The staircase spiraled downward forever.
Cold stone walls pressed close around Auretria as she and Professor Elyra rushed into the darkness. Torches lit automatically as they passed, igniting with pale blue flame—Aether fire. The air smelled old, untouched for decades, like secrets sealed away beneath the weight of the Empire itself.
Above them, the muffled cracks of combat echoed.
Cyras's voice.
Metal clashing.
A shadowy hiss.
Auretria wanted to turn back. Wanted to run toward the sound of struggle. But Elyra pulled her harder.
"Don't look back," Elyra said through clenched teeth. "That creature—whatever shape it takes—knows you want to help him. It wants you to stop. Keep moving!"
Auretria stumbled, nearly falling again. The Aether inside her crackled, reacting to each tremor above.
She whispered, voice shaking, "If he dies because of me—"
"He won't," Elyra cut in. "Vellhart is reckless, but he's strong. Strong enough to survive long enough for us to return with help."
Auretria didn't know if that was true.
She didn't know anything anymore.
Except that the shadow creature—the corrupted fragment—wanted her and only her.
The stairs ended.
At the bottom stretched a long corridor, lined with archways that led into pitch-black chambers. Each arch was carved with symbols Auretria didn't recognize—symbols that pulsed faintly as she passed, reacting to her presence like a heartbeat.
Elyra's steps slowed.
"This place… it feels different than I remember."
"You've been here before?"
Elyra paused, her expression unreadable.
"Once. When I was younger than you."
Auretria stared. Professor Elyra was a master-level Aether scholar—someone the empire treated almost like royalty in the Academy. So what was this place that she spoke of it so carefully?
Auretria swallowed. "Why did you come here?"
"To investigate the Sorcerer Queens' disappearance."
Auretria stiffened.
"And what did you find?"
"Nothing."
Elyra didn't look at her.
"Or… rather, I found everything. But the Empire sealed it. Buried it. Denied it."
Elyra's voice dropped to a whisper.
"And now that same secret is hunting you."
The Catacombs Awaken
As they moved deeper, Auretria began to feel it—a faint vibration under her skin, like a hum she had always known but never recognized.
The Aether.
But not her own.
This was older.
Denser.
Heavy with memory and loss.
"Professor," Auretria said quietly, "something's watching us."
Elyra didn't turn. "I know."
The corridor opened into a massive underground hall supported by enormous stone pillars. Stacks of old books, artifacts, and glass containers filled the chamber, all coated in a thick layer of dust.
But amid the decay, Auretria noticed something terrifying.
Footprints.
Not one or two.
Dozens.
Someone—or many someones—had been here recently.
"Elyra…" Her voice trembled. "We're… not the first ones down here."
Elyra crouched beside the prints. "These aren't human."
The prints were elongated, clawed, and twisted—like melted shapes trying to imitate human feet.
Auretria's stomach dropped. "Shadow beasts…"
"No," Elyra corrected, touching one of the prints. "Worse. These are corrupted Aether echoes."
"Echoes?"
"A corrupted Queen can split pieces of her Aether to create servants. Fragments of fragments."
Auretria's mouth went dry.
"So the creature that came last night—"
"Was a stronger piece. One capable of independent movement."
"And the one today?"
"A mindless one."
Auretria squeezed her trembling hands.
"How many pieces can it create?"
"Limitless," Elyra said. "As long as the original corruption remains."
Auretria shuddered.
A Whisper From the Darkness
They turned toward another passage when a faint sound rippled through the hall.
A whisper.
Auretria spun, Aether crackling around her fingers.
"Did you hear that?"
Elyra's expression sharpened. "Stay close."
The whisper came again—faint but familiar.
Auretria…
Her blood froze.
It was her mother's voice.
"No," she whispered. "No, that's impossible."
The voice came again, shaken, pleading.
Auretria, darling… please… help me…
Auretria stepped forward instinctively—but Elyra grabbed her wrist with surprising strength.
"That is not your mother."
"But—"
"That corruption mimics voices," Elyra snapped. "It slips into your memories. It pretends to be someone you love."
Auretria's eyes filled with tears. "Why?"
"To lure you."
Another whisper echoed.
Auretria… second child… disappointment… come here, girl… come home…
This time it was her mother's real tone.
Cold.
Controlling.
Cruel.
Auretria recoiled as if slapped.
"That—wasn't the creature," Auretria whispered. "That… was really my mother."
Elyra's face tightened. "Someone is tampering with your mind's weak points."
"My mother IS my weak point," Auretria muttered bitterly.
A pause.
Elyra slowly released her wrist. "You don't deserve what they've done to you."
Auretria blinked.
No adult had ever said that to her.
Not once.
Elyra's eyes softened—but only for a moment.
Then the walls trembled.
A pulse of corrupted Aether rippled through the catacombs.
Elyra grabbed Auretria's hand again. "Move!"
They darted down the corridor as black smoke slithered along the ceiling, forming grotesque shapes—faces, hands, jaws that opened too wide.
Auretria felt the hunger in them.
Her Aether responded violently, bursting around her in fierce waves. Sparks leapt from her skin like falling stars.
"Auretria," Elyra warned, "control it—!"
"I'm trying!"
A shadowy appendage lunged at them.
Elyra sliced it with a barrier spell. "The corruption is manifesting faster. That means—"
"The Queen's main fragment is close," Auretria whispered.
"Yes."
The Door of Aetherfall
They reached a massive stone archway inscribed with the ancient sigil of the Sorcerer Queens—a radiant crown above a spiraling star.
Elyra stopped.
The entire arch was sealed with a shimmering wall of magic—prismatic like oil on water.
Auretria touched the surface. "It's… warm."
"That's because it's alive," Elyra said.
"Alive?"
"It's an Aetherfall Barrier. Only one of the bloodline can open it."
Auretria stepped back. "You mean… only a Sorcerer Queen's descendant."
Elyra nodded.
Auretria's heart pounded.
"What if I can't?"
Elyra looked at her gently. "What if you can?"
Auretria stared at the barrier.
It pulsed faintly, syncing with her heartbeat.
She raised her hand.
Placed her palm against the shimmering surface.
And the barrier—
shifted.
Light flowed from her fingers into the seal, threads weaving together like golden vines. The stone arch glowed. The sigils turned. The air vibrated with ancient power awakening after years of silence.
Elyra gasped softly. "I knew it…"
The Aetherfall Barrier dissolved into glittering particles.
The hallway beyond was revealed—
dark, vast…
and filled with floating shards of crystal, suspended like frozen starlight.
Auretria stepped through.
The moment her foot touched the floor—
something stirred.
A presence.
Familiar.
Terrifying.
Auretria…
Her breath caught.
The masked figure emerged from the shadows at the far end of the chamber, its motions fluid and unnatural.
But now, something was different.
It wasn't alone.
Behind it, a throne carved of black crystal pulsed with corrupted Aether, and atop it sat a shape—collapsed, frail, but unmistakably humanoid.
A woman.
Her hair long and tangled, streaks of gold lost beneath shadow corruption. Her eyes closed. Her body unmoving.
Auretria felt her knees weaken.
"Is… is that…?"
Elyra whispered, voice trembling—
"The last Sorcerer Queen."
Auretria stared.
Frozen.
Terrified.
Awed.
And then—
the Queen's eyes snapped open.
They glowed with crackling black Aether.
She spoke one word, and the entire catacomb trembled.
"Daughter."
Auretria choked on her breath.
"No—I'm not—"
But the Queen raised a trembling hand—
and every shadow in the chamber rushed toward Auretria.
The masked figure stepped forward, its voice echoing like death.
"The vessel has arrived. Begin the awakening."
Auretria screamed as the shadows surged—
and the world collapsed into darkness.
----