Queen of Darkness WATTPAD VERSION [Inter-Universal Protectors: Book 3]

68

While most of the group had intended to have an early start the next morning, there were some members less than thrilled about being up shortly after sunrise. Ema, Zoe, and Colt were the first awake. They managed to coax Amneris, Hathor, and Kayla to wake up with a delicious smelling breakfast. After all, who could resist the smell of food? The others, however, needed more convincing to wake up. 

Ema unscrewed the cap of her water bottle, pouring the contents over Xix's head. She yelped, rolling to her feet and shaking the water from her face. Ema's grin quickly faultered as she saw the look on her friend's face. Xix chased Ema around in circles, yelling "You fucking bitch!" as the others watched on and tried to not laugh.

Jay was next. Amneris and Zoe grabbed him by the arms and legs and, as one, threw him into the nearest stream. He groggily opened his eyes, realised his predicament, and sighed. "Always me," he said before moving to the fire to dry and warm up. The stream had been colder than expected. 

There was much debate over whether Kek should be woken up. Colt's argument of "Do we have to?" had been the most considered. None of the group was thrilled to have Kek with them but he did have information that none of them did. Not to mention his own mysterious power, whatever it was, could come in handy in the near future. Kek had eventually been woken up by being dragged close to the fire. 

The campsite was dried and packed up shortly after. The group donned their bags once again, and moved toward where Hathor had found the cave. They stopped on the edge of the cliff. The water level had lowered enough that entrance was no longer a problem. Amneris used her power to levitate those who could not fly into the tunnel. Before entering herself, she took a photo of the text on the outside. The group moved forward with little effort.

The tunnel was longer than first thought, sloping down into the Earth. Zoe used her power to channel Amneris and Xix's natural glows to light the way ahead. She and Jay led the way, Amneris and Colt taking up the rear. 

As they walked, Amneris read over the text from outside the tunnel. There was something not right about it. The text was similar to the Old Language, but a variation she hadn't seen since accidently coming across Lyriumian text in the Library of Alexandra. She could read it. That wasn't the problem. It was what the text said . . . 

"Something is bothering you," Colt said. "What?"

"It says 'The beginning of the end.' The end of what?" 

"The world?" Xix offered from in front of them.

"Obviously," Amneris said sarcastically. "Isn't that a little too obvious?" 

"Isn't everything too obvious?" Colt asked flatly. 

"Haw."

"If what we are looking for is supposed to bring about the end of all Creation, it only makes sense this would be the beginning of the end," Xix explained. "This tunnel is the beginning of the path to Atlantis; where the rift is."

"Rift?" Jay asked from ahead, bringing the group to a stop. "Since when is there a rift?"

"It says on the scroll-" She pulled it from her pocket and tapped a certain line of text -"that there is a rift we have to enter in order to reach this power."

"And you didn't think of mentioning this earlier?"

"Oops?" Xix held the scroll in her light, the text becoming brighter the closer it came. "I only found out recently. Like Kek said, it needs Naka's power to be seen."

"Told ya I knew shit," he said triumphantly. The entire group glared. 

"Moving along," Zoe said. "Is there anything else you would like to tell us?"