They came back to town in the silence, weighted by what they now knew. Heavier than anything they had carried, the two artifacts—one aglow, the other dark—seemed to feel just then. Weary, John's thoughts were of what they had unearthed and the Order threatening them.
It was quiet when I entered the town. The everyday hustle and bustle had been visited by some oppressive stillness, and the hair at the back of John's neck stood up. A feeling, like the whole town, held its breath and was waiting for something to happen. Even the familiar streets seemed twisted in dim light, as shadows were stretching in unnatural directions, and John couldn't shake off the feeling that they were watched.
"We need to figure out what these artifacts really are, and what they can do," John said as they neared his house. His voice was barely above a whisper, trying not to shatter the stillness of the air around them.
"Agreed," Caleb responded, his eyes darting this way and that nervously. "But we also need to find out who—or what—was in that sarcophagus."
As they entered, John set the glowing artifact down on the table next to its twin, dark. The pulsing of the Heart of Aether grew stronger, reverberating its energy through the room. They couldn't let a single word get out about what they had brought back, and thus they made sure that all windows and doors were tightly closed before they sat down to examine their findings.
"What do you think that means?" Caleb asked, his eyes fixed on the dark artifact. "Why was it dormant? And why was it with that… figure?"
John scrubbed a hand through his hair, the weight of what they had discovered settling on him. "I don't know. But I have a feeling it's all part of whatever happened to that ancient civilization. Something sucked the life out of that place, and it just might have something to do with why the Order wants this so badly."
Just as they were nearing the unwrapping of their mystery, the sudden shake of the door with a knock sent chills down the spines of these two men. Both froze and looked at each other, words unsaid in their eyes in perfect sync. They did not expect any visitor. John signaled Caleb to keep quiet and tiptoed to the door.
"Who is it?" he called out with great care, steadying his voice.
"It's Dr. Whitmore," a voice he knew replied. Now, it was the name that gave John a flow of relief. Presently, Dr. Whitmore was an extremely famous archaeologist, many years ago having been John's mentor and a man dedicated to the research of ancient civilizations.
John opened the door, and the relief at the sight of him quickly turned to suspicion when his eyes rested on the man's face. Dr. Whitmore was pale and thin; his eyes sunken and surrounded by dark rings. There was something wrong about him—a manner of coldness which John had never witnessed.
"Dr. Whitmore… what brings you here?" John asked, struggling to conceal uneasiness.
"I have come to warn you," Whitmore said, in straining tones. "I know what you found, and I know what danger you're in. The Order won't stop until they get those artifacts. You have to destroy them, John, before it's too late."
The blood pumped furiously in John's veins, pounding at the temples. "How did you know about the artifacts? Just what is really going on here?"
His gaze flickered to the side, checking for another. "I have been searching to prevent them from rising to power all these years. They're searching for something much greater than the artifacts. If they can bring them together, that will awaken something ancient that should never be set loose."
John's grip tightened on the door. "What do you mean 'awaken'?
Just before Whitmore could reply, the earth below started to rumble softly, rapidly quickening and intensifying. John's eyes had gone wide as, all of a sudden, from where it was that the shaking was taking place struck him—it was coming from the artifacts. The pulsing light of the Heart of Aether flared, and the dark artifact began glowing faintly as if in response to the energy.
"Get away from them!" Whitmore yelled, the panic now infecting his own voice. "It's starting! You've got to stop it before—"
His words were cut short as the door smashed open, a gust of wind tearing through the room. On the table, the artifacts lifted off, their glow increasing consecutively blinding. John and Caleb stood in horror as the two objects began to revolve around each other, a swirling vortex of energy forming between them.
"We gotta get outta here!" Caleb yelled, but John was transfixed, unable to avert his eyes from the spectacle.
All of a sudden, the light from the artifacts shot upward through the ceiling and into the night sky. The ground began shaking violently. Then, echoing through the room, there came a deep, resonant voice, one that seemed to come from the very earth itself.
"I have slept long enough," rumbled the voice, whose power made the walls shake. "Now, I shall rise again."
Whitmore's face was pale as he backed away, his eyes wide with terror. "You've done it," he whispered. "You've awakened the Sleeper."
The last, very weak flicker gave the objects a final whisper of their energies as they fell lifeless to the floor once more. The house was silent, but the air was thick and heavy with the portent that remained hanging. John and Caleb stood speechless, awestruck by what had just transpired.
"We need to get out of here," Whitmore said finally, his voice shaking. "The Order will be coming soon, and they'll stop at nothing to take those artifacts. We have to try and find out how to put the Sleeper back to rest before it's too late."
John nodded as his mind began to think at a million miles an hour. Whatever shape it took, the Sleeper was now awake, and the whole world might balance on their being able to stop it. He wrapped the artifacts in a cloth and, followed by the other two, left the house with a weight in their hearts like never before.
The night lay well ahead of them now, and as they plunged into the shadows, so they knew that time was running out—not to save just themselves but to avert an ancient evil's consumption of the world.
This chapter raises the action where John and Caleb, unbeknownst to them, unleash something very powerful—a being known as the Sleeper. What began very low-key escalated to a high degree of action with struggling characters against ancient evil they had just woken. The chapter mentions that soon the Sleeper shall face the endless Order for the rebalancing of the world.