✨ Chapter 33 – The Door of Roots
The tunnels sloped downward suddenly, stone giving way to something older—carved rock veins that glowed faintly with dull green light.
Ariana shivered.
The air grew colder. Thicker.
Her wolf pressed tightly against her ribs, fur bristling.
"Below sleeps something that should never wake."
Ariana swallowed hard and moved closer to Kai.
Loren led them to a bend in the tunnel, stopping short.
"There," he whispered.
Everyone turned.
Ahead was a massive chamber—
oval-shaped, carved from dark stone, lit by faint bioluminescent runes on the walls.
And at the far end—
A door.
It wasn't a normal door.
It pulsed like a heartbeat.
Massive. Ancient.
Its surface woven from stone, roots, and glowing red veins—
like a living creature waiting to breathe.
Rylan took a step back.
"…Nope. Nope. That is nightmare fuel."
Calen crossed his arms.
"At least it's not moving yet."
Zane frowned.
"It's reacting to something. Someone."
Ariana felt her bracelet heat against her wrist.
Her wolf whispered urgently.
"It feels your light. It hungers."
She gasped softly.
Kai immediately grabbed her hand.
"Ariana?"
"My bracelet," she whispered, "it's burning."
Kai's eyes darkened.
"That door wants your magic."
Ariana nodded shakily.
"It's reacting to me."
Zane moved closer to the door, eyes narrowed.
"These symbols… they're from the Old Order."
Loren swallowed.
"I've seen this crest before. In the headmaster's forbidden texts."
Ariana's pulse raced.
"What is it?"
Zane turned toward her slowly.
"It's a conduit. A gate. Designed to channel the Void Root into controlled vessels."
"Vessels," Ariana echoed.
"Like the girl in the greenhouse…"
Rylan clenched his fists.
"And like the monsters. All of them."
Kai's voice dropped.
"They want to open it. They want to release whatever's behind that door."
A low voice echoed from the shadows of the chamber.
"You're too late."
They turned sharply.
Professor Myrra stood before the door, her robe torn, hair loose, eyes glowing faint red.
But she wasn't fully corrupted.
Not yet.
She looked… tired.
Desperate.
"It took me years," she whispered.
"Years to find this door… years to earn its trust."
Ariana stepped forward.
"What's behind it?"
Myrra tilted her head.
"The future."
"No," Ariana said firmly.
"Corruption. Death."
"Change," Myrra corrected softly.
"Power that has been buried too long."
Kai stepped in front of Ariana.
"You're being used."
Myrra smiled sadly.
"Aren't we all?"
Her fingers brushed the ancient roots of the door—
And the chamber trembled.
Runes lit up violently.
Red light surged from the grooves.
The ground shook so hard Ariana stumbled—Kai steadied her instantly.
Zane shouted:
"She's activating it!"
Rylan summoned fire.
"Then we STOP her!"
Calen conjured frost.
"Freeze the growth!"
Loren charged toward her.
"You're not opening that—!"
But the door pulsed.
A shockwave exploded outward.
All five boys were thrown back violently.
Ariana hit the ground, breath knocked out of her.
Her bracelet glowed fiercely, burning her skin.
"No!" she gasped.
"ARIANA!" Kai scrambled toward her, grabbing her shoulders.
Ariana clutched her wrist, teeth gritted.
"It's reacting… too much…!"
Myrra's voice filled the chamber, trembling.
"It's responding to her—
the Moonborn… the lost power…
She is the key."
"No!" Ariana shouted.
"I'm not your key!"
Aster's voice suddenly echoed in her mind.
Moon-sister… don't go close to it! Don't let it taste your light!
Ariana gasped.
"Aster—?"
Kai held her tighter.
"Aster? What does she see?"
Ariana closed her eyes, trying to listen.
Aster's small voice was frightened.
It wants to eat you. It wants your moon-fire. Keep the bracelet on. Don't let it take you.
"I won't take it off," Ariana whispered fiercely.
"I WON'T."
Kai looked at her in alarm.
"Ariana—were you thinking of—?"
"No," she said quickly.
"I won't touch it. Not now. Not ever."
Kai exhaled deeply.
Zane shouted from across the chamber.
"We need to stop the activation rune!"
Myrra's hand hovered above the center sigil, glowing brighter.
"She's almost done!" Loren yelled.
Rylan raised his arm.
"Let's fry her then!"
Ariana screamed.
"No! You'll kill her—just stop the door!"
Zane nodded.
"She's right. The door is the threat."
Ariana bent down, pressing her hand to the ground.
Her light flickered weakly—
but enough to illuminate the runes.
"There!" she pointed.
"The central rune feeds off the corrupted veins. If we disrupt THAT—"
"—the door loses energy," Calen finished.
Zane nodded sharply.
"Ariana, guide us!"
Ariana stood, heart racing.
She ran toward the glowing root-system on the floor, her bracelet burning brighter.
Kai ran beside her.
"Don't get too close!"
Ariana spotted a crack in the glowing network.
"Here! Zane—strike there!"
Zane's psychic energy slammed into the crack.
The chamber shook violently.
The door dimmed.
Myrra gasped, stumbling back.
"No—no, stop!"
"It's working!" Rylan shouted.
"Again!" Ariana yelled.
Zane attacked the rune again.
Calen froze the vines.
Rylan blasted corrupted roots with fire.
Loren tore apart the outer layer with focused strikes.
The door flickered…
dimmed…
and pulsed slower.
Myrra cried out, collapsing to her knees.
"You fools! You don't understand! Without the door—without what's inside—Rebirth cannot evolve!"
Ariana glared at her, breath trembling.
"We don't WANT them to evolve!"
The door pulsed one last time—
Then its runes died.
Completely.
The light vanished.
The roots went still.
Silence descended over the chamber like a heavy blanket.
Ariana sagged, relief washing through her.
Kai touched her cheek gently.
"You did it."
Ariana smiled shakily.
"We did it."
Myrra knelt by the now-inactive door, staring at it with hollow eyes.
"You don't understand…" she whispered.
"You've only delayed it. The door is ancient. Patient. It will open again."
Zane stepped forward, cuffing her wrists with enchanted restraints.
"And we'll stop it again. And again. And again."
Loren exhaled, wiping sweat from his brow.
"Well. That was horrible."
Calen nodded.
"And exhausting."
Rylan grinned.
"10/10 would destroy ancient corruption door again."
Ariana leaned into Kai, her wrist throbbing where the bracelet had burned her.
Kai stroked her hair gently.
"You okay?"
"Yes," she whispered.
"It tried to lure me… but I didn't break."
Kai closed his eyes in relief.
"You won't break. Ever."
Ariana bit her lip, looking at the dark door.
"That thing… it knows me. It feels me."
Kai pulled her close.
"And it will never touch you. Not while we're here."
Her wolf pressed softly against her heart.
"Bracelet stays. Light stays safe. For now."
Ariana nodded.
The final battle wasn't tonight.
But this had been a warning.
The door was waiting.
Rebirth was preparing.
And when the time came—
She would face it surrounded by the entire academy.
Every fighter.
Every division.
Juniors, seniors, graduates.
She felt it in her bones.
Kai whispered:
"We go back. Regroup. Protect Aster."
Ariana nodded.
And together, they left the sleeping door behind—
locked for now,
but never forgotten.