Story 356: The Onyx Gate

The chamber trembled as the growl grew louder, resonating through the cavernous room like a harbinger of doom. Zara’s fingers froze over the console, her gaze snapping to Callum, who had already raised his rifle, scanning the shadows.

“We don’t have time for this,” Zara muttered, her frustration boiling beneath her calm exterior. She keyed in the last sequence on the console, and with a hiss of hydraulics, a hidden passage on the far side of the chamber began to open, revealing a massive door adorned with glowing runes.

“That doesn’t look like freedom,” Callum remarked, his voice tense.

“It’s our only way out,” Zara replied, holstering her pistol and readying her knife. “Cover me. We’re moving.”

Before Callum could respond, the ground beneath them cracked, and a grotesque form emerged—a towering abomination of sinew and bone, its head crowned with twisted antlers. Its eyeless face turned toward Zara, sensing her movements. With an ear-piercing screech, it lunged.