The Awakening Below
1131 Words
The crack in the stone floor spread like lightning.
Aria stumbled backward as dust and small fragments of rock rained down around them. The chamber that had stood untouched for centuries was beginning to tear itself apart.
“What is that?!” she shouted over the growing rumble.
Lucien’s eyes were fixed on the widening fracture in the floor.
His expression had gone completely still.
“That…” he said slowly, “is something that was never meant to wake up.”
The crack split open with a violent boom, revealing darkness beneath the chamber.
Not empty darkness.
Something deeper.
Something alive.
A surge of cold air rushed upward from the opening, carrying a faint whispering sound.
Aria felt the strange pull inside her chest grow stronger again.
Her knees nearly buckled.
“Lucien—” she gasped, grabbing the wall for balance. “It’s pulling at me.”
Lucien moved instantly, catching her arm before she collapsed.
“I know.”
His grip tightened.
“Fight it.”
“I am!”
The whispering from the abyss grew louder.
It sounded almost like voices.
Thousands of them.
Calling.
Waiting.
Aria squeezed her eyes shut as pain spread through her chest like burning ice.
“What is down there?” she forced out.
Lucien didn’t answer immediately.
Because he recognized the energy rising from below.
And that recognition terrified him.
“Lucien,” she demanded.
He looked at her grimly.
“A second seal.”
Aria blinked.
“What?”
“The entity you encountered earlier…” Lucien said carefully. “It was only the first layer.”
Her stomach dropped.
“You’re joking.”
“I wish I was.”
The chamber shook again.
This time harder.
The fracture in the floor widened further until a massive section of stone collapsed inward, plunging into the darkness below.
For a moment, everything went silent.
Then a deep sound echoed upward.
Not a roar.
Not quite.
More like something massive shifting after a very long sleep.
Aria slowly looked toward the opening.
A faint glow flickered far beneath the chamber.
“Please tell me that’s normal,” she whispered.
Lucien’s voice was quiet.
“It isn’t.”
Aria laughed nervously.
“Of course it isn’t.”
The glow below suddenly intensified.
Symbols began appearing along the walls of the abyss—ancient runes lighting up one after another like a chain reaction.
Lucien’s eyes widened slightly.
“That’s impossible.”
“What now?” Aria said weakly.
Lucien stepped closer to the edge of the fracture.
“These runes…”
He studied them carefully.
“They’re not containment seals.”
Aria frowned.
“Then what are they?”
Lucien’s answer came out like a curse.
“Summoning glyphs.”
Her heart skipped.
“Summoning what?”
As if answering her question, the glow from below flared brightly.
The whispering voices stopped.
Completely.
And then a single voice spoke from the darkness.
Deep.
Ancient.
Amused.
“So… the door has finally opened.”
Aria froze.
The voice echoed through the entire chamber, vibrating in the stone itself.
Lucien stepped in front of her instantly.
“Stay behind me.”
Aria swallowed.
“I wasn’t planning on jumping in there.”
A shadow moved far below.
Huge.
Slow.
The glowing symbols illuminated a shape rising from the depths.
Not human.
Not even close.
Aria’s breath caught as something massive shifted beneath the surface of the darkness.
“Lucien,” she whispered.
“Yes.”
“Please tell me that’s just my imagination.”
“It isn’t.”
The shadow moved again.
Closer now.
And then two enormous eyes opened in the abyss.
Burning gold.
Ancient beyond comprehension.
Aria felt her legs go weak.
“What… is that?”
Lucien’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“A guardian.”
“That’s supposed to make me feel better?!”
“No.”
The creature’s voice echoed upward again, calm and curious.
“Well now…”
The glowing eyes locked onto the chamber above.
“Visitors.”
The entire cavern trembled as the massive being began to rise.
Stone cracked along the edges of the abyss.
Aria stared in horror.
“That thing is huge.”
Lucien didn’t disagree.
Because the creature’s head alone was larger than the chamber floor.
Ancient scales glimmered in the dim light as it slowly emerged.
A dragon.
But not like any dragon from stories.
Older.
More powerful.
More terrifying.
The creature tilted its head slightly, studying them.
Its voice rumbled like distant thunder.
“I have slept for centuries.”
Its golden gaze settled directly on Aria.
“And yet…”
The dragon’s eyes narrowed.
“…you feel familiar.”
Aria froze.
Lucien’s expression darkened immediately.
“That’s not good,” he muttered.
The dragon leaned closer to the opening.
“You carry the mark.”
Aria felt the burning sensation in her chest again.
“What mark?!” she said.
The dragon’s massive eyes gleamed with recognition.
“Ah.”
Its voice softened slightly.
“So the vessel has awakened.”
Lucien’s grip on his sword tightened.
“No,” he said firmly.
The dragon looked at him lazily.
“No?”
Lucien stepped forward.
“She is not your vessel.”
For a moment, silence filled the chamber.
Then the dragon laughed.
A deep, echoing sound that shook the walls.
“Little immortal,” it rumbled.
“You misunderstand.”
Its gaze returned to Aria.
“She was never yours to protect.”
Aria’s pulse pounded in her ears.
Lucien stepped slightly in front of her again.
“Stay back.”
But the dragon’s eyes never left her.
“Come closer, child.”
Aria shook her head quickly.
“Absolutely not.”
The dragon seemed amused.
“Curious.”
Its gaze flickered thoughtfully.
“You do not yet understand what you are.”
Aria crossed her arms.
“Neither does anyone else apparently.”
Lucien kept his stance firm.
“You will return to your slumber.”
The dragon’s golden eyes shifted toward him again.
“Will I?”
The creature slowly rose higher from the abyss.
The full scale of its body becoming visible.
Aria’s jaw dropped.
“That’s… that’s impossible.”
Lucien whispered a name under his breath.
One that had not been spoken in centuries.
“Azryth.”
The dragon’s eyes gleamed.
“So someone still remembers.”
Aria looked between them nervously.
“Okay… I feel like I missed a very important history lesson.”
Lucien’s voice was tense.
“You’re looking at one of the oldest beings in existence.”
Azryth smiled slightly.
“And you,” the dragon said softly to Aria,
“are the key to setting me free.”
The chamber went completely silent.
Aria blinked.
“…I’m sorry, what?”
- Writer
