The Blood Beneath the Gate
1472 Words
The scream that tore through the abyss did not belong to any creature I had ever heard.
It sounded ancient.
Hungry.
Alive.
I hit stone hard enough to knock the breath from my lungs.
Pain exploded through my ribs, my shoulder, my spine.
For one brutal second, I saw nothing but darkness.
Then strong arms caught me.
Kael.
His body slammed into the jagged rock beneath us, twisting so I landed against his chest instead of the stone floor.
A savage grunt ripped from him.
“Kael”
“I have you.”
Even now.
Even bleeding.
Even after falling through what felt like the throat of the mountain itself.
He still held me like the world would crack apart if he let go.
My pulse thundered.
His scent pine smoke, blood, cold iron, and wild storm wrapped around me in the blackness.
I pushed myself upright.
We had landed in a cavern vast enough to swallow entire kingdoms.
Black stone arched high above us, ribbed like the inside of a dead beast. Pale veins of silver glowed through the walls, pulsing faintly like trapped moonlight.
At the center of the cavern stood the Black Gate.
I stopped breathing.
It was far larger than I had imagined.
Towering obsidian pillars curved upward like claws. Chains thicker than tree trunks wrapped around its frame, etched with ancient runes that crawled like living insects across the metal.
Behind it
Nothing.
No wall.
No sky.
Only a rippling void.
A wound in existence itself.
Cold rolled off it in waves sharp enough to sting my skin.
Kael stood beside me, one hand pressed against his ribs. Blood darkened his shirt.
“You’re hurt.”
“I’ll heal.”
His eyes never left the Gate.
Too sharp.
Too tense.
Too possessive.
As if even this ancient horror could steal something from him.
Me.
“We shouldn’t be here,” he said quietly.
My gaze shifted to him.
“You knew this existed.”
A pause.
Then: “Yes.”
Anger flickered hot.
“You lied.”
His jaw hardened.
“I kept you alive.”
“That wasn’t your choice.”
“It became my choice the moment your blood woke the mountain.”
Silence cracked between us.
I hated how my chest tightened.
Hated how I understood him.
Hated more that part of me wanted to.
Before I could answer, something moved in the shadows.
A hiss.
Then another.
Low. Wet. Wrong.
Creatures crawled from cracks in the cavern walls.
Not wolves.
Not demons.
Something between.
Their bodies were skeletal and elongated, covered in slick black hide stretched too tightly over bone. Too many limbs. Too many eyes. Their mouths split sideways across narrow skulls, rows of needle teeth clicking.
Voidborn.
The word struck my mind like a memory that wasn’t mine.
Kael shifted instantly in front of me.
A wall of muscle and fury.
“Stay behind me.”
One of the creatures lunged.
Kael caught it by the throat and ripped it sideways, slamming it into stone hard enough to crack bone.
Another leapt.
He shifted mid-motion.
His wolf burst through flesh in a violent snap of bone and muscle.
Massive.
Black-furred.
Golden eyes blazing.
King.
He tore into the swarm with brutal precision.
Blood sprayed across stone.
Voidborn screamed.
But there were too many.
Five.
Ten.
Twenty.
They poured from the walls like rot.
One broke past Kael.
It lunged for me.
Instinct exploded through my body.
Heat surged from my chest.
My scream tore free
Silver fire erupted from my palms.
The creature disintegrated.
Gone.
Ash.
Silence crashed through the cavern.
Even Kael froze.
His wolf turned toward me.
Golden eyes wide.
Another Voidborn rushed.
I raised my hand.
Silver flame blasted outward.
Stone shattered.
The creature burst apart.
Then another.
Then three more.
My power moved like it had always existed.
Wild.
Ancient.
Hungry.
Not fire.
Not light.
Something older.
The silver veins in the cavern walls flared.
The Gate began to hum.
Kael shifted back into human form, chest heaving, blood streaked over bare skin.
“Lyra…”
My breath shook.
“What is happening to me?”
His voice dropped.
“The bloodline.”
I stared.
“What bloodline?”
His silence was answer enough.
Rage sharpened my voice.
“You know.”
His jaw clenched.
“Yes.”
“Then tell me.”
The hum from the Gate deepened.
Chains rattled.
Kael looked torn between fury and fear.
Then he said the words that split my world apart.
“You were never human.”
The cavern spun.
Cold gripped my spine.
“What?”
He stepped closer.
Slowly.
As if approaching something dangerous.
“You were hidden among humans after the last Blood War.”
My throat tightened.
“No.”
“Your mother sealed your power before she died.”
“You’re lying.”
“I wish I was.”
His golden eyes darkened.
“You carry the blood of the Gateborn.”
The word slammed into me.
Gateborn.
A race.
An old memory whispered through instinct.
Wardens.
Kings.
Destroyers.
My breathing fractured.
“That’s impossible.”
Kael’s voice softened.
“The Black Gate doesn’t open for wolves.”
His fingers curled at his sides.
“It opens for your blood.”
The chains groaned.
As if hearing him.
As if answering.
Then
A voice.
Low.
Smooth.
Male.
Ancient.
“Finally.”
The sound came from beyond the Gate.
The void shifted.
Something emerged.
Tall.
Humanoid.
Beautiful.
Terrifying.
He stepped through darkness like it bent willingly around him.
Hair white as frost.
Eyes pure silver.
Skin pale like carved marble.
A crown of black horn-like ridges curved behind his head.
Not wolf.
Not man.
Something greater.
Older.
His smile was soft.
Cruel.
“Daughter of the Gate.”
My stomach dropped.
Kael moved instantly in front of me.
Mine.
The silent claim radiated from his entire body.
The stranger tilted his head.
“The Alpha King.”
His gaze swept Kael with amused contempt.
“How territorial.”
Kael’s voice was pure violence.
“Step back.”
The creature smiled wider.
“She belongs to us.”
Kael snarled.
“She belongs to no one.”
My chest tightened.
The stranger looked at me.
And something inside my blood answered.
A pull.
Recognition.
Wrong.
Horribly wrong.
“You feel it,” he murmured.
I hated that I did.
“Who are you?”
His silver eyes gleamed.
“I am Varis.”
The name hit the cavern like prophecy.
“The last King beyond the Gate.”
Kael cursed under his breath.
I looked between them.
“What do you want?”
Varis’s gaze never left me.
“You.”
Simple.
Cold.
Terrifying.
Kael stepped closer to me.
Shoulders rigid.
“You won’t touch her.”
Varis laughed softly.
“She carries our blood.”
His voice deepened.
“She is the key.”
The chains on the Black Gate snapped tighter.
The cavern trembled.
My pulse pounded.
Kael leaned slightly toward me without taking his eyes off Varis.
“If I tell you to run, run.”
I whispered back, “I’m not leaving you.”
His expression shifted.
Something raw flickered in his eyes.
Then gone.
Varis lifted one hand.
Dark tendrils of void erupted from the Gate.
Kael shifted again with a roar.
His wolf launched.
Varis barely moved.
The tendrils struck Kael midair.
His massive body slammed into stone.
Hard.
The entire cavern shook.
“Kael!”
I ran.
But shadows wrapped around my wrists.
My ankles.
My throat.
Dragging me backward.
Silver fire burst from me.
The tendrils recoiled.
Varis watched calmly.
Pleased.
“Yes,” he whispered.
“That power.”
Kael staggered upright, bleeding heavily.
Still trying to reach me.
Still fighting.
Still furious.
Possessive.
Protective.
Beautifully reckless.
I ripped free and threw another wave of silver flame.
Varis blocked it with one hand.
Impossible.
My power shattered against darkness.
He was stronger.
Far stronger.
His eyes gleamed.
“You are not awakened yet.”
He extended his hand.
“Come willingly, Lyra.”
“No.”
The word tore from me.
Kael lunged again.
Varis finally moved.
Fast as thought.
He struck Kael through the chest.
A sickening crack echoed.
Kael flew backward.
Collapsed.
Still.
My world stopped.
“KAEL!”
Something inside me broke.
Not fear.
Not grief.
Fury.
Pure.
Ancient.
The cavern erupted.
Silver light exploded from my body in violent waves.
The walls split.
Runes ignited.
Chains screamed.
The Black Gate began opening.
Varis’s expression changed.
For the first time
Shock.
I lifted off the ground.
Power roaring through my veins.
Voices screamed inside my skull.
Old.
Dead.
Gateborn.
The mountain above us began collapsing.
Stone rained down.
Varis smiled slowly.
Reverently.
“Hail the Queen.”
And behind me
the Black Gate fully opened.
- Writer
