The Seventh Gate
1134 Words
The sound was unlike anything Alina had ever heard.
It was not the grinding of stone against stone.
It was deeper.
Older.
As though the Earth itself had awakened from an endless sleep.
The floor beneath Raven Tower trembled. Crystal chandeliers swayed, holographic displays flickered, and every alarm throughout the building screamed at once.
WARNING.
SEVENTH GATE ACTIVATION DETECTED.
LOCKDOWN FAILED.
EVA's holographic form appeared in front of Lucien, but she flickered violently, her image breaking into fragments of light.
"Master... someone has bypassed every security protocol."
Lucien's expression hardened.
"Show me."
A three-dimensional map of Beijing appeared between them. The city's streets dissolved, revealing layer after layer of hidden tunnels, forgotten temples, abandoned military bunkers, and ancient caverns buried beneath the modern metropolis.
At the very center...
Seven enormous circular chambers surrounded a single black abyss.
The first six chambers glowed with silver light.
The seventh burned crimson.
Kael stared at the projection.
"I sealed that gate myself."
Lucien looked at him.
"So did I."
Their eyes met.
For the first time since Alina had known them, the brothers shared the same emotion.
Fear.
---
Miles beneath the city...
An old man carrying a lantern walked alone through the darkness.
His beard reached his waist, and his worn robes were stitched with symbols that glowed faintly blue.
He stopped before the Seventh Gate.
The massive obsidian door towered over him like a mountain.
Ancient chains, each thicker than a tree trunk, wrapped around it.
One by one...
they snapped.
The old man sighed.
"It has begun."
He pressed his wrinkled hand against the stone.
A whisper echoed from the darkness beyond.
"Open..."
His eyes filled with tears.
"I swore I never would."
The whisper came again.
"You already have."
The old man looked down.
His hand was covered in black crystal.
The corruption had already spread.
---
Back in Raven Tower...
Alina couldn't take her eyes off the map.
"What's behind the gate?"
Lucien remained silent.
Kael answered instead.
"Not what."
He looked toward the crimson chamber.
"Who."
Before Alina could ask another question, the Heart of Obsidian hanging around her neck became warm.
Then hot.
Then unbearable.
She clutched the crystal as another memory flooded her mind.
She stood inside a magnificent palace built from black crystal.
Sunlight streamed through towering windows.
Children laughed in the gardens.
Lucien, younger and smiling without the burden of centuries, walked toward her carrying a small wooden box.
"I have something for you."
"What is it?"
"A promise."
He opened the box.
Inside rested a delicate silver ring engraved with tiny stars.
"When this war ends..."
"I'll marry you again."
Alina, or rather Queen Aeloria, laughed softly.
"You've already married me."
Lucien smiled.
"I know."
"But next time..."
"It will be in a world without war."
The memory shattered.
Alina staggered backward, tears filling her eyes.
"Those memories..."
"They feel real."
Lucien looked at her gently.
"Because they are."
---
Suddenly...
The lights throughout Raven Tower dimmed.
A low vibration echoed through every wall.
EVA's voice returned.
"Master."
"I have identified the intruder beneath the city."
A face appeared.
The elderly man with the lantern.
Kael frowned.
"I know him."
Lucien nodded slowly.
"So do I."
Alina looked between them.
"Who is he?"
Lucien answered quietly.
"His name is Orion."
"He was once the greatest guardian our kingdom ever had."
Kael's jaw tightened.
"He also betrayed us."
---
Deep underground...
Orion fell to his knees before the gate.
The whispers had become voices.
Thousands of them.
Some begged.
Some screamed.
Some laughed.
Then...
one voice silenced all the others.
Warm.
Calm.
Gentle.
"Orion."
He closed his eyes.
"My Emperor."
"You have served faithfully."
"I failed."
"No."
"You waited."
The enormous gate trembled.
Black mist seeped through the narrow opening.
"The time has come."
Orion whispered,
"Will she forgive me?"
The voice answered,
"Only if she remembers."
---
Above...
Lucien turned away from the hologram.
"We're leaving."
Alina frowned.
"Leaving?"
"We're going beneath the city."
Kael smirked.
"I was wondering when you'd stop talking."
Within moments, the three of them entered a circular chamber at the heart of Raven Tower.
There was no elevator.
Only a ring of glowing obsidian symbols etched into the floor.
Lucien placed his hand in the center.
The symbols awakened.
Black light surrounded them.
The room disappeared.
Alina felt as though she were falling through endless darkness.
Then...
they arrived.
The air was cold.
Ancient.
Heavy with the scent of damp stone.
Towering pillars stretched into darkness above them.
Crystal formations glowed softly, illuminating a forgotten underground kingdom.
"This..."
Alina whispered.
"...has been beneath Beijing this entire time?"
Lucien nodded.
"The city was built on top of it."
She looked around in disbelief.
Ruined temples.
Collapsed bridges.
Statues of kings and queens.
An entire civilization had been buried beneath the modern world.
"What happened here?"
Kael's playful expression faded.
"We lost."
---
They walked through the silent ruins.
Every few minutes Alina noticed statues with broken faces.
Some had been deliberately destroyed.
Others seemed melted.
Then she stopped.
One statue remained untouched.
It depicted a young queen wearing an obsidian crown.
Her expression was kind.
Strong.
Hopeful.
The statue looked exactly like Alina.
At its base was a single inscription.
QUEEN AELORIA
THE LIGHT OF THE OBSIDIAN KINGDOM
Alina reached out and touched the stone.
The statue glowed.
A hidden doorway slowly opened behind it.
Lucien stared in shock.
"It only opens for the Queen."
Kael's smile vanished.
"So the legends were true."
---
The passage led them deeper beneath the ruins until they reached a vast underground chamber.
At its center stood the Seventh Gate.
It was larger than a mountain.
Cracks of crimson light spread across its surface like veins.
Standing before it...
was Orion.
He turned as they approached.
His old eyes settled on Alina.
Tears immediately rolled down his weathered face.
He slowly knelt.
"My Queen..."
"I have waited seven hundred years to ask your forgiveness."
Before Alina could answer...
A thunderous crack echoed through the chamber.
The final chain binding the Seventh Gate snapped in two.
The enormous door moved.
Only an inch.
But that was enough.
A wave of freezing darkness burst from the opening, extinguishing every light in the chamber.
Even the glowing crystals faded.
Only Alina's Heart of Obsidian continued to shine.
Then...
A hand emerged from the darkness.
It was pale.
Ancient.
And impossibly large.
Long black claws gripped the edge of the gate.
A deep voice echoed through the chamber.
Not angry.
Not loud.
Simply inevitable.
"So..."
"The Queen has returned."
Lucien stepped in front of Alina, drawing the Nightfall Blade.
Kael stood beside him without hesitation.
For the first time in centuries, the brothers stood united.
Whatever was behind the Seventh Gate...
Even they feared it.
And it had finally awakened.
- Writer
