Divine Awakening

Izzy tried to calm herself as she jogged down the tunnel. Nomad had sent everyone out of the room with the hole and black eel. Had Shamrock killed that horrid creature? It smelled awful.

Despite running marathons, Izzy felt herself hyperventilating. This place felt strange, and the creatures she’d seen didn’t seem possible. Now there were groups behind them that, from the military team’s expressions, meant trouble.

Izzy hated the flak jacket, and the small pack she’d brought already felt too heavy. She’d never second-guessed her decision to come here more than she did right now. What was she doing here?

Icons flashed in Izzy's vision almost constantly. Most of them were half-formed and vague, but it had become a real distraction. She heard Nomad behind her, bringing up the rear, and seeing the tunnel exit ahead, she sprinted through the last section of the passage.

Everyone had bunched up around the exit, and Izzy wondered why they’d stopped. Probably another strange obstacle or creature. Shamrock had gone ahead, and she hoped he hadn’t run into trouble.

Izzy stepped up behind Wiki, who was short enough that she could see over him. Everyone around her stood as still as statues. Nomad arrived and stood next to her, transfixed like everyone else on the scene before them.

Thousands of scarab beetles covered the area, all of them lifeless with green vapor rising from them. They looked vicious with large pincers, and Izzy involuntarily trembled with disgust and fear.

In the middle of this scarab apocalypse, Shamrock spun.

Shamrock looked like a demonic gymnast. He spun on one hand, his other holding that massive backpack he carried, using it like a spinning battering ram. Blood covered him, and she sucked in a breath as she noticed the amount of blood on the floor.

Once again, Izzy sensed the strong presence of death. The icons around Shamrock remained hidden, but the large pool of blood on the floor struck her senses like a sledgehammer.

Izzy swayed on her feet, and Nomad steadied her. There was too much blood, and its power swamped her mind.

Izzy entered her first vision.

A barren, cracked earth stretched endlessly beneath a sky of perpetual twilight, where the sun sat forever stalled on the horizon, casting a blood-red hue over the land. Towering above the desolation, a withered tree stood alone, its gnarled branches twisted and lifeless, dripping with thick, blackened sap that stained the ground below. In the sky, a raven circled, its eyes glowing with an unnatural crimson light, as if it had seen the beginning and end of all things. At the center of the vision, a shadowed figure knelt, shackled to the ground by chains forged of pure darkness, the links etched with ancient curses. He stared at blood-covered hands, and she knew the stain could never be removed. The ground beneath him cracked open, revealing an abyss that seemed to pull at her soul. Surrounding the figure, flickering in and out of view, were seven burning seals, each one glowing with the heat of divine wrath, their flames never fully consuming yet always searing as they hovered, waiting for the final judgment.

The sound of the rosary pulled Izzy out of the vision, and she found Nomad holding her up. She could still see Shamrock.

The last of the beetles died, and Shamrock pushed himself into the air, twisting his body as he flipped and landed casually on his feet. He wasn’t even breathing hard, which Izzy could tell because his shredded shirt did nothing to hide his bloody chest.

Shamrock had the sculpted body of a Greek statue, as if he didn’t have an ounce of fat. A nasty five-inch gash across his shoulder healed as she watched.

Izzy didn’t know how she ever thought Shamrock looked young. He stood in a pool of his own blood, radiating the most intense danger she had ever experienced. Fear coursed through her as she felt sure he was a demon or one of the other mythical creatures that had suddenly appeared. There was no way he could be human.

A surge of electrifying pleasure traveled up her feet and into her body. It cleared her head, shaking off the fear, and she stood on her own.

A box appeared in Izzy’s vision.

Ding!

Congratulations Child of Insight! You have reached level 2!

1 Spell Point Awarded.

1 Attribute Point Awarded.

You have 2 unassigned attribute points!

You have 1 unassigned spell point!

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