CHAPTER 9 – The Creatures Beyond the Gate
No one moved.
The shadow creature stood motionless beneath the glowing archway.
It had no face.
No mouth.
Only two burning crimson eyes that pierced through the silence.
Then...
It smiled.
Not with lips.
With hundreds of razor-sharp teeth that slowly emerged from the darkness where its face should have been.
Emily's heart nearly stopped.
The Guardian—the ancient serpent that had ruled Aserath for thousands of years—actually took a step backward.
Kael whispered only one word.
"Voidborn..."
More creatures began emerging from the gate.
One.
Five.
Ten.
Then dozens.
Each one looked slightly different.
Some crawled on four limbs.
Others floated above the ground like living shadows.
One was nearly twenty feet tall.
None of them made a sound.
The silence was far more terrifying than a scream.
Colonel Hayes tightened his grip on his rifle.
"So these are the monsters guarding the treasure?"
He laughed.
"Open fire!"
The mercenaries unleashed everything they had.
Bullets.
Explosives.
Flamethrowers.
The cave echoed with deafening blasts.
When the smoke cleared...
Every Voidborn was still standing.
Not a single bullet hole marked their bodies.
Instead...
The bullets slowly pushed themselves back out of the creatures' flesh and fell harmlessly onto the stone floor.
One mercenary dropped his weapon.
"What... are they?"
The tallest Voidborn tilted its head.
Then, in a voice that sounded exactly like Colonel Hayes', it spoke.
"You opened the gate."
"Now you will take our place."
Before anyone could react—
The nearest mercenary suddenly screamed.
Black shadows wrapped around his legs, climbing higher and higher.
He fired wildly.
The bullets passed straight through the darkness.
Within seconds, the man vanished.
Not a drop of blood remained.
Only his empty helmet rolled across the stone floor.
Panic exploded.
The mercenaries fled in every direction.
The Voidborn didn't chase them.
They simply walked.
Slowly.
Patiently.
Every step they took caused flowers to wither, marble to crack, and the glowing light of Aserath to fade.
The Guardian roared and coiled protectively around Emily and Kael.
Its voice entered Emily's mind.
"Only the First Protector can seal the Gate again."
Emily stared in disbelief.
"But I don't know how!"
May you like
The Guardian looked at the glowing mark on her wrist.
"Your blood remembers... even if you do not."
