Zachary hadn't sensed anything out of the ordinary at first. He had simply followed Katherine while letting his mind wander, thinking about how he could heal his wounded soul and how the two of them couldn't get any privacy in this current situation. The first time, he had merely assumed it to be due to stray conversation from the other survivors or a stray gust of wind. The second time, he knew it wasn't a coincidence as he was able to sense it in the exact same place, when he had stood in front of a particular section of the stone face.

The third time around, he had ignored Katherine's ramblings completely and focused on his soul sense. He ignored the noises around him, the smells of water and stone, and the various presences of Ensouled around him. He felt the movement of Eternum in the air as well as the massive amounts that surged up and down the towering monolith.

Through this, he was able to identify a faint feeling, one of loneliness and perhaps gloominess. It was a singular presence, not overwhelmingly strong but exceedingly persistent. It was something that had existed for ages, refusing to die, refusing to give up.

"What? Where? What did you find?" Katherine asked.

The urgency in her voice surprised him but he put it aside and replied, "It's just a guess, but I can point out a place on the monolith that you should examine again."

"Really? Show me!" She exclaimed and tugged on his arm, "Come on!"

He felt something wasn't quite right but he didn't know what. Katherine's excitement was contagious and soon, he was also looking forward to opening this mysterious doorway.

Ignoring looks from the others, he led her to one of the eight faces, the one that was in the western direction. It was easy to make the connection between the octagon and the eight paths of the soul. It also just so happened that the sides were aligned with the eight cardinal directions.

"Earth, why is it earth?" Katherine asked herself, "The Bomoi Civilization was known for healing and nature and the power of life energy. Even the pinecitta tree grew in front of the life face."

The face they were at corresponded with the earth attribute.

“I don’t know…” Zachary said as he pointed to a spot that was slightly above his head and several arm lengths from one edge of the stone face.

"Here? But there is nothing here." She said as she reached up and touched the stone, slightly standing on her toes. "Wait...”

She examined the general area several times just to be certain.

“It’s here.”

She started making slight movements with her hand on the stone with her other hand pressed against her heart.

"Almighty Ice Saint, deliverer of our salvation, lend this servant your strength so that I may fulfill your mission. Water to ice, rain to snow, this world is yours eternal. Water to ice, rain to snow..."

A faint blue glow appeared around her heart. As she continued to chant, the Eternum traveled through her arm, making her veins glow blue as well. Finally, the energy reached her fingertips, lighting up areas she touched on the dark grey stone. It was then that Zachary noticed that her hand was making different patterns. One after another, he couldn’t understand any of them.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

At first, nothing happened. The stone monolith remained still and unchanging. He started to get worried for her sake because she was making a lot of noise. Two people took notice and were heading in their direction.

"Hey!"

"What is wrong with her?"

"Nothing's wrong," Zachary said, blocking the way.

“What is she doing?”

“She’s not doing anything.” He said.

The man was about to argue some more when his mouth fell open. Zachary turned and was stunned as well. Where there had used to be plain, featureless stone, a thin outline appeared in the shape of a square, glowing brightly. The light was reddish-brown, the color of earth.

“What did she do?”

“Stop her!”

Before anyone could react, a great wave of Eternum swept out of the monolith in a circle. It rapidly spread out in all directions, sweeping over the survivors, the unrelenting pack of wolves, through the whole ruins, and finally disappearing into the jungle.

“What’s going on?” Aaron shouted as he leaped to his feet.

He charged over like an enraged beast, leading the other resting survivors over.

The situation was quickly turning for the worse. Zachary felt danger and palmed the first summoning orb on his belt. Hammer appeared in front of him, waving his claws at Aaron’s people.

“Zachary, have you gone crazy?” Aaron asked as he reached for his own summoning orbs.

As they glared at each other, the ground beneath their feet started to tremble. The glowing square on the face of the monolith started to slowly recede and everybody could understand what was happening.

“It’s opening?”

“There’s a door!”

“Look at that girl! It’s her doing!”

Amidst the chaotic shouts, one person pointed at Katherine. She was touching the stone with her glowing hands. Watching her, many people seemed to reach the same conclusion, that she was the person responsible.

“Stop her!”

“Stay away!” Katherine shouted.

At the same time, Marble landed on the ground in front of her and hissed at the approaching people.

"Stay back!" Katherine said, "I have to finish opening this doorway. If I don't, we're all going to die. This is our only chance."

Zachary gave her a sharp look. Something in her voice told him that she wasn't exaggerating. But he couldn't understand how she was so sure about it. Her words had a strong effect on him but not the others.

“What is she doing?” Aaron asked in a serious voice.

He had not brought out a summon yet, but his hand rested on his summoner belt. He had several soul orbs and could bring out his summons could come out at any moment.

As the square doorway continued to slowly open, the tension between the two groups rose to a perilous level. Katherine was still focused on her task, leaving Zachary to deal with the situation. He felt a flash of anger towards her as well as frustration towards Aaron and the rest. It was just a stupid doorway; it wasn’t a big deal. It was better to explain everything.

“It’s a hidden doorway,” He said in an even voice, “Katherine knows a little about the civilization that built this place. She’s opening the doorway that leads to a far bigger city underground. We can lose the wolves down there and maybe find more interesting treasures like the pinecitta tree. It’s better than being stuck on this little patch of grass for weeks on end.”

Aaron didn’t reply but looked between Zachary and Katherine. His eyes narrowed, followed by a surge of Eternum as he summoned his mantis. Everyone sucked in a breath.

“Is that so? Tell me, why should I listen to the words of a beast cult member?” He asked, his voice low and dangerous.

“What?” Zachary uttered, shocked.

“Ice Saint Beast Cult, am I right? I can recognize that icy Eternum aura anywhere.”

Zachary was completely stumped.

“Everyone!” Aaron shouted at his group, “Capture these two evil summoners first. We can slowly get the truth from them later!”

“Yes, boss!”

The rest shouted and reached for their summoning orbs and summoning cards.

“Aaahhwooooooo!!”

Before anybody could do anything, an ear-splitting howl arrived, shaking the air around them and echoing through the ruins.

“Woooo!”

“Awoooo!”

Many wolves joined in and soon, the entire pack on the other side of the land bridge was howling at the sky.