[ OT ] Sunday Free Write : Leave A Story , Leave A Comment - Sea to Shining Sea Edition !

**The Onyx Gate** - Part 1 - Chapter 5: The Soulstealer's Shadow - [ Read from the beginning here. ] ( https: //www.reddit.com/r/Niuniverse/comments/3ndvts/the_onyx_gate_the_onyx_series_book_2/cvn4mc7 ) 
 
 ___ 
 
 Small lights that had been hastily drilled into the walls lit the way down the stairs as they curved here and there, with jagged steps that made even Himntor cautious. After a minute it smoothed out and a hallway stretched forth. Another minute passed, and the group reached a gaping entrance to a nondescript cavern filled with strange machinery. Workers were analyzing every inch of the place with devices mounted on the bracer of their Onyx Jackets. 
 
 “ By my ashes, I know this place, ” Himntor said quietly while scanning the scene. 
 
 Cleran nodded slowly, but the rest of the group turned to Himntor in confusion. 
 
 “ We only just discovered it, ” Isaac said. “ How could you know it? ” 
 
 “ Cleire told me about it, ” Himntor said, moving further into the cave. The group followed him to a large metal casket that sat near the center, standing nearly five feet high and surrounded by dozens of glass tubes that were attached to one of the nearby machines. “ She was in here, ” he continued. “ She told me about waking up in this drenched in green liquid, with those tubes sucking it away. All of this was used to rip her spirit right out of her, without killing her. ” 
 
 Cleran scowled while everyone else gaped. 
 
 “ Who is Cleire? ” Ethan asked. 
 
 “ My daughter, ” Himntor said. “ She is one of the Appointed. Somehow, a man named Brick Clayson captured her and brought her here to study her spirit. ” He looked at a nearby glass container, large enough to hold a man, and walked up to it. “ This is where he kept it. ” 
 
 “ That thing does not feel right, ” Jasper said with a grimace. 
 
 “ None of this will, ” Cleran said. “ We shouldn ’ t be here. This place was never meant to be discovered. ” 
 
 Something at the far end of the cave caught Nylie ’ s eye. “ Maybe it was, ” she said, motioning the others to follow her. The end of the cave hadn ’ t been lit, so she projected a globe of light from her palm, revealing an old, withered skeleton sitting in front of a desk. A small recorder sat in the skeleton ’ s palm, which Nylie picked up and played. 
 
 An old, sickly voice spoke. 
 
 “ She was right… she was right. This was all for the hope that I could prove I was right, to show those ignorant redheads that my work was safe, but instead I built my tomb. Useless! I had her, I could see her, she was real. I could have learned so much, but I let her go. She was right. I didn ’ t understand, and I can ’ t remember. I no longer want to remember! I just want to be free of my chains. Will she remember? Will she understand? Or am I lost? I can not go on, not with this. All a waste. But maybe someone else will find me. Yes, that is why I am here. ” The voice chuckled and coughed. “ The Gods work in strange ways, but I figured them out. That is how I captured her. It was simply meant to be. And when you are meant to be here, you will be. It is the Gods ’ will. They know all, they see all. I understand now, so I will sit here and wait for you. You must use what I ’ ve done, these horrible things, and use them to make things right. Then she will remember. Yes… she will. Do not forget her. ” 
 
 There was silence for a time. The workers had gathered around to listen, expressions confused. Cleran looked sick. Nylie put the recorder on the desk with a frown. 
 
 “ He was mad, ” Himntor said solemnly. “ The most deranged a man could get. His Niux spirit was stripped from him, and he used technology to get it back, or some form of it. It drove him insane. Cleire had spoken fondly of him though. ” 
 
 Jasper backed out of the crowd, looking ready to vomit. Nylie grimaced, also feeling disgusted. How could a Niux lose their power, then gain it back through technology? That was impossible. But if it wasn ’ t, and could be reproduced without the madness… what else was possible? 
 
 Halker and Jonathan seemed to be having the same thoughts, from the glint in their eyes. *We have to learn more, * it said. 
 
 “ Councilor, ” a man ’ s voice called from the back, “ I found pages on how to build new Gateways! It has everything. Come see! ” 
 
 In moments, Halker and the rest of them were standing over a table with a spread of papers and books. Only one of the books was open, one page showing a sketch of a Gateway, the other detailing the materials and process to build it. Part of it, at least. There were five more pages of added instructions and notes. 
 
 “ Will this work? ” Halker asked. 
 
 “ We won ’ t know until we build it, ” Jonathan said. 
 
 “ Then get started. Scan all the pages you need and pick a secluded spot to build it. ” 
 
 Jonathan nodded and held up his bracer to the book and began scanning. 
 
 “ I know a good spot, ” Nylie said. “ On the northeast side of Heaven ’ s Peak, there ’ s a flat open space, plenty of room for a Gateway. ” 
 
 “ Sounds perfect, ” Jonathan said. “ Isaac, Jasper, take a group over there and get things set up. ” 
 
 Isaac and Jasper nodded and began selecting a few out from the crowd, Himntor and Cleran included as they demanded to go along. 
 
 Himntor grasped his brother ’ s shoulders. “ We ’ ll finally be going home! ” 
 
 Cleran nodded shortly. “ Maybe. ” 
 
 Everything began moving quickly. Isaac and Jasper went away with the others, while everyone else got to scanning the books and papers on the table, or making holographic models of the machinery. Nylie stared at Brick ’ s skeleton, wondering. If technology could give a human Niux abilities, could it give them to an A.I as well? 
 
 She began scanning the books and papers, and frowned at what she was finding.
