The Gobi Desert was not like the sea.
The sea had been cold. Dark. Pressing from all sides. The desert was the opposite. Hot. Bright. Empty. The sun beat down without mercy. The sand stretched in every direction, endless and the same. There was no water. No shade. No escape.
We had been walking for three hours.
Raka was at the front his face red from the sun. Kirana walked beside him her hand on his arm. Maya was behind them her silver bracelet hidden under her sleeve to keep the sun off it. Lina walked beside me her hand in mine.
Ombak led the way.
He had not spoken since we left the camp. His green eyes were fixed on the horizon on something only he could see. His face was pale. Not from the heat. From something
"How much further?" Rakas voice was rough.
Ombak didn't answer.
Raka stopped. "I asked how further."
Ombak turned. His eyes were strange. Not focused. Like he was looking at something away. Something that was not there.
"It was here " he said. His voice was quiet. "The city. The temple. It was here."
I looked around. There was nothing. Only sand. Only sky. Only heat.
"It's not here now " Maya said.
Ombak shook his head. "It moves. Like the stars. Like the Trench. It only appears when the conditions are right."
"What conditions?" Kirana asked.
Ombak looked at Lina.
"She will know."
Lina stepped forward.
Her hand left mine. She walked to the center of the space her feet sinking into the sand. The sun was behind her casting her shadow long and dark across the ground.
She closed her eyes.
We waited. The wind moved the sand. The heat shimmered on the horizon. Nothing happened.
Then her eyes opened.
They were glowing. Silver-white. Brighter than I had ever seen them.
"It's here " she said. Her voice was different. Not Linas voice. Something older. Something that had been waiting.
"What's here?" Maya asked.
Lina didn't answer. Her hand reached out. Her fingers touched the air. Touched nothing.. Her face—her face was seeing something we could not see.
"Writing " she said. "On stone. Old. Very old. Ten thousand years. Maybe more. Writing on stone."
I stepped closer. "Can you read it?"
She was quiet for a moment. Her glowing eyes moved across the air. Across words that were not there.
"Yes " she said. ". The words—" She stopped. Her face changed. Confused. Then afraid. "The words are new. They were only created fifty years ago. New words on stone."
Mayas voice was sharp. "That's impossible. Writing from ten thousand years ago can't be in a language that didn't exist until fifty years ago."
Lina turned to her. Her eyes were still glowing. Her face was calm.. There was something in her voice that made the heat seem cold.
"Unless someone wrote it. Someone who came here. Someone who wanted to leave a message. For us. A message for us to find."
I felt cold in my chest. "Who? Who could have written it?"
Lina looked at me. Her glowing eyes—for a moment—were sad.
"Your grandfather. Your grandfather wrote it."
The words hung in the air.
I stood in the middle of the desert the sun burning my skin the sand shifting beneath my feet and I could not move.
My grandfather had been here. He had stood where I was standing. He had seen what I was about to see.. He had written it down. For me. For me to find.
"What does it say?" My voice was steady. I didn't know how.
Lina turned back to the air. Her hand was still raised. Her eyes were still glowing.
"Not all of it. Some of it is too old. Too faded.. The parts he wrote—the parts in the new language—" She stopped. Her voice trembled. "He wrote about what he found. What the Void is. What it was meant to be. What it means."
"Tell me. Tell me what he wrote."
She was quiet for a moment. The wind moved the sand. The sun beat down.. Then she spoke.
"The Void is not an artifact " she said. "It is a door.. Not like the doors in the sea. This door—" She stopped. Her voice was a whisper. "This door was never meant to be opened. Not by anyone."
Raka stepped forward. "Then why did your grandfather hide it here? Why did he leave it?"
Lina looked at him. Her eyes were not glowing anymore. They were Linas eyes. Warm brown. Scared.
"Because he couldn't close it " she said. "He opened it. He saw what was inside.. He couldn't close it. So he hid it. Buried it. Wrote a warning so no one else would make the mistake. A warning for us."
She looked at me.
"Kael what's in the Void—it's not an artifact. It's a warning. About what happens when you open doors you should leave closed. About what happens when you take things that're not yours to take. A warning about the Void."
She took my hand. Her hand was warm. Not glowing. Just Lina.
"Your grandfather opened this door.. Something came through. Something that is still here. Still waiting. Waiting for something."
"Waiting for what? Whats it waiting for?"
Lina looked at the desert. At the place where the city was hidden. At the words my grandfather had carved in stone.
"For someone to open it again. For someone to let it out."
The sun set faster than I expected.
One moment it was high in the sky burning everything it touched. The next it was gone. The temperature dropped. The wind picked up. The sand began to move.
"We need to make camp " Ombak said. His voice was steady. His hands were shaking. "The desert at night is worse than the day. Colder. Darker. The sand shifts. People get lost. We have to be careful."
We set up the tents quickly. Raka and Kirana worked together their movements efficient practiced. Maya helped Ombak with the supplies. Lina sat beside me her hand in mine.
"You saw something " I said. "When you read the stones. Something you didn't tell them. Something else."
She was quiet for a moment. Then she nodded.
"There was more. About the city. About what your grandfather found. Something else was written."
"What was it? What did it say?"
She looked at the desert. At the darkness where the city was hidden.
"He wrote that the city was not built by humans. It was built by something. Something that came through the door. Something that wanted to stay. Something else built the city."
I felt cold. "What did it want? What did it want to be?"
She turned to me. Her eyes were not glowing.. There was something in them. Something that had been there since the temple. Since the Trench. Something that would not go away.
"It wanted to be remembered. It wanted to be seen. It wanted someone to know that it existed. That it was here. That it was waiting. It wanted to be remembered."
She squeezed my hand.
"Kael your grandfather didn't just hide the Void. He buried the city. He tried to make it disappear. He tried to make everyone forget.. He couldn't forget.. Neither can we. We can't forget."
I looked at the desert. At the darkness. At the place where something was waiting.
"Tomorrow " I said. "We find the city. We find the Void.. We find out what my grandfather was trying to hide. Tomorrow we do it."
Lina nodded. She leaned against me. Her head on my shoulder. Her hand, in mine.
We watched the stars come out.