Born in Blood

547  The Dreaded

Bill's eyes widened, and any mellowing effects the seaweed would have on his personality diminished instantly. He smiled broadly.

"Finally! I was this close to getting someone else for the job, but I'm glad you finally accepted."

Someone else? Was that Bill's way of keeping Liam humble or what? He didn't let Bill get the wrong idea.

"I'm ready for the briefing. I need to make sure I'm ready for the job before anything. Especially if it's going to take any longer than a week." Bill looked a tad disappointed. He probably wanted to get the mission over as fast as possible, just to get one up over his corporate competitor… but Liam was not one to rush, especially in matters of importance.

Turning his back, Bill spoke over his shoulder with a cautious, heavy voice. "Alright. Come with me. I'll show it to you."

Liam nodded, then followed Bill into an underground passage. The two entered a vast underground training hall, lit with fluorescent lights and decorated with white floor tiles. Soldiers — decked out with full sets of inscribed, paper-thin armor — were being trained by various instructors, test dummies were being blown to bits, cut in half, burned and reconstructed in seconds, alongside duels and team battles commencing… all at once. An obnoxious clangor filled the corners of the space. "You have quite the operation," Liam commended as he took in the sights. The two were walking straight through the hall. Bill chuckled, clearly enjoying the compliment. "This is just the tip of the iceberg, dear friend." Liam side-eyed him.

'Although he seems like an idiot, I should really stop underestimating him. He could give even the Royals a run for their money.'

After a while, Bill reached another hall, then entered a long, well-lit corridor, followed by a spiral staircase leading to a small room containing a teleportation platform, which led to a top-secret, hidden compartment that required Bill's handprint to enter. Liam suppressed a grunt.

'All this secrecy… it better be worth the walk.'

The compartment contained, surprise, another teleportation platform.

Bill looked at Liam with a wry smile.

"Sorry. This is the last one, I promise."

With that, Bill stepped onto it and disappeared.

Liam followed his example, and instantly, the platform transferred him out of the Headquarters. His vision settled. And his eyes widened. Hundreds of thousands of meters below the ocean, was a vast, gaping chasm, the very bottom of which was a protective, iridescent bubble. The bubble reminded Liam of the Academy's, except it was not as large. This one could only cover about a small village's worth of land. Past it, was an infinite void of nothingness. But what was outside of the bubble was not important.

The inside was. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

In front of him — which was also the very bottom of the chasm — was a collection of ancient ruins, the material of which was of a dark amber shade. Here and there, stood cracked pillars, the designs of which were stripped of any beauty it might have had. Thick, bioluminescent moss and algae had formed around its broken structures, leaving it indescribable as to what the ruins were ever used for. But to the furthest wall of the trench, away from all the scrummage and heavy debris… was an irregular hexagonal plate lodged into the wall, covered with glowing runes and intricate writings unlike any language or inscription method he had laid eyes on.

All of these runes and writings condensed at its center, creating an intricate weave. 'What in the world is that?' Liam focused his gaze back to Bill, and noticed three other individuals within the bubble. All three were examining different parts of the ruins. Upon sensing Bill's arrival, the three approached.

Bill cast Liam a smile. His tone was proud and trusting as he spoke:

"These are some of my best agents. Two of them are Inscription Masters, and the last is a polyglot Formationist. They're all experts in their fields."

He whispered the next few words.

Liam nodded casually. All three more varied in appearance, albeit they had simple characteristics and matching attire – resembling a half-mix of an archeologist and a scientist. After greeting Bill, all three of them gave Liam a quick smile and began with an introduction, but his mind wasn't registering their voices at all. He gave them names of his own.

The first was an inscription master – a tall, sharp-eyed woman with long black hair, braided with ornaments of gold. She had a sharp, but clever aura. She carried an inscribed clipboard. Sharpie. The second was the second inscriptionist – was so young, Liam had mistaken him for a teenager. His eyes glowed with a sharp yellow glow, and living tattoos covered his forearm and hand. Rebel. The third was the polyglot – a short, rugged, albeit giddy looking old man. He had a wise aura, akin to a homeless man who could give good advice. Giddy.

"Let us waste no more time," Bill said, and the group walked over to the hexagonal plate. "Can you guess what this is?" Up close, Liam scanned every part of the plate and burned it into his memory. The runes pulsed with an azure hue, as though it had a life of its own. Although everything else had failed the test of time, this hexagonal plate remained defiantly resilient. Not a scratch nicked its polished amber surface.

On its surface, the graceful web of runes and writings were layered, and some of them were added fresher than others. Meaning the runes themselves were not originally on the plate… they were added by Sharpie, Giddy and Rebel. There was no mistaking it.

"This is a gate, isn't it?" Bill nodded firmly, while the other three were taken aback from Liam's correct answer. Even them, as lifelong masters of their respective arts, would not answer correctly on the first try. And yet Liam did. "Not just any gate," Bill answered.

Bill paused, his gaze turning heavy and his words heavier. "This is the ancient Tomb of Naxathra, the Dreaded."