Amara sat quietly beside Elena, hands folded in her lap, her eyes gently closed. The hum of the underground complex faded as she steadied her breath. This would be their first mission beyond the safety of steel and concrete walls.
The blast doors closed tight.
And the surface greeted them—A suffocating void.
The world above was drowned in oppressive blackness. Not night, not shadow—something deeper, heavier, impenetrable.
For eight precious minutes, Amara shed her flesh and rose as pure radiance. Her spirit drifted above the ground, a glowing silhouette that cast a subtle barrier around the expedition team.
To her companions, the world remained silent and dark.To Amara alone, another truth unfolded.
The darkness did not claw or strike as before.
It pressed at the edges of an unseen barrier—restrained, sealed, as if leashed by some invisible will. Its source pulsed faintly within Tian's containment unit: the sacred orb. Its steady energy spread outward, locking the void in place and holding the nightmares back.
Amara's ethereal eyes saw the cocoon clearly—an unseen sphere wrapping the group, fragile yet whole. Her glow threaded into it, becoming their beacon. Even as the others trudged blind, she guided each step.
They marched eastward.
Rations strapped to their packs would last two months—three, if rationed as Tian insisted. The thought of hunger gnawed quietly at them, but no one dared speak it aloud.
Each compass tick was a comfort. Yet none of it mattered without Amara.
Her gift came at a cost. Eight minutes of astral projection drained her to the bone, forcing her into a sleep so deep she could not be woken for an hour. Every time her body slumped, pale and still, fear clenched the team's hearts. But each time, she returned, carrying visions none of them could see.
The ruins whispered to her alone.
Crumbling towers stretched like broken teeth. Bridges cracked and sagged into nothingness. Relics of civilizations long dead glimmered faintly in her astral sight, invisible to the eyes of mortals trudging in darkness.
The others followed her word in blind faith. For them, the world was an endless black curtain. For her, it was a map of secrets.
Ten hours crawled by. Six kilometers gained.
At last, Tian raised his hand, his voice sharp but calm."That's enough. We've mapped the route. Set the locators—we'll rest, then return."
Relief rippled through the group. Muscles eased. Hope dared to surface. The chain of locator beacons—spaced thirty meters apart—glowed faintly in the void, their signals weaving a lifeline home.
The march back was swifter, the path familiar. Fifteen minutes only, though every step still felt like treading on the edge of death.
6:41 PM.
The blast doors sealed shut behind them, the steel echo ringing like a heartbeat. Warm light welcomed them back.
Day One had ended.
A fragile victory, but a victory nonetheless. Humanity had stepped into the abyss—and returned.
For the first time, they knew the truth.
The darkness could be endured.The path forward could be mapped.And with Amara's light, tomorrow would come.