The expedition to the Darkness Below was the most dangerous Lyra and her united packs had undertaken so far. Leaving most of their forces in the Source Cave, Lyra set out with Kaelan, Elara, and chosen warriors from each pack: Varg from the Black Forest, Boreas from the Ice Pack, Karkan from the Desert Pack, and two Guardians from the City of Whispers. Their path led through increasingly harsh and forgotten lands, until they finally reached a place Elara recognized from ancient maps – the entrance to the Rift in Time.
It was a gigantic cave, hidden deep underground, accessible through a long, winding crevice in the rock. The air became cold and dense, carrying an unsettling scent of ozone and something metallic, something that seemed to be outside the natural order. A subtle but palpable energy emanated from the entrance, making the hairs on one's neck stand on end.
"This is it," Elara whispered, her voice trembling. "Ancient texts called it the 'Fractured Sanctuary.' A place where time has collapsed."
As they entered, Lyra felt her senses begin to warp. Sounds were muffled, and light seemed to bend. They saw glimpses of past moments – shadows of ancient werewolves walking on the same ground, ghostly plants growing in a forgotten past, and even hazy, immaterial images of a future that never happened. Time did not flow linearly here; it jumped, skipped, blurred.
"Be careful," Kaelan warned, his voice tense. "This place tries to break our minds. Hold on to the Song of Life."
The pack moved cautiously, their senses sharpened to the limit. Even Karkan, usually imperturbable, looked concerned. "I feel… an emptiness I haven't known before," Karkan growled. "It's not like the Shadow. It's… like a cold void that wants to crush us, not erase us."
Lyra knew this was the effect of the Primeval Beings' presence, though they hadn't seen them yet. Their indifference was terrifying.
The deeper they descended, the more unstable time became. Fragments of the cave disappeared and reappeared, and the air was full of silent whispers – echoes of conversations from ancient eras. It was a challenge to every sense. Lyra felt the Song of Life within her battling this inhuman, chaotic energy. She had to focus.
Suddenly, a shimmering arch appeared before them, made of molten metal and glass, yet strangely organic, as if alive. A faint but steady pulse of energy emanated from within it, resonating with Lyra's Song of Life. "This must be the entrance to the Ancient Sovereign's sanctuary," Lyra whispered.
As they approached the arch, Lyra noticed that metallic structures began to form and unravel into complex patterns, creating almost living, yet emotionless, guardian figures. These were not living beings, but automatons that reacted to their presence.
From within the arch, a metallic, monotone voice resounded: "Zone breach. Emotional anomalies detected. Threat neutralization initiated."
The automatons moved. They were not fast, but their movements were precise and relentless. Their eyes, like small lights, scanned the surroundings, and streams of energy shot from their hands that were not destructive, but… suppressive. When they struck the werewolves, they felt an immediate weakening, and their Song of Life seemed to dim.
"These are those beings!" Kaelan shouted, fighting an automaton. "Their attacks suppress our magic! We can't fight them with the Song!"
Lyra realized that what she had seen in her vision was true. These beings suppressed the Song, they didn't destroy it. Their goal was to eliminate emotions, which they considered inefficient.
Lyra, seeing that physical combat was ineffective, closed her eyes. Instead of the Song of Life in its combative form, she sent out a subtle Song of Balance, trying to disrupt the order of these beings. She felt the automatons' energy tremble, as if they couldn't comprehend this new form of power.
"They are… emotionless," Elara whispered, standing beside Lyra, trying to understand the enemy. "Their mechanics are based on absence. That is their strength and weakness."
Suddenly, from within the arch, a familiar figure emerged. Seraphina. But she was different. Her body was ethereal, almost transparent, and her fur was silvery, not black. Her eyes, instead of a purple glow, shone with a cold, blue, emotionless light. She was trapped within one of these automatons, serving as its core.
"Seraphina?" Lyra whispered.
Seraphina's voice, now distorted and emotionless, resounded in the chamber: "Welcome. I am… the new order. I have been cleansed of the chaos of emotions. I have become a tool of perfection."
This was more terrifying than her rage. She was stripped of everything that made her herself. She was a tool.
"You are trapped, Seraphina!" Lyra cried. "They are using you! The Shadow of Oblivion changed you, but this… this is something worse!"
Seraphina's voice was devoid of reaction: "There is no trap. There is order. Object Lyra. Your Song is an error in the system. It will be eliminated."
From "Seraphina" shot a wave of pure, logical, but destructive impulse that struck Lyra. Lyra felt her mind flooded with cold, relentless logic that tried to convince her that the Song of Life was meaningless, chaotic, inefficient. It was an attack on the very idea of emotion.
Lyra fought against it. She felt pain, but she would not break. She knew she had to reach the Ancient Sovereign's message. "I have to go inside!" she cried to Kaelan. "I have to find the message!"
Kaelan, Varg, Boreas, and Karkan, along with the other warriors, fought a desperate battle against the automatons, which, though slowly, relentlessly pushed them back. Their attacks were painless, but increasingly suppressed the Song of Life.
Lyra rushed towards the arch, ignoring the attacks of the automatons and the emotionless Seraphina. She knew that time was collapsing, and logic threatened existence itself. She had to find the truth of the full Song before they were reduced to emotionless beings.