章 13: Unawakened

The sun hurried above the trees, casting its glow through the cracks in leaves and shut eyelids alike. Although, for our party of three, their day started far before the sun could even consider rising.

They left a few hours before dawn in the dead of night. The air was cold and still. Olive could tell by her breath. Leaving at that hour meant arriving at the pyramid sometime midday – hopefully when the sun was at its peak.

"Group four had twelve." Isaac muttered.

"So group five will have fourteen!" Lily chirped in.

"And six will have sixteen." Olive commented from behind.

"It's more people than the surviving groups combined." Isaac informed.

"And if five of twenty survivors are Awakened. . ." Olive added.

"Then we should expect at least ten more. And that's on the conservative side." Isaac sighed.

They pushed through a section of thick brush and burst into an open clearing. Directly in front of them, stretched far to each end, stood a wooden wall ten meters in height. Constructed at the gates ends, two archer towers stretched high above the walls and gazed over into the jungle.

It was from one of those towers that an arrow was launched and soared through the air, slamming into the mud at Isaac's feet.

"Stop!" A woman's voice pierced the trio's ears. "Who are you?!"

Isaac raised his arms into the air, but even then, he radiated confidence. "I am Isaac and this here is Lily and Olive! We left on an expedition not too long ago!"

The woman in question didn't reply. Instead, the group of three heard the unintelligible gibberish coming from beyond the walls. Thankfully, it only took a few minutes for the wooden gates to be pried open.

However, rather than being pushed open graciously, through the increasing crack between the opening gates the group of three noticed something concerning. Behind the gates, a group of twenty stood shoulder to shoulder in line.

Each of them carried a weapon of some sort and their eyes were fierce, solely looking forward with passionate determination. Standing before them stood a tall and lanky man with sunken eyes and poor posture. Parting his lips, the man's face gradually expanded into a wild grin and his stained yellow and uneven teeth reflected the sun above.

He walked forward with his hands held behind his back and, after crossing the line that the wall reinforced, he began to speak.

"Welcome! Welcome!" His voice was scratchy and irritating, "Church has told me all about you! I must say, the craftsmanship for this camp is simply exemplary and for that, I offer my thanks."

The lanky man bowed at the waist, tucking one of his forearms into his stomach, yet his sly smile remained plastered onto his face throughout his whole speech.

"HAHAHA!" Isaac bellowed, "It sounds like you're quite aware of who I am, but unfortunately I can't return the favor."

"Of course! Of course!" The old man waved his palm through the air, then suddenly, his demeanor changed, "I am Admiral Sutton Adams of the Royal Navy and you may address me as such."

Immediately, tension unfolded between the two groups. Admiral Adams remained still with his hands neatly tucked behind him. Meanwhile, Olive watched the back of Isaac's head and was convinced she could see the gears turning within it.

Choosing to grin, Isaac held his hand forward and approached, "How unfortunate for a man of your status to be pulled here. The Royal Navy must be in an uproar!" Isaac joked.

"HAHAHA indeed! I was surmising the very same!" Admiral Adams discreetly refused Isaac's handshake with laughter before turning around and gesturing towards the pyramid.

"Come! You must be tired of travel!"

Lily stepped forward to follow, but Isaac held his arm in front of her and blocked her chest, halting her momentarily.

"Do not trust him." Isaac whispered.

Lily opened her mouth to question, but Olive's hand jumped out from beside her and clamped her mouth shut, "It's his eyes."

"Thank God you noticed –" Isaac sighed, "just don't do or say anything until I find Church."

They stepped forward in unison and followed behind Admiral Adams. Entering the camp, the group of three finally had a chance to look at the changes. The stalls in front of the pyramid were gone, the homemade training grounds were nowhere to be found and many of the huts that had been constructed of leaves and other soft materials had been razed to the ground.

A moment later, they passed the perfectly organized group of twenty. Studying their faces, Isaac and Olive came to the same conclusion: all of them were new.

Olive was unsure how to feel about what was going on. On the one hand, organizing and disciplining a group of people so soon after a world-shattering event was an impressive thing, but it begs forth the question 'how did he do it?'

Although she said so earlier, Olive wasn't entirely sure why the Admirals' eyes bothered her. Something about them simply felt off, maybe even a little cold. It gave her the same feeling as when guys would ogle her without care – predatory.

At the same time though, Admiral Adams' gaze wasn't lustful. That, Olive was sure of. An easy distinction is the trajectory of the stalker's gaze and the Admiral's eyes remained tight and up. He stared into the eyes of Isaac and the rest, not breaking for a second.

It was a vicious, hungry stare.

After collecting her thoughts, Olive and the rest quickly passed the group of twenty and arrived at the pyramids entrance. There, two guards stood at the entry – each of them possessing an identical, rather emotionless face similar to those in the line of twenty.

Without saying a word, they passed the guards and entered the black pyramid, but what they found inside was nothing like it was before they left. What was once brilliantly scattered skins and parchments, each covered in detailed examination from the change in degrees of the sun above to the anatomy of Goblins and even maps of every place they'd been was now nowhere to be found.

A treasure trove of research and notes disappeared from the walls of the wide open space and yet, somehow, that wasn't even the most concerning part.

What now occupied their vision and painted the slanted walls of the black stone was something very simple, but also extraordinary.

Ryan Geo - Unawakened

Rachel Yang - Unawakened

Camila Rodriguez - Deceased

On the walls of the pyramid contained the names and examinations of each individual that had been transported here. Name after name and after reading all of the names on one side of the room, Olive looked right.

Jaxon Brook - Awakened

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Host: Jaxon Brook

Species: Awakened Human

Class: Burning Monk

Rank: Fledgling

. . . .

Littered on the walls of the right side of the room was the Status of every Awakened in camp. Their Class, Abilities, Traits, every number and every letter copied down to a T. Once she figured out what it was, Olive rushed through the names of the Awakened – searching for her own.

And at the end of the list, parted from the twelve new Awakened, stood Olives and the rest of the expedition's members' names. Although, their makeshift Status was filled with question marks and included only the names of their Classes and such, whatever they've spoken about prior to leaving.

It was then that Admiral Adams removed his hands from behind his back and gestured towards the names around, "I'm sure you've come to notice by now. Tell me, what do you think?"

"Why are you recording our Status?" Isaac blatantly asked.

"Why?" The Admiral raised his shoulders teasingly, "Should a leader not know the strengths and weaknesses of his followers?"

"That's funny considering I can't seem to find your name up there." Olive interrupted.

Admiral Adams glared at Olive with a snarl tugging at his lip, but he quickly collected himself and turned away.

"I'm unawakened," The Admiral said, "there's no need to put my name up there."

"You're unawakened?" Isaac reiterated.

"I am." The Admiral met Isaac's gaze, "Is that going to be a problem? Does that make me less-than? Am I suddenly unqualified?" He barked.

Isaac kept his hands in his pant pockets, but he couldn't hide the tension from building in his shoulders.

"Of course not! Don't be silly!" Isaac lied through clenched teeth.

"I'm glad you understand." The Admiral's vicious smile returned, "And now that you're here, we can fill in what's missing!"

Without skipping a beat, Olive immediately cut in.

"Yeah, no."

"Forgive me Admiral but. . . I'm not willing to share my Status with you." Isaac followed suit.

"Yeah! Me neither!" Lily chirped.

Admiral Adams remained unmoving in response to their protest. The small smile that normally crept upon the Admiral's lips momentarily slipped as his chest grew in size before releasing a pent up sigh.

"Then I suppose they'll have to remain blank," he shook his head dejectedly, "although I must ask, if you do discover something that can benefit the others, I implore you share it."

Isaac and the Admiral continued to talk for a few moments longer and in that time, Olive and Lily remained by the pyramid's entrance, just behind the pit in the center that led further down. While waiting for the two self-appointed leaders to finish, Olive approached the staircase and gazed into its depths.

After about twenty steps, however, the sight of the staircase vanished and was replaced by the ravenous darkness that occupied the lower levels. Curious as to what lay beneath, Olive gazed absent-mindedly into the darkness and in the moment that her eyes lost focus, something shifted in the darkness.

A streak of dust fluttered within it. White and ethereal, it swam through the air like it was water and bounced between the two walls encapsulating it. Finally noticing that something was moving, Olive refocused her attention, but by the time she did so, the strange phantom had already disappeared.

"Let's go." Then Isaac dragged them out.

They hustled through camp and arrived at a poor excuse of a tipi. Pushing the curtain of dried grass to the side, Isaac and the others entered the tipi where they found Church sat on the hard floor, his open palms hovering above a black cauldron the size of a shopping bag.

Church flicked his wrist and blood flew out of an open wound into the cauldron. For some reason, this caused whatever was in the cauldron to boil uncontrollably as a misty steam flooded the cramped space.

"Okay. We should be good-to-go now." Church stood up and wiped the sweat that had accumulated on his brow.

"What's good-to-go?" Olive asked.

"Oh – I guess we never did tell you Church's Ability." Isaac said aloud.

"I'm a Vodouist. I offer sacrifices to certain gods in return for their help and the goddess of water, Oshun, just conjured this mist for us. It's completely cut off from the outside space. No one will be able to hear us now." Church told them.

"You can talk to gods?!" Lily erupted.

"Of course gods had to exist." Olive lamented.