BACK TO GOLGOTHA
Chapter Fifty-Six: The Weight of Becoming
Dawn never came.
What should have been morning over Ikare remained locked in a dim, unnatural twilight. The sky was neither dark nor light—just a heavy gray canopy stretched across the heavens, unmoving, unchanging.
It felt like time itself had paused.
Stephen Dagunduro stood in the middle of the road where the Unnamed had vanished. The ground still bore faint marks where their forms had fractured into nothingness, like shadows that had burned themselves into reality.
The Veil rested quietly within him.
But it was no longer the same.
It did not pulse with urgency.
It did not flare at every sign of danger.
It watched.
And more unsettling than that—
It obeyed.
Favour stood a few steps behind him, studying him carefully.
"You haven't said anything since it happened," she said softly.
Stephen didn't turn.
"I'm thinking."
Favour stepped closer.
"About what?"
A long silence followed.
Then Stephen spoke.
"They didn't come to destroy me."
Favour's voice was low.
"I know."
Stephen finally turned to face her.
"They came to strip me down. To see what remains when everything else is gone."
Favour frowned slightly.
"And what did they find?"
Stephen's gaze hardened.
"Something I don't fully understand yet."
The Shift
The town had changed again.
But this time, it wasn't fear.
It was distance.
People moved slowly, cautiously, as if afraid of making too much noise. Conversations were whispered. Doors opened and closed with care.
It wasn't just the memory of the Ancients.
Or the terror of the Unnamed.
It was something deeper.
The entire town felt… displaced.
Like it no longer fully belonged to itself.
Stephen walked through the streets, observing quietly.
The Veil stirred faintly, reacting not to threats—but to imbalance.
"The Gate is closer now," he murmured.
Favour looked at him.
"Closer… how?"
Stephen paused.
Then pointed toward the ground.
"Not in distance."
"In influence."
Favour's chest tightened.
"You mean… it's spreading into the town?"
Stephen nodded slowly.
"Yes."
Beneath the Surface
Deep below the earth, far beyond the reach of light, the Gate pulsed again.
But now…
It was no longer just responding.
It was reaching.
Massive structures shifted in the darkness—stone, scale, and something far older blending into forms that defied understanding.
The largest of the Ancients stirred again.
Its body stretched across entire caverns, coiled around pillars of ancient rock that cracked under its movement.
Its eyes opened fully this time.
Not just aware.
Awake.
And it felt him.
The Keeper.
Above.
Waiting.
Baba Dagunduro's Revelation
In the valley chamber, Baba Dagunduro stood before the fissure, his expression calmer than ever before.
The storm above the valley had grown quieter.
But the silence carried a deeper power.
Oyekunle approached cautiously.
"Master… the Unnamed failed."
Baba Dagunduro nodded.
"Yes."
Oyekunle hesitated.
"They could not break him."
Baba turned slowly.
"They were never meant to break him."
Oyekunle froze.
"Then… what was their purpose?"
Baba Dagunduro smiled faintly.
"To awaken him."
Oyekunle's eyes widened.
"You mean—"
"Yes," Baba interrupted.
"The Keeper has crossed the threshold."
He gestured toward the fissure.
"The Veil now answers to him completely."
Oyekunle stepped back slightly.
"Then… we've made him stronger."
Baba Dagunduro's smile darkened.
"No."
He leaned closer to the abyss.
"We've made him ready."
The Return to the Compound
Back in Ikare, Stephen sat inside the abandoned compound, the journals spread out before him again.
But this time, he wasn't searching blindly.
He knew what he was looking for.
Favour watched him quietly.
"You're different," she said.
Stephen didn't deny it.
"I have to be."
He turned another page.
The words seemed clearer now.
Sharper.
As if they were no longer being read…
But remembered.
Then he found it.
A passage written deeper into the journal.
More detailed.
More urgent.
His father's handwriting had grown uneven, almost frantic.
"When the Keeper awakens fully, the Veil will no longer act as protection alone. It will become authority."
Stephen's eyes narrowed.
Authority.
"At that stage, the Keeper must be careful. The Gate does not test strength. It tests will. What the Keeper allows… will shape what emerges."
Stephen leaned back slowly.
Favour stepped closer.
"What does it say?"
Stephen's voice dropped.
"It says the Veil becomes authority."
Favour frowned.
"Authority over what?"
Stephen looked toward the horizon.
"Everything connected to the Gate."
Silence filled the room.
The Second Manifestation
The ground trembled again.
Not violently.
But steadily.
Stephen stood instantly.
"It's starting again."
Favour followed him outside.
The sky above the town darkened further, the gray clouds swirling slowly now.
The cracks in the earth began to glow faintly again.
But this time…
They did not break open.
They expanded.
Like veins spreading beneath the surface.
Stephen felt the Veil react immediately.
But instead of flaring outward—
It pulled inward.
Concentrating.
Focusing.
"What is it doing?" Favour asked.
Stephen's voice was tense.
"It's aligning."
"With what?"
Stephen didn't answer.
Because he felt it.
The connection.
The Gate.
Calling him.
The Call of the Gate
Suddenly—
Stephen dropped to one knee.
Favour rushed to him.
"Stephen!"
He gasped.
Not from pain.
From pressure.
Something was pulling at him.
Not physically.
Spiritually.
The Veil surged inside him.
But it wasn't resisting.
It was responding.
"It's calling me," Stephen whispered.
Favour's eyes widened.
"The Gate?"
Stephen nodded slowly.
"Yes."
His vision blurred.
The world around him faded.
And suddenly—
He was somewhere else.
Before the Gate
The black glass world returned.
Endless.
Silent.
The massive Gate stood before him again.
Larger this time.
Closer.
The symbols carved into it glowed brighter.
More alive.
Stephen stepped forward slowly.
The Veil hummed in response.
Then the voice returned.
The same old man from before.
"You came back."
Stephen turned.
"You said I would have to choose."
The old man nodded.
"Yes."
Stephen looked at the Gate.
"It's opening."
The man's expression darkened.
"It always was."
Stephen clenched his fists.
"What happens when it fully opens?"
The old man didn't answer immediately.
Then he said quietly:
"That depends on you."
Stephen turned sharply.
"You said I decide what comes through."
"Yes."
"Then I'll stop anything evil from crossing."
The old man shook his head slowly.
"It's not that simple."
Stephen's frustration rose.
"Then explain it!"
The Gate trembled.
A deep, echoing sound rumbled from behind it.
The old man's voice grew heavier.
"The Gate does not release creatures."
"It releases influence."
Stephen froze.
"Influence…?"
The old man nodded.
"What comes through will shape the world above."
"Not by force…"
"But by presence."
Stephen's mind raced.
"So even if I block the creatures—"
"The corruption will still spread," the man finished.
Silence fell.
Stephen looked back at the Gate.
Then asked quietly:
"So what am I supposed to do?"
The old man met his gaze.
"You don't just block the darkness."
"You replace it."
Awakening
Stephen's eyes snapped open.
He was back in Ikare.
Still on one knee.
Favour holding his shoulders.
"Stephen! What happened?!"
He inhaled sharply.
"The Gate…"
His voice steadied.
"It doesn't just release monsters."
Favour frowned.
"Then what—"
"It releases influence."
The ground trembled again.
Stronger this time.
Stephen stood slowly.
The Veil pulsed.
But now…
It felt different.
Larger.
Connected.
He looked toward the town.
Toward the people hiding inside their homes.
Toward the fear that still lingered.
Then he whispered:
"Then I need to do more than fight."
Favour stared at him.
"What do you mean?"
Stephen's eyes burned with quiet realization.
"I need to take control of what fills this land."
The wind rose again.
The sky darkened further.
And beneath the earth…
The Gate pulsed louder than ever before.
"Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good."
— Romans 12:21