The air was different that morning.
Not hotter, not thicker — just still.
The kind of stillness that came before something broke.
Luke noticed it as soon as he woke. The pipes weren't humming. The light that usually bled through the cracks was faint, pulsing slow — like a dying heartbeat. He sat up, boots hitting the metal floor. Elias was still asleep, arm slung over his eyes.
"Up," Luke said quietly.
Elias groaned. "The bell hasn't rung."
"That's the problem."
The silence stretched. Then, far off in the distance, a low tremor rumbled through the floor.
Not the deep kind from machinery — this one came from beneath.
Elias sat up fast, hair sticking out. "That— that's not normal, is it?"
"No," Luke said, already lacing his gloves. "Get your gear."
---
By the time they reached the main shaft, the Undercity was already stirring. Miners gathered in tight clusters, whispering, glancing upward where the light tubes flickered erratically. Overseers barked orders, trying to contain the unease.
Reina stood at the front of the lift station, shouting over the noise. "All sectors stand by! Maintenance is stabilizing the main conduits — nobody moves until we confirm—"
Her words were drowned out by a roar.
The entire floor shuddered. A deep, grinding sound echoed through the caverns — stone and metal twisting as if something massive had awakened beneath them. Lights burst in showers of sparks. The crowd scattered, screams rising as a fissure tore through the outer tunnel wall.
Elias stumbled, nearly falling. Luke grabbed him by the collar and pulled him toward a support beam. "Stay low!"
Chunks of concrete rained down. The pipes above them cracked open, spewing steam and golden light — energy, raw and volatile. The air shimmered with heat and ozone.
"Reina!" Luke shouted, searching through the haze.
She was on her knees, trying to help a fallen worker, her coat torn and blood staining her cheek. "Section Five's collapsing!" she yelled. "Get everyone back to the lifts!"
Luke nodded, hauling Elias up. Together they started dragging people away from the open fissure. The light spilling from it wasn't like before — it was alive, writhing, crawling across the ground like veins searching for hosts.
One miner screamed as it touched his leg. His body convulsed, skin glowing from within before going still. The light retreated, leaving only dust where he'd stood.
Elias froze. "What the hell is that?"
Luke didn't answer. He just ran faster.
---
The lift was halfway up when they reached it — jammed, stuck between levels. Dozens of miners were pounding on the gates, desperate.
"Emergency override's dead!" Reina shouted over the chaos. "Manual crank— Luke, Elias, with me!"
They rushed to the gear housing. The mechanism was massive, old — a relic from the founding days. Together, they jammed the lever into place and turned. Metal screamed in protest.
"Faster!" Reina barked. "It's spreading!"
Luke looked back. The fissure had widened, the ground splitting open to reveal something beneath the stone — a lattice of glowing roots pulsing like arteries, all feeding into a single chasm. And from that chasm came a light that should not have existed.
Not warm. Not holy.
Just hungry.
The ground gave another violent jolt — stronger this time. The massive lift gears screeched, sparks raining down as the chains snapped taut. The platform lurched, then shuddered upward, grinding against the walls.
"Hold it steady!" Reina yelled, gripping the crank wheel with both hands. Her voice was raw, desperate.
Elias strained beside her, his teeth clenched. "It's jammed—!"
"Keep turning!" Luke shouted, throwing his weight against the lever. His gloves tore, skin burning against the metal, but slowly— agonizingly— the lift started to move.
The gates slid open just enough for the miners to cram inside. Screams, shoves, hands clawing for space. The sound of metal folding in the distance — tunnels collapsing, screams cut short — filled the air. The fissure's light spread along the ceiling like fire crawling through veins.
"Go!" Reina shouted, slamming the emergency release. The lift lurched upward, chains clattering and dust raining down.
Elias pressed himself to the railing, chest heaving. "The tunnels… they're gone."
Luke didn't answer. He looked down over the edge — saw the glow spreading like liquid gold, devouring everything in its path. The lower shafts caved in one after another, forming a pit of blinding light that swallowed machinery, walls, people — everything.
Someone on the lift was praying.
"All hail the Nova… all hail the Nova…"
The words sounded hollow now.
Reina's knuckles were white on the lever. "We'll make it to the midline. Hold on!"
The lift groaned, shaking violently as they rose. The heat below was suffocating — waves of it climbing up the shaft like the breath of a beast. Luke coughed, squinting against the smoke. He could see shapes falling through the haze — platforms, scaffolds, bodies.
Elias stumbled beside him. "Luke— look!"
Through the rising steam, a massive shadow moved within the fissure — slow, deliberate, almost serpentine. The glow pulsed brighter, and the lift's frame rattled like a drum.
"What is that?" Elias whispered.
Luke grabbed his shoulder. "Don't look down!"
A sudden blast of air struck them — an eruption of golden dust and flame. The lift's chains screamed as one of the counterweights snapped loose, sending the whole platform into a wild swing. Miners screamed, clutching whatever they could. Reina nearly lost her grip, but Luke caught her arm, yanking her back before she fell.
The light below surged once more—then dimmed, flickering out like a dying ember.
For a moment, there was only silence.
Then came the groaning of the structure, the slow settling of ruin.
The lift stopped mid-shaft, swaying gently in the heat. The air was filled with the scent of scorched metal and ash.
Luke looked down again. The once endless tunnels of the mines were gone — replaced by a blackened hollow still smoking from within. Only fragments of platforms hung on the walls, twisted and broken. He couldn't even tell where their sector had been.
Reina exhaled shakily, brushing grime from her face. "Report… who's still here?"
A handful of voices answered weakly from the corner. Most were silent.
Elias wiped his face, staring at the devastation below. "How many do you think made it?"
Reina hesitated. "…Not enough."
She turned back to the controls, adjusting the emergency gears. The lift creaked, began rising again—slowly, painfully. "We'll reach the midline," she said, more to herself than them. "There'll be medics… we'll get word from the Nova—"
Luke shot her a look. "The Nova? You think he even knows what's happening down here?"
Reina didn't answer. Her hands trembled on the lever.
The lift rose higher. Smoke thinned. The air cooled slightly as the lights of the midline shimmered above like a distant promise.
As they neared the top, the platform jolted one last time, then steadied with a metallic thud. The gates groaned open.
Elias stumbled out first, collapsing to his knees. The others followed, coughing, eyes squinting against the cleaner air. Luke helped Reina out last—she was limping, but alive.
Behind them, the shaft glowed faintly from below. The fissure light pulsed one last time—then went dark.
Reina turned back, chest rising and falling. "Seal the shaft," she ordered the nearest guards. "No one goes down until we get command clearance."
They hesitated, but obeyed, slamming the heavy locks in place.
Luke stood at the edge, looking down into the darkness that had swallowed half their world. He could still feel it — that faint hum beneath the ground, the rhythm that wasn't supposed to exist.
Something down there was still alive.
He swallowed hard, his voice low.
"It's not over."
Elias looked up, eyes grim. "No," he said. "It's just started."
The lift gates clanged shut behind them, sealing away the smoke, the screams, and the golden veins of light that still whispered in the dark.