CHAPTER 10 – The Blood of the First Protector
The glowing symbols on Emily's wrist suddenly burned with unbearable heat.
She cried out as flashes filled her mind.
They weren't dreams.
They were memories.
But not her own.
She saw a young woman dressed in white armor standing before the same Gate three thousand years earlier.
Thousands of white serpents surrounded her.
The Guardian knelt before her exactly as it now knelt before Emily.
The woman raised a silver necklace—the very one Emily's grandmother had protected for decades.
Then she placed her bleeding hand upon the Gate.
Golden light erupted across the sky.
The shadows screamed.
The Gate closed.
The vision shattered.
Emily collapsed to her knees, gasping for air.
Kael helped her stand.
"You've seen her."
Emily nodded slowly.
"Who was she?"
Kael smiled through tears.
"The first Protector..."
"...was your ancestor."
Emily looked down at her trembling hands.
"So that's why the Guardian trusted me..."
Before Kael could answer, Colonel Hayes burst from the smoke, his face twisted with desperation.
He no longer cared about the treasure.
He only wanted to escape.
He grabbed Emily, pressed a knife against her throat, and shouted at the Guardian.
"Move!"
"Or she dies!"
The Guardian remained perfectly still.
Not because it was afraid.
Because it knew something Hayes did not.
The symbols on Emily's wrist suddenly flared like miniature suns.
A wave of golden energy exploded from her body.
Hayes was hurled across the chamber, crashing into the ancient Gate.
The silver necklace flew from his hand and landed at Emily's feet.
She picked it up.
The Guardian lowered its head.
Kael whispered,
"It's time."
Emily stepped toward the Gate as hundreds of Voidborn advanced through the city.
She placed the necklace into the ancient seal.
Then she pressed her bleeding palm against the cold stone.
The entire city erupted in blinding golden light.
The Voidborn let out horrifying screams as invisible chains of light wrapped around them.
The Gate began to close...
Slowly.
Painfully.
But just before it sealed completely...
The tallest Voidborn looked directly at Emily.
Its crimson eyes glowed brighter than ever.
Then it spoke one final sentence.
"This was never the only Gate."
The doors slammed shut.
Silence returned to Aserath.
The surviving mercenaries were gone.
Colonel Hayes had vanished without a trace.
The Guardian bowed before Emily.
Kael smiled for the first time in three thousand years.
"You saved us."
Emily wanted to believe the nightmare was over.
Then she looked down at her wrist.
The glowing mark had changed.
It no longer looked like a symbol.
It looked like...
...a map.
And it pointed toward another place far beyond the desert.
Another hidden Gate.
May you like
Another ancient secret.
Another battle that had only just begun.
