The Gates - Chapter One

The crevice widened into a vast chamber, its silence broken only by the faint hum of a glowing mark etched across an ancient skull. A brilliant blue light pulsed from the bones, shifting like reflections across a subterranean pool.

Kalari stepped closer. The skull was massive, dog-like, its canines the length of his forearm.

Blue tendrils of ink swept back in intricate patterns along its surface. When he touched the mark, energy tingled through his hand, urging him to press closer. Against every instinct, he placed his palm flat upon it.

Pain. Searing, immediate, climbing his arm like fire. His hand locked fast to the skull, unyielding. Every muscle screamed to rip free — yet something deeper told him to endure.

Energy flooded into him, scorching nerves, blinding thought. He dropped to his knees, gasping for breath, biting back a cry for fear of what prowled outside the cave.

Memories flashed: his family, the love waiting for him, his children’s faces. Clinging to them, he forced the pain back with a roar.

“I WILL NOT BOW!”

The chamber blazed with light, then silence. His hand came free, the mark vanished from the skull, leaving only a charred black stain.

“Go…” whispered a voice, feminine and airy as wind.

The thrum of wings echoed outside. Kalari pressed low to the stone, his heart hammering. A dull glow reflected on the cavern walls — not from the skull, but from his own arm. The same ocean-blue mark sprawled across his flesh, stretching up his forearm to his shoulder like claws reaching for his throat.

He knew this symbol: the mark of the Kami, wolves famed for blistering speed and bone-shattering howls.

Power surged. He crouched, muscles tense, and launched himself through the cave mouth. The world blurred. He crashed into the dirt past the waiting bird, stunned by his own speed, then ran — faster than any hound, vision sharpened, body light.

The hunt began.

The bird shrieked and beat its wings, gusts slamming earth and stone in its wake. Kalari dodged trees, hurdled rocks, but a blast of wind sent him tumbling behind cover. Another strike shattered his shelter. One hit and I’m dead.

He glanced at his charred palm, the mark pulsing faintly. The whisper returned.

“Yes…”

Raising his hand, warmth flooded his arm. With a thunderous CRACK, a shockwave burst forth, hurling him into a tree and leaving a crater in its trunk.

By the gods… I have been blessed.

Again he raised his palm. Another crack split the air, the bird dodging upward, feathers torn loose. Screeching, it folded its wings and dove. Kalari dove aside, barely escaping its talons.

Thinking fast, he sprinted into the dense forest, forcing the bird low among the branches. He slowed — baiting it closer.

Now.

The beast reared, wings spreading for another gust. Kalari spun, arm raised, energy surging. His blast met the gale with an ear-splitting pop. The shockwave crushed the bird’s chest mid-air, slamming it lifeless to the earth. Feathers drifted like snow.

Kalari stood trembling, staring at the fallen predator. He had slain the monster that had taken his comrades. He had claimed a power that would change history forever.

Grandmother’s book closed with a soft thump. Ferin was fast asleep on the rug, curled small beneath his blanket. Smiling, she tucked him in and sank into her chair, drifting into dreams beside him.