Shadow Born

Chapter Fourteen: The Final Gate

The black crystal trembled inside Commander Voss's hand.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then it cracked.

A thin line of darkness crawled across its surface, spreading like a living vein.

Voss stared at it.

"What are you?"

The voice answered from inside the crystal.

I am what existed before your gods learned to fear the dark.

The lights in the underground command center went out.

Every soldier froze.

A cold wind swept through the room despite there being no open doors or windows.

Voss remained still.

"What do you want?"

Freedom.

The crystal shattered.

A wave of darkness exploded through the command center.

Soldiers screamed as the energy passed through them. Machines shut down. Screens shattered. Metal doors bent inward.

Voss was thrown against the wall.

When he opened his eyes, the crystal was gone.

Something stood in the center of the room.

It was tall.

Humanoid.

Its body appeared to be made from shifting darkness, but beneath that darkness burned thousands of tiny stars.

Its face had no mouth.

Only two white eyes.

Voss struggled to stand.

"You promised me power."

The creature looked at him.

And you opened the gate.

"Then give me what I asked for."

The creature stepped closer.

You misunderstand.

Voss's confidence disappeared.

You did not summon me.

You released me.

Above Earth, Kairo and the other Guardians continued their assault.

The Devourer fought like a living storm.

Its claws tore through space.

Its tendrils whipped across the battlefield.

Every time it was wounded, the creature absorbed energy from the surrounding environment and began healing.

Kairo flew beneath its massive body.

"Serak!"

The alien warrior understood immediately.

He launched his spear.

Kairo caught it.

White energy surged through his hands.

He spun and threw the weapon directly toward the cracks in the Devourer's chest.

The spear struck.

A tremendous explosion followed.

The creature screamed.

Its chest opened.

For a brief moment, Kairo saw something inside.

Not an organ.

A black sphere surrounded by thousands of rotating symbols.

"The heart!"

Caelan shouted.

"Now!"

All three Guardians attacked.

Caelan struck first.

His silver blade pierced the creature's armor.

Serak followed, driving his spear deeper.

Kairo placed both hands against the exposed heart.

The Shadow Core responded.

Blue light exploded through his body.

The Devourer screamed.

NO!

The creature tried to close its chest.

Kairo held on.

"You're not taking this planet."

The Shadow Core began draining the darkness from the creature.

But something was wrong.

The energy flowing into Kairo was becoming too powerful.

His body began shaking.

"Shadow Core..."

Energy overload.

"How long?"

Thirty seconds.

Kairo looked toward Caelan.

"Get away."

Caelan immediately understood.

"No."

"I can contain it."

"You'll die."

"I've already died once."

Caelan grabbed Kairo's shoulder.

"I'm not losing another Guardian."

The Devourer's heart suddenly pulsed.

A massive wave of darkness threw all three Guardians away.

Kairo spun helplessly through space.

Serak caught him.

Caelan barely managed to stop himself.

The Devourer closed its wounds.

Then it looked toward Earth.

Its eyes widened.

Something else had awakened.

"What..."

The creature's voice became uncertain.

"...is that?"

The clouds above Ebon City turned black.

Not from the invasion.

From something beneath the planet.

A column of darkness erupted from the ground.

Buildings shook.

Roads split apart.

People screamed as the earth trembled beneath their feet.

At the center of the city, a massive circular symbol appeared across several blocks.

Kairo saw it from orbit.

His blood ran cold.

"That's not the Devourer."

Orion appeared beside him.

"No."

"What is it?"

Orion stared at the symbol.

"The Final Gate."

Serak looked at him.

"You said it was a myth."

"I was wrong."

"What happens when it opens?"

Orion's expression darkened.

"Something comes through."

Kairo looked toward Earth.

"Something worse than the Devourer?"

Orion didn't answer.

That was answer enough.

Commander Voss stood inside the ruins of his command center.

The mysterious creature approached him.

Voss raised a weapon.

"You will obey me."

The creature looked at the gun.

Then at Voss.

You still believe you are in control.

Voss fired.

The weapon melted before the projectile could reach its target.

Voss stepped backward.

"What are you?"

The creature raised one hand.

The shadows around Voss lifted him from the ground.

I am the First Darkness.

Voss struggled.

"The First Darkness?"

Before the Guardians.

Before the Void.

Before the stars.

The creature pulled him closer.

There was darkness.

And there was light.

They created the universe.

Then they imprisoned me.

Voss stared in disbelief.

"So the Shadow Core..."

Is a fragment of the First Light.

Voss's eyes widened.

"And the Void Core?"

Another fragment.

The creature's white eyes burned brighter.

But you have opened the Final Gate.

The prison is no longer complete.

Voss suddenly understood.

The Guardians had never been fighting the real enemy.

They had been fighting the consequences of an ancient war.

Above the planet, the Devourer suddenly stopped attacking.

Caelan looked toward it.

"Why has it stopped?"

The monster's six eyes remained fixed on Earth.

"It is afraid."

Kairo couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"The Devourer is afraid?"

A deep crack appeared across the planet's atmosphere.

Then another.

Black light poured into the sky.

The Final Gate began opening.

The Devourer slowly backed away.

"No..."

For the first time, the ancient monster sounded terrified.

"I remember that darkness."

The Gate opened wider.

A massive hand emerged from the center of the storm.

Then another.

Something enormous began climbing out.

Its body stretched beyond the clouds.

Its head disappeared into the upper atmosphere.

Kairo stared upward.

The creature was too large to comprehend.

Its eyes opened.

Two white suns appeared above the planet.

Every Dominion ship stopped.

Every military aircraft stopped.

Even the Devourer remained still.

The mysterious entity looked across Earth.

Then its voice entered the minds of every living person.

"THE PRISON IS BROKEN."

The entire planet trembled.

Kairo felt the Shadow Core react violently.

Ancient enemy detected.

He looked toward Caelan.

"Can we stop it?"

Caelan tightened his grip around the silver blade.

"I don't know."

Serak raised his spear.

"Then we learn."

Kairo looked down at Earth.

His home.

His grandmother.

Malik.

Millions of people who had no idea what was coming.

He clenched his fists.

"I'm not running."

The three Guardians turned toward the enormous being.

The Devourer moved beside them.

Kairo looked at it suspiciously.

"You were trying to destroy Earth."

The Devourer stared at the entity.

"I still hunger."

"But I would rather consume a living world..."

"...than watch it belong to him."

Kairo almost laughed.

"That's the worst alliance proposal I've ever heard."

Caelan raised his blade.

"Then we fight together."

The Devourer roared.

The Guardians charged.

Below them, the Final Gate opened completely.

And the First Darkness stepped into the world.

End of Chapter Fourteen.