, and Wiki remained.

Oracle opened her mouth to protest, but Wiki placed a hand on her arm, shaking his head. “Remember the circle of trust.”

Oracle bit her lip, clearly torn, but after a moment she nodded reluctantly.

Wiki stepped through the door.

Oracle paused before stepping through. “You’ve killed us all.”

Then Ash stood alone in the chamber. He could hear the foreign kill team moving down the tunnel. The Sumerian script glowed a bright red as he approached the door, as if welcoming him to his fate.

The blood under Ash’s feet disappeared, and he jumped through the doorway, the stone no longer solid and allowing him to pass without any resistance.

Ash exited the gate to the smell of incense, cedar or something like it, and the air felt hot and dry. Faded hieroglyphs and intricate carvings covered the walls and hinted at long-forgotten rituals. Blast knelt fifteen feet away, his weapon leveled at Ash. Well, at the door.

Turning around, Ash tried to stick his hand back through the portal but struck solid stone. He faced forward again, and Blast stood and sprinted toward the tunnel exit, satisfied the door no longer needed guarding.

Bright sunlight streamed into the short passage and most of the team guarded the exit. From here, Ash could only see sand dunes. That confused him, as did the bright sunlight. He looked at his map and found they’d traveled twenty miles toward the Pit but remained underground.

I’m through, Ash told Nomad over chat. Either the door is one way, or it closed after I passed.

It’s closed. Checkmate tried sticking a hand back through earlier and it worked. You should come look at this.

Interesting. They still didn’t know if the door closing was from Ash passing through or because the blood had disappeared. He guessed it was related to the blood since Bruja had said it held the power that opened the door to begin with.

Ash moved to the passage exit, his boots soundless as he crossed the sandy floor, and got his first good look of their destination.

Towering pillars carved with the likenesses of ancient gods stood half-buried by the desert sand. Most had toppled and angled out of the dunes like fallen sentinels. The sand had almost completely covered a stone temple, but the very top of a dark entrance remained.

Ash stepped out of the tunnel and looked up to find a bright blue sky and a burning hot sun. He shielded his eyes and searched the surrounding area.

The only thing in front of them was the buried temple. Their passage exited from a small rock outcropping. Blueprint’s drone didn’t work the best here, but it had climbed high enough to see that everything behind them and to the sides was open desert.

“Did we exit the dungeon?” Nomad asked.

“I don’t think so,” Ash responded, taking another look at the sky. “We only moved twenty miles and it's still dark outside. This is–”

Ash stopped not knowing how to continue.

“An illusion?” Nomad asked.

“It must be.”

“The only thing around us is that temple. What does your Spidey-sense say?”

Ash concentrated on his chakras and it only took a moment to confirm. “Yeah, the desert is really dangerous. The temple is definitely where we need to go.”

Root and Third Eye both flared and Ash studied the area. He pointed wordlessly and Nomad used binoculars to study the area.

Ash enhanced his eyesight and swore.

In the distance, behind the sand buried temple, skeletons pulled themselves out of the dunes.