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Tunde Leye 117<br />
They all stood to greet Gabriel before taking their seats again. Gabriel<br />
signaled for Lucan to take a seat beside him. Then he placed his hand on<br />
Lucan's shoulder and announced, “the Euphrates seal's choice, Lucan<br />
Belgore.”<br />
The well-built middle-aged man leaned forward and made introductions. “I<br />
am Lex Cole, and this is Eldad Beriah. You probably know Benzahr already,<br />
you see him all the time on your Interfacer news. You are probably wondering<br />
what is happening to you. All of us seated here, at least except Gabriel, have<br />
gone through that.” He turned to the rest of the men and nodded. The three<br />
men stood up and stripped to their waists. Lucan stared wide-eyed as he saw<br />
tattoos as intricate as his own on each man's left chest. “Wow” he exclaimed.<br />
“Yes Lucan, you are not alone.” Eldad said in his gruff voice.<br />
“All is ready,” Gabriel interjected. Then he swung his hands in the air and<br />
commanded, “Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted, ye everlasting<br />
doors!”<br />
At that, there was a rumbling, and the stone floor of the patio parted into<br />
two, revealing a stairway going down into the ground. One by one, the men<br />
stepped onto the top of the stairway and disappeared into the brightness<br />
below. When it was just the two of them left standing on the edge, Gabriel<br />
turned to Lucan and said, “Your turn, Lucan.” Lucan looked at him, unsure if<br />
he should proceed. Gabriel nodded reassuringly. “I'll be right behind you, but<br />
you need to go now.”<br />
He braced himself up and took the first step into the opening. Almost<br />
immediately his feet touched the first step, he was standing alone. The step he<br />
stood on seemed to detach itself from the stairway and float upwards, rather<br />
than downwards as he had expected. When he burst through the light, the<br />
three men were standing on the banks of a river. The landscape reminded him<br />
of somewhere he had seen and been before, but he couldn't place his finger<br />
on it. Everything here seemed to be in high definition. The green of the grass<br />
was greener, the water sparkling clearer than any he had ever seen. The sun<br />
here was bright and warm, but not scorching. Even the air he was breathing<br />
felt different. Every breath seemed to draw invigoration into his bones. He<br />
could feel it coursing through him.<br />
When he turned, Gabriel was standing by his side. “This, my friend is The<br />
Secret Place. I presume you were here earlier today. Here, we can safely
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